Previous Year Questions: Making of the Constitution - UPSC MCQ

• The Constitution was framed by the Constituent Assembly of India, established by the members of the provincial assemblies elected by the people of India.
• Dr Sachidanand Sinha, who was the oldest member of the assembly, was elected as the temporary chairman of the assembly, following the French Practice. Later, Dr Rajendra Prasad was elected its president.
• Dr BR Ambedkar was the chairman of its Drafting Committee.

• Constitution Day, also known as 'Samvidhan Divas', is celebrated in our country on 26th November every year to commemorate the adoption of the Constitution of India.
• The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment on 19th November 2015 notified the decision of Government of India to celebrate the 26th day of November every year as 'Constitution Day' to promote Constitution values among citizens.So, Statement 1 is correct.

Drafting Committee of the Constitution

• Among all the committees of the Constituent Assembly, the most important committee was the Drafting Committee, set up on August 29, 1947. It was this committee that was entrusted with the task of preparing a draft of the new Constitution. It consisted of seven members.

They were:

• Dr. B.R. Ambedkar (Chairman)
• N. Gopalaswamy Ayyangar
• Alladi Krishnaswamy Ayyar
• Dr. K.M. Munshi
• Syed Mohammad Saadullah
• N. Madhava Rau (He replaced B.L. Mitter who resigned due to ill-health
• T.T. Krishnamachari (He replaced D.P. Khaitan who died in 1948)

The Drafting Committee, after taking into consideration the proposals of the various committees, prepared the first draft of the Constitution of India, which was published in February 1948.

On 26th November 1949, the Constituent Assembly of India adopted the Constitution of India, which came into effect from 26th January 1950. So, Statement 2 is not correct.

Therefore, option (c) is the correct answer.

• The Flag Code of India took effect on January 26, 2002. As per Clause 2.1 of the Flag Code of India, there shall be no restriction on the display of the National Flag by members of the general public, private organizations, educational institutions etc. consistent with the dignity and honour of the National Flag.
• The Flag Code of India, 2002 was amended recently, and National Flag made of polyester or machine made flag have also been allowed. 
• Now, the National Flag shall be made of hand-spun, hand-woven or machine-made cotton/polyester/wool/silk/khadi bunting, as per the amended flag code.

So, Statement 1 is not correct.

The National Flag shall be rectangular in shape. The ratio of the length to the height (width) of the Flag shall be 3:2. So, Statement 2 is correct.

Therefore, option (d) is the correct answer.

• The mechanism for amending the Constitution is outlined in Article 368.
• An amendment to this Constitution may be initiated only by the introduction of a Bill for the purpose in either House of Parliament, and when the Bill is passed by a special majority of the total membership of that House present and voting in each House, it shall be presented to the President, who shall give his assent to the Bill. 
• The 24th Constitutional Amendment Act of 1971 made it obligatory for the President to give his assent to a constitutional Amendment Bill. 
• The president has no veto power in respect of a constitutional amendment bill. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
• A Constitutional amendment bill doesn't require the prior recommendation of the President to be introduced. Hence, statement 1 is incorrect.

There is no provision for calling a joint session of parliament in the event of a disagreement between the two houses. Hence, statement 3 is correct.

• The Constitution of India came into force on 26th January 1950.
• On 26th January 1950, India had the constitutional status of ‘sovereign, Democratic, republic’. Hence, Option 2 is correct.
•  ‘sovereign, Democratic, republic’ was mentioned in the preamble of the constitution of India.
• By the 42nd Constitutional amendment act, the words ‘Socialist’ and ‘Secular’ were inserted into the preamble.
• A preamble is an introductory statement in a document that explains the document’s philosophy and objectives.
• In a Constitution, it presents the intention of its framers, the history behind its creation, and the core values and principles of the nation.
• The Preamble gives the idea of the following things/objects:
  • Source of the Constitution
  • Nature of Indian State
  • Statement of its objectives
  • Date of its adoption

All the options are rightly matched. Though most of the emergency provisions were borrowed from the GOI Act, 1935, the provision for suspension of the Fundamental Rights during an emergency was taken from the constitution of Weimar Germany.

The thirty-ninth Amendment of the Constitution of India; enacted on 10th August 1975, placed the election of the President, the Vice President, the Prime Minister and the Speaker of the Lok Sabha beyond the scrutiny of the Indian courts.

• It was passed during the Emergency of 1975–1977.
• This amendment act removed the authority of the Supreme Court to adjudicate petitions regarding elections of the President, Vice President, Prime Minister and Speaker of the Lok Sabha.
• Instead, a body constituted by Parliament would be vested with the power to resolve such election disputes.
• Hence, statement 1 is not correct.
• The ninty-ninth Constitutional Amendment of India would have established the National Judicial Appointments Commission.
  • The National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) was a body tasked with appointing judges to the higher judiciary in India.
  • Article 124 of the Constitution was amended through the 99th Amendment to reflect the change in the system of appointments from the collegium system.
  • But, in 2015, the Constitution Bench of Supreme Court by 4:1 majority upheld the collegium system and struck down the NJAC as unconstitutional. 
  • Hence, statement 2 is correct.

• The Ninth Schedule contains a list of central and state laws that cannot be challenged in courts and was added by the Constitution (First Amendment) Act, 1951.
  • It was created by the new Article 31B, which along with Article 31A was brought in by the government to protect laws related to agrarian reform and for abolishing the Zamindari system.
  • While Article 31A extended protection to ‘classes’ of laws, Article 31B shielded specific laws or enactments.
  • While most of the laws protected under the Schedule concern agriculture/land issues, the list includes other subjects also.
• It was inserted during the tenure of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
• The first amendment added 13 laws to the Ninth Schedule.
• Subsequent amendments in various years have taken the number of protected laws to 284 currently.
• Although Article 31B excludes judicial review, the apex court has said in the past that even laws under the Ninth Schedule would be open to scrutiny if they violated fundamental rights or the basic structure of the Constitution.

Under the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution of India, the Governor of a State can make regulations that prohibits or restricts transfer of land by Schedule Tribes to the other parties. In Samatha vs. State of Andhra Pradesh (1997), the Supreme Court declared that the transfer of tribal land to private parties for mining was null and void under the Fifth Schedule.

The Ninth Schedule was added to the Constitution by the first amendment in 1951 along with Article 31-B with a view to provide a “protective umbrella” to land reforms laws to save them from being challenged in courts on the ground of violation of fundamental rights. The SC upheld the validity of Article 31-B and Parliament’s power to place a particular law in the Ninth Schedule. The Supreme Court has said that laws placed in the Ninth Schedule are open to judicial scrutiny and that such laws do not enjoy blanket protection. Laws placed in the Ninth Schedule after the Keshwanand Bharti Judgment on April 24, 1973, when it propounded the “basic structure” doctrine, were open to challenge.

The elections to the Constituent Assembly were conducted indirectly by the members of the various Provincial Assemblies and the Assemblies in the 4 Chief Cmmissioner’s Provinces.

The Government of India Act, 1935 served as great source of inspiration for various provisions in the Constitution of India. One such provision is the character of distribution of powers between the Centre and States.

The Interim Government was formed in 1946 after electing the Constituent Assembly. It contained members from Congress and Muslim League as well as independents. It was headed by Jawaharlal Nehru and Rajendra Prasad served as the Minister for Food and Agriculture.

The Constituent Assembly was elected indirectly through the Provincial Assemblies in 1946. Jinnah was not a member of the Constituent Assembly. The first session was held in 1946 and it adopted the Constitution on 26 November 1949.

The DPSP was taken from the Irish Constitution, the Fundamental Rights from the American Constitution, the concurrent List from Australian Constitution and the concept of Union of states with a strong Centre from the Canadian Constitution.