Polity Questions

The correct answer is ​Secularism.

Key Points

• Secularism
  • The Indian Constitution allows individuals the freedom to live by their religious beliefs and practices as they interpret these.
  • In keeping with this idea of religious freedom for all, India also adopted a strategy of separating the power of religion and the power of the State.
  • Secularism refers to this separation of religion from the State. 
  • The most important aspect of secularism is its separation of religion from state power.
  • This is important for a country to function democratically.
  • Almost all countries of the world will have more than one religious group living in them. Within these religious groups, there will most likely be one group that is in a majority.
  • If this majority religious group has access to State power, then it could quite easily use this power and financial resources to discriminate against and persecute persons of other religions.
  • This tyranny of the majority could result in discrimination, coercion, and at times even the killing of religious minorities.
  • The majority could quite easily prevent minorities from practicing their religions.
  • Any form of domination based on religion violates the rights that a democratic society guarantees to every citizen irrespective of their religion.
  • Therefore, the tyranny of the majority and the violation of Fundamental Rights that can result is one reason why it is important to separate the State and religion in democratic societies.
  • Another reason that it is important to separate religion from the State in democratic societies is that we also need to protect the freedom of individuals to exit from their religion, embrace another religion or have the freedom to interpret religious teachings differently.

The correct answer is The Supreme Court.

Key Points 

• The Supreme Court of India is called the custodian of the Constitution in India.
• The highest court in India, the Supreme Court is considered as the guardian of the Constitution.
• The conflicts or quarrels of jurisdiction between the central government and the state governments or between the legislature and the executive are decided by the court.
• It upholds and uplifts the rule of law and also ensures and protects citizens’ rights and liberties as given in the Constitution.
• Therefore, the Supreme Court is also known as the Guardian of the Constitution.​

Additional Information 

• The Indian constitution provides for a provision of the Supreme Court under Part V (The Union) and Chapter 6 (The Union Judiciary).
• The Supreme Court of India is the highest judicial court and the final court of appeal under the Constitution of India, the highest constitutional court, with the power of judicial review.
• India is a federal state and has a single and unified judicial system with a three-tier structure, i.e. Supreme Court, High Courts, and Subordinate Courts.

The correct answer is 17.

Key Points

• Untouchability is neither defined in the Constitution nor in the Act.
  • It refers to a social practice that looks down upon certain depressed classes solely on account of their birth and makes any discrimination against them on this ground.
  • In 1976, it was made more stringent and was renamed ‘The Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955.
  • It defines ‘Civil Right’ as ‘any right accruing to a person by reason of the abolition of untouchability by 'Article 17 of the Constitution.’
  • All offenses under the Act have been made non-compoundable. 

Additional Information

• Article 14 of the Indian Constitution states that “The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India”.
• Article 48 of DPSP in the Indian Constitution directs the State to prohibit the slaughter of cows, calves, and other milch and draught cattle and to improve their breeds.
• Article 22 is one such Fundamental Right that safeguards the rights of individuals who have been arrested and detained for committing an offence.

The correct answer is Election Commission.

Important Points  In India, the political parties are given ‘recognition’ by the Election Commission of India.

• Election Commission of India:
  • The Election Commission of India is an autonomous constitutional authority responsible for administering Union and State election processes in India.
  • The body administers elections to the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, and State Legislative Assemblies in India, and the offices of the President and Vice President in the country.
  • Part XV of the Indian constitution deals with elections and establishes a commission for these matters.
  • The Election Commission was established in accordance with the Constitution on 25th January 1950.
  • Article 324 to 329 of the constitution deals with powers, function, tenure, eligibility, etc of the commission and the member.
• Articles related to Elections:

Key Points

•  Functions of ECI:
  • Election Commission of India superintendents, direct and control the entire process of conducting elections to Parliament and Legislature of every State and to the offices of President and Vice-President of India.
  • The most important function of the commission is to decide the election schedules for the conduct of periodic and timely elections, whether general or bye-elections.
  • It prepares the electoral roll, issues Electronic Photo Identity Card (EPIC).
  • It decides on the location of polling stations, assignment of voters to the polling stations, location of counting centers, arrangements to be made in and around polling stations and counting centers, and all allied matters.
  • It grants recognition to political parties & allots election symbols to them along with settling disputes related to it.
  • The Commission also has advisory jurisdiction in the matter of post-election disqualification of sitting members of Parliament and State Legislatures.
  • It issues the Model Code of Conduct in elections for political parties and candidates so that no one indulges in unfair practice or there is no arbitrary abuse of powers by those in power.
  • It sets limits of campaign expenditure per candidate to all the political parties and also monitors the same.

The correct answer is 86th Amendment.

Key Points

• The Right to Education was inserted in the Indian Constitution by 86th Amendment.
  • The 86th amendment to the constitution of India in 2002, provided the Right to Education as a fundamental right in part-III of the Constitution.
  • The same amendment inserted Article 21A which made the Right to Education a fundamental right for children between 6-14 years.
  • The first official document on the Right to Education was Ramamurti Committee Report in 1990.

Additional Information

• 44th Amendment : 
  • 44th Amendment of the Constitution of India, officially known as the Constitution 1978, was enacted by the Janata Party.
    • It was introduced into the constitution by 45th Amendment Bill in the year 1978.
    • In 1976, with the introduction of the 42nd Amendment Act, there were various provisions that were amended against the will of the citizens hence, to reverse those changes and safeguard the interests of the nation, 44th Amendment Act was called into action.
    • The 44th Amendment of 1978 removed the right to property from the list of fundamental rights.
• 91st Amendment :
  • The maximum number of members in the council of Ministers has been capped at less than one-sixth of the total members of the primary house of the Union and the State Legislatures according to the 91st Amendment Act, 2003.
  • The total number of ministers, including the Prime Minister, in the Central Council of Ministers, shall not exceed 15% of the total strength of the Lok Sabha.
  • The provision of the Tenth Schedule (anti-defection law) pertaining to an exemption from disqualification in case of split by one-third of members of the legislature party has been deleted. It means that the defectors have no more protection on grounds of splits.
• 31st Amendment:
  • The 31st Amendment of the Indian Constitution was all about changing the number of seats in Parliament.
  • This Amendment Act of 1972 increased the number of Lok Sabha seats from 525 to 545. 

The correct answer is 5 Years.

Key Points

• 5 years is the tenure of Lok Sabha members.
  • Lok Sabha is composed of representatives of the people chosen by direct election on the basis of adult suffrage.
  • The term of a member of parliament of Lok Sabha (dissolved) is five years from the date appointed for its first meeting.
  • During a state of emergency, the term however can be extended by the Parliament of India by law for a period not exceeding one year at a time.

Additional Information

• On 26 January 1950, the Indian constitution came into force and the first general elections (under the new constitution) were held in 1951-1952.
• The 1st Lok Sabha was constituted on 17 April 1952 and had 489 constituencies, thereby the first set of elected members of parliament of Lok Sabha in India.
• The maximum permitted strength of members of parliament in the Lok Sabha is 550.
• The first instance of a member of parliament equivalent in India dates back to 9 December 1946, the day the Constituent Assembly of India was formed with the purpose of drafting a constitution for India.

Important Points

• As per Article 93 of the Indian Constitution, the Lok Sabha has a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker.

The correct answer is option 4.

Key Points

• The parliamentary system of government
  • The parliamentary system is based on the principle of cooperation and coordination between the legislative and executive organs while the presidential system is based on the doctrine of separation of powers between the two organs.
• The features of parliamentary government in India are:
  • Presence of nominal and real executives
  • Majority party rule
  • Collective responsibility of the executive to the legislature. i.e., the Council of Ministers is responsible to the Lok Sabha. So, option 4 is the correct answer.
  • Membership of the ministers in the legislature.

The correct answer is Part IVA.

Key Points

• Part IVA
  • Part IVA of the Indian Constitution relates to Fundamental Duties and is given in article-51 (a).
  • Fundamental Duties are taken from the Constitution of Russia.
  • The Fundamental Duties of citizens were added to the Constitution by the 42nd Amendment in 1976 on behalf of the Swaran Singh Committee recommendations.
  • These duties tell us of the national aims & the basic models of political order and they also motivate us to learn a sense of social responsibility.
  • Originally, the Constitution of India did not contain fundamental duties but today we have 11 fundamental duties.
  • Fundamental duties are applicable only to citizens and not to the aliens.
  • India borrowed the concept of Fundamental Duties from the USSR.

The correct answer is B.N. Rao.

Key Points

• BN Rao was elected by the Constituent Assembly as its constitutional advisor.
  • The Constituent Assembly was a partly elected and partly nominated body.
  • The first meeting of the Constituent Assembly was held on 9 December 1946.
  • The Muslim League boycotted the meeting and insisted on a separate state of Pakistan.
  • Thus only 211 members attended the meeting.
  • Later on 11 December 1946 Dr. Rajendra Prasad and H.C. Mukherjee was elected as the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly respectively.
  • Vallabhbhai Patel was the President of the Provincial Constitution Committee
  • Jawaharlal Nehru was the chairman of the Central Constitution Committee.

Additional Information

• In 1934, M N Roy first proposed the idea of a constituent assembly. Under the Cabinet Mission plan of 1946, elections were held for the formation of the constituent assembly.
• On 24 January 1950, The Indian Constituent Assembly adopted "Vande Mataram " as a national song.
• Drafting Committee:
  • The Drafting Committee had seven members:
    • Alladi Krishnaswami Ayyar, N. Gopalaswami, B.R. Ambedkar, K.M Munshi, Mohammad Saadulla, B.L. Mitter, and D.P. Khaitan.
  • At its first meeting on 30th August 1947, the Drafting Committee elected B.R Ambedkar as its Chairman. 

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.