Indian Politics Questions and Answers

Answer: B

Correct answer: The President

The Comptroller and Auditor General is appointed by the President under Article 148, and holds office for six years or until the age of 65, whichever comes first. The office is deliberately insulated. The CAG can be removed only in the manner prescribed for a Supreme Court judge - by an address of both Houses on the ground of proved misbehaviour or incapacity - the salary and conditions cannot be varied to disadvantage after appointment, and the holder is barred from any further office under the Union or a state government afterwards. The CAG audits all receipts and expenditure of the Union and the states and of bodies substantially financed from public revenues, and the reports are laid before the legislature and examined by the Public Accounts Committee. Dr Ambedkar called it the most important officer under the Constitution. Note the limit implicit in practice: despite the word Comptroller, the CAG audits after the event and has no power to authorise expenditure, unlike the British office it was modelled on.

Answer: C

Correct answer: Advisory only, and not binding

The UPSC’s advice is advisory only. The government may reject it, but if it does so it must record the reasons, and Article 323 requires those reasons to be laid before Parliament along with the Commission’s annual report - so the check is one of transparency and accountability rather than of law. The government must consult the Commission on matters of recruitment, promotion and transfer between services, disciplinary action, and claims for reimbursement of legal costs; failure to consult where consultation is required can render the action invalid. The Commission’s independence is protected in the manner usual for constitutional bodies: members are appointed by the President, hold office for six years or until 65, can be removed only on the ground of misbehaviour after an inquiry by the Supreme Court, and their conditions of service cannot be varied to their disadvantage. It is one of the constitutional bodies established under Article 315, alongside the State Public Service Commissions.

Answer: A

The office of the prime minister has a constitutional basis. Article 75 provides that the prime minister shall be appointed by the president and the other ministers appointed on the prime minister's advice.

In Britain, by contrast, the office rests on convention alone and is mentioned in no statute.

Answer: A

Correct answer: Canada

The integrated judiciary - a single system of courts enforcing both Union and state law, headed by the Supreme Court - follows the Canadian model, as does the appointment of state Governors by the centre and the vesting of residuary powers in the union. The contrast is with the United States, which has a dual system: federal courts applying federal law and separate state courts applying state law, each with its own hierarchy. India rejected that as unsuited to a country where uniformity of law was thought more important. The practical consequence is that a single case can travel from a district court through the High Court to the Supreme Court regardless of whether it arises under Union or state law, and that the Supreme Court’s declarations bind every court in the country under Article 141. The other borrowings are worth recalling: fundamental rights and judicial review from the United States, directive principles from Ireland, the parliamentary system from Britain, and the Concurrent List and joint sittings from Australia.

Answer: D

B.N. Rau was constitutional adviser to the Constituent Assembly.

He prepared the original draft on which the Drafting Committee worked, having studied the constitutions of the United States, Canada, Ireland and Australia at first hand. He later became a judge of the International Court of Justice.

Answer: B

The fundamental rights fall under six heads: equality, freedom, freedom of religion, cultural and educational rights, the right against exploitation, and the right to constitutional remedies.

There were seven until the 44th Amendment of 1978 removed the right to property from Part III and made it a constitutional legal right under Article 300A.

Answer: D

Jana Gana Mana was adopted as the national anthem on 24 January 1950, by the Constituent Assembly, two days before the Constitution came into force.

The same sitting adopted Vande Mataram as the national song, with equal status.

Answer: A

The legal adviser to a state government is the Advocate-General, appointed by the governor under Article 165.

The office is the state counterpart of the Attorney-General for India. The Advocate-General has the right to speak in the state legislature but not to vote.

Answer: D

The Constitution now has 12 schedules.

There were eight at the start; the Ninth was added in 1951, the Tenth in 1985 for the anti-defection law, and the Eleventh and Twelfth in 1992 for panchayats and municipalities.

Answer: C

Correct answer: 2019

Article 370 was effectively abrogated in August 2019. A Presidential Order superseded the earlier order of 1954 and applied the whole Constitution of India to Jammu and Kashmir, and a statutory resolution of Parliament declared the article inoperative. The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act passed at the same time reorganised the state into two union territories: Jammu and Kashmir, with a legislature, and Ladakh, without one. It was the first time a state had been converted into union territories. Article 370 had been a temporary provision under which the state had its own constitution and flag, and Parliament’s power over it was limited to defence, external affairs and communications unless the state concurred. Article 35A, which flowed from it and defined permanent residents and their special rights, fell with it. The Supreme Court upheld the abrogation in December 2023, holding that Article 370 was a temporary provision, while directing that statehood be restored.