Indian Constitution - Practice Test (1)

Answer: a

Explanation: Article 3: Formation of new States and alteration of areas, boundaries or names of existing States.-Parliament may by law-

(a) form a new State by separation of territory from any State or by uniting two or more States or parts of States or by uniting any territory to a part of any State;

(b) increase the area of any State;

(c) diminish the area of any State;

(d) alter the boundaries of any State;

(e) alter the name of any State.

Indian Councils Act of 1909. Indian Councils Act of 1909, also called Morley-Minto Reforms, series of reform measures enacted in 1909 by the British Parliament, the main component of which directly introduced the elective principle to membership in the imperial and local legislative councils in India.

The Sixth Schedule deals with the administration and control of the tribal areas in the states of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.

Concept of “Republic” and the Ideals of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity (contained in the Preamble) was adopted from France.
The provisions of a Federation with a strong centre, Residuary powers of the Centre, appointment of State governors by the Centre and the advisory jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, have all been borrowed from the Canadian constitution.

Article 15; A fundamental right in the Indian constitution prohibits the discrimination by the state against any citizen on grounds only of caste, religion, sex, race and place of birth. The use of world only means that discrimination on other grounds is not prohibited.

A Constitution Amendment Bill under article 368 can be introduced in either House of Parliament and has to be passed by each House by special majority.

The institutions of Speaker and Deputy Speaker originated in India in 1921  under  the  provisions  of  the  Government  of  India  Act  of  1919  (Montague–Chelmsford  Reforms).  At  that  time,  the  Speaker  and  the  Deputy  Speaker  were  called  the President  and  Deputy  President  respectively  and  the  same  nomenclature  continued  till  1947.

A provision has been made in the Constitution empowering the Lok Sabha to make any grant in advance through a vote on account to enable the Government to carry on until the voting of demands for grants and the passing of the Appropriation Bill and Finance Bill. Normally, the vote on account is taken for two months for a sum equivalent to one sixth of the estimated expenditure for the entire year under various demands for grants. Vote on account is passed by Lok Sabha after the general discussion on the Budget (General and Railway) is over and before the discussion on demands for grants is taken up.

The Government of India Act 1858, marked the beginning of new chapter in the constitutional history of India. The Act known as the Act for the Good Government of India, provided for liquidation of East India Company, and transferred the powers of government, territories and revenues to the British Crown.

Lord Minto 
Act of 1909 introduced a system of communal representation for Muslims by accepting the concept of separate electorate. Under this the Muslim members were to be elected only by Muslim voters. Thus the act legalised communalism and Lord Minto came to be known as Father of communal Electorate. 

The Preamble was added to the Constitution after the rest of the Constitution was already enacted. The Supreme Court in the Berubari Union case (1960) held that the Preamble is not a part of the Constitution. However, it recognised that the Preamble could be used as a guiding principle if a term in any article of the Constitution is ambiguous or has more than one meaning.

In Kesavanand Bharti case (1973), the Supreme Court overturned its earlier decision and held that the Preamble is a part of the Constitution and can be amended under Article 368 of the Constitution. Again, in LIC of India case, the Supreme Court held that the Preamble is a part of the Constitution.

Thus the Preamble to the Constitution of free India remains a beautifully worded prologue. It contains the basic ideals, objectives, and philosophical postulates the Constitution of India stands for. They provide justifications for constitutional provisions.

Solution (b) It is thus clear that the Constitution authorises the Parliament to form new states or alter the areas, boundaries or names of the existing states without their consent. In other words, the Parliament can redraw the political map of India according to its will. Hence, the territorial integrity or continued existence of any state is not guaranteed by the Constitution. Therefore, India is rightly described as ‘an indestructible union of destructible states’. The Union government can destroy the states whereas the state governments cannot destroy the Union. In USA, on the other hand, the territorial integrity or continued existence of a state is guaranteed by the Constitution. The American Federal government cannot form new states or alter the borders of existing states without the consent of the states concerned. That is why the USA is described as ‘an indestructible union of indestructible states.’

The members of the committee on estimates consist of 30 members who are drawn entirely from the Lok Sabha. The term of the committee is one year. The committee on public accounts and public undertakings consists of 15 members elected by the Lok Sabha and 7 members of the Rajya Sabha are associated with it.

Federalism in India describes the distribution of legal authority across national, state and local governments in India. It is embedded from the Canadian model of federalism. The Constitution of India establishes a federal structure to the Indian government. The Central government is the government that holds absolute supremacy over a unitary state.

1. The President can pardon sentences inflicted by court martial (military courts) while the governor cannot.

2. The President can pardon death sentence while governor cannot. Even if a state law prescribes death sentence, the power to grant pardon lies with the President and not the governor. However, the governor can suspend, remit or commute a death sentence.

The Commission consists of a chairman and other members appointed by The President of India. Usually, the Commission consists of 9 to 11 members including the chairman. Every member holds office for a term of six years or until he attains the age of sixty-five years.

The Constitution makes a provision for the establishment of a Joint State Public Service Commission (JSPSC) for two or more states. While the UPSC and the SPSC are created directly by the Constitution, a JSPSC can be created by an act of Parliament on the request of the state legislatures concerned.

As per Article 155 and Article 156 of the Constitution, a Governor of a state is an appointee of the President, and he or she holds office “during the pleasure of the President”.  If a Governor continues to enjoy the “pleasure of the President”, he or she can be in office for a term of five years.  Because the President is bound to act on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers under Article 74 of the Constitution, in effect it is the central government that appoints and removes the Governors. “Pleasure of the President” merely refers to this will and wish of the central government. 

The term of governor's office is normally 5 years but it can be terminated earlier by: Dismissal by the president (usually on the advice of the prime minister of the country) at whose pleasure the governor holds office. Dismissal of Governors without valid reason is not permitted.

Article 356 state that the president can invoke president rule in a state on the report of the governor if the state machinery/legislature fails to abide by constitutional norms.

The 42nd Amendment (enacted during the emergency by Indian National Congress) changed the description of India from a "sovereign democratic republic" to a "sovereign, socialist secular democratic republic", and also changed the words "unity of the nation" to "unity and integrity of the nation".

The Public Accounts Committee has 22 members of which 15 are from Lok Sabha while 7 from Rajya Sabha. The members are “elected” by members of Parliament amongst themselves via a system of proportional representation by means of single transferable vote; so that all parties get due representation in it.