Question Discussion & Solution

The correct answer is Both Supreme Court and High Court.

• The P. I. L. petition related to Fundamental Rights can be filed with both the Supreme Court and High Court.

Additional Information

• History of Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in India:
  • In 1979, Kapila Hingorani filed a petition and secured the release of almost 40000 undertrials from Patna’s jails in the famous ‘Hussainara Khatoon’ case. Hingorani was a lawyer.
  • This case was filed in the SC before a Bench led by Justice P N Bhagwati.
  • Hingorani is called the ‘Mother of PILs’ as a result of this successful case.
  • The court permitted Hingorani to pursue a case in which she had no personal locus standi making PILs a permanent fixture in Indian jurisprudence.
  • The Supreme Court of India and the High Courts have the right to issue PILs.
  • The concept of PILs stems from the power of judicial review.
  • The concept of PILs has diluted the principle of locus standi, which implies that only the person/party whose rights have been infringed upon can file petitions.
  • Procedure to File PIL in India:
    • Any Indian citizen or organisation can move the court for a public interest/cause by filing a petition:
    • In the SC under Article 32
    • In the High Courts under Article 226
    • The court can treat a letter as a writ petition and take action on it.
    • The court has to be satisfied that the writ petition complies with the following: the letter is addressed by the aggrieved person or a public-spirited individual or a social action group for the enforcement of legal or constitutional rights to any person who, upon poverty or disability, are not able to approach the court for redress.
    • The court can also take action on the basis of newspaper reports if it is satisfied with the case.

The correct answer is Prem Behari Narain Raizada.

Key Points

• The original Constitution of India was handwritten by Prem Behari Narain Raizada in a flowing italic style with beautiful calligraphy.
• Each page was beautified and decorated by artists from Shantiniketan.
• The original copies of the Indian Constitution, written in Hindi and English, are kept in special helium-filled cases in the Library of the Parliament of India.
• With 25 parts containing 448 articles and 12 schedules, the Indian Constitution is the longest written constitution of any sovereign country in the world.  
• The Constituent Assembly, which first met on December 9, 1946, took precisely 2 years, 11 months, and 18 days to come up with the final draft. 

Additional Information

• Flag Committee was headed by Rajendra Prasad
• Union powerhead - Jawaharlal Nehru
• Union constitution Committee - Jawaharlal Nehru
• State Power Committee - Jawaharlal Nehru
• Provincial Committee - Sardar Patel
• Steering Committee- Rajendra Prasad.

The correct answer is One of the senior-most members of the newly elected Loksabha.

Key Points

• One of the senior-most members of the newly elected Loksabha is generally appointed as a Protem Speaker.

Additional Information

• As per the second provision to article 94 of the Constitution, the office of the Speaker becomes vacant immediately before the first meeting of the new Lok Sabha.
• In that case list of senior Lok Sabha members prepared by the Legislative Section is submitted to the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, who selects a protem speaker and approved by the President.

• A President pro tempore or speaker pro tempore is a constitutionally recognized officer of a legislative body who presides over the chamber in the absence of the normal presiding officer.

The correct answer is 172.

• Article 172 of the Indian Constitution relates to the tenure of the state legislature.

Key Points

• State Legislature:
  • Articles 168 to 212 in Part VI of the Constitution deals with the organization, composition, duration, officers, procedures, privileges, powers of the state legislature.
  • States having bicameral legislatures are Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, and Karnataka. 
    • {Trick to Remember- KUMBAT- Karnatak, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana}
  • The legislature's maximum strength is fixed at 500 and minimum strength at 60.
  • Article 172 deals with the Duration of State Legislatures.

Additional Information 

The correct answer is Option 2.

• There is no provision for a joint sitting of the Legislative Council and the legislative assembly. In the case of a disagreement, the decision of the Assembly is deemed final. Hence statement 2 is incorrect.

Key Points

State legislature:

• In most states, the Legislature consists of the Governor and the Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha). This means that these states have unicameral Legislature.
• In a few states, there are two houses of the Legislature namely, Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha) and Legislative council (Vidhan Parishad) besides the Governor. Where there are two Houses, the Legislature, is known as bicameral. 
• Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha):
  • There is a Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha) in every State. It represents the people of the State.
  • The members of Vidhan Sabha are directly elected by people on the basis of the universal adult franchise.
  • They are directly elected by all adult citizens registered as voters in the State. 
  • Members are elected from territorial constituencies.
  • Every State is divided into as many (single member) constituencies as the number of members to be elected.
  • As in the case of Lok Sabha, a certain number of seats are reserved for Scheduled Castes, and in some States for Scheduled Tribes also.
  • This depends on the population of these weaker sections in the State.
  • In order to become a Member of Vidhan Sabha a person must: be a citizen of India; have attained the age of 25 years; his/her name must be in voters’ list; must not hold any office of profit i.e.; should not be a government servant. Hence statement 3 is correct.
• Legislative Council (Vidhan Parishad):
  • Vidhan Parishad is the upper House of the State Legislature. It is not in existence in every State.
  • Very few States have a bicameral Legislature that means having two Houses.
  • The Parliament can create Vidhan Parishad in a State where it does not exist, if the Legislative Assembly of the State passes a resolution to this effect by a majority of the total membership of the Assembly and by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the members of the Assembly present and voting, and sends the resolution to the Parliament.
  • Similarly, if a State has a Council and the Assembly wants it to be abolished, it may adopt a resolution by a similar majority and send it to Parliament. In this situation, Parliament resolves to abolish the concerned Legislative Council.
  • According to the Constitution, the total number of members in the Vidhan Parishad of a State should not exceed one-third of the total number of members of Vidhan Sabha but this number should not be less than 40. Hence statement 4 is correct.
  • The Vidhan Parishad is partly elected and partly nominated. Most of the members are indirectly elected in accordance with the principle of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote system. 
• Sessions of the State Legislature: The State Legislature meets at least twice a year and the interval between two sessions cannot be more than six months. Hence statement 1 is correct.
• The Governor summons and prorogues the sessions of State Legislature.
• He addresses the Vidhan Sabha or both Houses (if there is a bi-cameral Legislature) at the commencement of the first session after each general election and at the commencement of the first session of the year