Question Discussion & Solution

The Correct answer is ​President has refused to give his assent to the Bill.

Key Points

• Joint sitting is not summoned when the president has refused to give his assent to the Bill. Hence it is not a sufficient ground to call joint sitting.

Occasions when Joint Session of Parliament is summoned:

• To resolve deadlock when any house of the Parliament passes a bill and:
• The other House rejects this bill, or
• The Houses do not agree on the amendments made to the bill, or
• More than six months elapsed with the bill being received by the other House without it being passed. Hence Option 1, 2, and 3 are sufficient grounds for join sitting.

​Important Points

• Article 108 of the Indian Constitution provides for a joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament.
• The joint session is summoned by the President.
• It is presided over by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha.
• The joint sitting is governed by the Rules of Procedure of Lok Sabha and not of Rajya Sabha.
• The quorum to constitute a joint sitting: 1/10th of the total number of members of the House.
• The Bill is passed by a simple majority of the total number of members of both the Houses present and voting in the joint sitting.

The correct answer is 1952.

Key Points

• The Council of States also known as Rajya Sabha first constituted on 3 April 1952.

Additional Information

• On 23 August 1954, the Chairman of Rajya Sabha made an announcement in the House that the Council of States would now be called ‘Rajya Sabha’ in Hindi.
• The Rajya Sabha meet for the first time on 13 May 1952.
• Dr. S. Radhakrishnan was the first Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
• Shri S.V Krishnamoorthy Rao was the first Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha.
• At that time, Two hundred and fifty (250), out of which 238 are to be elected and 12 are to be nominated by the President of India is the maximum strength of Rajya Sabha.
• Two hundred and forty-five (245), out of which 233 are elected and 12 are nominated is now the actual strength of Rajya Sabha.

The correct answer is Neither 1 nor 2.

Key Points

• Role of the commission:
  • From the above, it is clear that the functions of the commission are mainly recommendatory in nature.
  • It has no power to punish the violators of human rights, nor to award any relief including monetary relief to the victim. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.
  • Notably, its recommendations are not binding on the concerned government or authority. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.
  • But, it should be informed about the action taken on its recommendations within one month.
  • In this context, a former member of the Commission observed: 
    • The government cannot wash away the recommendations made by the Commission.
    • The commission’s role may be recommendatory, advisory, yet the Government considers the cases forwarded by it.
    • It is, therefore, improper to say that the commission is powerless.
    • It enjoys great material authority and no government can ignore its recommendation’.
    • Moreover, the commission has a limited role, powers and jurisdiction with respect to the violation of human rights by the members of the armed forces.
    • In this sphere, the commission may seek a report from the Central government and make its recommendations.
    • The Central government should inform the Commission of the action taken on the recommendations within three months.
    • The commission submits its annual or special reports to the Central government and to the state government concerned.
    • These reports are laid before the respective legislatures, along with a memorandum of action taken on the recommendations of the commission and the reasons for non-acceptance of any of such recommendations.

The correct answer is By indirect elections by the members of the Provincial Legislative Assemblies established in 1935.

• The members of this assembly were elected indirectly, that is by the members of the provincial assemblies by the method of a single transferable vote of proportional representation.

Additional Information 

• Important facts about the Constituent Assembly
  • In 1934, M N Roy first proposed the idea of a constituent assembly.
  • The demand was taken up by the Congress Party in 1935 as an official demand.
  • The British accepted this in the August Offer of 1940.
  • Under the Cabinet Mission plan of 1946, elections were held for the formation of the constituent assembly.
  • The members of this assembly were elected indirectly, that is by the members of the provincial assemblies by the method of a single transferable vote of proportional representation
  • The constituent assembly was formed for the purpose of writing a constitution for independent India
  • Initially, the number of members was 389.
  • After partition, some of the members went to Pakistan and the number came down to 299.
  • Out of this, 229 were from the British provinces and 70 were nominated from the princely states.
  • Dr Sachchidananda Sinha was the first temporary chairman of the Constituent Assembly.
  • Later, Dr Rajendra Prasad was elected as the President and its Vice President was Harendra Coomar Mookerjee.
  • BN Rau was the constitutional advisor.
  • The assembly first met on 9 December 1946.
  • On 13 December 1946, Jawaharlal Nehru moved the ‘Objective Resolution’.
  • The National Flag of the Union was adopted on 22 July 1947.
  • The final document had 22 parts, 395 articles and 8 schedules.
  • The assembly had met for 11 sessions.
  • The last session was held during 14 – 26 November 1949.
  • The constitution was passed and adopted by the assembly on 26 November 1949.
  • On 24 January 1950, ‘Jana Gana Mana’ was adopted as the national anthem.
  • The constitution came into force on 26 January 1950 (which is celebrated as Republic Day).

The correct answer is Article 108

Key Points

• Article 108:
  • Article 108 of the Indian Constitution of India provides for Joint sitting of both Houses.
  • The joint sitting of the Parliament is called by the President.
  • It is presided over by the Speaker or, in his absence, by the Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha or in his absence, the Deputy-Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
  • The Chairman doesn't preside over the joint session at any means/cost.
  • The joint sitting of both the houses is also held to resolve the deadlock over the passing of key legislation.
  • Not all bills can be referred to a joint sitting of Parliament.
  • There are two exceptions: The money bill under Article 110 and the Constitution amendment bill under Article 368.
  • The Secretary-General shall issue summons to each member specifying the time and place for a joint sitting.
  • The duration and adjournment of the joint sitting shall be determined by the Speaker.
  • The quorum to constitute a joint sitting shall be one-tenth of the total number of members of the Houses.
  • The procedures of joint sessions are subject to modifications and variations as the Speaker may consider necessary or appropriate.

Additional Information

•  Article 72:
  • Article 72 empowers the President the power to grant pardons, reprieves, respites or remissions of punishment or to suspend, remit or commute the sentence of any person convicted of any offence.
• Article 102:
  • Disqualifications for membership. 
  • The Centre is considering a constitutional amendment to define the term ‘office of profit’ and the exempted categories.
  • The draft amendment proposes to exempt advisors appointed by the Centre or states and those appointed to discharge legislative functions such as the leader of the opposition, chief whips, etc from disqualification related to the ‘office of profit’.
• Article 111:
  • Veto Power of the President of India is guided by Article 111 of the Indian Constitution.
  • Three Types of Veto Power: Absolute veto, Suspensive veto and Pocket veto.
  • Exception: The President has no veto power when it comes to the constitutional amendment bills.
• Absolute Veto:
  • It refers to the power of the President to withhold his assent to a bill passed by the Parliament.
  • The bill then ends and does not become an act.
• Suspensive Veto:
  • The President uses a suspensive veto when he returns the bill to the Indian Parliament for its reconsideration.
  • If the Parliament resends the bill with or without amendment to the President, he has to approve the bill without using any of his veto powers.
• Pocket Veto:
  • The bill is kept pending by the President for an indefinite period when he exercises his pocket veto.
  • He neither rejects the bill nor returns the bill for reconsideration.