Indian Politics Questions and Answers

Answer: B

Correct answer: Article 19(1)(a)

Freedom of speech and expression is guaranteed by Article 19(1)(a), one of six freedoms in Article 19 - the others being assembly, association, movement, residence, and profession or trade. All six are available to citizens only. The Constitution nowhere mentions freedom of the press. The Supreme Court has held it to be included within Article 19(1)(a), a reading settled as early as Romesh Thappar in 1950. The article has since been held to cover the right to information, the right to remain silent, commercial speech and the right to fly the national flag. None of the freedoms is absolute. Article 19(2) permits reasonable restrictions on eight grounds: the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign states, public order, decency or morality, contempt of court, defamation and incitement to an offence. The word reasonable is what makes such restrictions justiciable. The original article had no reference to public order or the sovereignty of India; both were added by the First Amendment in 1951.

Answer: A

The Preamble was proposed before the Drafting Committee by Jawaharlal Nehru, in the form of the Objectives Resolution he moved on 13 December 1946.

The Drafting Committee under Ambedkar turned that resolution into the Preamble's final wording, taking the view that it should be in conformity with the Constitution as adopted.

Answer: C

Correct answer: 42nd Amendment

The 42nd Amendment of 1976 inserted Part IVA with ten Fundamental Duties, following the recommendations of the Swaran Singh Committee. An eleventh, on the education of children, was added by the 86th Amendment in 2002.

Answer: C

Article 368 lays down the procedure for amending the Constitution.

Most amendments need a two-thirds majority of members present and voting in each House and a majority of the total membership; those affecting the federal structure also need ratification by half the state legislatures. The Kesavananda Bharati case held that the power cannot be used to destroy the basic structure.

Answer: C

Correct answer: Article 51-A

The Fundamental Duties are set out in Article 51-A, the sole article of Part IV-A, inserted by the 42nd Amendment in 1976 on the recommendation of the Swaran Singh Committee. Ten duties were listed originally, and an eleventh - requiring a parent or guardian to provide educational opportunity to a child between six and fourteen - was added by the 86th Amendment in 2002. They include abiding by the Constitution and respecting the national flag and anthem, cherishing the ideals of the freedom struggle, upholding the sovereignty and integrity of India, promoting harmony, protecting the environment, developing a scientific temper, and safeguarding public property. They apply to citizens only, and unlike the Fundamental Rights they are not directly enforceable by any court - though Parliament may legislate to enforce them, and the courts have used them in interpreting statutes and rights. The other articles named are 32, the right to constitutional remedies; 44, the directive on a uniform civil code; and 21-A, the right to education.

Answer: A

Correct answer: A resolution of the Rajya Sabha agreed to by the Lok Sabha

The Vice President may be removed by a resolution of the Rajya Sabha passed by a majority of all its then members and agreed to by the Lok Sabha. Fourteen days’ notice is required. Two features distinguish this from the removal of the President. No ground is specified - the Constitution does not require proved misbehaviour, violation of the Constitution or anything else, so the resolution need state no reason. And the process begins only in the Rajya Sabha, never in the Lok Sabha, since the Vice President is that House’s Chairman. While such a resolution is under consideration the Vice President does not preside over the House, though he may attend, speak and take part in its proceedings - but may not vote on it. The President, by contrast, is removed by impeachment under Article 61, which requires the specific ground of violation of the Constitution and a two-thirds majority of the total membership in each House. Neither has ever been used.

Answer: B

Correct answer: Dr B. R. Ambedkar

Dr B. R. Ambedkar chaired the Drafting Committee, appointed on 29 August 1947 with seven members, which prepared the draft Constitution for the Assembly’s consideration. The distinction the question turns on is between chairing the Drafting Committee and presiding over the Assembly itself. Dr Rajendra Prasad was President of the Constituent Assembly; Ambedkar chaired the committee that wrote the text and defended it clause by clause in debate. The other committees were chaired by different figures: Nehru led the Union Powers and Union Constitution Committees and moved the Objectives Resolution, and Patel chaired the Advisory Committee on Fundamental Rights and Minorities as well as the Provincial Constitution Committee. Sir B. N. Rau, as Constitutional Adviser, prepared the initial draft on which the committee worked - a contribution often overlooked. Ambedkar is nevertheless the chief architect, and it is his defence of the document in the Assembly that gives the phrase its force.

Answer: B

Urdu is an official language of several states - Jammu and Kashmir, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal - as well as being in the Eighth Schedule.

Kashmiri, Sindhi and Nepali are all in the Eighth Schedule too, but none is the official language of a state.

Answer: D

Correct answer: Examine the constitutionality of legislative and executive actions

Judicial review is the power of the Supreme Court and the High Courts to examine the constitutionality of legislation and of executive action, and to declare void anything that contravenes the Constitution. It rests on Articles 13, 32 and 226 among others: Article 13 declares that any law inconsistent with the Fundamental Rights is void to that extent. The Supreme Court has held judicial review to be part of the basic structure, so it cannot be removed even by amendment. The concept came from the United States, where it was established in Marbury v. Madison. India’s version is narrower in one respect: the Constitution uses the phrase procedure established by law rather than the American due process, though the distinction has largely dissolved since Maneka Gandhi in 1978, in which the Court held that any such procedure must itself be fair, just and reasonable. The contrast is with Britain, where Parliament is sovereign and no court can strike down an Act.

Answer: A

The Constituent Assembly initially had 389 members - 292 from the provinces, 93 from the princely states and 4 from the chief commissioners' provinces.

After partition the number fell to 299, since the members from areas that became Pakistan withdrew to form their own assembly.