QUIZ – 2020: INSIGHTS STATIC QUIZ, 8 June 2020 – Polity

Solution: a)

The Preamble of the Constitution like the preamble of any statute furnish the key to open the mind of the makers of the Constitution more so because the Constituent Assembly took great pains in formulating it so that it may reflect the essential features and basic objectives of the Constitution.

The Preamble does not grant any power but it gives direction and purpose to the Constitution. It outlines the objective of the whole Constitution. The Preamble contains the fundamentals of constitution. It serves several important purposes like

• It contains the enacting clause which brings the Constitution into force.
• It declares the basic type of government and polity which is sought to be established in the country.
• It declares the great rights and freedom which the people of India intended to secure to its entire citizen.

Solution: a)

A citizen’s right to own private property is a human right. The state cannot take possession of it without following due procedure and authority of law, the Supreme Court has held in a judgment.

The state cannot trespass into the private property of a citizen and then claim ownership of the land in the name of ‘adverse possession’, the court said.

The State cannot be permitted to perfect its title over the land by invoking the doctrine of adverse possession to grab the property of its own citizens.

Under “doctrine of adverse possession”, a person who is not the original owner becomes the owner because of the fact that he has been in possession of the property for a minimum of 12-years, within which the real owner did not seek legal recourse against him.

Solution: b)

The Constitution of India does not define the term minority. The National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions (NCMEI) Act defines minority means a community notified as such by the Central Government.

As per notification of the Government of India, there are 6 notified religious minority communities – Muslim, Sikh, Christian, Buddhist, Parsis and Jain.

No linguistic minority has been notified by the Central Government till date. Thus, linguistic minorities are outside the purview of the NCMEI.

Minority Educational Institutions are out of purview of reservation policy under Article 15.

Solution: c)

The Constitution lays down the following qualifications for a person to be chosen a member of the state legislature.

(a) He must be a citizen of India.

(b) He must make and subscribe to an oath or affirmation before the person authorised by the Election Commission for this purpose. In his oath or affirmation, he swears

(i) To bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India

(ii) To uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India

(c) He must be not less than 30 years of age in the case of the legislative council and not less than 25 years of age in the case of the legislative assembly.

(d) He must posses other qualifications prescribed by Parliament.

Accordingly, the Parliament has laid down the following additional qualifications in the Representation of People Act (1951):

(a) A person to be elected to the legislative council must be an elector for an assembly constituency in the concerned state and to be qualified for the governor’s nomination, he must be a resident in the concerned state.

(b) A person to be elected to the legislative assembly must be an elector for an assembly constituency in the concerned state.

(c) He must be a member of a scheduled caste or scheduled tribe if he wants to contest a seat reserved for them. However, a member of scheduled castes or scheduled tribes can also contest a seat not reserved for them.

Solution: c)

The Supreme Court has ruled that reservation in the matter of promotions in public posts is not a fundamental right, and a state cannot be compelled to offer the quota if it chooses not to.

“There is no fundamental right which inheres in an individual to claim reservation in promotions. No mandamus can be issued by the court directing state governments to provide reservations,”

Mandamus is among the “prerogative writs” in English common law — meaning the extraordinary writs or orders granted by the Sovereign when ordinary legal remedies are inadequate. These are habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, certiorari, and quo warranto.

In India, the Supreme Court can issue prerogative writs under Article 32 of the Constitution, and the High Courts under Article 226.

Mandamus literally means ‘we command’. When issued to a person or body, the writ of mandamus demands some activity on their part. It orders the person or body to perform a public or quasi-public duty, which they have refused to perform, and where no other adequate legal remedy exists to enforce the performance of that duty.

The writ cannot be issued unless the legal duty is of public nature, and to whose performance the applicant of the writ has a legal right.

The remedy is of a discretionary nature — a court can refuse to grant it when an alternative remedy exists. However, for enforcing fundamental rights, the alternative remedy argument does not hold as much weight, since it is the duty of the Supreme Court and the High Courts to enforce fundamental rights.

When a public officer or government does an act that violates the fundamental right of a person, the court would issue a writ of mandamus against such authorities so that the person’s rights are not infringed.

The writ can also be issued against inferior courts or other judicial bodies when they have refused to exercise their jurisdiction and perform their duty.

Under Article 361, mandamus cannot be granted against the President or Governor of a State, “for the exercise and performance of the powers and duties of his office or for any act done or purporting to be done by him in the exercise and performance of those powers and duties”.

The writ also cannot be issued against a private individual or body, except where the State is in collusion with the private party for contravening a provision of the Constitution or a statute.