Indian Polity - 1 - UPSC MCQ

As per Art. 324, the Election Commission has the all the powers of conducting elections in India. As far as the recommendation of elections is concerned, it is one of the functions of the Government to recommend elections to the President who, acting on the advice of the Govt., directs the Constitutional body (Election Commission) to conduct elections.

The Inter-State Council is the only constitutional body among the given options. The President may, in case the need arises, constitute the Inter-State Council for resolution of disputes between the states (Article 263). National Development Council is an extraconstitutional body which reviews national plans and suggests ways to the Govt. to promote development in the country. The Governor’s conference is a meeting of the all the Governors and Lt. Governors of various States of India, presided over by the President, attended by other functionaries of the Govt. and is held annually. Various issues are discussed in this conference to improve cooperation and coordination between the States. Zonal Councils are extra-constitutional bodies set up under the States Re-organization Act, 1956. They are advisory in nature and provide a platform for regional issues to be discussed and efforts made for better coordination among the states.

Art. 368 provides the procedure for amendment of the Constitution. All constitutional amendment bills have to be passed in each House (Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha) by a majority of the total membership of that House and by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the members of that House present and voting. In addition to this, there are a few provisions mentioned in the said article, the amendment of which requires ratification of not less than one-half of the states. These provisions are related to the federal character of the Constitution.
The Seventh Schedule provides three lists i.e. the Union List, the State List and the Concurrent List. The Union List consists of those subjects on which the Parliament has exclusive power to make laws; States have exclusive power to make laws on the subjects provided in the State list and the Concurrent List consists of those subjects on which both the Union and the States have concurrent powers to make laws. However in case of any conflict on Concurrent list subject, Union law prevails.

All the members of both the Houses of the Parliament and the State Legislatures and also every citizen of India above the age of 18 years has the right to vote in the elections to the Lok Sabha. But only the elected members of the State Legislatures have the right to vote in the elections to the Rajya Sabha (Article 80). Hence, only the members of the Legislative Assemblies of States have the right to vote in the elections to both Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.

All the three given States except Madhya Pradesh, have a Legislative Council. Art. 168 provides for the establishment of two Houses for the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Telangana.

The interim Government was formed from the Constituent Assembly of India and Jawaharlal Nehru was the Vice-President of the Viceroy’s Executive Council which was the executive branch of the interim Government.

No Governor can continue in office beyond a period of five years though he can be reappointed and remain in office for another term of five years. The Governor remains in office during the pleasure of the President and can be removed if the President is satisfied that he has failed to fulfill his constitutional duties (Article 156). However, the President does not need not to give any reason for such removal. No specific provision for impeachment of the Governor has been provided in the Constitution unlike the impeachment of the President.

Art.14, 15 and 16 operate under the overarching principle of social and economic equality to be ensured to every citizen of India. Art.15 provides for non discrimination on the grounds of caste, colour, race, creed and religion which is a branch of social equality that the constitution promises to every citizen of India. 

The Dinesh Goswami Committee was set up in 1990 for giving recommendations on electoral reforms. Other committees set up for electoral reforms are – 1. Jaya Prakash Narayan Committee (1974) 2. Jeevan Reddy Committee (1998) 3. Tarkunde Committee (1975) 4. Indrajit Gupta Committee (1998).

In India, the Union Govt. is formed when a party or a coalition has a majority in the Lower House i.e. Lok Sabha. The President acts on the advice of the Council of Ministers, which is headed by the Prime Minister in all practical aspects. Every decision taken by the Govt. has to be passed by the Lok Sabha to become a law. So if the Govt. (Prime Minister) loses majority in Lok Sabha, he cannot enforce any decision, therefore there is no meaning of continuing as a Prime Minister if no decision can be taken. Hence, the Government loses its existence in case of losing majority in the Lok Sabha.

Lok Ayukta is an authority in the States created by the statutes of various states for taking anticorruption measures in the State. The Karnataka Lokayukta Act, 1984 and the Rajasthan Lokayukta and Uplokayukta Act, 1973 have included the Chief Minister in their ambit.

Under Part IX ‘The Panchayats’, Art.243 D provides that one-third of the total number of seats, to be filled by direct election in every Panchayat, shall be reserved for women. Art.243B provides for a three tier structure of local government in India at the village, intermediate and district levels. Art.243 I provides that the principles governing the finances of the Panchayats are to be determined by the Finance Commission of the State. Art.243 K provides that elections to the Panchayats are to be conducted by the State Election Commission.

A candidate loses his deposit when he gets less than 1/6th of the total valid votes cast in the election. Now, it is given here that the candidate wins and still loses his deposit which means that a large number of candidates contested the elections and the number of votes secured by the winning candidate was less than 1/6th of the total votes.

When a Court is said to have original jurisdiction in a matter, it means that the Court can try the case first hand and not by way appeal in which case the appellate Court is said to have appellate jurisdiction. Art. 131 provides that the Supreme Court will have original jurisdiction in the following cases: * Where the dispute is between the Govt. of India and one or more States * Where the dispute is between the Govt. of India and one or more States on one side and one or more other State/s on the other side * Between two or more States.

District Judge is the head of the judiciary at the district level. Art.236 provides that the term ‘District Judge’ includes the Chief Presidency Magistrate, Sessions Judge, Chief Judge of a small cause Court etc. The provision doesn’t include a Tribunal Judge. A tribunal is set up under a statute for dealing with cases related to a particular matter, e.g. the Debts Recovery Tribunal, Central Administrative Tribunal etc. The purpose of setting up these Tribunals is to facilitate speedy justice and they are headed by people specialized in that particular matter. Tribunals are mentioned in Part XIVA, Articles 323A – 323B.

The electoral college for the election of the President of India consists of: (i) elected members of both the Houses of the Parliament (Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha) and (ii) elected members of State Legislative Assemblies as provided in Art.54 Whereas the impeachment proceedings of the President as given in Art.61 involves only the two Houses of the Parliament.

Art.243B provides for a three-tier structure of Panchayats (Local Self-Govt.) at the village, intermediate and district levels.

A person cannot be compelled to sing the national anthem of India but at the same time it is enshrined as one of the Fundamental Duties in Art.51A, to respect our national anthem. Therefore, one may choose not to sing the national anthem, though it is desirable that he/she does. However, showing disrespect to the same may amount to an act of sedition, depending on the degree of disrespect shown, and may attract legal provisions.

The Prime Minister has complete discretion in the matter of appointment of cabinet ministers provided the person so chosen becomes a Member of Parliament (if not an MP at present) within a period of six months from the date of appointment as provided in Art.75(5).

The word ‘minority’ has not been defined in the Constitution but references have been made to the word in many provisions of the Constitution such as Art.29, 30, 350A and 350B. Minority is generally regarded as that fraction of the population which is less than half of the total population of a country. The Supreme Court in TMA Pai case (2002) has held that for the purpose of Art.30, a minority, whether religious or linguistic, is to be determined with reference to a State and not at the national level. The Minorities Commission has no mention in the Constitution and is a statutory body set up under the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992.