Question Discussion & Solution

The Correct answer is ​42nd Amendment.

 Key Points

• The 42nd Amendment of the Indian Constitution is the most comprehensive amendment to the Constitution and carried out major changes.
• It is also known as “mini-constitution”.
•  Amendments:
  • Added three new words (i.e., socialist, secular, and integrity) in the Preamble.
  • Added Fundamental Duties by the citizens (new Part IV A).
  • Made the president bound by the advice of the cabinet.
  • Provided for administrative tribunals and tribunals for other matters (Added Part XIV A).
  • Froze the seats in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies on the basis of 1971 census till 2001 - Population Controlling Measure
  • Made the constitutional amendments beyond judicial scrutiny.
  • Curtailed the power of judicial review and writ jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and high courts.
  • Raised the tenure of Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies from 5 to 6 years.
  • Provided that the laws made for the implementation of Directive Principles cannot be declared invalid by the courts on the ground of violation of some Fundamental Rights.
  • Added three new Directive Principles viz., equal justice and free legal aid, the participation of workers in the management of industries and protection of the environment, forests, and wildlife.
  • Provided for the creation of the All-India Judicial Service.
  • Shortened the procedure for disciplinary action by taking away the right of a civil servant to make representation at the second stage after the inquiry (i.e., on the penalty proposed).

 Important Points

• The 24th Amendment had re-established Parliament's authority to amend the Fundamental Rights in the Constitution.
• The 25th Amendment was intended to strip the Supreme Court of the power to go into the quantum of compensation for the takeover of property for public use.
• 44th Amendment Act nullified this unjustified power to the government.
• Right to Property was removed from the list of fundamental rights (Article 31) and was made a legal right under Article 300A.
• 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments were passed by Parliament in December 1992.
• Through these amendments, local self-governance was introduced in rural and urban India.

The Correct answer is Justice Fazl Ali.

Key Points

• The creation of the Andhra state intensified the demand from other regions for the creation of states on a linguistic basis.
• This forced the Government of India to appoint (in December 1953) a three-member States Reorganisation Commission under the chairmanship of Fazl Ali to re-examine the whole question. Its other two members were K M Panikkar and H N Kunzru.
• It submitted its report in September 1955 and broadly accepted language as the basis of the reorganisation of states. But, it rejected the theory of ‘one language-one state’. Its view was that the unity of India should be regarded as the primary consideration in any redrawing of the country’s political units. It identified four major factors that can be taken into account in any scheme of the reorganisation of states:

1. Preservation and strengthening of the unity and security of the country.
2.  Linguistic and cultural homogeneity.
3. Financial, economic and administrative considerations.
4. Planning and promotion of the welfare of the people in each state as well as of the nation as a whole.

• The commission suggested the abolition of the four-fold classification of states under the original Constitution and the creation of 16 states and 3 centrally administered territories. The Government of India accepted these recommendations with certain minor modifications.
• By the States Reorganisation Act (1956) and the 7th Constitutional Amendment Act (1956), the distinction between Part-A and Part-B states was done away with and Part-C states were abolished. Some of them were merged with adjacent states and some others were designated as union territories. As a result, 14 states and 6 union territories were created on November 1, 1956.
• The States Reorganisation Act of 1956 established the new state of Kerala by merging the Travancore- Cochin State with the Malabar District of Madras state and Kasargode of South Canara (Dakshina Kannada).
• It merged the Telugu-speaking areas of Hyderabad state with the Andhra state to create the Andhra Pradesh state. Further, it merged the Madya Bharat state, Vindya Pradesh state and Bhopal state into the Madya Pradesh state. Similarly, it merged the Saurashtra state and Kutch state into that of the Bombay state.

Option 1 is correct, i.e. Article 14-18.

The correct answer is The Canadian System.

Key Points

• By vesting the residuary powers in the Union, the Indian Constitution has followed the Canadian System.
• The provisions of a Federation with a strong center, Residuary powers of the Centre, the appointment of State governors by the Centre, and the advisory jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, are all borrowed from the Canadian constitution.

Additional Information

Important borrowed features of the constitution:

The correct answer is option 1 i.e. Minorities can establish and administer educational institutions of their choice

• Article 30 secures religious and linguistic minorities the right to establish and administer educational institutions.
• Only religious and linguistic minorities find mention in Article 30 not ethnic. Hence, both Options 2 and 3 are NOT correct.
• Article 30 also states that any State shall not, in granting aid to educational institutions, discriminate against any educational institution on the ground that it is under the management of a minority, whether based on religion or language. Hence, Option 4 is NOT correct.