7th February 2023 Static Quiz

Correct Answer: C
Explanation
1,2 and 4 are incorrect.
President approval is required for
1. Bill for formation of new state
2. Demand for Grants
3. Bills affecting taxation in which States are interested
President prior approval is not required for any bills affecting taxation in which States are interested.

Correct Answer: D
Explanation
• All the statements are incorrect.
• Statement 1 is incorrect. Cabinet is mentioned in Article 352 of the Constitution. The President can proclaim a national emergency only after receiving a written recommendation from the cabinet. This means that the emergency can be declared only on the concurrence of the cabinet and not merely on the advice of the prime minister.
• In 1975, the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi advised the president to proclaim emergency without consulting her cabinet.
• The cabinet was informed of the proclamation after it was made, as a fait accompli. The 44th Amendment Act of 1978 introduced this safeguard to eliminate any possibility of the prime minister alone taking a decision in this regard.
Statement 2 is incorrect. Article 75-Other Provisions as to Ministers:
(a) The Prime Minister shall be appointed by the President and the other Ministers shall be appointed by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister.
(b) The total number of ministers, including the Prime Minister, in the Council of Ministers shall not exceed 15% of the total strength of the Lok Sabha. This provision was added by the 91st Amendment Act of 2003.
(c) A member of either house of Parliament belonging to any political party who is disqualified on the ground of defection shall also be disqualified to be appointed as a minister. This provision was also added by the 91st Amendment Act of 2003.
(d) The ministers shall hold office during the pleasure of the President.
(e) The council of ministers shall be collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha.
(f) The President shall administer the oaths of office and secrecy to a minister.
(g) A minister who is not a member of the Parliament (either house) for any period of six consecutive months shall cease to be a minister.
(h) The salaries and allowances of ministers shall be determined by the Parliament.
• Statement 3 is incorrect. Article 74 provides for a council of ministers with the Prime Minister at the head to aid and advise the President in the exercise of his functions. The 42nd and 44th Constitutional Amendment Acts have made the advice binding on the President.
• In 1971, the Supreme Court held that ‘even after the dissolution of the Lok Sabha, the council of ministers does not cease to hold office. Article 74 is mandatory and, therefore, the president cannot exercise the executive power without the aid and advise of the council of ministers. Any exercise of executive power without the aid and advice will be unconstitutional as being violative of Article 74.

Correct Answer: C
Explanation
• Statements 1 and 2 are correct. Statements 3 and 4 are incorrect,
• The procedure for the amendment of the Constitution as laid down in Article 368 is as follows:
(a) An amendment of the Constitution can be initiated only by the introduction of a bill for the
purpose in either House of Parliament and not in the state legislatures.

(b) The bill can be introduced either by a minister or by a private member and does not require
prior permission of the president. Hence Statement 1 and 2 are correct.

(c) The bill must be passed in each House by a special majority, that is, a majority (that is, more
than 50 per cent) of the total membership of the House and a majority of two thirds of the
members of the House present and voting.

(d) Each House must pass the bill separately. In case of a disagreement between the two Houses,
there is no provision for holding a joint sitting of the two Houses for the purpose of deliberation
and passage of the bill.Hence statement 3 is incorrect.

(e) If the bill seeks to amend the federal provisions of the Constitution, it must also be ratified by
the legislatures of half of the states by a simple majority, that is, a majority of the members of the
House present and voting.

(f) After duly passed by both the Houses of Parliament and ratified by the state legislatures, where
necessary, the bill is presented to the president for assent.

(g) The president must give his assent to the bill. He can neither withhold his assent to the bill nor
return the bill for reconsideration of the Parliament.

(h) After the president’s assent, the bill becomes an Act (i.e., a constitutional amendment act) and
the Constitution stands amended in accordance with the terms of the Act.

• Statement 4 is incorrect. Simple Majority is required for amending the provisions of Elections to Parliament and state legislatures.

Correct Answer: C
Explanation
• Option C is the correct answer.
• Money Bills: Article 110 of the Constitution deals with the definition of money bills. It states that a bill is deemed to be a money bill if it contains ‘only’ provisions dealing with all or any of the following matters:
1. The imposition, abolition, remission, alteration or regulation of any tax;
2. The regulation of the borrowing of money by the Union government;
3. The custody of the Consolidated Fund of India or the contingency fund of India, the payment of moneys into or the withdrawal of money from any such fund;
4. The appropriation of money out of the Consolidated Fund of India;
5. Declaration of any expenditure charged on the Consolidated Fund of India or increasing the amount of any such expenditure;
6. The receipt of money on account of the Consolidated Fund of India or the public account of India or the custody or issue of such money, or the audit of the accounts of the Union or of a state; or
7. Any matter incidental to any of the matters specified above.
• However, a bill is not to be deemed to be a money bill by reason only that it provides for:
1. The imposition of fines or other pecuniary penalties, or
2. The demand for payment of fees for licenses or fees for services rendered; or
3. The imposition, abolition, remission, alteration or regulation of any tax by any local authority or body for local purposes.
• If any question arises whether a bill is a money bill or not, the decision of the Speaker of the Lok Sabha is final. His decision in this regard cannot be questioned in any court of law or in either House of Parliament or even the president.
• When a money bill is transmitted to the Rajya Sabha for recommendation and presented to the president for assent, the Speaker endorses it as a money bill.

Correct Answer: B
Explanation
• Option B is correct.
• Option A is incorrect. Censure Motion can be moved against an individual minister or a group of
ministers or the entire council of ministers for censuring the council of ministers for specific
policies and actions and it should state the reasons for its adoption in the Lok Sabha. If it is passed
in the Lok Sabha, the council of ministers need not resign from the office.

• Option B is correct. Privilege Motion is concerned with the breach of parliamentary privileges by
a minister. It is moved by a member when he feels that a minister has committed a breach of
privilege of the House or one or more of its members by withholding facts of a case or by giving
wrong or distorted facts. Its purpose is to censure the concerned minister.

• Option C is incorrect. Closure Motion is a motion moved by a member to cut short the debate on
a matter before the House. If the motion is approved by the House, debate is stopped forthwith
and the matter is put to vote

• Option D is incorrect. Calling Attention Motion is introduced in the Parliament by a member to
call the attention of a minister to a matter of urgent public importance, and to seek an
authoritative statement from him on that matter. Like the zero hour, it is also an Indian innovation
in the parliamentary procedure and has been in existence since 1954. However, unlike the zero
hour, it is mentioned in the Rules of Procedure.

Correct Answer: D
Explanation
• Option D is correct.
• In Britain, every order of the King for any public act is countersigned by a minister. If the order
is in violation of any law, the minister would be held responsible and would be liable in the court.
The legally accepted phrase in Britain is, “The king can do no wrong”. Hence, he cannot be sued in
any court.

• In India, on the other hand, there is no provision in the Constitution for the system of legal
responsibility of a minister. It is not required that an order of the President for a public act should
be countersigned by a minister. Moreover, the courts are barred from enquiring into the nature of
advice rendered by the ministers to the president.

Correct Answer: A
Explanation
• Options B, C and D are principle mentioned under DPSP.
• While Option A is incorrect.
Directives Outside Part IV:
• Apart from the Directives included in Part IV, there are some other Directives contained in other Parts of the Constitution. They are:
• Claims of SCs and STs to Services: The claims of the members of the Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes shall be taken into consideration, consistently with the maintenance of
efficiency of administration, in the making of appointments to services and posts in connection
with the affairs of the Union or a State (Article 335 in Part XVI).

• Instruction in mother tongue: It shall be the endeavour of every state and every local authority
within the state to provide adequate facilities for instruction in the mother-tongue at the primary
stage of education to children belonging to linguistic minority groups (Article 350-A in Part XVII).

• Development of the Hindi Language: It shall be the duty of the Union to promote the spread of
the Hindi language and to develop it so that it may serve as a medium of expression for all the
elements of the composite culture of India (Article 351 in Part XVII).

• The above Directives are also non-justiciable in nature. However, they are also given equal
importance and attention by the judiciary on the ground that all parts of the constitution must be
read together.

Correct Answer: D
Explanation
• None of the statements are correct.
• Article 3 authorises the Parliament to:
1. form a new state by separation of territory from any state or by uniting two or more states or
parts of states or by uniting any territory to a part of any state,
2. Increase the area of any state,
3. Diminish the area of any state,
4. Alter the boundaries of any state, and
5. Alter the name of any state.
• However, Article 3 lays down two conditions in this regard: “one, a bill contemplating the above
changes can be introduced in the Parliament only with the prior recommendation of the
President; and two, before recommending the bill, the President has to refer the same to the state
legislature concerned for expressing its views within a specified period.”

• It is clear from the proviso of Article 3 that such a bill can be introduced in any House of the
Parliament and the President gives a specified period(30 days is not written in the Constitution).
Hence, statements 1 and 2 are incorrect.

• The President (or Parliament) is not bound by the views of the state legislature and may either
accept or reject them, even if the views are received in time. Further, it is not necessary to make a
fresh reference to the state legislature every time an amendment to the bill is moved and
accepted in Parliament. In case of a union territory, no reference need be made to the concerned
legislature to ascertain its views and the Parliament can itself take any action as it deems fit.

• Statement 3 is incorrect. The Constitution (Article 4) itself declares that laws made for
admission or establishment of new states (under Article 2) and the formation of new states and
alteration of areas, boundaries or names of existing states (under Articles 3) are not to be
considered as amendments of the Constitution under Article 368. This means that such laws can
be passed by a simple majority and by the ordinary legislative process.

Correct Answer: B
Explanation
• Statement 1 is incorrect. Statement 2 is correct.
• The Parliamentary privileges are special rights, immunities and exemptions enjoyed by the two
Houses of Parliament, their committees and their members. They are necessary in order to secure
the independence and effectiveness of their actions. Without these privileges, the Houses can
neither maintain their authority, dignity and honour nor can protect their members from any
obstruction in the discharge of their parliamentary responsibilities.

• Statement 1 is incorrect. Originally, the Constitution (Article 105) expressly mentioned two
privileges, that is, freedom of speech in Parliament and right of publication of its proceedings.
With regard to other privileges, it provided that they were to be the same as those of the British
House of Commons, its committees and its members on the date of its commencement (ie, 26
January, 1950), until defined by Parliament. The 44th Amendment Act of 1978 provided that the
other privileges of each House of Parliament, its committees and its members are to be those
which they had on the date of its commencement (ie, 20 June, 1979), until defined by Parliament.

• This means that the position with regard to other privileges remains the same. In other words,
the amendment has made only verbal changes by dropping a direct reference to the British House
of Commons, without making any change in the implication of the provision. It should be noted
here that the Parliament, till now, has not made any special law to exhaustively codify all the
privileges. There is no act of Parliament named as Privileges of Parliament Act 1951.

• Statement 2 is correct. The Constitution has also extended the parliamentary privileges to those
persons who are entitled to speak and take part in the proceedings of a House of Parliament or
any of its committees. These include the attorney general of India and Union ministers. It must be
clarified here that the parliamentary privileges do not extend to the President who is also an
integral part of the Parliament.