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.

❌ Statement 1: Incorrect
A Constitutional Amendment Bill under Article 368 does not require the prior recommendation of the President before its introduction in Parliament. It can be introduced in either House without presidential recommendation.

✅ Statement 2: Correct
As per the 24th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1971, it is mandatory for the President to give assent to a Constitutional Amendment Bill after it has been passed by both Houses by a special majority. The President has no veto power in this case.

✅ Statement 3: Correct
There is no provision for a joint sitting in case of disagreement between the Houses over a Constitutional Amendment Bill. Both Houses must separately pass the bill by a special majority.

Hence, Statements 2 and 3 are correct, making Option B the correct answer.

The Constitution of India came into effect on 26th January 1950, marking India’s formal transformation into a Sovereign Democratic Republic.

These words—“Sovereign”, “Democratic”, and “Republic”—were part of the original Preamble adopted in 1950.

The words “Socialist” and “Secular” were later added through the 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1976 during the Emergency.

Therefore, on 26th January 1950, India was officially a Sovereign Democratic Republic—making Option B the correct answer.

1. Concurrent List – This feature is borrowed from Australia, where both the Centre and States can legislate on certain subjects.
2. Suspension of Fundamental Rights during Emergency – This provision is taken from Germany, particularly from the Weimar Constitution which allowed suspension of rights during crises.
3. Method of Election of the President – This is inspired by Ireland, which follows the system of indirect election of the President.
4. Residual Powers – In Canada, residual powers rest with the Centre, unlike the U.S. system. India borrowed this feature from Canada.
5. Amendment of the Constitution – The process in India, which is partly rigid and partly flexible, is influenced by the South African Constitution.

Therefore, Correct Answer - Option C.

❌ Statement 1: Incorrect

It was not the 44th Amendment but the 39th Amendment Act, 1975, that placed the election of the Prime Minister (as well as President, Vice-President, and Speaker) beyond judicial review.

• This amendment was passed during the Emergency period (1975–77) to protect then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi from a court ruling invalidating her election.

• It inserted Article 329A, which barred courts from adjudicating election disputes related to these offices.

• However, this provision was later struck down by the Supreme Court in the landmark case of Indira Nehru Gandhi v. Raj Narain (1975) for violating the basic structure of the Constitution.

• The 44th Amendment Act, 1978, restored democratic safeguards but did not introduce any such Article about the PM's election being beyond judicial review.

✅ Statement 2: Correct

The 99th Constitutional Amendment Act, enacted in 2014, sought to replace the collegium system with the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) for appointing judges to the higher judiciary.

• It was challenged in the Supreme Court in the case Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association v. Union of India (2015).

• The Constitution Bench (4:1 majority) struck down the NJAC as unconstitutional, citing that it violated the principle of independence of the judiciary, which is part of the basic structure of the Constitution.

• Hence, the collegium system was reinstated.

Thus, the correct answer is Option B: 2 only.

• 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.

✅ Statement 1: Correct

• The Ninth Schedule was introduced by the First Constitutional Amendment Act, 1951, along with Article 31-B, to protect land reform and agrarian laws from being challenged in courts for violating Fundamental Rights.
• The Parliament has the power to insert laws into the Ninth Schedule through constitutional amendments.
• The purpose was to shield laws from judicial review, especially in the early decades after independence, to advance social justice through land reforms.

❌ Statement 2: Incorrect

• Initially, laws placed in the Ninth Schedule were immune from judicial scrutiny, even if they violated Fundamental Rights.
• However, this changed after the Kesavananda Bharati case (1973), where the Supreme Court propounded the Basic Structure doctrine.
• Later, in the landmark I.R. Coelho v. State of Tamil Nadu (2007) judgment, the Supreme Court ruled that:
• Any law placed in the Ninth Schedule after 24 April 1973 (the date of Kesavananda Bharati judgment) can be reviewed by courts.
• If such a law violates the Basic Structure of the Constitution (including Fundamental Rights), it can be struck down.

Thus, the immunity is not absolute, and judicial review applies to laws inserted after 1973.

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.