Salient Features of Constitution - Questions and Answers

ANSWER: Only 2, 3 and 4

Explanation:
The 12 schedules are as follows -

Schedule	Subject	Articles Covered
1	Names of the States, UTs and their territorial jurisdiction and extent	1 and 4
2	Provisions relating to the emoluments, allowances, privileges and so on of - 1. The President of India 2. The Governors of States 3. The Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha 4. The Chairman and the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha 5. The Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly in the states 6. The Chairman and the Deputy Chairman of the Legislative Council in the states 7. The Judges of the Supreme Court 8. The Judges of the High Courts 9. The Comptroller and Auditor-General of India	59, 65, 75, 97, 125, 148, 158, 164, 186 and 221
3	Forms of Oaths or Affirmations for - 1. The Union ministers 2. The candidates for election to the Parliament 3. The members of Parliament 4. The judges of the Supreme Court 5. The Comptroller and Auditor-General of India 6. The state ministers 7. The candidates for election to the state legislature 8. The members of the state legislature 9. The judges of the High Courts	75, 84, 99, 124, 146, 173, 188 and 219
4	Allocation of seats in the Rajya Sabha to the states and union territories.	4 and 80
5	Provisions relating to the administration and control of scheduled areas and scheduled tribes.	244
6	Provisions relating to the administration of tribal areas in the states of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.	244 and 275
7	Division of powers between the Union and the States. List I (Union List) – 100 subjects (originally 97), List II (State List) – 61 subjects (originally 66) and List III (Concurrent List) - 52 subjects (originally 47).	246
8	Languages recognized by the Constitution. Originally 14 languages were there but presently there are 22. They are - Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri (Dongri), Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Mathili, (Maithili), Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santhali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu. Sindhi was added by the 21st Amendment Act of 1967; Konkani, Manipuri and Nepali by 71st Amendment Act of 1992; and Bodo, Dongri, Maithili and Santhali by the 92nd Amendment Act of 2003.	344 and 351
9	This schedule was added by 1st Amendment (1951) to protect the laws included in it from judicial scrutiny on the ground of violation of fundamental rights. However, in 2007, the Supreme Court ruled that the laws included in this schedule after April 24, 1973, are now open to judicial review. Acts and Regulations (originally 13 but presently 282) of the state legislatures dealing with land reforms and abolition of the zamindari system and of the Parliament dealing with other matters are included in this schedule.	31-B
10	Provisions relating to disqualification of the members of Parliament and State Legislatures on the ground of defection. The schedule was added by 52nd Amendment Act, 1985. It is also known as Anti-Defection Law.	102 and 191
11	Specifies the powers, authority and responsibilities of Panchayats. It has 29 matters. This schedule was added by 73rd Amendment Act, 1992.	243-G
12	Specifies the powers, authority and responsibilities of Municipalities. It has 18 matters. This schedule was added by the 74th Amendment Act of 1992.	243-W

ANSWER: A-2 B-5 C-1 D-3

Explanation:
The main sources seen are -

i. Government of India Act, 1935 :

• Federal Scheme
• Office of Governor
• Judiciary
• Public Service Commissions
• Emergency provisions
• Administrative details

ii. British Constitution :

• Parliamentary government
• Rule of Law
• Legislative procedure
• Single citizenship
• ,Cabinet system
• Prerogative writs
• Parliamentary privileges
• Bicameralism

iii. US Constitution :

• Fundamental Rights
• Independence of Judiciary
• Judicial Review
• Impeachment of the President
• Removal of Supreme Court and High Court judges
• Post of Vice-President

iv. Irish Constitution :

• Directive Principles of State Policy
• Nomination of members to Rajya Sabha
• Method of election of President

v. Canadian Constitution :

• Federation with a strong centre
• Residuary powers with the centre
• Appointment of state governors by the centre
• Advisory jurisdiction of the Supreme Court

vi. Australian Constitution :

• Concurrent List
• Freedom of trade
• Commerce and intercourse
• Joint sitting of the two Houses of Parliament

vii. Weimar Constitution :

• Suspension of Fundamental Rights during Emergency

viii. Soviet Constitution :

• Fundamental duties
• The ideal of justice (social, economic and political) in the Preamble

ix. French Constitution :

• Republic
• The ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity in the Preamble

x. South African Constitution :

• Procedure for amendment of the Constitution
• Election of the members of Rajya Sabha

xi. Japanese Constitution :

• Procedure established by law

Necessary changes were made in these features to make them suitable for the Indian scenario. The drafted Constitution was finally adopted on November 26, 1949. It came into force on 26^th January 1950.

ANSWER: Only 1 and 4

Explanation:

• The Constitution of India has opted for the British parliamentary System of Government rather than American Presidential System of Government.
• The parliamentary system is based on the principle of cooperation and co-ordination between the legislative and executive organs.
• The presidential system is based on the doctrine of separation of powers between the two organs.
• The parliamentary system is also known as the ‘Westminster’ model of government, responsible government and cabinet government.
• The role of the Prime Minister has become so significant that it is sometimes called a ‘Prime Ministerial Government’.
• The Constitution establishes the parliamentary system at the Centre and in the states.

The features of parliamentary government in India are :

1. Presence of nominal and real executives.
2. Majority party rule.
3. Collective responsibility of the executive to the legislature.
4. Membership of the ministers in the legislature.
5. Leadership of the prime minister or the chief minister.
6. Dissolution of the lower House (Lok Sabha or Assembly).


• Indian Parliament is not a sovereign body like the British Parliament.
• Indian State has an elected head (republic) while the British State has hereditary head (monarchy).

ANSWER: A-2 B-1 C-4 D-3

Explanation:
The various parts of the Indian Constitution are as follows -

1. Part I - The Union and its territory Articles 1 to 4.
2. Part II - Citizenship Articles 5 to 11.
3. Part III - Fundamental Rights Articles 12 to 35.
4. Part IV - Directive Principles of State Policy Articles 36 to 51.
5. Part IV A - Fundamental Duties Articles 51-A.
6. Part V - The Union Government Articles 52 to 151.
7. Part VI - The State Governments Articles 152 to 237.
8. Part VIII - The Union Territories Articles239 to 242.
9. Part IX - The Panchayats Articles 243 to 243-0.
10. Part IX A - The Municipalities 243-P to Articles 243-ZG.
11. Part IX B - The Co-operative Societies Articles 243-ZH to 243-ZT.
12. Part X - The Scheduled and Tribal Areas Articles 244 to 244-A.
13. Part XI - Relations between the Union and the States Articles 245 to 263.
14. Part XII - Finance, Property, Contracts and Suits Articles 264 to 300-A.
15. Part XIII - Trade, Commerce and Intercourse within the Territory of India Articles 301 to 307.
16. Part XIV - Services under the Union and the States Articles 308 to 323.
17. Part XIV A - Tribunals Articles 323-A to 323-B.
18. Part XV - Elections Articles 324 to 329-A.
19. Part XVI - Special Provisions relating to Certain Classes Articles 330 to 342.
20. Part XVII - Official Language Articles 343 to 351.
21. Part XVIII - Emergency Provisions Articles 352 to 360.
22. Part XIX - Miscellaneous Articles 361 to 367.
23. Part XX - Amendment of the Constitution Articles 368.
24. Part XXI - Temporary, Transitional and Special Provisions Articles 369 to 392.
25. Part XXII - Short title, Commencement, Authoritative Text in Hindi and Repeals Articles 393 to 395.

ANSWER: All of the above

Explanation:
The following are the features of the Indian Constitution -

• Lengthiest Written Constitution - Presently (2013), it consists of a Preamble, about 465 Articles (divided into 25 Parts) and 12 Schedules.
• Drawn from various sources - It is also sometimes called borrowed constitution as it is heavily inspired from various sources.

1. The structural part - Government of India Act of 1935.
2. The philosophical part of the Constitution (the Fundamental Rights and the Directive Principles of State Policy) - American and Irish Constitutions respectively.
3. The political part (the principle of Cabinet Government and the relations between the executive and the legislature) - British Constitution.


• Rigid as well as Flexible Constitution - 2 types of amendments are provided in the Constitution -

1. Amendment by a special majority of the Parliament.
2. Amendment by a special majority of the Parliament with ratification by half of the state assemblies.
3. There can also be amendments with simple majority.


• Parliamentary form of Government having a Federal System with Unitary Bias.

It has -

1. Federal features - two government, division of powers, written Constitution, supremacy of Constitution, rigidity of Constitution, independent judiciary and bicameralism
2. Unitary or non-federal features - a strong Centre, single Constitution, single citizenship, flexibility of Constitution, integrated judiciary, appointment of state governor by the Centre, all-India services, emergency provisions, etc.


• Dual Polity but Single Citizenship for entire India.
• Emergency Provisions.
• Three tier Government – Initially it was 2-Tier but 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Acts (1992) have added a third-tier of government (i.e., local) which is not seen in any other Constitution of the world.
• Independent Bodies – Like Election Commission, CAG, UPSC, SPSC, etc. whose expenses are being charged on the Consolidated fund of India.
• Fundamental Rights, Fundamental Duties, Directive Principles of State Policy.
• A secular state.
• Integrated and Independent Judiciary.
• A blend of Parliamentary Sovereignty and Judicial Supremacy.