Indian Politics Questions and Answers

Answer: A

The minimum age for election to the Lok Sabha is 25 years.

For the Rajya Sabha it is 30, for the office of president or vice-president 35, and the voting age is 18.

Answer: C

Correct answer: Article 112

Article 112 requires the President to cause to be laid before both Houses of Parliament, for every financial year, a statement of the estimated receipts and expenditure of the Government of India. That statement is the Annual Financial Statement; Budget is its popular name, and the Constitution nowhere uses the word. The statement must show expenditure charged on the Consolidated Fund - the salaries of the President, the Speaker, judges, the CAG, and debt charges - separately from other expenditure. Charged expenditure may be discussed but not voted on, which protects those offices from parliamentary pressure. Everything else is put to the vote as demands for grants, and the corresponding Appropriation Bill and Finance Bill then give legal effect to the withdrawals and the taxes. The related articles are worth knowing together: Article 110 defines a Money Bill, Article 266 establishes the Consolidated Fund, and Article 280 provides for the Finance Commission.

Answer: B

Correct answer: Article 15(4)

Article 15(4) permits the State to make any special provision for the advancement of socially and educationally backward classes, or for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. It was added by the First Amendment in 1951, after the Supreme Court struck down caste-based reservation in State of Madras v. Champakam Dorairajan as violating Article 15(1). Its companions extend the principle: Article 15(5), added in 2005, allows reservation in educational institutions including private unaided ones; Article 15(6), added in 2019, allows up to 10 per cent for economically weaker sections; and Article 16(4) permits reservation in public employment. These are not exceptions to equality but applications of it, resting on the reasoning in Article 14 that treating unequals equally is itself unequal. In Indra Sawhney the Supreme Court capped total reservation at 50 per cent and excluded the creamy layer, though the EWS quota was upheld in 2022 despite exceeding that ceiling.

Answer: A

The Attorney-General of India is appointed by the president, under Article 76.

The appointee must be qualified to be a Supreme Court judge, holds office during the president's pleasure, and is the government's chief legal adviser and its first law officer.

Answer: A

Rajya Sabha members are elected for six years.

The House is never dissolved: one-third of its members retire every two years, which is why it is called a permanent or continuing chamber.

Answer: D

Correct answer: 50 proposers and 50 seconders

A nomination paper for the presidential election must be subscribed by at least 50 electors as proposers and 50 as seconders, and accompanied by a security deposit of ₹15,000. The requirement was raised from ten and ten in 1997, after an election in which a large number of candidates with no realistic prospect had filed nominations, to discourage frivolous candidatures. Only the members of the electoral college - elected members of both Houses of Parliament and of the state legislative assemblies - may act as proposers or seconders, and each may subscribe only one nomination. The election is conducted by the Election Commission, by proportional representation with a single transferable vote and by secret ballot. Each MLA’s vote is weighted by the population of the state divided by the number of members, and each MP’s by the total value of all MLAs’ votes divided by the number of MPs, so that the states and the union have equal weight overall. Disputes are decided by the Supreme Court under Article 71.

Answer: B

Correct answer: Statutory body created by an Act of Parliament

The National Human Rights Commission is a statutory body, established by the Protection of Human Rights Act of 1993, not a constitutional one. It is chaired by a former Chief Justice or a former judge of the Supreme Court, and its members are appointed by the President on the recommendation of a committee including the Prime Minister, the Speaker, the Home Minister, the leaders of the opposition in both Houses and the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. The term is three years or until the age of 70. Its principal limitation is that its recommendations are not binding; it can inquire, summon witnesses and recommend compensation or prosecution, but cannot enforce. It also cannot inquire into a matter more than a year old, and its power over the armed forces is restricted to seeking a report from the government. The distinction being tested is between statutory bodies like this one and the National Commission for Women, and constitutional bodies such as the Election Commission, the CAG, the Finance Commission and the commissions for Scheduled Castes and Tribes.

Answer: B

Article 19 guarantees freedom of the press, as part of the freedom of speech and expression in Article 19(1)(a).

The press is not named separately; the Supreme Court has held that its freedom is contained in the citizen's freedom of expression. It is subject to the reasonable restrictions of Article 19(2).

Answer: D

The Expenditure Reforms Commission was set up in 2000 under K.P. Geetakrishnan.

It recommended reducing government staff by 10 per cent over five years, ending non-essential subsidies and closing loss-making public enterprises, as part of the effort to control the fiscal deficit.

Answer: B

The master plan of the National Capital Region was approved in 1962.

It proposed developing ring towns around Delhi to take the pressure off the capital. The NCR Planning Board was set up in 1985, and the region now covers parts of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.