Indian Polity & Constitution MCQs

Notes:
Ad hoc judges can be appointed in the Supreme Court by “Chief Justice of India” with the prior consent of the President, if there is no quorum of judges available to hold and continue the session of the court. Only the persons who are qualified as to be appointed as Judge of the Supreme Court can be appointed as ad hoc judge of the Supreme Court. (Article 127). Further, as per provisions of the Article 128, Chief Justice of India, with the previous consent of the President, request a retired Judge of the Supreme Court High Court, who is duly qualified for appointment as a Judge of the Supreme Court, to sit and act as a Judge of the Supreme Court. The salary & allowance of such judge are decided by the president. The retired Judge who sits in such a session of the Supreme Court has all the jurisdiction, powers and privileges of the Judges BUT are NOT deemed to be a Judge.

Notes:
The constitution of India does not impose a limit on the number of terms a person can serve as the President. Thus a President can be elected for a five-year term and is eligible for immediate re-election. The person can then serve in the position for any number of terms. This differs from countries like the USA, where a person can only be elected president for a maximum of two terms.

Notes:
Fundamental Rights guaranteed by the Constitution are not absolute and certain restrictions can be imposed by the state according to the procedure established by law. However, these restrictions must be reasonable and not arbitrary. The reasonableness of the restrictions is decided by courts.

Notes:
In Kerala Education Bill (1957), the  Supreme Court said that in case of a conflict between Fundamental Right and Directive Principles, the principle of harmonious construction should be applied. The court observed that: “though the directive principles can not override the fundamental rights, nevertheless, in determining the scope and ambit of fundamental rights the court could not entirely ignore the directive principle but should adopt the principle of harmonious construction and should attempt to give effect to both as much as possible“.

Notes:
The Punjab Reorganisation Act 1966 was passed by the Indian Parliament to create a new state of Haryana from the former state of East Punjab. Also some territory was transferred to Himachal Pradesh.

Notes:
Court of record is a court whose proceedings are put as a record and are available as evidence of fact . Article 129 of the Indian constitution provides that Supreme court shall be a court of record and it can punish for its contempt. Similarly, Article 215 provides that every high court of the respective state to be a court of record and the dame can punish for its contempt.

Notes:
74th Constitutional Amendment Act envisaged the constitution and composition of a municipality. The 74th Constitutional Amendment Act of 1992 came into force on 1 June 1993. Personnel system in a Municipality and relations between elected members (executive) of a municipality and bureaucracy are decided by states as per their respective laws.

Notes:
Seven states of India viz. Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripua have one Rajya Sabha seat each. One Union Territory viz. Puducherry also has one Rajya Sabha seat. Another UT National Capital Territory of Delhi has 3 Rajya Sabha seats. No other Union Territory has representation in Rajya Sabha as of 2023.

Notes:
The Finance Commission is constituted by the President of India every fifth year under Article 280 of the Constitution. It recommends the president of India regarding the principles which should govern the grants-in-aid of the revenues of the states out of Consolidated Fund of India.

Notes:
The Vice President of India works as ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha and presides over its sessions. However, Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha, who is elected from amongst the house’s members, takes care of the day-to-day matters of the house in the absence of the Chairman.