Indian Polity and the Constitution for CUET General Aptitude

AnswerB · The 42nd Amendment, 1976

1. The Preamble as adopted in 1949 described India as a sovereign democratic republic.

2. The 42nd Amendment of 1976 inserted three words: 'Socialist', 'Secular' and, in the clause on the nation, 'Integrity'.

3. The 44th Amendment of 1978 undid several other changes made in 1976, but it left these three in place.

AnswerB · the authority of the Constitution flows from the people themselves

1. The phrase names the source of the Constitution's authority.

2. It says the document does not derive its force from a ruler or a foreign parliament, but from the people who gave it to themselves.

3. Universal adult franchise is elsewhere in the Constitution, and there is no referendum route to amendment at all.

AnswerD · Prosperity

1. The Preamble secures four things to the citizen: justice, liberty, equality and fraternity.

2. Prosperity is not among them. It appears nowhere in the Preamble.

3. Fraternity is the fourth, and it is the one most often forgotten when this list is recalled.

AnswerD · 26 November

1. The Constituent Assembly adopted the Constitution on 26 November 1949, and it came fully into force on 26 January 1950.

2. 26 November has been observed as Constitution Day since 2015; 26 January is Republic Day.

AnswerB · the head of state holds office by election and not by inheritance

1. A republic is defined by how its head of state comes to office: by election, for a fixed term.

2. India's head of state is the President, who is elected, which is what makes the country a republic rather than a monarchy.

3. A written constitution, a federal division of power and equality before the law are all true of India, but none of them is what the word 'Republic' carries.

AnswerA · a Union of States

1. Article 1 reads that India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States.

2. The wording was chosen deliberately: 'Union' signals that the States did not come together by agreement and have no right to secede.

3. 'Federation' is the tempting answer because the structure is federal in its working, but it is not the word Article 1 uses.

AnswerD · Jawaharlal Nehru

1. Jawaharlal Nehru moved the Objectives Resolution on 13 December 1946, and the Assembly adopted it on 22 January 1947.

2. Rajendra Prasad was the President of the Constituent Assembly, and Ambedkar chaired the Drafting Committee.

AnswerA · Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala, 1973

1. A thirteen-judge bench decided Kesavananda Bharati in 1973 and laid down the basic structure doctrine.

2. Golaknath (1967) had gone further and held that Parliament could not amend Fundamental Rights at all; Kesavananda overruled it.

3. Maneka Gandhi widened Article 21, and Bommai dealt with President's rule in the States.

AnswerB · Article 17

1. Articles 14 to 18 together make up the Right to Equality.

2. Within that group, Article 17 deals specifically with untouchability: it abolishes the practice and makes enforcing any disability arising out of it an offence.

3. Article 14 is equality before the law, Article 19 covers the six freedoms, and Article 21 is the right to life and personal liberty.

AnswerB · Article 32

1. Article 32 gives every person the right to approach the Supreme Court directly when a Fundamental Right is violated.

2. It is itself listed among the Fundamental Rights, which is why it is called the right to constitutional remedies.

3. Article 226 gives a similar power to the High Courts, but it sits outside Part III and is not itself a Fundamental Right.

AnswerA · Six

1. Article 19(1) guarantees six freedoms: speech and expression, assembly, association, movement, residence, and any profession or trade.

2. There were seven until 1978, when the 44th Amendment deleted the freedom to acquire and hold property.

AnswerA · The 42nd Amendment, 1976

1. The Constitution as adopted in 1949 listed Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles, but no duties.

2. The 42nd Amendment of 1976 added Part IVA, consisting of Article 51A, which set out the Fundamental Duties.

3. The other three amendments did different work: the 44th restored some protections altered in 1976, the 52nd added the anti-defection provisions, and the 61st lowered the voting age to 18.

AnswerB · The 44th Amendment, 1978

1. The 44th Amendment of 1978 removed the right to property from Part III.

2. It survives as an ordinary legal right under Article 300A, so the State may still not take property except by authority of law.

3. This is why the number of Fundamental Rights is six today and was seven before 1978.

AnswerB · Articles 23 and 24

1. Article 23 prohibits trafficking in human beings and forced labour.

2. Article 24 prohibits the employment of a child below fourteen in a factory, mine or other hazardous work.

3. Articles 25 to 28 are the freedom of religion, and 29 and 30 are the cultural and educational rights of minorities.

AnswerC · The 86th Amendment, 2002

1. The 86th Amendment of 2002 inserted Article 21A, which makes free and compulsory education for children from six to fourteen a Fundamental Right.

2. The same amendment added the eleventh Fundamental Duty: a parent's duty to provide opportunities for the education of a child in that age group.

3. The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act of 2009 put the right into practice.

AnswerB · Articles 20 and 21

1. Under Article 359 the President can suspend the right to move the courts for the enforcement of Fundamental Rights during an emergency.

2. The 44th Amendment of 1978 made an exception: Article 20 (protection in respect of conviction for offences) and Article 21 (life and personal liberty) stay enforceable.

3. The change followed the experience of the 1975–77 emergency, when personal liberty itself had been left without a remedy.

AnswerD · Part IV

1. Part IV, running from Article 36 to Article 51, holds the Directive Principles.

2. Part III immediately before it holds the Fundamental Rights, and Part IVA after it holds the Fundamental Duties.

3. The three sit next to each other in that order, which is the easiest way to keep them apart.

AnswerA · cannot be enforced by any court

1. Article 37 states plainly that the Directive Principles shall not be enforceable by any court.

2. They are nevertheless declared fundamental in the governance of the country, and it is the duty of the State to apply them when making laws.

3. They bind the Union as much as the States, and they are not suspended during an emergency.

AnswerB · Article 44

1. Article 44 is the directive on a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India.

2. Article 40 is about organising village panchayats, Article 48 about agriculture and animal husbandry, and Article 51 about promoting international peace.

3. All four are Directive Principles, so none of them is enforceable in a court.

AnswerB · Ireland

1. The Directive Principles were modelled on the Irish constitution, which carried a comparable set of non-justiciable directives.

2. From Canada came the idea of a strong Centre and the residuary powers; from Australia the Concurrent List; from the United States the Fundamental Rights and judicial review.

3. Ireland is also the source of the method of electing the President.

AnswerB · Article 39A

1. Article 39A, on equal justice and free legal aid, was inserted by the 42nd Amendment in 1976.

2. Article 41 is the right to work and to public assistance, Article 45 is early childhood care and education, and Article 47 is nutrition and public health.

AnswerB · Article 40

1. Article 40 directs the State to organise village panchayats and give them the powers needed to function as units of self-government.

2. It stayed a directive for forty-two years, until the 73rd Amendment of 1992 gave panchayats constitutional standing of their own in Part IX.

3. Article 50 is the directive on separating the judiciary from the executive, and Article 43 is on a living wage.

AnswerC · the 42nd Amendment, 1976

1. The 42nd Amendment of 1976 inserted Article 48A among the Directive Principles.

2. It added the matching Fundamental Duty in Article 51A(g): to protect the natural environment and have compassion for living creatures.

AnswerA · The Chief Justice of India

1. Article 60 prescribes the form of the President's oath and says who administers it.

2. It is the Chief Justice of India, and in the Chief Justice's absence the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court available.

3. This is the judiciary swearing in the head of the executive, which is why none of the other three offices appears in the Article.

AnswerA · the President

1. Article 53 vests the executive power of the Union in the President.

2. That power is exercised by the President either directly or through officers subordinate to him, and in practice on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers.

3. So the Prime Minister leads the government but the power itself is formally the President's.

AnswerA · the judiciary

1. The legislature makes law, the executive carries it out, and the judiciary interprets it and tests it against the Constitution.

2. That testing power is judicial review, and it is what allows a court to strike down a law that violates a Fundamental Right.

3. The Attorney General is the government's chief legal adviser, not a judge, and gives opinions rather than rulings.

AnswerD · The President

1. Article 75 says the Prime Minister shall be appointed by the President, and the other ministers by the President on the Prime Minister's advice.

2. By convention the President invites the leader of the party or coalition that can command a majority in the Lok Sabha.

AnswerA · the Lok Sabha only

1. Article 109 lays down a special procedure for Money Bills.

2. Such a Bill may be introduced only in the Lok Sabha, the House that is directly elected.

3. The Rajya Sabha may keep it for at most fourteen days and may recommend changes, but it cannot reject or amend the Bill, and the Lok Sabha may accept or ignore the recommendations.

AnswerD · the Lok Sabha

1. The Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the House of the People, that is the Lok Sabha.

2. This is why a government falls when it loses a vote of confidence in the Lok Sabha and not when it loses one in the Rajya Sabha.

3. Ministers are individually responsible to the President, who appoints them, but the collective responsibility runs to the lower House alone.

AnswerB · 15% of the total strength of the Lok Sabha

1. The 91st Amendment inserted Article 75(1A), which caps the Council of Ministers at 15% of the total number of members of the Lok Sabha.

2. The same 15% limit applies to a State's Council of Ministers, measured against its Legislative Assembly.

3. The count is of the lower House only; Rajya Sabha members do not enter the calculation.

AnswerC · 550

1. The Constitution permits up to 530 members from the States and up to 20 from the Union Territories, which is 550 in all.

2. The figure 552 was correct until 2020, when it included two Anglo-Indian members the President could nominate.

3. That nomination provision was allowed to lapse by the 104th Amendment, so the ceiling is now 550.

AnswerC · 250

1. The ceiling is 250: up to 238 representatives of the States and Union Territories, plus 12 members nominated by the President.

2. The 12 are nominated for special knowledge or practical experience in literature, science, art and social service.

3. 238 is the elected part alone, which is why it appears as a distractor.

AnswerD · Fourteen days

1. A Money Bill must be returned to the Lok Sabha within fourteen days.

2. If it is not returned in that time, it is deemed to have been passed by both Houses in the form the Lok Sabha passed it.

3. The Rajya Sabha may recommend changes, but the Lok Sabha is free to reject every one of them.

AnswerD · the Speaker of the Lok Sabha

1. The Speaker of the Lok Sabha presides over a joint sitting.

2. The Vice-President, who chairs the Rajya Sabha, does not preside over a joint sitting at all.

3. A joint sitting cannot be called for a Money Bill or for a Constitution Amendment Bill; it exists to resolve a deadlock over an ordinary Bill.

AnswerA · one-third every two years

1. The Rajya Sabha is a permanent House and is never dissolved.

2. One-third of its members retire every two years, so each member serves a six-year term.

3. The Lok Sabha is the House with a five-year term, and it can be dissolved before that term ends.

AnswerB · The Speaker of the Lok Sabha

1. Article 110(3) says that if any question arises whether a Bill is a Money Bill, the decision of the Speaker of the Lok Sabha is final.

2. The Speaker endorses a certificate on the Bill when it goes to the Rajya Sabha and to the President.

AnswerA · One-tenth of the total number of members of the House

1. Article 100(3) fixes the quorum of each House at one-tenth of its total number of members.

2. If there is no quorum, the presiding officer must adjourn the House or suspend the sitting until there is one.

AnswerC · 6 months

1. Article 85 says six months shall not intervene between the last sitting in one session and the date of the first sitting in the next.

2. That is why Parliament must meet at least twice a year; in practice it holds three sessions: Budget, Monsoon and Winter.

AnswerD · the President

1. The Governor is appointed by the President and holds office during the pleasure of the President.

2. The Governor is not elected by anybody, which is the difference from the President, who is.

3. The same person may be appointed Governor of two or more States.

AnswerC · 35 years

1. A candidate for President must have completed thirty-five years of age.

2. The same minimum applies to the Vice-President.

3. Twenty-five is the minimum for the Lok Sabha and thirty for the Rajya Sabha, which is why both appear as distractors.

AnswerB · the Rajya Sabha

1. The Vice-President is ex-officio Chairman of the Council of States, that is the Rajya Sabha.

2. The Lok Sabha is presided over by the Speaker, who is elected from among its own members.

3. The Vice-President is not a member of either House.

AnswerD · the President

1. Article 53(2) vests the supreme command of the Defence Forces in the President, to be regulated by law.

2. The Chief of Defence Staff is the senior military adviser to the government, not the supreme commander.

AnswerA · the elected members of both Houses of Parliament and of the State Legislative Assemblies

1. The electoral college is made up of the elected members of both Houses of Parliament and the elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of the States.

2. Nominated members do not vote, which rules out the options that say 'all members'.

3. Members of Legislative Councils do not vote either, since the college draws only on Assemblies.

AnswerA · only when both Houses of Parliament are not in session

1. The ordinance power exists precisely for the gap between sessions, so it can be used only when Parliament is not sitting.

2. An ordinance has the same force as an Act of Parliament while it lasts.

3. It must be laid before Parliament when it reassembles and ceases to operate six weeks from that date unless approved earlier.

AnswerC · violation of the Constitution

1. Article 61 allows the President to be impeached only for violation of the Constitution.

2. The charge must be passed by a two-thirds majority of the total membership of the House that brings it, and sustained by the same majority in the other House.

3. 'Proved misbehaviour or incapacity' is the ground for removing a judge, not the President.

AnswerD · the High Courts

1. Article 226 confers the writ power on the High Courts.

2. Article 32 confers a comparable power on the Supreme Court, and that one is itself a Fundamental Right.

3. Article 226 is the wider of the two: a High Court may issue a writ for the enforcement of a Fundamental Right or for any other purpose.

AnswerC · 65 years

1. A Supreme Court judge holds office until the age of sixty-five.

2. A High Court judge retires at sixty-two, which is why 62 is the tempting distractor.

AnswerD · Habeas corpus

1. Habeas corpus means 'you may have the body', and it requires a detained person to be produced before the court.

2. The court then examines whether the detention is lawful and orders release if it is not.

3. It is the only one of the five writs that can be issued against a private person as well as the State.

AnswerD · Quo warranto

1. Quo warranto asks 'by what authority' a person holds an office, and is issued when the holding is unlawful.

2. It applies only to a substantive public office created by statute or by the Constitution.

3. Prohibition, by contrast, is directed at a court or tribunal exceeding its jurisdiction, not at a person holding an office.

AnswerA · Mandamus

1. Mandamus means 'we command', and it orders a public authority to do the duty the law places on it.

2. It cannot be issued to compel a discretionary act, only a duty.

3. Certiorari quashes an order already made by a lower court, while prohibition stops one before it is made.

AnswerC · Certiorari

1. Certiorari means 'to be certified'; the higher court calls up the record of the case and quashes the order.

2. Prohibition is issued earlier, while the case is still pending, to stop the lower court from going on. Certiorari corrects; prohibition prevents.

AnswerD · itself a Fundamental Right

1. The Article is 32, the right to constitutional remedies, and what makes it unusual is that the remedy is itself a Fundamental Right.

2. Because of that, the Supreme Court cannot decline to entertain a petition under it the way a High Court may decline one under Article 226.

3. It is amendable like the rest of the Constitution, it is available to any person and not only a citizen, and it runs against the State generally.

AnswerB · Article 143

1. Article 143 gives the Supreme Court its advisory jurisdiction: the President refers a question, and the Court reports its opinion.

2. The opinion is not binding on the President.

3. Article 131 is original jurisdiction in disputes between the Union and the States, and Article 136 is special leave to appeal.

AnswerD · the President

1. Article 148 states that the Comptroller and Auditor General is appointed by the President by warrant under hand and seal.

2. Parliament's role comes later and is the opposite one: the CAG can be removed only in the same manner as a judge of the Supreme Court, which requires an address by both Houses.

3. Appointment by the President and removal only by Parliament is the pattern that makes the office independent of the government it audits.

AnswerC · Article 324

1. Article 324 vests the superintendence, direction and control of elections to Parliament, the State legislatures, the office of President and the office of Vice-President in the Election Commission.

2. Article 280 is the Finance Commission and Article 315 the Public Service Commissions.

3. Article 352 is the proclamation of a national emergency.

AnswerD · Article 76

1. Article 76 provides for an Attorney General, appointed by the President from among persons qualified to be judges of the Supreme Court.

2. Article 165 is the matching office in a State, the Advocate General. Article 148 is the CAG and Article 124 sets up the Supreme Court.

AnswerC · two other Election Commissioners

1. Article 324 lets the President fix the number of Election Commissioners besides the Chief Election Commissioner.

2. The Commission had a single member for most of its early history. It has been a three-member body, a Chief Election Commissioner and two Election Commissioners, since October 1993.

AnswerB · in the manner prescribed for a judge of the Supreme Court

1. The Comptroller and Auditor General may be removed only in the same manner and on the same grounds as a judge of the Supreme Court.

2. That means an address by each House of Parliament, supported by a special majority, on the ground of proved misbehaviour or incapacity.

3. The appointment is made by the President, but the removal is deliberately put beyond the executive's reach, because the office audits the executive.

AnswerB · Article 280

1. Article 280 requires the President to constitute a Finance Commission every fifth year, or earlier if needed.

2. Its task is to recommend how tax revenue is shared between the Union and the States, and how grants-in-aid are distributed.

3. Article 263 is the Inter-State Council, a different body with a different purpose.

AnswerC · Article 315

1. Article 315 provides for a Public Service Commission for the Union and one for each State.

2. Article 148 is the Comptroller and Auditor General and Article 338 the National Commission for Scheduled Castes.

3. A Chairman or member of the UPSC is removed by the President, but only on a report of the Supreme Court after an inquiry.

AnswerA · Article 279A, inserted by the 101st Amendment

1. The 101st Amendment of 2016 introduced GST and inserted Article 279A, which requires the President to constitute a GST Council.

2. The Union Finance Minister chairs it, and the finance ministers of the States are members, which makes it a constitutional body shared by the Union and the States.

AnswerC · Article 368

1. Article 368 sets out the power of Parliament to amend the Constitution and the procedure for doing so.

2. Article 356 is President's rule in a State and Article 360 is a financial emergency.

3. A Constitution Amendment Bill can be introduced in either House, and there is no provision for a joint sitting on one.

AnswerC · 12

1. There are twelve Schedules today.

2. The Constitution as adopted had eight; four have been added since, in 1951, 1985 and two in 1992.

3. Eight is therefore the correct answer to a differently worded question, about the Constitution as originally adopted.

AnswerD · The Third Schedule

1. The Third Schedule contains the forms of oath or affirmation for Union and State ministers, members of Parliament and the State legislatures, judges and the CAG.

2. The First Schedule lists the States and Union Territories, the Second the salaries of high offices, and the Fourth the allocation of Rajya Sabha seats.

AnswerA · disqualification on the ground of defection

1. The Tenth Schedule, added by the 52nd Amendment in 1985, provides for the disqualification of a legislator who defects from the party on whose ticket they were elected.

2. The division of powers is in the Seventh Schedule and the recognised languages in the Eighth.

3. The administration of tribal areas is in the Fifth and Sixth Schedules.

AnswerC · the Seventh Schedule

1. The Seventh Schedule carries the three Lists that divide legislative power between the Union and the States.

2. Parliament alone legislates on the Union List, State legislatures on the State List, and either may legislate on the Concurrent List.

3. Where a Union law and a State law conflict on a Concurrent subject, the Union law generally prevails.

AnswerD · ratification by the legislatures of at least half the States

1. Provisions touching the federal structure need a special majority in each House plus ratification by the legislatures of not less than half the States.

2. That category covers the election of the President, the division of legislative powers, the representation of States in Parliament, and the Supreme Court and High Courts.

3. There is no referendum route to amendment in the Indian Constitution, and no requirement that every State agree.

AnswerA · the First Amendment, 1951

1. The First Amendment of 1951 created the Ninth Schedule so that land-reform laws placed in it could not be struck down for violating Fundamental Rights.

2. In I. R. Coelho (2007) the Supreme Court held that laws added after 24 April 1973 can still be tested against the basic structure.

AnswerC · the 73rd Amendment, 1992

1. The 73rd Amendment of 1992 inserted Part IX and gave panchayats constitutional standing.

2. The 74th Amendment, passed the same year, did the same for municipalities through Part IXA.

3. Before 1992 panchayats existed only as a Directive Principle under Article 40 and in State law.

AnswerC · The 74th Amendment

1. The 74th Amendment of 1992 inserted Part IXA, covering municipalities.

2. The 73rd, passed in the same year, covers panchayats, which are rural.

3. The pairing is the thing to remember: 73 is rural, 74 is urban, and both are 1992.

AnswerC · Five years

1. Every panchayat has a term of five years from the date of its first meeting.

2. An election to constitute the next panchayat must be completed before that term expires.

3. If a panchayat is dissolved early, the election must be held within six months, and the new body serves only the remainder of the term.

AnswerB · 21 years

1. Article 243F says a person is not disqualified for being under twenty-five if they have reached twenty-one, so 21 is the minimum for a panchayat.

2. Eighteen is the voting age, and twenty-five the minimum for a State Assembly or the Lok Sabha.

AnswerC · 29

1. The Eleventh Schedule lists twenty-nine subjects for panchayats.

2. It was added by the 73rd Amendment along with Part IX.

3. Eighteen is the number in the Twelfth Schedule, which does the same job for municipalities.

AnswerA · eighteen subjects that may be entrusted to municipalities

1. The Twelfth Schedule lists eighteen subjects for municipalities, and came in with the 74th Amendment.

2. The twenty-nine subjects for panchayats are in the Eleventh Schedule, added by the 73rd.

3. The recognised languages are in the Eighth Schedule and the Rajya Sabha's seat allocation in the Fourth.

AnswerD · One-third

1. Article 243D reserves not less than one-third of the seats, and of the chairperson posts, for women, including within the seats reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

2. Many States have gone further and reserve half the seats by their own laws, but the constitutional floor is one-third.