Indian Politics Questions and Answers

Answer: B

The Special Officer for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes is appointed by the president, under Article 338 as it originally stood.

The 65th Amendment of 1990 replaced the single officer with a multi-member National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, later split into two separate commissions in 2003.

Answer: D

Article 370 accorded special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

It limited Parliament's power to legislate for the state to defence, external affairs and communications, and let the state have its own constitution. Its operation was ended by a presidential order in August 2019, and the state was reorganised into two Union Territories.

Answer: A

Correct answer: A simple majority of members present and voting

A bill at a joint sitting is passed by a simple majority of the total number of members of both Houses present and voting. Because the Lok Sabha has 543 members against the Rajya Sabha’s 245, the numbers strongly favour the lower House, which is the point of the mechanism: it resolves a deadlock in favour of the chamber that carries the popular mandate. The joint sitting is summoned by the President under Article 108 where an ordinary bill has been rejected by the other House, or the Houses disagree on amendments, or six months pass without the other House disposing of it. The Speaker of the Lok Sabha presides, not the Vice President. Only amendments that became necessary because of the delay, or that the presiding officer allows, may be moved - the sitting is not an occasion to reopen the bill. It is unavailable for money bills and for constitutional amendment bills. It has been used three times, most recently for the Prevention of Terrorism Bill in 2002.

Answer: A

Correct answer: Article 143

Article 143 allows the President to refer to the Supreme Court any question of law or fact of public importance that has arisen or is likely to arise, and to seek the Court’s opinion on it. Two features distinguish it. The opinion is advisory and not binding on the President; and the Court is not obliged to give one, and may decline - as it did in 1993 on the Ayodhya reference. Where the reference concerns a dispute arising out of a pre-Constitution treaty with a princely state, the Court must give its opinion. It has been used sparingly but on significant questions: the Kerala Education Bill in 1958, the Berubari Union in 1960, the Presidential Poll in 1974, the Special Courts Bill in 1978, the Cauvery dispute in 1992, and the 2G spectrum case in 2012. The other articles cover the enforcement of fundamental rights (32), special leave to appeal (136) and the High Courts’ writ jurisdiction (226).

Answer: C

Correct answer: The British monarch

The Indian President is a nominal or constitutional head of state, whose position is closest to that of the British monarch: the head of state reigns, and the Council of Ministers governs. Article 74 makes ministerial advice binding, so the President exercises almost no independent power. The differences are real but secondary. The Indian President is elected, for a five-year term, and can be impeached; the British monarch is hereditary and holds office for life. But the constitutional function - assenting to legislation, appointing the head of government, acting on advice - is the same. The American President is the opposite case: separately elected, head of state and head of government at once, not answerable to the legislature and unable to be removed by it except through impeachment for specified offences. The residual powers the Indian President does hold are worth knowing: a suspensive veto on ordinary bills, the power to require reconsideration of advice once, and genuine discretion when no party has a clear majority in the Lok Sabha.

Answer: D

The governor of a state is appointed by the president, under Article 155, and holds office during the president's pleasure.

In practice the appointment is made on the advice of the union council of ministers, which is why the office has often been criticised as an agent of the centre in the state.

Answer: A

Correct answer: The President, after consultation with the collegium

Under Article 124 judges of the Supreme Court are appointed by the President, who must consult such judges of the Supreme Court and the High Courts as are considered necessary, and must consult the Chief Justice of India for every appointment other than that of the Chief Justice. What that consultation means has been settled by litigation rather than text. In the Three Judges Cases, culminating in 1993 and 1998, the Supreme Court held that consultation means concurrence, and established the collegium - the Chief Justice and the four senior-most judges - whose recommendation is binding on the executive, which may return a name once but must accept it if repeated. Parliament tried to replace this in 2014 with a National Judicial Appointments Commission, but the Supreme Court struck the 99th Amendment down in 2015 as violating judicial independence, part of the basic structure. A judge holds office to the age of 65 and can be removed only by impeachment for proved misbehaviour or incapacity.

Answer: B

The emergency provisions were borrowed from the Weimar Constitution of Germany.

Its Article 48 allowed the president to suspend civil rights and rule by decree, and the Indian provisions for suspending fundamental rights during a proclamation of emergency follow the same design. What that article was used for in 1933 is part of the reason the 44th Amendment tightened India's version.

Answer: C

Correct answer: Fundamental Rights

Part III, Articles 12 to 35, contains the Fundamental Rights. They are enforceable against the State, and Article 32 provides the remedy for enforcing them. Six rights remain: equality (Articles 14–18), freedom (19–22), against exploitation (23–24), freedom of religion (25–28), cultural and educational rights (29–30), and constitutional remedies (32). A seventh, the right to property, was removed from Part III by the 44th Amendment in 1978 and made an ordinary legal right under Article 300-A. The neighbouring parts are examined just as often. Part II covers citizenship, Part IV the Directive Principles, Part IV-A the Fundamental Duties, and Part V the Union - executive, Parliament and judiciary. It is worth remembering that some rights are available to all persons, including foreigners - Articles 14, 20, 21, 21-A, 22, 25 to 28 - while others, notably Articles 15, 16, 19, 29 and 30, are confined to citizens.

Answer: C

Articles 20 and 21 can never be suspended, even during an emergency.

Article 20 protects against conviction under retrospective law, double jeopardy and self-incrimination; Article 21 protects life and personal liberty. The 44th Amendment of 1978 put them beyond the reach of Article 359, after the experience of the 1975 emergency.