6 5 8

India is the biggest democracy in the world. Indian Constitution established a parliamentary

system of government that is the President of theUnion is the Constitutional head of the state.

According to the Constitution, India is a Union ofStates.According to the Constitution, the name of ourcountry is India, that is Bharat

First democracy in the world - Greece. Longest surviving democracy in the world þ Brit-

ain Home of direct democracy - Switzerland Mother of Parliament - Britain P\-§Ä thm«p sNbvXv P\-t\-Xm-¡sf sXc-sª-

Sp v̄ ̀ cWw \S-¯p¶ kwhn-[m-\-amWv P\m-[n-]Xyw.

In a democracy the real power rests with(a) the People (b) the President

(c) the Parliament (d) the Supreme CourtAns: (a) the people

The Indian constitution is founded on a nicebalance of power among the(a) executive (b) legislature (c) judiciary

1950 P\p-hcn 26\v C´y Hcp ]c -am-[n-Imcdn¸-»n-¡mbn {]Jym-]n-¡-s¸-«p. `c-W-¯-e-h³sXc-sª-Sp-¡-s¸-Sp¶ cmPys¯bmWv dn¸-»nIv

F¶v ]d-bp-¶-Xv.

Constituent Assembly The Constitution of India was framed by a

Systems of GovernmentAnarchy : A state of utter disorder or chaos cre-

ated by the absence of a government.Autocracy : Absolute government in the hands

of a single individual.Bureaucracy: The form of government by officials.Democracy : A government of the people, by the

people, for the people.Gynarchy : Government by a woman or a set of

women.Monarchy : The form of government by a king.Oligarchy : The form of government in which

the supreme power lies in the handsof a privileged few.

Plutocracy : The term of government run by thewealthy people.

Democracy : A nation in which the supremepower vests with the representa-tives elected by popular vote.

On May 13, 2002, the Indian Parliament celebratedits golden jubilee. The first Lok Sabha election washeld in 1951-52. On May 13, 1952 President, RajendraPrasad had addressed a joint sitting of the Lok Sabhaand the Rajya Sabha for the first time.13 / 12 / 2001 : The day on which terrorists attackedIndian Parliament.

Golden Jubilee ofIndian Parliament

CONSTITUTIONThe Preamble of the Constitution of IndiaIndia’s fundamental and supreme law

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Constituent Assembly set up under the CabinetMission Plan of 1946.

The idea of a Constitution for India was first ex-pressed by M.N. Roy (communist leader) and itwas supported by Gandhiji & Nehru.

The Constituent Assembly was in sessionbetween December 9, 1946 and November 26, 1949.

Total duration of the making of the constitutionwas 2 years, 11 months and 17 days.The Constituent Assembly had 389 members origi-nally. Later reduced to 299 as League declined.

On the inaugural day of the assembly on Decem-ber 9, 1946, Dr. Sachidananda Sinha was electedas the temporary President to chair the meetingand on December 11, 1946, Dr. Rajendra Prasadwas elected as the permanent President of theConstituent Assembly.

Constituent Assembly worked by constituting13 committees and the most prominent committeewas the Drafting Committee of the constitution.

Dr. B.R. Ambedkar was the Chairman of theDrafting Committee of the Constitution.

C´y³ ̀ c-W-L-S-\-bpsS apJy -inev]n Bbn-cp¶pDr. B.R. Ambedkar. kzX{́ C´y-bpsS BZys¯\n-b-aa-{´n-bpam-bn-cp¶p At±-lw. 1990-þÂ C´ymKh¬saâ v acWm\-´c _lp-a-Xn-bmbn `mc-X-cXv\w \ÂIn BZ-cn-̈ p.

Other six members of the drafting committee wereN. Gopalaswami Iyengar, Alladi Krishna SwamyIyer, K.M. Munshi (founder of Bharatiya VidyaBhavan), Syyed Mohammad Sadayatullah,N. Madhava Rao and D.P. Khaitan.

Jawaharlal Nehru, introduced the objectives ofresolution (purpose and aim) in the assembly andthat resolution constituted on the basis of thePreamble of the Constitution.

The Constitution of India was adopted onNovember 26, 1949 and it came into force onJanuary 26, 1950.

The date January 26, was chosen to inauguratethe Constitution in memory and honour of theLahore session of the Indian National Congresson 31st December 1929.

The Constituent Assembly adopted our Na-tional Flag on July 22, 1947.

The Constituent Assembly adopted our Na-tional Anthem on January 24, 1950.

Sources of the Constitution The most vital problem agitated the minds of the

makers of the Constitution was how to ensure theunity of India.

Accordingly a Constitution came into being byborrowing from various sources relevent to theIndian situation. Thus, the Constitution of Indiacan be called a Borrowed Constitution.

The Government of India Act 1935 and the Con-stitution of various other countries have playedtheir part in framing the Constitution.

Our Constitution was also influenced by the ideas

B.N. Rao: The first Constitutional Advisor. Sardar Vallabhai Patel and V.P.Menon: The

problem of the integration of princely stateswas ably handled.

Article 32 : Heart & Soul of the Constitution"If I was asked to name any particular article ofthe Constitution as the most important one - anarticle without which this constitution would be anullity - I would not refer to any other article ex-cept this one. It is the very soul of the Constitu-tion and the very heart of it and I am glad that thehouse has realised its importance......" Thisopinion of Dr. Ambedkar has been reaffirmed bythe Supreme Court of India on several occasions. Article 32: empowers The Supreme Court

"Right to Constitutional Remedies."

References (Constitutions) The Aspects adopted

Government of India Act, 1935 The Federal system, Office of theGovernor, Federal court, Emer-gency power

Britain Parliamentary Government,Single Citizenship, Rule of law,Office of the CAG

U.S Judicial Review, FundamentalRights, Impeachment process,Preamble

Ireland Directive Principles, Presiden-tial Election.

Canada Federation with a strong cen-tre, Residuary power.

Germany Suspension of Fundamental(Weimar Constitution) Rights due to EmergencyAustralia Concurrent List.South Africa Amendment ProcedureFrance RepublicRussia Fundamental Duties

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of Equality, Liberty and Fraternity, the three slo-gans released by the French Revolution (1789),the American Declaration of Independence (1776)and Gandhian thoughts.Which one of the following features was borrowedby the Indian Constitution from the British Consti-tution?(a) Parliamentary System of Government(b) Rule of Law(c) Law – making procedure(d) All the aboveAns: (d) All the above

Nature of the ConstitutionWritten/ Unwritten A Written Constitution is one in which most of

the fundamental or basic rules of governmentorganisations are contained in a document.

The Constitution of India is the longest writtenConstitution in the world.

America has the shortest as well as the oldestwritten Constitution in the world.

The Constitution of U.S. was framed by the del-egates meeting in the Philadelphia Convention.

Swiss Federation was formed in 1867. Canadian Federation was formed in 1848. Australian Federation was formed in 1901. An Unwritten Constitution is one in which most

of the fundamental rules and principles of gov-ernmental organisations have not been reducedto writing by any authorised body or persons.

The best example of an unwritten Constitution isthe British Constitution.

Israel is another country without a writtenConstitution.

Flexible / Rigid If a Constitution can be amended easily by the

simple majority of the member of parliament, it issaid to be flexible.

If the procedure of amending or repealing ordinarylaws is difficult, the Constitution is said to be rigid.

The Indian Constitution is rigid in so far as itsbasic principles are concerned. Some of its provi-sions can be amended by a simple majority of par-liament while others require either a two third ma-jority of parliament or a two third majority of parlia-ment besides the accent of majority of state legis-lature. So it is said that the Indian Constitution is

partly flexible and partly rigid. The examples of Rigid Constitution are United

States, Canada, Switzerland and Australia. British Constitution is a flexible Constitution.Unitary / Federal A Constitution is said to be unitary if it concen-

trates all authority at the centre, making the vari-ous regions subservient to the central government.

Britain and France have unitary Constitutions. A Federal Constitution divides government

authority between the centre and the regionsconferring on the latter an autonomous status.

The US Constitution, the Canadian Constitutionand the Indian Constitution are examples ofFederal Constitutions.

Indian Constitution is described as federal interm but unitary in spirit.

Ata-cn-¡³ sFIy-\m-Sp-I-fnse s^U-d kwhn-[m-\-t¯mSv C´y³ ̀ c-W-L-S-\bv¡v IS-̧ m-Sp-­v.F¶m Ata-cn-¡-bn \ne-\n¡p¶ s^U-dÂkwhn-[m-\-¯n \n¶pw hyXy-kvX-ambn, Hcp tI{µKh¬saânsâ Iogn {]hÀ¯n-¡p¶ kzbw-̀ -cW A[n-Im-c-apÅ kwØm-\-§-fpsS s^U-td-j³ BWv C´y.

Indian Constitution is Quasi - Federal. The word Federal is however absent in the

Indian Constitution.

Salient Features of the Constitution of India The Constitution of India is the lengthiest or

bulkiest written Constitution in the world. The Constitution at present contains 444 Articles

and 12 Schedules. The Constitution has 22 parts. The first part has

four Articles. Originally our Constitution contained 395 Ar-

ticles and 8 Schedules. It is designed to work as federal Constitution in

normal times and as a unitary one in emergency. It establishes a parliamentary system of Govern-

ment both at the centre and in the states. The President is the Constitutional Head of the

The Preamble is a part of the Constitution statutebut it is not a part of the Constitution.

It is its identity card." : N.A. Palkhivala.

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(d) Sovereign, Socialist, Secular RepublicAns: (c) Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic,

Republic In, 1973, with the ruling of the Supreme Court that

the Preamble is an integral part of the constitu-tion, in the case Kesavananda Bharati Vs State ofKerala, the Preamble began to be considered as apart of the constitution.

The word 'soverign' means that India can follow atype of foreign policy so as to preserve hernational interest.

The word 'socialist' means that the land andfactories (the means of production) shall be owned andoperated by the state or the community or the societyfor the general welfare of the society as a whole.

The preamble declares India to be a secularstate. The state has no religion of its own and isexpected to remain neutral in religious matters.

The word 'republic' implies that the head of thestate namely, the President is an elected personfor a fixed term as against England where thehereditary monastry is existing.

How many times, the Preamble has been amendedso far?

State (Country). The Constitution of India introduces adult fran-

chise and also the system of joint electorates. Our Parliamentary system is based on universal

adult franchaise ie, every adult above 18 years ofage has (61st Constitution Amendment 1989) theright to vote.

The Constitution of India guarantees FundamentalRights to all citizens of India.

It lays down the Directive Principles of State Policyfor the guidance of the governmental authoritiesin the country.

It provides for an independent judiciary. The Supreme Court acts as the guardian of the

Constitution.

Preamble to the Constitution The Preamble or the preface gives in a nutshell the

aims and purposes of the Constitution of India. The Preamble is cosidered to be the key to open

the edifice of the Constitution. `c-W-L-S-\-bpsS Poh³ F¶-dn-b-s¸-Sp -¶Xv

Bap-J-am-Wv. The objectives of resolution introduced by

Jawaharlal Nehru constitute the basis of thePreamble of the Constitution.

The Preamble declares that sovereignity orsupreme power in India belongs to the people.

? According to the Preamble of our ConstitutionIndia is a :(a) Sovereign, Democratic, Socialist, Republic(b) Sovereign, Democratic, Republic(c) Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic, Republic

93þmw t`Z-K-Xn-2002-þse 93-þmw ̀ c-W-L-S\ t`Z-K-Xn-_n {]Imcw(86-þmw ̀ c-W-L-S\m t`Z-K-Xn-\n-baw) hnZym-`ymkwHcp auen-Im-h-Im-i-ambn amdn. CXp-hgn 6 \pw14\pw CS-bv¡pÅ Ip«n-Isf ]Tn-̧ n-t¡-­XvamXm-]n-Xm-¡-fp-sSbpw kaq-l-̄ n-sâbpw IS-a-bmbn amdn.

]s£ BsIbpÅ Bdv auen-I-mh-Im-i-§-fpsSF®-̄ n CXv hÀ²-\-hp-­m-¡p-¶n-sÃ-¶Xv{]tXyIw {i²n-¡-Ww. CXn\v ImcWw Article21þsâ `mK-am-bm-Wv t`Z-KXn Ah-X-cn-¸n-¨n-cn-¡p-¶-Xv. hnZym-`ymkw auenIm-h-Im-i-am-bn«pw auenIm-h-Im-i-§-fpsS F®w Bdp Xs¶-bmWv.

Vijayendra N. Kaul, theComptroller and AuditorGeneral of India hasbeen elected as the exter-nal auditor to WHO fortwo financial periods2004-2005 & 2006-2007. This is for the firsttime that an Asian Can-didate has been electedto this job.

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(a) once (b) twice (c) thrice (d) neverAns: (a) once

42nd Amendment hgn 1976 emWv Preamble t`Z-KXn sNbvX-Xv.

Which of the following words were added to thePreamble of Indian Constitution under the 42ndAmendment?(a) Democratic Republic(b) Democratic, Socialist(c) Socialist, Secular & Integrity(d) Sovereign, Secular

Ans: (c) Socialist, Secular & Integrity The words 'socialist, secular' and the 'unity and

the integrity' of the nation were added by the Con-stitution (42nd Amd. Act, 1976.

Citizenship(Article 5- 11)

The Part II (Article 5-11) of the Constitution dealswith the Citizenship, of India.

Articles 5 – 8 deals with the citizenship at the timeof commencement of the Constitution.

Article 9 - citizenship will be terminated if the per-son acquires citizenship of another country.

The ways in which the Indian citizenship can beacquired are(i) by descent (ii) by naturalisation(iii) by registration (iv) by birth and(v) by incorporation of territory.

GI ]uc-Xz-¯n \mw {_n«sâ ]mX- ]n³Xp-SÀ¶n-cn-¡p-¶p.How long has a person to reside in India beforehe or she qualifies to acquire citizenship byregistration?

Ans : 5 years (earlier it was six months) Who has the authority to prescribe residence

within a State or Union Territory as a necessaryqualification for certain classes of employmentunder the State or Union Territory?(a) The President (b) The Parliament(c) The Governor (d) The Prime Minister

Ans: (b) The Parliament

A person can become a citizen of India even ifborn outside India if his/her father or mother is acitizen of India at the time of person’s birth.

The citizenship can be lost by renunciation,termination, or deprivation.The period of acquisition of citizenship throughregistration has been increased from 6 months to

Dual Citizenship The Government has decided to permit dual

citizenship for People of Indian Origin (PIO)living in certain countries.

America, Britain, Canada, South Africa,Singapore, Germany, France F¶o 7 cmPy§-fnse C´y³ ]uc³am-À¡mWv Cc« ]ucXzwA\p-h-Zn-̈ p-sImSp¡m³ Xocp-am-\-am-b-Xv.

C´y³ ̀ c-W-L-S\ GI ]uc-Xz-amWv AwKo-I-cn-̈ n-cn-¡p-¶-Xv. CXv {]Imcw GsX-¦nepwC´ym-¡m-c\v hntZi ]ucXzw t\Sm-\m-bmÂC´y³ ]ucXzw X\nsb CÃm-Xm -Ipw.AtXmsS C´ym-¡m-c³ hntZ-in-bm-Ipw. ]ns¶Cu NRI (Non Resident Indian) C´y-bn-te¡vIS-¡m³ VISA (Visitors Intention of Stay-ing Abroad) thWw. C´y-bn \n¶pw Ata-cn-¡, Im\-U, Cw¥­v XpS-§nb cmPy-§-fnÂt]mbn Ahn-Sps¯ ]uc-·m-cmb [mcmfw\mS³ hntZ-in-I-fp­v. Ch-cpsS ]Ww kz´w\m«nse hnI-k-\-̄ n\v D]-tbm-K-s¸-Sp-̄ m³At\Iw IS-¼-IÄ D­.v ImcWw ChÀ tech-nically hntZ-in-I-fm-W-tÃm. CXns\mcp ]cn-lmcw ImWm³ BZyw sNbvXXv PIO cardCd-¡p-I-bm-bn-cp-¶p. Persons of Indian Ori-gin card C´y³ ]uc-Xz-an -Ãm¯ C´y-¡mÀ¡v VISA CÃmsX kz´w \m«n-te¡vhcm-\pÅ kuI-cy-sam-cp-¡n. ]s£ Dt±-in¨^ew ImW-m¯-Xn-\m Nne Øe-§-fnseNRIIÄ¡v Cc« ]ucXzw \ÂIm³ kÀ¡mÀX¯z-̄ n Xocp-am-\n-̈ p. CXv kw_-Ôn¨\nb-a-\nÀ½mWw ASp-¯nsS \S¶p. \mSnsâhnI-k-\-¯n\v CXv Hcp apX¡q-«m-hpw. Ime-¯n-\-\p-k-cn¨v amdm³ \½psS kaqlw ]Tn-¨p-h-cp-¶p. Cu amäw \n§-fnepw thWw.

P\p-hcn 9: ̀ mc-Xob {]hmkn Zn\w. KmÔnPn{]hmkn PohnXw Ah-km-\n-̧ n¨v C´y-bn-te¡v Xncn-s -̈̄ n-b- Zn-h-k-am-WnXv.

According to Article 79, the Parliamentdoes not consist of

Attorney General of India.

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5 years.The Constitution of India provides for(a) dual citizenship (b) single citizenship(c) international and national citizenship

Ans: (b) single citizenship The Citizenship Act, 1955 provides for acquisi-

tion and termination of citizenship after the com-mencement of the Constitution.

Fundamental Rights(Article 14 to 35)

The concept of Fundamental Rights has its originin the ''Bill of Rights'' of USA.

Part III of the Constitution deals with Fundamen-tal Rights.

Fundamental Rights are justifiable. The Fundamental Rights are protected by the su-

preme court & the high court as the guardians ofthe Constitution.

auen-Im-h-Im-i-§-fpsS kwc-£-WmÀ°w HcpC´y³ ]uc\v kp{]ow-tIm-S-Xn-bn t\cn«v tIkv^b sN¿mw.

The main objective of the inclusion of Fundamen-tal Rights in the Constitution is to establisha government of law and not of man.

The original Constitution classified the Funda-mental Rights into seven categories. But now thereare only six categories.They are

(1). Right to Equality (Article 14-18) (2) Right to Freedom (19-22) (3) Right against Exploitation (23-24) (4) Right to Freedom of Religion (25-28) (5) Cultural and Educational Rights (29-30) (6) Right to Constitutional Remedies (31-35) The Right to Property, one of the Fundamental

Right to Property1978-þ P\Xm Kh¬saâ v 44þmw ̀ cWLS\m t`Z-K-Xn-bn-eqsS auenIm-h-Im-i-ambncp¶ Right to Propertysb legal right am{X-am¡n Npcp-¡n-b-Xv \mSnsâ hnI-k\w Xzcn-X-s¸Sp-¯m³ th­n-bm-Wv. hnI-k-\-¯n\mbn IqSp-X tdmUp-I-fpw, sdbnÂth sse\p-I-fpw, hnam-\-Xm-h-f-§-fpw, hyh-kmb ime-Ifpw ]pXn-b-Xmbn \nÀ½n-t¡-­n-hcpw. CXn\v kÀ¡m-cn\v s]mXp-P-\-§-fn \n¶pw Øew Gsä-Sp-t¡­n hcpw, kz -̄h-Imiw auen-Im-h-Im-i-am-bn-cp-¶-t¸mÄ Bfp-IÄC¯cw \o¡-¯ns\Xnsc tImSXn Ib-dn-bn-d-§n, hnI-k\ {]hÀ -̄\-§-fpsS Xmfw sXän- p̈. ̀ c-W-L-S\m hnZ-Kv[À¡v _p²n-bp-Zn̈ p. A§ns\ kz̄ -h-Imiw ssIh-imhIm-i-ambn Npcp-§n, F¶n-cp-¶mepw Bizm-k-atÃ,\mSv hfÀ¶ntÃ!

Rights, was taken away and it is only a legal rightby the 44th Amendment (1978).

Fundamental Rights can be suspended during anemergency by the Parliament.

The power to impose reasonable restrictions on theFundamental Rights of Indian Citizens rests with(a) The Supreme Court (b) The Parliament(c) The President (d) None of the above

Ans: (b) The Parliament All the following are Fundamental Rights guaran-

teed by the Indian Constitution except(a) the Right to Equality(b) the Right against Exploitation(c) the Right to Adequate means of Livelihood(d) the Right to Freedom of ReligionAns: (c) the Right to Adequate means of Livelihood

The Citizenship Act, 1955 provides foracquisition and termination of citizenship

after the commencement of the Constitution

H.J. KaniaFirst Chief Justice of

India

The Constitutionabolishes untouch-ability (Article 17) andits practice in any formis punishable with theterm of 2 years impris-onment.

'Right to Constitu-tional Remedies' (Ar-ticle 31-35) was de-scribed by Dr. B.R.Ambedkar as ‘'theheart and soul of theConstitution.''

Article 32 empowersthe supreme court to

6 6 4

issue writs for the enforcement & protection offundamental rights of a person if these rights areviolated mostly by the state.

Types of Writs Types of writs are

Habeas Corpus Mandamus CentiorariQuo Warranto Prohibition.

Habeas Corpus (to have the body) : It is an ordercalling upon the person who has detained another,to produce the latter before the court in order to letthe court know on what ground he has been con-fined and to set him free if there is no legal justifica-tion for the imprisonment.

Cu dn«v `c-Wm-[n-Im-cn-IÄs¡Xn-scbpw, th­nh¶m kwL-S-\-IÄs¡-Xn-scbpw ]pd-s -̧Sp-hn-¡p-¶p.

Mandamus (we command): commands a personto whom it is addressed to perform some publicor quasi public legal duty which he has refused toperform and the performance of which cannot beenforced by any other adequate legal remedy.

Certiorari (to be certified) is issued directing thesubordinate court to send up certain records forreview.

A[n-Imc ]cn-[n-bn Ihnªv kzm`m-hnI \oXn-ew-Ln¨pw \ÂI-s¸« Hcp-¯-chv d±m-¡m³ hnNm-c-Wbv¡v tijhpw Cu dn«v hn\n-tbm-Kn-¡-s -̧Sp-¶p.

Quo Warranto (on what authority) is a proceed-ing whereby the court enquires into the legalityof the claim which a party asserts to public office,and to oust him from its enjoyment if the claim isnot well founded.

s]mXp-kz-`m-h-t¯m-Sp-Iq-Sn-btXm KW-\ob-am-b-tXm,kzX-{́ -]-Z-hn-bn-ep-ÅtXm Bb Hcp-tZymKw A\Àl-ambn t\Sn-bn-«pt­m F¶p am{X-amWv tIzmhm-dtâmlÀPn-bn tImS-Xn¡v ]cn-K-Wn-¡m-\p-Å-Xv.

Prohibition - This writ is issued by the SupremeCourt or a High Court to an inferior court forbid-ding the latter to continue proceedings in a casein excess of its jurisdiction or to usurp a jurisdic-tion with which it is not legally vested.

The Supreme Court exercise the power to issuewrits under Article 32 and High Court applies sucha power under Article 226 of the Constitution

Supreme Court & High Court alone have power toissue writs.

Directive Principles of State Policy (Article36-51)

Part IV of the Constitution contains the DirectivePrinciples of State Policy (Article 36 - 51).

The idea of directive principles has been borrowedfrom the Irish Constitution.

The directive principles imposed certain dutieson government for the purpose of a better soci-ety in India.

The Directive Principles are not enforceable incourts.

Article 44 directs the state to secure a UniformCivil Code (UCC).

Article 45 directs to provide free and compulsoryeducation for children upto 14 years.

Though the Directive Principles are not enforce-able, they are declared fundamental to the gover-nance of the country.

The crucial difference between the fundamentalrights and directive principles is that the formerare justifiable and the latter are non justifiable.

K.S. Shah, a prominent member in the constitu-ent assembly, described the directive prin-ciples as Pious Wishes and also held that Di-rective Principles constitute 'a cheque payableif its fund permits.'

Fundamental Duties (Article 51-A) The Fundamental Duties of Indian citizens were

incorporated in the Constitution by 42nd Amend-ment in 1976 to curb subversive and unconstitu-tional activities.

Fundamental Duties are modelled on the RussianConstitution.

Under the new Article 51-A, a list of ten duties are

Ignorance of the lawexcuses no man, notthat all men know thelaw but because it isan excuse every manwill plead

John Selden

6 6 5

enumerated .1. To abide by the Constitution to respect its ideals,

the National Flag & the National Anthem.2. To cherish and follow the noble ideas which

inspired our national struggle for freedom.3. To defend the sovereignity, dignity and integrity

of India.4. To uphold the country and render national service.5. To promote harmony and spirit of common broth-

erhood among all people transcending religiouslinguistic, regional or sectional diversities, to re-nounce practises derogatory to the dignity ofwomen.

6. To value and preserve the rich heritage of ourcomposite culture.

7. To protect and improve natural environment in-cluding forest, lakes, rivers and wild life and tohave compassion to living creature.

8. To safeguard public property and objure violence.9. To develop scientific temper, humanism and

spirit of enquiry.10. To strive towards excellence in all fields of indi-

vidual and collective activity. Swaran Singh Committee recommended the idea

of including charter on Duties.The Fundamental Duties of a citizen do not include-(a) promoting communal harmony(b) developing scientific temper(c) safeguarding public property(d) protecting children from hazardous employmentAns: (d) protecting children from hazardous

employment

Executive

The President The President of India is the head of the state and

is elected for a term of 5 years. The supreme commander of the defence forces of

India is the President. The President of India is the Constitutional head

of India. Xsâ A[n-Im-c-§Ä cmjv{S-]Xn \nÀÆ-ln-¡p-¶Xv

{][m-\-a-{´n-bp-sSbpw a{´n-k-̀ -bp-sSbpw D]-tZ-i-{]-Im-c-am-Wv.(BÀ«n-¡nÄ þ 74)

The President of India is elected by an electoral

college (consisting of members of both houses ofParliament, elected members of State Assembliesand the elected members of the legislative assem-blies of Union Territory of Delhi & Pondicherry)in accordance with the system of proportionalrepresentation by means of a single transferablevote by secret ballot.

Articles 54 and 55 of the Indian Constitutionlaydown the procedure for electing the President.

It is also provided in the Constitution that thecandidate to be declared elected as President mustreceive more than 50% of the polled valid votes.

The members in Legislative councils have no rightto vote in the Presidential election.

To be a candidate for the office of the President, nomi-nation must be proposed by atleast 50 elected mem-bers and to be seconded by another 50 electors. Thisprocedure was introduced during the Presidential elec-tion in 1997, when Mr. K. R. Narayanan was elected.

At present the President's salary is fixed atRs. 50,000 and he is eligible for other allowancescharged on Consolidated Fund of India.

The President can be removed from office byadopting an address by not less than 2/3

rd

majority of the members of the House and to beapproved by a similar majority of the members of

Registration of Political Parties The Representation of the People Act, 1951

provides for registration of political partiesby the Election Commission.

A party registered with the ElectionCommission may be granted recognition asa National or State Party on the fulfilment ofcertain criteria based on its poll performance.

If a political party fulfills the criteria forrecogition under the Election symbols(Reservation and Allotment) order, 1968 infour or more states, it is deemed to a NationalParty.

A political party recognised in less than fourstates is a state party in the state or states inwhich it is recognised as such.

An exclusive symbol is reserved for aNational party throughout India.

6 6 6

the other house. The President can also be removed from office on

the ground of violation of Constitution by theprocess of impeachment (Article 6) by giving 14days notice signed by atleast 1/4 th of the memberof the House (either Rajya Sabha or Lok Sabha).

A candidate for the presidency must be a citizenof India and must have completed 35 years ofage. He must be qualified to be a member of theLok Sabha. He cannot be a member of any Legis-lature. If he is a member, he ceases to be so imme-diately on assuming office. He cannot hold anyoffice of profit.

Pocket Veto is the power enjoyed by the Presi-dent of India. As no time limit is imposed by theConstitution for giving his approval for a billpassed by both the houses of the Parliament, hecan keep it pending indefinitely.

Chief Justice of India administers oath of office tothe President.

President appoints Finance Commission after every5 years.

Money Bill is to be introduced only on President'srecommendation.

Budget is laid before Parliament in the name of thePresident.

President’s rule can be declared if the President issatisfied that the Government of state cannot becarried on in accordance with the provisions ofthe Constitution.

All executive actions of the Union must be takenin the name of the President.

All important officials like Prime Minister, otherUnion Ministers, Attorney - General, Comptrollerand Auditor General, Judges of the Supreme Courtand High Courts, Governor of a state, UPSC Chair-man, Chief Election Commissioners, Ambassadors,Deputy Chairman of members of planning com-mission etc. are appointed by President.

The President has the power to remove all thefollowing except:(a) Attorney General of India(b) Governor of a state(c) Council of Ministers(d) Chairman of the State Public Service Commis-sion on the report of Supreme CourtAns: (d) Chairman of the State Public ServiceCommission on the report of Supreme Court

Which of the following does the President notappoint?(a) Finance Commission(b) Planning Commission(c) Commission on official languages(d) UPSC

Ans : (b) Planning Commission Planning Commission is only an advisory body. It

is a non statutory body.

Article 370

P½p-Im-ivaoÀ kwØm-\s¯ kw_-Ôn-¡p¶{]tXyI BÀ«n-¡nÄ BWv 370. CXv {]ImcwCu kwØm-\-̄ n\v Nne {]tXyI A[n-Im-c-§fpw Ah-Im-i-§fpw ̀ c-W-L-S-\-bn DÄs -̧Sp-̄ n-bn-«p-­v. BÀ«n-¡nÄ 152 {]Imcw aäpkwØm-\-§-fpsS ]«n-I-bn \n¶pw P½p-Im-ivao-cns\ Hgn-hm-¡n-bn-«p-­v.

Delhi is the only National Capital Territoryhaving a High Court of its own

6 6 7

unopposed?(a) Dr. S.Radhakrishnan (b) Neelam Sanjiva Reddy(c) V.V. Giri (d) Dr. Rajendra Prasad

Ans: (b) Neelam Sanjiva Reddy The President addresses both Houses of Parlia-

ment assembled together(a) once a year whenever he chooses(b) at the commencement of each session(c) at the invitation of the Houses(d) at the commencement of the first Session ofeach yearAns: (d) at the commencement of the first Ses-sion of each year

]mÀe-saânsâ Hmtcm Xocp-am-\-̄ n\pw XoÀ¸p-IÂ]n-t¡-­Xv cmjv{S-]-Xn-bm-Wv.

President is the only authority in pardoning thedeath Sentence (Article 72)

kÀÆo-kn-en-cns¡ acn¨ (die in harness) BZys¯cmjv{S-]Xn tUm. k¡oÀ lpssk³ BWv. 1969Â.

The second President of India to die in harness isFakhruddin Ali Ahmed.

Emergencies(Article 352-360)

The Constitution of India provides three types ofEmergencies (i) arising out of civil war, externalaggression or armed rebellion (Article 352),(ii) arising out of failure of constitutional machin-ery (Article 356), (iii) Emergency in a state orPresidential rule arising due to financial crisis(Article 360).

A proclamation of national emergency ceases tooperate unless approved by Parliament within onemonth.

The first national emergency in India was declaredin October 1962 due to Chinese aggression.

The second national emergency was declared inDecember 1971 due to Indo-Pak war.

The third national emergency was declared inJune 1975 on grounds of internal disturbance.

44th Amendment of 1978, provides that NationalEmergency under 352 can be declared by the Presi-dent only on the basis of a resolution adopted bythe council of ministers in its meeting presided overby Prime Minister requesting the President to

The President of India represent India in interna-tional forums, sends and receives credentials ofAmbassadors and High Commissioners.

The President summons, prorogues the House ofParliament and dissolves the Lok Sabha.

The President has the power to nominate 12 mem-bers to the Rajya Sabha and 2 members of theAnglo- Indian community to the Lok Sabha.

Presidential assent is essential before a bill be-comes an Act.

If the President returns a bill to the legislature forreconsideration, the passage of the bill by ordinarymajority will compell him to give his assent.

{]kn-Uâ v `c-W-¯n-en-cn-¡p¶ Hcp kwØm-\-¯nsâ _UvPäv ]mkm-¡p-¶Xv ]mÀe-saâmWv.

The President has the power to legislate by ordi-nance at a time when it is not possible to have aparliamentary enactment. But to become an Act,the ordinance should be passed within six weeksof reassembly of Parliament

{]kn-Uânsâ Gähpw {][m\ \nb-a-\nÀ½m-Wm-[n-Imcw HmÀUn-\³kp-IÄ ]pd-s¸-Sp-hn-¡m-\pÅA[n-Im-c-am-Wv (Article 123).

In the Constitution of India, the power of dissolv-ing the Lok Sabha rests with the President.

The term of office of the President is five yearsunless he is removed by impeachment or resigns be-fore expiry of the full term. He is eligible for re-election.

C´y-bpsS 11 -þmaXv {]kn-Uâmbn F.-]n.-sP.A_vZpÄIemw Øm\-ta-äp. 2002 Pqsse amk- n̄Â\S¶ sXc-sª-Sp-̧ n Ct±-l-̄ nsâ GI FXn-cmfn Captain Lakshmi Sahgal Bbn-cp-¶p. 89.58%iX-am\w thm«p-IÄ t\Sn Ct±lw C´y-bpsS cmjv{S-]-Xn-bmbn Pqsse 25, 2002-þ Øm\-ta-sä-Sp-¯p.

C´y-bpsS _ln-cm-Im-i, BWh {]Xn-tcm-[-ta-J-e-IÄ¡v A`q-X-]qÀÆ-amb hfÀ -̈bmWv Ct±-l- n̄sâkaÀ -̧W-t_m-[-t̄ m-sS-bpÅ IÀ½-cwKw k½m-\n- -̈Xv.

Iem-ansâ P·-tZiw : cmta-izcw

Who was the first President of India to be elected

Article 312 of the Constitution deals with thecreation of one or more All India Services

common to the Union and State.

Staff Selection Commission initially known assubordinate commission was set up

on 1, July 1976.

6 6 8

declare National Emergency on relevant grounds. Financial emergency has not yet been declared in

India. The Sarkaria Commission, on Central and on

State relation (1983-88) recommended to applyArticle 356 rarely and only in extreme cases aftergiving chances to the state government a periodof time to change its style of functioning.

During President rule, the high court of the statecontinues to enjoy its jurisdiction but if thePresident considers it necessary, can issue spe-cial order and restrict its jurisdiction.

The emergency under Article 356 has been de-clared so far more than 100 times.

During Financial Emergency, the salary of anypublic servant including the President, Vice Presi-dent, Judges of SC & HC etc. can be cut down.

To prevent the misuse of emergency provision,the words armed rebellion were substituted forinternal disturbance.

Under whose advice the President of Indiadeclares Emergency under Article 352?(a) Council of Ministers(b) Cabinet(c) Chief Minister of all states(d) The Prime Minister

Ans: (b) Cabinet The proclamation of Emergency is in operation,

who shall have the power to make the laws forthe whole or any part of territory?(a) The Parliament (b) The Supreme Court(c) The President (d) None of these

Ans: (a) The Parliament

The Vice President Vice President is the ex-officio Chairman of the

Rajya Sabha. He is elected by an electoral college of members

of both the Houses (Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha)of the parliament by single transferable vote bysecret ballot of the Parliament.

The Vice President shall act as the President dur-ing the latter’s absence.

The term of Vice President is 5 years.

If the President resigns or dies in office the VicePresident shall act as the President for a maximumperiod of 6 months and before the end of thatperiod a new president will be elected.

Vice President of India - Bhairon Singh Shekhawat Indian Consitution does not provide any proce-

dure to remove which of the following?(a) Cabinet Secretary (b) Vice President(c) Attorney General(d) Comptroller and Auditor General

Ans: (b) Vice President kÀÆo-kn-en-cns¡ acn¨ C´y-bnse GI D]-cm-

jv{S-]-Xn-bmWv "Inj³ Im´v.' D]-cm-jv{S-]Xn acn-¨m F{Xbpw thKw Xnc-sª-

Sp v̧ \S-¯p-I-bmWv ̀ c-W-L-S-\-hy-hØ sN¿p-¶-Xv.CXn\v ]Icw asäm-cmÄ XmXvIm-en-I-ambn Øm\whln-¡m³ hyh-Ø-bnÃ. D]-cm-jv{S-]-Xn-bpsS{][m\ IÀ¯hyw cmPy-k-̀ -bpsS A²y-£-]-Zhnhln-¡pI F¶-Xm-Wv.

D]-cm-jv{S-]Xn F¶ DtZym-K¯n-\p-]cn cmPy-k`mA²y-£³ F¶ t]cn-emWv D]-cm-jv{S-]Xn i¼fwssI]-äp-¶-Xv. cmPy-k- -̀bn A²y-£³ CsÃ-¦nÂD]m-²y-£³ DÅ-Xn-\m Imcy-§Ä¡v XSÊwkw -̀hn-¡nà F¶ Imc-W-¯m-emWv ̀ c-W-L-S-\m-hn-Z-Kv²À ]I-c-kw-hn-[m-\-s¯-¡p-dn¨v Nn´n-¡m-Xn-cp-¶-Xv.

Comptroller & AuditorGeneral (Article 148)

Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG): Ap-pointed by the President. He holds the office for 6years or till he attains the age of 65, which ever isearlier. Procedure of removal of Comptroller andAuditor General and Supreme Court judge is same.Both of them are removed by the President, on

Law and sense are not the same thingJawaharlal Nehru

6 6 9

recommendation of both the Houses of Parliament. Comproller and Auditor General of India

Vijayendra N. Kaul Main Function of CAG is to monitor the expendi-

ture, or in other words he can be called theguardian of public purse. In case of state, thereport is submitted before the Governor.

The Constitution provides for the comptroller &Auditor General the guardian of public financesand to serve as the Chief Accounts Officer of theGovt. of India. He is a senior administrative offi-cial appointed by the President, retiring at 65 years.

His primary functions are: To examine and satisfy that the money allotted by

the Parliament to the various departments throughthe budget has been properly spent.

To present the proforma in which the accounts ofthe govts should be shown.

To direct, supervise and control the activities ofAccountant General in states whose duty been toexamine and satisfy that the money allotted bythe legislative assembly of the state to variousdepartments is to be properly spent.

To secure as the Friend, Philosopher & Guide ofthe public accounts committees of the parliament

Important Articles Article 14 - Relates to Right to Equality Article 17 - Abolishes the practice of untouchability Article 18 - Prohibits the state from conferring any title.

Article 19 - Deals with six freedoms of Indiancitizens namely,(a) freedom of speech and expression(b) freedom of assembly(c) freedom of association(d) freedom of movement throughout the territory

of India

(e) freedom of residence and settlement in anypart of India

(f) freedom of occupation. Article 21 - Provides

protection to life and libertyto all persons

Article 22 - Affordsprotection against arbitraryarrest and detention

Article 23 - Prohibits thetraffic in human beings andbeggars.

Article 24 - Prohibits theemployment of children below 14 years of age

Articles 25-28 - Relates to Right to freedom of religion Article 32 - Right to Constitutional Remedies

described as ‘‘The heart and soul of theConstitution’’ by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar

Article 36-51 -Relates to Directive Principles of StatePolicy.

Article 51(A) - Relates to list of FundamentalDuties

Article 40 - Deals with the formation ofPanchayats

Article 45 - Free and compulsory education to allchildren below 14 years of age.

Article 324 - Relates to the Election Commission Article 352 - Gives provision regarding

emergencies Article 356 - Proclamation of President’s Rule

in the states. Article 368 - Amendment of the Constitution by

the Parliament Article 370 - Special status to Jammu and Kashmir The Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir came into

force on January 26, 1957. Which Article of the Constitution empowers the

President to appoint a commission to investigatethe condition of backward classes in general andsuggest amelioration measures?

Inter - State Water Disputes Article 262 of the Constitution provides for

parliamentary registration for the adjudificationof inter state river water disputes, and for barrythe jurisdiction of the courts (including theSupreme Court) in such cases.

Inter State Water Dispute Act 1956.

Father of theInternational Law

Hugo Grotius1583-1645

Associated withdrafting of the

Indian Penal Code

Lord Macaulay

6 7 0

(a) Art - 339 (b) Art – 340(c) Art – 342 (d) Art – 344

Ans: (b) Article 340

The Prime Minister The Prime Minister is appointed by the President `qcn-]£ ]mÀ«nbpsS AsÃ-¦n Iq«p-sI-«nsâ

t\Xm-hn-s\-bmWv a{´n-k`m-cq-]o-I-c-W-̄ n\v {]kn-Uâ v £Wn-¡p-¶-Xv.

]mÀe-saâdn P\m-[n-]-Xy-cm-Py-amb C´y-bnÂbYmÀ° A[n-Im-c-§Ä \n£n-]vX-am-bn-cn-¡p-¶Xv{][m-\-a-{´n-bn-em-Wv.

The Council of Ministers in India is presided overby the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister is the ex-officio Chairman ofthe Planning Commission.

{][m-\-a-{´n-bpsS D]-tZ-i-{]-Im-c-amWv aäp-a-{´n-amsc cmjv{S-]-Xn -\n-b-an-¡p-¶-Xv.

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru had the longest tenure

]©m-b¯v cmPv: \mÄhgn {Kma-kz-cmPv KmÔn-Pn-bpsS kz]v\-am-bn-cp-¶p. 1952: C´y-bnse ]©m-b¯v cmPnsâ _oPm-

hm]amb I½yq-Wnän sUh-e-¸vsaâ v t{]m{Kmw(CDP) Bcw-̀ n-̈ -p.

1953: National Extension Service (NES){]hÀ¯-\-§Ä¡v B¡w hÀ²n-̧ n-¨p.

1957: _Âh-́ -vdmbv ta¯m I½nän A¶s¯CDP sb¡p-dn v̈ ]Tn¡m³ Bcw-̀ n-̈ p.

1959: _Âh´v dmbv I½nän dnt¸mÀ«v {]Im-c-amWv ]©m-b¯v cmPv F¶ {XnXe `c-W-kw-hn-[m\w Bcw-`n-¡p-¶-Xv.

1959: cmP-Øm-\n BZy-ambn ]©m-b¯v cmPv\S-̧ m-¡-s¸-«p.

1960: tIc-fw- DÄs -̧sS-bpÅ kwØm\§fnÂ]©m-b¯v cmPn\v XpS-¡-am-bn.

1992: 73, 74 F¶o ̀ c-W-L-S\ t`Z-K-Xn-bn-eqsS]pXnb ]©m-b¯ncmPn\pw (73) \Kc k`-IÄ¡pw (74) P·w \ÂIn. ]©m-b¯v Ce-£³ \S-¯m³ kwØm\ Ce-£³ I½o-j³,]©m-b¯v kwhn-[m-\-¯nsâ km¼-¯nI`{ZX Dd-¸m-¡m³ kwØm\ [\-Im-cy-I-½o-j³,thm«-h-Im-i-apÅ FÃm-hcpw DÄs¸« {Kma-k`F¶nh 73, 74 t`Z-K-Xn-bn-eqsS krjvSn-¡-s¸«]©m-b¯v cmPv `cW kwhn-[m-\-¯nsâ{]tXy-I-X-I-fm-Wv. temI-k-̀ , \nb-a-k` koäp-I-fn Hgnhv h¶m 6 amk-̄ n-\p-Ån sXc-sª-Sp v̧ \S-¯-W-sa¶ \nbaw, Xt±i kzbw-`-cW Øm]-\-§-fnse koäp-I-fpsS Imcy-¯nepw _m[-I-am-Wv.

1993 G{]n 24\v ]mÀe-saâ v ]mÊm-¡nb]©m-b¯v cmPv 73, 74 `c-W-L-S\m t`Z-KXnC´y-bn \ne-hn h¶Xv 1994 G{]n 24-em-Wv. tIc-f-¯n 73-þmw ̀ c-W-L-S\ {]Im-c-apÅtIcf ]©m-b¯v cmPv \nbaw 1994 G{]nÂ23\pw, 74-þmw `c-W-L-S\ {]Im-c-apÅ tIcfap³kn-¸m-enän \nbaw 1994 sabv 30-þ\pw\ne-hn h¶p.

s^{_p-hcn 19: ]©m-b¯v cmPv Zn\w.(_Âh-́ v -dmbv ta¯-bpsS P·-Zn-\-amWv.)

tNmf-·m-cpsS ̀ cW kwhn-[m-\-¯nsâ Gähpw{it²-b-amb t\«w P\-§-fpsS Iq«m-bva-bmbhntÃPv ]©m-b-¯m-bn-cp-¶p.

Father of LocalSelf Government

Lord Ripon.

as Prime Minister for nearly 17 years and Vajpayeethe shortest (13 days).

Morarji Desai, who led the nation’s first non con-gress government of the Janata party, was thePrime Minister for a two-year period.

V.P. Singh led the first minority government ofthe country for 11 months.

Article 74 (1) state that the Prime Minister shall be'at the head' of the Council of Ministers.

As a chairman of the cabinet, he summos its meet-ing and presides over them.

Youngest Prime Minister of IndiaRajeev Gandhi

The Prime Minister who ruled for the shortest termCharan Singh

First to become Prime Minister without being amember of Parliament

Morarji Desai was the oldest to be the Prime Min-ister.

Dr. Manmohan Singhserved as the governorof the Reserve Bank

of IndiaProfessor of

International Trade(1969-1971)

Finance Minister ofIndia, (June 21, 1991 -

May 15, 1996)

First Sikh to become PrimeMinister of India

6 7 1

Officials Term of SalaryEmoluments Office (per month)

President 5 years 50,000

Vice President 5 Years 40,000Governor 5 years 36,000Chief Justice of the Till he attains 33,000Supreme court the age of 65 years

Judge of the Till he 30,000Supreme Court attains the age of

65 years

Chief Justice of the Till he attains 30,000High Court the age of 62 yearsJudge, Till he attains 26,000High Court the age of 62 years

LegislatureUnion Council of Ministers In India there are two types of executives:

1. constitutional or ceremonial (President)2. the real executive namely the Union Council ofMinister headed by Prime Minister.

Our system of government is called as parliamen-tary because the real executive namely the UnionCouncil of Minister emerges out of parliament andis answerable and responsible to it, it shall con-tinue in office so long as it continues to commandthe majority of the house and shall go out ofoffice if it loses its majority there.

Article 74 - says that the President shall exercisehis power on the aid and advice of the unioncouncil of ministers with the Prime Minister as itshead and that if he seems it necessary, can ask forreconsideration of such an advice and if the sameadvice is given once again, then the President isbound by that advice.

In case, a no -confidence motion is passed againstany minister, the entire Council of Ministers resign.

]mÀe-saânsâ Ahn-izmk {]tabw Ah-X-cn-¸n-¡-W-sa-¦n Ipd-ªXv 50 AwK-§-fpsS ]n´p-W-bp-­m-hWw.

Union Council of Ministers has to function as ateam and the ministers swim together or sinktogether.

In India, there are 3 types of Ministers in the UnionCouncil of Ministers namely, the ministers withCabinet rank, Ministers of the State and theDeputy Ministers.

The Cabinet consists of the Prime Minister andother cabinet ranking ministers and its meetingare presided over by the President.

The Primary function of the union council of min-isters include supervision of the day to day ad-ministration of the country, preparation of the bills

Rajya Sabha Lok Sabha

1. It is the Council of - It is the House of People orthe Upper House of States also known asParliament. It is equal Lower House of Parliamentto the House of Lords It is equivalent to the in the British Parliament House of Commons in the

British Parliament.

2. Maximum strength is - Maximum strength is 552,250. 12 members who out of which 530have distinguished representthemselves in art and the states and 20culture are nominated representby the President Union Territories.

2 membersare nominated from theAnglo-Indian community.

3. To become a member - To become a member onea candidate must be must not be below 25 yearsover 30 years old.

4. The Vice-President - The presiding officer is thepresides over the Speaker.Rajya Sabha

5. Members of the Rajya - The Lok Sabha usuallySabha have a tenure of has a tenure of five years.six years. One third ofits members retireevery two years

6. It is a permanent body. - The Lok Sabha can beIt has no power over dissolved by the President.a money bill. Money bills are introducedAt the most it can withhold only in Lok Sabha. It is thepower the money bill for Speaker of Lok Sabha whoover14 days. considers whether a bill is

a money bill or not.

Comparison betweenRajya Sabha and Lok Sabha

6 7 2

(c) The Vice- President (d) None of theseAns: (a) The President

A person can be debarred from taking his seat inthe house if he has been absent without the per-mission of the House for more than 60 days.

The Lok Sabha is the lower house or the firstchamber and Rajya Sabha is the upper house orthe second chamber.The first no confidence motion moved in the LokSabha after Independence was on 1963.

Ct¸mÄ \ne-hn-epÅXv 14-þmw temI-k-̀ -bm-Wv. 14þmw

temI-k-`-bnse sam¯w AwK-§Ä 545 BWv.

(530þkwØm-\-§-fn \n¶pw, 13þtI{µ-̀ -c-W-{]-tZ-

i-§-fn \n¶pw, 2þBwt¥m C´y³ kapZm-bs¯

{]Xn-\n-[o-I-cn¨pw)

Dr. Manmohan Singh became the 14th Prime Min-ister of India on 22nd May 2004.

UNION COUNCIL OF MINISTERS

Dr Manmohan Singh: Prime Minister UNION CABINET MINISTERS

Shivraj Patil: Home P. Chidambaram: Finance A.K. Antony: Defence Pranab Mukherjee External of Affairs Laloo Prasad: Railways Sharad Pawar: Agriculture, Food &

Civil Supplies, Consumer Affairs and PublicDistribution

Arjun Singh : Human Resource Development Ram Vilas Paswan: Chemicals & Fertilizers; Steel Jaipal Reddy: Urban Development Sis Ram Ola: Mines Mahavir Prasad: Small Scale, Agro & Rural Industries K. Chandrasekhar Rao: Labour and Employment P. R. Kyndiah:

Tribal Affairs; Development of North East T. R. Baalu:Road Transport & Highways, Shipping S. Vaghela: Textiles Kamal Nath: Commerce & Industry H. R. Bhardwaj: Law & Justice Raghuvansh Prasad Singh: Rural Development P. R. Dashmunshi:

]mÀe-saânsâ Hcp k -̀bn Hcp _nÃv ]mÊm-hp-Ibpw adp-k-̀ -bn ]cm-P-b-s¸-Sp-IbpwsNbvXm `c-W-L-S-\-bpsS 108-þmw BÀ«n-¡nÄ {]Imcw kt½-f\w hnfn-̈ p-Iq«n B_nÃv ho­pw ]cn-K-Wn-¡m-hp-¶-Xm-Wv.

temIvk`m kv]o¡-dmWv kwbpà kt½-f-\-¯nsâ A[y-£³.

2002 amÀ¨v 26\v "t]m« _nÂ' (POTA) ]mÀe-saânsâ kwbpà kt½-f-\-¯n 269s\Xnsc 425 thm«p-IÄ¡v ]mkm-¡p-I-bp-­mbn.

C´y³ ̀ c-W-L-S\m Ncn-{X-¯n CXv aq¶mwXh-W-bmWv kwbpà kt½-f-\-̄ n Hcp\nbaw ]mkm-¡p-¶-Xv. t\cs¯ ]mÊm-¡nb\nb-a-§Ä [1] The Dowry Act, 1961 [2] TheBanking Act, 1977 F¶n-h-bm-Wv.

Article 108:Joint Sitting of the Parliament

and the budget, answering questions raised onthe floor of the house, advising the President onthe matter of administration etc.

The Union Legislature (Par-liament) The Parliament is the highest law making body of

India and is bicameral with two houses namely(i) Lok Sabha (House of people)(ii) Rajya Sabha (Council of States).

The term Parliament originated from the Frenchword 'parler' which means 'to discuss', 'to talk' etc.

The 'Parliament' is the national forum to discussany problem of the people of India.

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha held its first sitting on May 13, 1952 A non member of the house (Lok Sabha) can also

be nominated as the Prime Minister on conditionthat he should qualify to become a member ofeither house of parliament within a period of 6months.The Lok Sabha can be dissolved by(a) The President (b) The Speaker

6 7 3

Information and Broadcasting, ParliamentaryAffairs

Mani Shankar Aiyar:Youth Affairs, Sports; Panchayati Raj

Meira Kumar: Social Justice & Empowerment A. Raja: Environment & Forests Dayanidhi Maran:

Communication & Information Technology Anbumani Ramdoss: Health & Family Welfare Sushil Kumar Schinde: Power A.R. Antulay: Minority Affairs Vayalar Ravi: Overseas Indian Affairs Murli Deora: Petoleum Ambika Soni: Tourism and Culture

Saif-u-Din Soz: Water Resources

Santhosh Mohan Dev: Heavy Industries

Prem Das Gupta: Company Affairs

Kapil Sibal: Science and Technology A recent legislature by Parliament has fixed that

upto 2026 the existing number of the members ofthe Lok Sabha (550) should not be raised and thatthis figure shall continue.

F¶m ̀ c-W-L-S\ \njvIÀjn-¡p¶ AwK-§-fpsS]c-am -h[n F®w 552 BWv (530þkwØm-\ -§Ä¡v, 20þtI{µ-̀ -cW {]tZ-i-§Ä¡v, 2þBwt¥mC´y³ =552). AXm-bXv Ct¸mÄ DÅ AwK-§-fpsS F®-amb 545-þ \n¶pw tI{µ-kÀ¡m-cn\vAwK-§-fpsS F®w 552 hsc DbÀ¯m-\pÅ Ah-Im-i-ap-s­-¶À°w. CXn IqSp-X hÀ²n-¸n-¡m³ `c-W-L-S\m t`Z-KXn th­n hcpw.

P\-kw-Jy-bmWv temI-k-̀ m-a-WvU-e-§-fpsS F®-¯nsâ am\-Z-WvUw. 10 e£w k½Xn-Zm-bÀ¡v HcptemI-k-̀ m-a-WvUew F¶mWv IW-¡v.-]s£ CXvIrXy-ambn ]cn-]m-en-¡m³ Ffp-̧ -a-Ã.

The Lok Sabha is popularly elected whereas theRajya Sabha is indirectly elected and nominated.

The 61st Amendment (1988) reduced the votingage from 21 years to 18 years.

After election, inorder to start functioning of TheLok Sabha, the President appoints a pro-temSpeaker who would be the senior most member ofthe Lok Sabha. In the 12th and 13th Lok SabhaIndrajith Gupta acted as the pro tem Speaker.

Pro-tem speaker has two duties to fulfill

1935 The Government of India Act 1935 pre-scribed a federation for India.

1946 The elections to the Constituent As-sembly under the Cabinet Mission Plan.

Dec. 9, 1946 The Constituent Assembly held itsfirst meeting.

Dec. 11. 1946 Dr. Rajendra Prasad was elected presi-dent of the Constituent Assembly.

Nov. 26, 1949 Constituent Assembly approved theConstitution.

Jan. 26. 1950 The Constitution of India came into force.1951 The first Constitutional Amendment.1952 The first general election (1951-1952)

to the Lok Sabha was held.1953 The first linguistic state of Andra

Pradesh was created.1959 Panchayat Raj was introduced in

Rajasthan.1962 First emergency declared.1963 The first no confidence motion was moved

in the Lok Sabha after independence.1975 Emergency due to internal disturbances1976 The Fundamental Duties of Indian citi-

zens were incorporated in the Constitu-tion.

1978 Through the 44 th amendment Right toProperty has been deleted from the listof Fundamental Rights.

1989 Reduced the voting age from 21 to 18years for the Lok Sabha as well as As-sembly elections.

1991 Created the National Capital Territoryof Delhi.

1992 Formation of present day Panchyati Raj.1999 Extended the reservation of Scheduled

Castes, Scheduled Tribes and AngloIndians in Lok Sabha and State Assem-blies for 10 more years ie. up to 2010.

2000 The creation of new states of Jharkhand,Chattisgarh and Uttaranchal.

2002 In the field of free and compulsory pri-mary education for children Right toEducation for Children has been madea Fundamental Right.

Important Dates inIndian Constitution

6 7 4

(1) to administer the oath of office to the newlyelected members of the house.(2) to conduct the election to elect the regularspeaker.

temIv-k-̀ -bn-te¡v aÕ-cn-¡m³ Hcp Øm\mÀ°nsI«n-h-bvt¡­ XpI Ct¸mÄ 10,000 cq]-bm-Wv.t\cs¯ CXv 500 cq]-bm-bn-cp-¶p. kwØm\ \nba-k- -̀bn-te¡v aÕ-cn-¡m³ sI«n-h-bvt¡­ XpI 5000BWv.

]{XnI ]n³h-en-¡m-\pÅ ka-bhpw Ce-£³ ka-bhpw X½n-epÅ Znh-k-§-fpsS F®w 20-þÂ\n¶pw Ct¸mÄ 14 Bbn Ipd-̈ p.

Hcp Øm\mÀ°n¡v Htc kabw c­n IqSp-XÂaWvU-e-§-fn \n¶pw aÕ-cn-¡m³ Ign-bnÃ.

Ce-£\v 48 aWn-¡qÀ ap¼v {]Nm-cW ]cn-]mSnAh-km-\n-̧ n-t¡­-XmWv.

sI«n-h¨ XpI Xncn¨v In«m³ sam¯w t]mÄsNbvX thm«nsâ 10% F¦nepw t\Sm-\m-hWw.

Speaker The Presiding officer of the Lower House is the

Speaker. The Speaker is the ex-officio chairman of the

Business Advisory Committee and the RulesCommittee.

The Speaker is elected by the members of the LokSabha from among themselves.

Present Lok Sabha Speaker - Somanath Chatterjee Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha -Charanjith Singh

Atwal If there is a dead lock between the two houses in

passing a bill other than a money bill, the Presi-dent shall call for a joint sitting of the two housesfor resolving the difference and in such a joint

sitting the Speaker shall preside the meeting. Normally the Speaker has no right to vote in the

house, but he can exercise a casting vote if thereis a tie in passing a bill, resolution etc.

In the absence of the Speaker, the Deputy Speakershall exercises his duties and that he is elected bythe members of the house from among themselves.

temIv-k`m kv]o¡-dm-bn-cn-¡p-t¼mÄ acn-¡p¶c­m-as¯ hyàn-bmWv Pn.-Fw.-kn. _me-tbm-Kn.BZy-s¯-bmÄ C´y-bpsS BZy temIvk`mkv]o¡-dm-bn-cp¶ Pn. hn. ahve-¦mÀ BWv.

Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha was first constituted on April 3, 1952.

The time - gap between two sessions of Parlia-ment must not exceed(a) 3 months (b) 6 months(c) 9 months (d) 1 year

Ans: (b) 6 months The council of states (the upper house) is com-

posed of not more than 12 members nominated bythe President and not more than 238 representa-tives of the States and the Union Territorieselected by the method of indirect election. Totalnumber of members is 250.

Rajya Sabha cannot be dissolved. It is a perma-nent body.

The members of Rajya Sabha are elected for aterm of six years.

Each state get a representation in Rajya Sabha onthe basis of its population of the previouscensus.

Pondicherry and the NCT of Delhi are the UTshaving representation in the Rajyasabha.Pondicherry has one member and Delhi hasthree.

UP has the largest membership, i.e, 31 Rajya Sabha can exercise a special power in rela-

tion to a subject included in the state list. Vice President is the ex-officio chairman of the

Rajya Sabha and his primary duty is to conductits business in an orderly disciplined manner.

Deputy Chairman of RajyasabhaK. Rahman Khan

First Speaker ofLok Sabha -

G.V. Mavlanker

6 7 5

Law making procedure ofIndian Parliament Every bill before becoming law has to undergo

five stages within the House of the Parliament.

The five stages are

Ist stage: At the first stage the bill will be intro-duced by the concerned ministers and it will begiven first reading.

2nd stage: The bill is printed and a copy of each issupplied to the members of the house and bill willbe given the second reading and will be followedby a general discussion of the bill.

3rd stage: The bill will be passed on to a SelectCommittee generally comprising of 15 to 30 mem-bers and this stage is called Committee Stage.

4th stage: The committee collects all data, inter-views persons and reports the bill back to the houseand this stage is called Reporting Stage. At thisstage there is a thorough and detailed discussionof the bill and often every sentence is passed withthe approval of the members and voted.

5th stage: This is the final stage. The bill will begiven a third reading, oral amendment can be in-troduced which may or maynot be accepted andafter a general voting of the bill it will be declaredas passed and the presiding officer of the houseshall sign it.

A similar process takes place in the other housealso and then the bill will be presented before thePresident for his assent. Once the bill gets hisassent, it becomes an Act.

By a verdict given by a divisionbench headed byformer Chief Justice V.K. Sabarwal the parliamenthas given Supreme power to oust MPs.

Important ParliamentaryCommittees The work of the Parliament is made easy and effi-

cient by the operation of various committees.

There are various committees functioning in theParliament particularly the Lok Sabha.

Parliamentary committees are of two kindsStanding Committee and Adhoc Committees.

The leading committees of Lok Sabha are listedbelow.

The Business Advisory Committee Concerned with planning and regulation of

the business of the house. Consists of 15 members. Speaker of Lok Sabha is the ex-officio Chairman. In the Rajyasabha the Business Advisory

Committee has 11 members including thechairman as its ex-officio chairman.

The Rules Committee It lays down and amends rules of procedure

for conducting the functions of the house. 15 members are in the committee. The ex-officio chairman - Speaker of Lok Sabha. In Rajyasabha the Rules committee has 16

members including the chairman as its ex-officio chairman.

C´y-bnseBIvSnwKv cmjv{S-]-Xn-amÀ

hn.-hn.-Kncn : tabv 3, Pqsse 20, 1969

PÌnkv apl-½Zv

lnZm-b-̄ pÅ : Pqsse 20,BKÌv 24,1969_n.-Un. sP«n : s^{_p-hcn 1, Pqsse 25, 1977cmjv{S-]-Xn-bpsS A`m-h-̄ n At±-l-¯nsâ Npa-X-e-IÄ \nÀÆ-ln-¡p-¶Xv D]-cm-jv{S-]-Xn-bm-Wv.F¶m cmjv{S-]-Xn-bp-sSbpw D]-cm-jv{S-]-Xn-bp-sSbpwA`m-h-̄ n kp{]ow tImSXn B Npa-Xe \nÀÆ-ln-¡p-¶p.

C´y-bn C¯-c-̄ n-epÅNpa-Xe Gsä-Sp¯ GI

kp{]ow tImSXnNo^v PÌnkv

Fw. lnZm-b-̄ p-Å-bm-Wv

6 7 6

The Select Committee A bill introduced in the house at its committee

stage goes to a committee called SelectCommittee and it is meant for a particular bill.

Committee on Petition Examines petition made by the member of the

house and give its opinion for remedialmeasures.

It has 15 members. No minister can be its member.

Committee on Privileges Primary purpose is to protect the privileges

or special rights of the members of the house. It has 15 members, nominated by the Speaker. Chairman: Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha.

Committee on Subordinate Legislature It ensures the rule making power delegated

to the ministers and top officials is not mis-used and that the executive faithfullyexecutes the law passed by the Parliament.

15 members. No minister can be a member of this

committee. Committee on Public undertaking

Created in 1964 on the recommendation ofthe Krishna Menon Committee.

Originally it had 15 members (10 from LokSabha and 5 from the Rajyasabha). In 1974membership was raised to 22 (15 from LokSabha and 7 from Rajyasabha).

It examines and sometimes supervises thefunctioning of Government ownedcompanies or public undertaking includingtheir finances.

The Chairman of the Committee on PublicUndertaking is appointed by the Speaker fromthe Lok Sabha members elected to the com-mittee.

Committee on the Absence of Members It examines the leave application of the mem-

bers for their absence from the house. 15 members. Rajyasabha has no such committee.

Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Public Accounts Committee and Estimate

Committee together called the pillars of pub-lic finance. They are the two eyes whichguard the public finance.

The committee was set up first in 1921 underthe provisions of the government of IndiaAct of 1919.

Public Accounts Committee is a joint com-mittee consisting of 22 members (15 from L.S.& 7 from R.S.)

The Chairman of the PAC shall be the leaderof the opposition of the Lok Sabha.

Primary function of PAC are:(i) To examine and satisfy the money allotted

by the Parliament to the various departmentsthrough the budget has been properly spendand that no public money is wasted.

(ii) To recommend the measures to be taken forstreamlining public finance.

The Comptroller and Auditor General ofIndia serves as the friend, philosopher andguide of Public Accounts Committee.

Estimate Committee Committee of 30 members (all from Lok Sabha)

are elected on the principle of proportionalrepresentation, for one year term. A ministercan't be elected to the committee.

Its chairman is nominated by the Speakerbelongs to the opposition in the Lok Sabha

The functions of the Estimate Committee isto scrutinize the budget estimates for theyear, to suggest economy in expenditure,improvement in organisations and othersubjects to increase efficiency.

Public Accounts Committee, Estimate com-mittee and Committee on Public Undertak-ing are the three financial committees ofthe Parliament.

Parliamentary Committees are appointed bythe respective Houses themselves or by theirpresiding officers.

6 7 7

Parliamentary committees are of two types;Standing Committee and Ad-hoc Committee.

The Speaker appoints the Chairman of all theParliamentary Committees.

In addition to these committees there are 17Department Related Committees. Its primaryfunction is to study in detail the first part ofthe Budget dealing with the expenditure ofthe government which is introduced nor-mally on 20th February every year.

Sessions of Parliament The President has the power to

(a) summon either house(b) prorogue either house and(c) dissolve the lower house.

The Constitution casts a duty on the President tosummon each house at such intervals that sixmonths shall not intervene between its lastsitting in one session and the date fixed for itsfirst sitting in the following session. Thepurpose of this provision is that Parliament mustmeet at least twice a year.

The sitting of a House may be terminated by(a) dissolution (in the case of the Lok Sabha).(b) Prorogation (c) adjournment

Dissolution brings the term of the Lok Sabha toan end.

Prorogation terminates a session.

Important Motions in the Parliament Adjournment motion: Adjournment does not put

an end to a session of Parliament but merely post-pones further transaction of business for a speci-fied period.

A motion for adjourment is meant to the attentionof the house to a matter of urgent or publicimportance.

The motion compels the government to act fast inan appropriate manner, as otherwise it runs therisk of losing the confidence of house.

Call Attention motion A member can with the consent of the Speaker

move a motion for discussion of matter of publicinterest.

Motion of thanks A motion of thanks is a formal resolution adopted

by both the Houses of Parliament expressingthanks to the Head of the state for his address tothe Houses assembled together.

No confidence Motion (Censure Motion)A motion moved by a member to express lack ofconfidence in the government for any reason.

Terms related to Parliament Vote on Account – As there is usually a gap

between the presentation of the budget and itsapproval, the vote on account enables thegovernment to approve some amount from theConsolidated Fund of India to meet the expensesin the intervening period.

Quorum : It is the minimum number of memberswhose presence is essential to transact the busi-ness of the House. The quorum of either Houseshall be one-tenth of the total number of membersof the house.

Question Hour : The first Hour of a sitting of LokSabha is called the question hour.

Zero hour : This follows the question hour andgenerally begins at noon. (It is the time whenissues of utmost importance are raised.)

Budget (Article 112) Budget is known as the, Annual Financial

Statement. It is an estimate of all anticipated receipts and ex-

penditure of the union for the coming financial year. Budget is laid before parliament in the name of the

parliament. It is the key responsibility of the Parliament to

pass the national budget. Budget is presented on last working day of

February of every year. Railway Budget is prepared by the Railway Minister

and General Budget is prepared by the FinanceMinister.

Line - item Budgetting, Performance Budgeting,Programme Budgeting and Zero-based Budget-ing are the types of budgeting.

6 7 8

Judic iarySupreme Court of India (Article 124 to 147)

The apex of the entire judicial system in India isthe Supreme Court of India.

Part V, Articles124 to 147 deal with the structure,powers and functions of the Supreme Court.

1950-þemWv kp{]ow-tIm-SXn \ne-hn h¶-Xv.

The Supreme Court now comprises of the ChiefJustice and not more than 25 other judges.

The Chief Justice is appointed by the President inconsultation with such other judges of the Su-preme Court and High Court.

The Chief Justice of India administer the oath ofaffirmation to the President and the President ad-ministers the oath of office to the Vice-President.

The Salaries of the judges of the Supreme Court(Article 125) are drawn from the Consolidated Fundof India.

To be a judge of the Supreme Court, one has to be a(i) Citizen of India(ii) He should be a distinguished jurist and hasbeen a High Court judge for atleast five years oran advocate of a High Court for at least ten years.

The Supreme Court Judge can continue in his postuntil he attains sixty five years of age.

Ad-hoc: ("Cu Dt±-iy-̄ n-\p-th­n') kp{]ow-tIm-S-

Xn-bn PUvPn-am-cpsS tImdw XnI-bmsX hcp¶Ah-k-c-§-fn {]kn-Uânsâ A\p-a-Xn-tbm-Sp-IqSnkp{]ow-tIm-SXn No^v PÌnkv Xm¡m-en-I-ambn\nb-an-¡p¶ PUvPn-bmWv AUvtlm¡v PUvPn (Adhoc judge)In the absence of both the President and the Vice-President who acts as the President?

Ans: The Chief Justice of India The power of Judicial Review is vested in the

Supreme Court and High Court. The Chief Justice and other judges of the Supreme

Court can be removed from their office by an or-der of the President passed after(a) an address by each house supported by the

majority of the members present and votinghas been presented to him

(b) a resolution of both the Houses passed by a2/3 rd majority of total membership is pre-sented to him.

(c) a resolution passed by 2/3 rd majority of totalmembership of Lok sabha is presented to him

(d) an address by each House supported by amajority of total membership of that Houseand not less than 2/3rd of members presentand voting has been presented to thePresident.

Ans: (d) Harilal J. Kanya was the first Chief Justice of

the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has the power to review the

acts and orders of the legislature and executivewings of the government and to declare them nulland void if they are against the provisions of theConstitution.

Supreme Court is known as the Court of Record(Article 129).

Supreme court is located at New Delhi. The Judge of the Supreme Court can resign his

office by writing a letter to the President in ownhis handwriting.

A Judge of the Supreme Court can also be re-moved from office on the ground of provedmisbehaviour or incapacity by the process ofimpeachment.

1996-þ A]-I-S-km-[y-X-bpÅ hymh-kmbnI taJ-e-I-fn Ip«n-I-sf-s¡m­v ]Wn-sb-Sp-̧ n-¡p-¶Xv

6 7 9

Advocate General: Advocate General is the Prin-cipal law officer of the state. He is appointed bythe Governor.

Judicial Activism Superior court issuing direction to the govern-

ment officials or executives to perform certainduties in time if they fails to do so. Such direc-tions issued by the court on the strength of pub-lic interest litigation to serve the general interestof the society.

Judicial Review The power of Supreme Court to review or examine

a law passed by the Parliament and see whetherthat law is within the framework of the Constitu-tion or not.

The Supreme Court of India exercise this poweras the principle of procedure established by law.

Administrative Tribunals According to the provision of Article 323 (A), the

Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985 was enactedby Parliament.

The tribunals are to adjudicate disputes and com-plaints relating to recruitment and condition of

kp{]ow-tIm-SXn XS-ªp.

The Supreme Court exercises three types of juris-diction namely:(i) Original (ii) Appellate (iii) Advisory

Original Jurisdiction (Art. 131) is meant for thatcases involving a dispute between the Union Govt.and State Govt. or a dispute among the StateGovernments themselves. Supreme Court settlessuch case by interpreting the Constitution.

Appellate Jurisdiction: It meant that appealpetition can be taken before the SC from thejudgement or decision of the high court on casesinvolving civil, criminal, etc matter after itsjudgement.

Advisory Jurisdiction (Art: 143) : It is meantthat the President of India can refer to the SC forits advice or opinion if he has some doubt on alaw or Constitution or a fact.

Art 138 provides for the enlargement of the juris-diction of the Supre Court by the Parliament.

The Chief Justice of India is Justice K.G.Balakrishnan.

The first law officer of the Government of India isthe Attorney General

The Attorney General of India is Milon KumarBanerjee.

Attorney General : Attorney General, as ap-pointed by the President, is the first law officer ofthe Government of India.

{_n«ojv ]mÀe-saânsâ amXr-I-bn-emWvC´y³ ]mÀe-saânsâ LS\. {_n«ojv]mÀe-saân\v c­v aWvU-e-§Ä D­v.

Upper House : House of Lords Lower House : House of Commons C´y-bnse D]cnaWvUew cmPy-k-`bpw

At[m-a-WvUew temIk`-bp-am-Wv.

temIk`-bn-te¡v P\-§Ä t\cn«v thm«vsNbvXv A[n-Im-c-¯n hcp¶hcmWv temI-k-`mw-K-§Ä.

cmPy-k-̀ -bn-te¡v ]tcm£ coXn-bnse sXc-sª-Sp-̧ mWv. Hmtcm kwØm-\-§-fn-sebpw\nbak`m kmam-Pn-I-cmWv (MLA amÀ) CXn\vthm«v sN¿p-¶-Xv.

House of Lords and Commons

37th Chief Justice of IndiaK.G. Balakrishnan

6 8 0

service of persons appointed to public sevicesand posts in connection with affairs of the UnionGovernment.

A Tribunal can be checked by a High Court forexceeding its jurisdiction or if its order is contraryto natural justice.

Family Courts Courts aim at promoting counciliation in and se-

curing speedy settlement of disputes relating tomarriage and family affairs.

A high powered committee constituted under thechairmanship of Justice P.N. Bhagawati formu-lated model scheme, which every citizen whoseannual income from all sources does not exceed acertain sum, is eligible for free legal aid.

Public Interest Litigation Any member of the public can initiate a proceed-

ing on behalf of the aggrieved person (especiallyif the person is too poor or unable to move thecourt on his or her own) in either the High Courtor the Supreme Court for enforcement of Consti-tutional rights.

High Courts Article 214 provide that there shall be a High Court

for every state. Three new High Courts were set up in November

2000, following the creation of states ofChattisgarh, Uttaranchal and Jharkhand. TheseHigh Courts are located at Bilaspur, Nainital and Ranchirespectively. At present there are 21 High Courts.

Which High Court has the highest number ofbenches in India?Ans: Guwahati - Five. The benches are at Kohima,Aizwal, Imphal, Shillong and Agarthala

Originally known as Assam High Court, renamedas Guwahati High Courts in 1971.

Article 231 also provides Parliament with thepower to establish a common High Court for twoor more states.

The District Judges are appointed by the Gover-nor of the state

The subordinate courts are more popularly knownas District Court.

The National Judicial Academy was set up in 1993.It is located at Bhopal with its registered office inNew Delhi.

Dr. G. Mohan Gopal : The Director of NationalJudicial Academy

Ombudsman : Ombudsman is an officer appointedto hear and investigate complaints by private citi-zens against government officials or agencies. Hehelps and protects the common man against offi-cial oppression. Now various agencies andpublic sectors have realised the need of settingup the office of Ombudsman to redress the griev-ances for the public who are the customers orclients of these organisations.

Fast Track Courts : hÀj-§-fmbn sI«n-¡n-S-¡p¶

{Inan-\ tIÊp-IÄ XoÀ¸v Iev]n-¡p-¶-Xn-\mbn

11-þmw [\-Imcy I½o-jsâ \nÀt±-i-{]-Imcw cq]o-

Ir-X-amb tImS-Xn-I-fmWv Fast Track Courts (A-Xn-

th-K-t¡m-S-Xn-IÄ). C´y-bn sam¯w 1734 AXn-

th-K-t¡m-S-Xn-I-fmWv Øm]n-¡p-¶Xv. tIc-f-¯nÂ

Ch-bpsS F®w 37 BWv.

Lok Pal Bill : Lok Pal Bill has been introduced toprovide for setting up of a Lok Pal that would en-quire into the charges of corruption against publicfunctionaries in the central government level.

Lok Ayukta : Lok Ayukta is a state level institu-tion set up to enquire into the charges of corrup-tion against public functionaries in the state.

Chairman of Kerala Lok Ayukta is JusticeK. Sreedharan.

Justice K. Krishnan Nair is Upa Lok Ayukta. NALSA - National Legal Service Authority. Legal Service Day is observed on November 9. On August 21, 2002 Rajasthan became the first

state in the country to establish permanent LokAdalats for hearing cases relating to public utilityservices. hmZn-I-sfbpw {]Xn-I-sfbpw tImS-Xn-bnÂ

hnfn v̈ hcp n̄ A\p-c-RvP-\-¯n\v t{]cn¸n̈ v tIkp-

IÄ H¯pXoÀ¡p¶ coXn-bmWv temIv AZm-e-¯v.

Rajasthan is also the first state where PanchayatiRaj was introduced in 1959.

6 8 1

The Finance Commission(Article 280)

C. Rangarajan, heads the 12th FinanceCommission 2005-2010.

Article 280 of the Constitution provides that atthe end of every five years, the President shallappoint a finance commission with a chairman andthe member.

The Finance Commission has the following pri-mary functions:(i) To recommend to the President, the prin-

ciples and manner by which the revenue aris-ing out of the union budget may be sharedbetween the Union and States.

(ii) To recommend to the President the principlesand the properties by which the grand-in-aid is to be provided to the states by theUnion Govt.

(iii) To recommend to the President on any othermatter in the interest of public finance.

The grand-in-aid is extended to the state by theunion out of the Consolidated Fund of India tomeet the cost of development scheme approvedby the Union Govt.

The first Finance Commission was constituted in1951 under the chairmanship of Mr. K.C. Neogy.

Finance CommissionNumber ............................................. ChairmanI ....................................................... K.C. NeogyII .......................................... Mr. K.S. SanthanamIII ................................................... A.K. ChandeIV................................................ P.V. RajamannaV................................................. Mahavir TyagiVI ....................................... Brhamananda ReddyVII .................................................... J.M. ShelatVIII ................................................. Y.B. ChavanIX ................................................... N.K.P. SalveX .................................................. Mr. K.C. PantXI ......................................... Prof. A.M. KhusruXII ............................................... C. Rangarajan

The Election Commission(Article 324)

The Election Commission of India is an indepen-

dent constitutional authority set up by Article 324of the Constitution of India.

Who is responsible for keeping the voter's listup-to-date at all times?(a) the Home Minister (b) the concerned states(c) Election Commission (d) Chief Justice

Ans: (c) Election Commission The independent body which supervise the en-

tire procedure and machinery for election is calledElection Commission

1993 HIvtSm-_À 1 apX C´y-bn Ce-£³ I½o-j³ AwK-§Ä 3 t]cm-bn. The Chief Election Com-missioner and other two commissioners enjoy equalpowers.

The Election Commission is appointed for a termof 6 years.

The first Chief Election Commissioner of India wasSukumar Sen (1950-58).

N. Gopalaswamy is the present Election Commis-sioner of India.

Other two Commissioners are S.Y. Quershi NavinChowla.

Nirvajan Sadan is the headquarters of ElectionCommission in New Delhi.

Union Public ServiceCommission (Article 315)

The Constitution provides that there shall be aPublic Service Commission for each state and forUnions.

The Chairman and other members of the UnionPublic Service Commission (UPSC) are ap-pointed by the President while that of the PSCis appointed by the Governor.

The members of the UPSC are appointed for aterm of six years or till they attain the age of 65years and in the case of a State Commission, or aJoint Commission the age is 62 years or a term ofsix years which ever is earlier.

The chief functions of the UPSC are:-(a) to conduct examinations for appointment to

All India and Central Services(b) to advise the President regarding claims of

civil servants for cost incurred in the courseof execution of duties

6 8 2

(c) to advise the President regarding disciplin-ary action against a civil servant

UPSC Chairman : Gurbachan Jagat

Special Status to Jammu andKashmir (Article 370)

The Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir came intoexistence on 26th January 1957.

The state of Jammu and Kashmir was accordedspecial status under Article 370 of theConstitution.

The Parliament can make laws with respect toJammu and Kashmir only in subjects in the UnionList.

On the failure of constitutional machinery, theGovernor shall have the power of the President.

Jammu and Kashmir has the distinction of beingthe only state of the Indian Union which has itsown Constitution.

Jammu and Kashmir has a bicameral legislature. The Bill for the special status of J & K became Act

in 1982. J & K is excluded from the list of other states. As

per the article 152.

Official Languages(Article 343 to 351)

India is the country where largest number of lan-guages are spoken.

Sindhi was added by the 21st ConstitutionalAmendment Act, 1967.

The Constitution declared Hindi in Devanagriscript as the official language of India.

B.G. Kher was the Chairman of the first officiallanguage Commission appointed by the Presidentin 1955.

The Constitution allows the use of English lan-guage for official purposes.

India has 22 officially recognised languages inthe 8th schedule of the Constitution.

Originally the Constitution recognised 14 lan-guages.

Article 351- The Union is directed to strive for

enriching Hindi with form and expression drawnfrom other regional languages of India andSanskrit.

Which of the following three languages have beenincluded in the Eighth schedule of the Constitu-tion by the 71st Amendment (1992)?1. Konkani 2. Dogri3. Manipuri 4. Nepali(a) 1, 2 and 3 (b) 2, 3 and 4(c) 1, 3 and 4 (d) 1, 2 and 4

Ans: (c) ie Konkani, Manipuri & Nepali Though Hindi is the official language of India, En-

glish has been permitted to continue for officialpurpose(a) till 1999 (b) till 2000(c) till 2010 (d) for an indefinite period

Ans: (d) Languages in the Constitution: Assamese,

Bengali, Hindi, Urdu, Marathi, Gujarathi, Punjabi,Sanskrit, Kashmiri, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam,Kannada, Oriya, Sindhi, Konkini, Nepali ,Manipuri, Bodo , Maithili, Santhali and Dogri.

Cu ]-«n-I-bn DÄs¸« `mj-IÄ¡mWv Úm\-]oT ]pc-kvImcw k½m-\n-¡p-¶-Xv.

The Parliament passed the 92nd the Amendment(100th Amendment Bill ) of constitution on 22ndDecember 2003 which recognises Bodo, Mithali,Santhali and Dogri languages in the 8th Sched-ule.

State State Executive consists of Governor and Council

of Ministers with Chief Minister as its head.

Governor of the State Governor is the Constitutional head of the state. All the state Governments except Jammu and

Kashmir have uniform structure. Governor is appointed by the President and not

elected because it helps to provide a strong cen-tre and to avoid friction between two elected indi-viduals ie. Chief Minister and Governor.

Governor is appointed for five years. Governor nominates one member of the Anglo-

Indian community to the Legislative Assemblyof his state.

6 8 3

Governor has no power to pardon death sentence. Every State Legislature has a Speaker and a

Deputy Speaker. Indian Constitution does not provide any

procedure to remove Governor.

Council of Ministers The Council of Ministers is collectively

responsible to Legislative Assembly of the state. The head of the State Council of Ministers is the

Chief Minister. The Chief Minister is appointed by the Governor.

Legislature For every state, there is a legislature which con-

sists of Governor and one House or two Housesas the case may be.

In Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka,Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, there are twoHouses known as Legislative Council andLegislative Assembly.

Legislative Council (Vidhan Parishad) of a statecomprises not more than one third of total num-ber of members in Legislative Assembly of thestate and in no case less than 40 members. Thereis only 36 members in J & K legislative Council.

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BWv.

Seats have been reserved for Scheduled Castesand Scheduled Tribes in proportion to theirpopulation.

Legislative Relationbetween the

Union and the States(Article 245-254)

The Constitution makers listed various subjectsof administration into three lists(i) Union List (ii) State List(iii) Concurrent List.

There are 99 subjects in the Union List, 61 subjectsin the State List and 52 in the Concurrent List.

Parliament has exclusive power to make laws withrespect to the subjects enumerated in the UnionList. State makes laws with respect to the sub-jects enumerated in the State List.

On concurrent subject both the Parliament and aState Legislative Assembly can make laws andthat if these two laws agree, both will allowed toexist; If however there is a conflict between thesetwo laws the union laws shall prevail; In such asituation the court shall reject only that portion ofthe state law which violates the union law.

The Constitution provides that the residuarypower belong the union government as in the caseof Canada.

Space Science and the Organisation of ISRO werenot originally stated in the Constitution but uti-lized later on the basis of residuary powers by theUnion Government.

Financial Relationsbetween the

Union and the States(Article 268 to 281)

All the public money received by or on behalf ofthe Government of India or the Government ofState shall be credited to the Public Account ofIndia or Public Account of the state.

Contingency Fund (Article 267) is placed at thedisposal of the President to enable advances to bemade by him to meet the unforeseen expenditure.

The Consolidated Fund of India (Article 266) is afund where all the money received by or onbehalf of the Government of India in the formrevenues, fresh loans, repayments of loans etc. aredeposited.

The taxes on income other than agricultural in-come are levied and collected by(a) State Government (b) Central Government(c) Both (a) and (b) (d) None of these

Ans: (b) Central Government

6 8 4

Provisions relating to specialclasses Part 16 of the Indian Constitution deals with spe-

cial provisions for certain classes; scheduledcastes and scheduled tribes.

The Mandal Commission was set up in 1978 to findhow many backward classes were there in thecountry.

The states of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Orissaare obliged to appoint a separate minister to lookafter the welfare of Scheduled Castes, Tribes andBackward Classes (Article 164)

The Constitution makes provision for the protec-tion of the interests of linguistic minority. Lin-guistic minority is a class of people whose mothertongue is different from that of the majority in thestate or a part of the state.

Local Government The Panchyathi Raj was introduced in the coun-

try in 1959. The present Panchyathi Raj had come into effect

by the 73rd Amendment Act in April 1993. The members of the Panchayat at all levels are

elected by direct election. 33.3% seats are reserved for women. The duration of Panchayat is five years. The Act presents a 3-tier system of Panchayat

consisting of Panchayat at(1) village level (2) the district level and(3) the intermediate level between village and dis-trict panchayat

Which of the following states has no PanchayatiRaj system at all?(a) Assam (b) Kerala(c) Tripura (d) Nagaland

Ans: (d) Nagaland Who among the following initiated the Commu-

nity Development Programme?(a) Balwant Rai Mehta

(b) K M Munshi (c) Ashok Mehta(d) S.K. Dey

Ans: (a) Balwant Rai Mehta Persons having attained 25 years of age can

contest for State Assemblies.Which was the first state where Panchayati Rajwas introduced?(a) Gujarat (b) Rajasthan(c) Bihar (d) Andhra Pradesh

Ans: (b) Rajasthan The 74th Amendment Act constituted the Local

Urban Government, Nagar Palika Bill. The duration of Municipalities is five years. Iayq-Wn-kväv ]mÀ«n Hm^v C´y t\XrXzw \ÂIp¶

CS-Xp-]£w 2002 Pq¬ 21-þ\v ]Ýna _wKm-fn 25hÀjw XpSÀ¨bmbn `cWw \S¯n F¶ A]qÀÆ_lp-a-Xn¡v AÀl-am-bn.

2000 HIvtSm-_-dn Øm\-sam-gn-bp-¶-Xp-hsc 23hÀjw XpSÀ¨-bmbn tPymXn-_kphmbn-cp¶p apJy-a-{´n.

Iqdp-am-dp¶ Xt±i kzbw-̀ -c-Wmw-K-§Ä¡v ]n¶oSvsXc-sª-Sp-¸n aÕ-cn -¡p-¶-XnÂ\n¶pw BdphÀj-t¯bv¡v Atbm -KyX I¸n -¡p¶HmÀUn\³kv C´y-bn-em-Zy-ambn tIcf a{´n-k`]pd-¯n-d-¡n.

Union Territories Union Territories refer to areas directly adminis-

tered by the Central Government. There are six Union Territories and one National

Capital Territory ie. New Delhi. The administrators of Union Territories are vari-

ously known as Lieutenant Governors, Chief Com-missioners or Administrators.

In Daman and Diu and Pondicherry, they are des-ignated as Lieutenant Governors. In Andaman andNicobar islands and Chandigarh they are knownas Chief Commissioners and in Lakshadweep asAdministrator.

The 68th Amendment carried out in 1992, pro-vided a special status to the Union Territory ofDelhi, the Administator is designated as Lieuten-ant Governor.

In December 1991 Parliament voted to give Delhi,a Legislative Assembly. Madan Lal Khurana thusbecame the first Chief Minister of Delhi.

6 8 5

Schedules of theConstitution

The original Constitution contained only 8Schedules. But, now it has 12 schedules.

I Schedule : Contains a list of States and UnionTerritories that comprises the Union of India.

II Schedule : Prescribes the salary payable to thePresident, the Governor, the Chief Justice of In-dia, Judges of the Supreme Court and High courts,the Comptroller and Auditor - General etc.

III Schedule : Prescribe the forms of oath or affir-mation to be taken by the Union Ministers, candi-dates for election to parliament, a member of par-liament.

IV Schedule : Seats allotted to various Statesand Union Territories in the Rajya Sabha.

V Schedule : Deals with the administration andcontrol of Scheduled areas.

VI Schedule : Deals with provisions regardingadministration of tribal areas in Assam, Meghalayaand Mizoram.

VII Schedule : Division of subjects into threelists : Union List, State List and Concurrent List.

VIII Schedule : List of 18 regional languagesrecognised by the Constitution.

IX Schedule (Ist Amendment 1951) : Containscertain acts and regulations of state legislaturedealing with land reforms and abolition ofZamindari system.

X Schedule : (52nd Amendment, 1985) : containsprovisions regarding disqualifications on groundof defection.

XI Schedule (73rd Amendment 1993) :Enumer-ates powers and functions of Panchyati Raj insti-tutions.

XII Schedule (74th Amendment, 1993) : Lists 18matters which are the responsibilities ofMuncipalities.

Amendments of theConstitution

Amendment means a change or an alternation of law. The Constitution was first amended in 1951 to

overcome the difficulties created by the SupremeCourt due to the decision regarding FundamentalRights especially the right to equality before law.

The procedure for the amendment of the IndianConstitution is given in Article 368.

The amendment procedure of Indian Constitutionis modelled on that of South Africa.

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sI-bpÅ Imcy-§Ä t`Z-KXnbneqsS amäm-hp-¶-

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sW¶ Xncn-̈ -dnhv aq¶p hn[-̄ n-epÅ t`Z-K-Xn-

IÄ \njvIÀjn-¡p-¶p.

1. By simple majority of Parliament2. Two third majority3. Two third majority and approval of a majority

of the state legislaturesHow many states are required to ratify certainamendments to the Constitution?Ans: Not less than half the number

The amendment procedure is a rare combinationof rigidity and flexibility.The power to amend the Indian Constitution vestsin the(a) President (b) Parliament(c) Prime Minister(d) Chief Justice of Supreme Court

Ans: (b) The most controversial amendment passed

during the emergency was 42nd amendment (1976) 42nd amendment (1976) brought about drastic

changes in the Indian Constitution. Becauseof its drastic nature, it came to be called a‘Mini Constitution’.

The basic features of the Constitution which can-not be amended are:1. Supremacy of the Constitution2. Rule of Law3. Judicial Review and

6 8 6

4. Balance between Fundamental Rights and Fun-damental Duties.

The Amendement of the Constitution can be initi-ated in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

Through the 44th amendment (1978), one of theFundamental Rights, ‘Right to Property’ has beendeleted from the list of Fundamental Rights, andnow it is only a legal right.

Important AmendmentsAmendments Deal with Amend. 1 - (1951) to overcome the difficulties cre-

ated by the Supreme Court due to its decisionregarding Fundamental Rights. Also added NinthSchedule.

Amend. 7(1956) Implement State Re-organisation Plan. Amend. 25 (1971) Amended Art. 31 regarding the

right of the state to acquire private property forpublic purpose.

Amend. 42 (1976) Brought about drastic changesin the Indian Constitution. Because of its widesweep and drastic nature, it came to be called aMini Constitution. Its main provisions are 1) thewords ‘secular’ and ‘socialist’ were added to thePreamble. 2) the primacy of Directive Principlesover Fundamental Rights was ensured 3) restric-tions were placed on the exercise of judicial re-view by the High Courts. It was laid down that theSupreme Court alone would be entitled to exam-ine the constitutional validity of union laws.

Amend 44 (1978) The Right of Property, a funda-mental right was taken away and it is only a legalright now.

Amend. 55 (1986) provided a 30 - member StateAssembly for Arunachal Pradesh.

Amend 56 (1987) Accorded the status of state-hood to Goa. Provided a 40 member LegislativeAssembly to Goa.

Amend. 61 (1988) Reduced the voting age from 21to 18 years for the Lok Sabha as well as Assemblyelections.

Amend. 69 (1991) Provides that the Union Territoryof Delhi shall be called the National Capital Terri-tory of Delhi to be administered by the LieutenantGovernor.

Amend. 71 (1992) Provides that the Konkani,Manipuri, and Nepali shall be included in the

Eighth Schedule, thus raising the number of lan-guages from 15 to 18.

Amend. 73 (1992) Lead to the formation ofPanchayat Raj.

Amend. 74 (1992) Led to the formation of Nagar Palikas. Amend. 79 (1999) Extended the reservation of

Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and AngloIndians in Lok Sabha and State Assemblies forten more years ie, upto 2010.

Amend. 84 (2000) Relates to the creation of newstates of Jharkhand, Chattisgarh and Uttaranchal.

Amend.85 (2002) Allows Government employeesbelonging to the Scheduled Castes and Sched-uled Tribes to accelerate seniority consequentupon their elevation under the reservation ruleswith effect from June 1995.

Amend 92 (2003) provided for the amendment ofthe 8th schedule, thereby included Bodo,Santhali, Maithili and Dogri as official languagesraising the number to 22.

Amend 93 made education of fundamental right.

Commissions and Committees Constitutional Review Committee: Headed by

Justice M.N. Venkitachellaiah formed by the BJPGovernment to review the Constitution which is 50years old.

R.S. Sarkaria Commission: Studied centre-staterelations.

Balwant Rai Mehta Committee: Introduction ofPanchayati Raj institutions in the country.

Sen Committee: Report relates to decentralisationof power to Panchayati Raj institutions in Kerala.

Mandal Commission : Recommended 27%reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBC) inCentral Government Service.

Saikia Committee: Considered the proposal tomake free and compulsory education a Funda-mental Right.

Dinesh Goswami Committee : Studied aboutElectoral reforms.

Indrajith Gupta Committee : RecommendedState funding of elections.

Ram Niwas Mirdha: Headed the Joint Parliamen-tary Committee which enquired into securityscam.

Vohra Committee : Studied about nexus betweencriminals and politicians in India.

6 8 7

Just. Ram Nandan Prasad Committee : Set up toidentify the creamy layer ie, the socially and eco-nomically advanced sections among socially andeconomically backward classes.

K.K. Narendran Committee: Set up to identifythe creamy layer in Kerala.

Ashok Mehta Committee : Appointed in 1977 toreview the working of Panchayati Raj Institutions.

Ready Reference Amnesty : An act of general pardon of offenders

and termination of their penalties. Amnesty is gen-erally guaranteed for political offences.

Annexation : The act whereby a state takes pos-session of a territory formerly belonging to an-other state, or to no state at all.

Bureaucracy : Drawn from the French word bu-reau, the speciality of bureaucracy is that the offi-cials are organised in a hierarchical order, each rep-resenting a chain of command.

Bye-election : Special election to fill up seat ren-dered vacant during the running term of an electedperson.

Mid term election: Election conducted before thespecified term of 5 years due to dissolution of theLok Sabha or Assembly.

Coup d’ Etat : A sudden change of governmentby force, brought about by those who alreadyhold/held some governmental or military power.

Dictatorship: The absolute rule of a person orgroup without the necessity of the consent of thegoverned.

Exit Poll : thm«v sNbvXv aS-§p-¶-hsc kÀth\S¯n Ce-£³ dnkÄ«v {]Jym-]n-¡p¶ coXn.

Federation : A political unit on which a number ofsmaller political units devolve certain power overthemselves and their citizens and to which theyusually entrust the conduct of their foreignaffairs.

Filibuster : Parliamentary device of long windedspeeches, not necessarily relevant, to obstruct,delay or bargain over a measure under consider-ation for voting.

Guillotine : The act of putting all the demands tovote without discussion on the day marked fordiscussion of budget.

Human Rights : Refers to those inborn funda-mental rights and privileges which belong to aperson regardless of constitutional or legal pro-visions because these cannot be denied to himby any government since he is a human being.These are also known as natural rights.

Lame - duck session : Session held when a newParliament has been elected, but the old Parlia-ment meets for the last time before it is dissolved.The lame-ducks are the members of Parliamentwho have not been re-elected.

Mandate : Refers to the responsibility given bythe electorate to the winning party of an election.

Ratification : The formal adoption by a state of atreaty signed by the representatives.

Referendum : A device of direct democracy whichis used to ascertain the view of the electorate ei-ther on the form of government or as a legislativeproposal, or on a policy issue. This device is quitefrequently used in Switzerland.

Sanctions : Coercive measures taken by sover-eign states to force a law breaking state to complywith international law and treaty obligations.

Welfare State : A state concerned with publichealth, unemployment etc and taking a large shareof responsibility for the public welfare.

Whip : The term is used for a particular member ofa party who is charged with the responsibility ofsecuring the support of other party members infavour of or against a particular issue.

Police State : It is one based on brutal forcewhich makes extensive use of police, secret po-lice, army etc to control and monitor the people.There is no place for civil liberties and the rule oflaw in such a state.

Unicameralism : The term means legislature withone house. In India States other than Bihar,Karnataka, Maharashtra, Jammu Kashmir andUttar Pradesh have unicameral legislature.

White Paper : It is an authoritative and detailedpolicy document prepared by Government. Awhite Paper is prepared at the highest level and isplaced before union parliament with the osten-sible purpose of securing a purposeful discus-sion there on, besides providing an opportunityto the members to share the information.

6 8 8

1. An individual can contest election for the LokSabha if he has attained the age of(a) 30 years (b) 21 years(c) 35 years (d) 25 years

2. The minimum age for a candidate to be eligiblefor membership of the Rajya Sabha is(a) 21 years (b) 30 years(c) 25 years (d) 35 years

3. The representation of a state in the RajyaSabha is determined by(a) the size of each state(b) the size and population of the state(c) the population of the state(d) the proportion of number of members in thestate assemblies

4. If the office of the President of India falls vacant,when should the new President be elected ?(a) Immediately (b) Within two months(c) Within six months (d) Within one year

5. The President of India issue an ordinance(a) if Parliament is not in session(b) if Parliament is not likely to pass it(c) if there is any danger to the nation(d) if there is a deadlock between the twoHouse of Parliament

6. The supreme commander of the defence forcesof India is(a) the President(b) the Defence Minister(c) the Prime Minister(d) the Chief of the Army Staff

7. How many types of emergencies are providedfor in the Indian Constitution ?(a) Two (b) Three(c) Five (d) Four

8. The electoral college that elects the Vice -Presi-dent of India consists of(a) members of the Rajya Sabha only(b) elected members of both Houses of Parliament(c) members of both Houses of Parliament(d) members of the Rajya Sabha and the Legislative Assemblies

9. Who acts as the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha ?(a) the President of India(b) the Vice-President of India(c) the Speaker(d) the leader of the majority party in the Rajya Sabha

10. The Council of Ministers at the centre is respon-sible to(a) the Lok Sabha (b) Parliament(c) the President (d) the people

11. Who is the Chairman of the Planning Commis-sion ?(a) The President(b) The Vice-President(c) The Planning Minister(d) The Prime Minister

12. An individual who is not a member of eitherHouse of Parliament can be appointed as amember of the Council of Ministers, but he hasto become a member of either House within aperiod of(a) one month (b) two months(c) three months (d) six months

13. The Judges of the Supreme Court of India holdoffice until the age of(a) 55 years (b) 60 years(c) 65 years (d) not certain

14. Who discharges the duties of the Presidentwhen the office of the President and Vice-Presi-dent becomes vacant ?(a) The speaker of the Lok Sabha(b) The Prime Minister of India(c) The Chief Justice of India(d) The Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha

15. Who is the Chairman of the Lok Sabha ?(a) The Speaker(b) The Prime Minister(c) The President(d) The Vice-President

Ans: 1. (d) 2. (b) 3. (b) 4. (c) 5. (a) 6. (a) 7. (b) 8. (c) 9. (b) 10. (a)11. (d) 12. (d) 13. (c) 14. (c) 15. (a)

Constitution:Objective Questions

6 8 9

16. Who was the chairman of Constituent Assembly ?(a) Dr. B.R. Ambedkar (b) Jawaharlal Nehru(c) Dr. Rajendra Prasad (d) K.M.Munshi

17. Who was the Chairman of the Drafting Commit-tee of our Constitution ?(a) Dr. Rajendra Prasad (b) K.M. Munshi(c) Jawaharlal Nehru (d) Dr. B.R. Ambedkar

18. When did our Constitution come into force ?(a) November 26, 1949 (b) January 26, 1950(c) August 15, 1947 (d) December 9, 1946

19. According to the Preamble of our Constitution,India is a(a) Sovereign Democratic Socialist Republic(b) Sovereign Socialist Secular Republic(c) Sovereign Democratic Republic(d) Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic

20. According to the Constitution, India is a(a) federal state (b) unitary state(c) union of states (d) quasi-federal state

21. Who constitutes the Cabinet ?(a) The Council of Ministers(b) Only Cabinet Ministers(c) Cabinet Ministers and State Ministers(d) All Ministers

22. In case of a conflict between the Centre and theState Government over a subject on the concur-rent list,(a) the state law has the upper hand(b) the central law has the upper hand(c) both are equally applicable(d) the Supreme Court decides whether the statelaw should prevail or the central law

23. A subject is said to be on the concurrent listwhen a law can be passed on it by(a) the State Government(b) the Central Government

(c) the Central and the State Governments(d) the President and the Governor

24. The Constitution of India provides for a(a) dual citizenship(b) single citizenship(c) both the dual and single citizenship(d) international and national citizenship

25. The right to property is(a) a fundamental right(b) a legal right(c) an ordinary right (d) a statutory right

26. The basic principle in granting fundamentalrights to citizens is to give them(a) full opportunity for growth and development(b) freedom from exploitation(c) social and economic equality(d) freedom of speech and association

27. The provision of the directive principles of statepolicy in the Indian Constitution has been de-rived from the constitution of(a) Ireland and USA(b) Ireland and Spain(c) Ireland and Canada(d) UK and USA

28. Parliament consists of(a) the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha(b) the Lok Sabha(c) the Lok Sabha and the Vidhan Sabha(d) the Lok Sabha, the Rajya Sabha and the President of India

29. The President of India can be removed from of-fice by(a) the Prime Minister of India(b) the Chief Justice of India(c) Parliament(d) the Lok Sabha

Ans: 16. (c) 17. (d) 18. (b) 19. (d) 20. (c) 21. (b) 22. (b) 23. (c) 24. (b) 25. (b)

26. (a) 27. (b) 28. (d) 29. (c)