QUIZ – 2020: INSIGHTS STATIC , 24 November 2020 – Polity

Solution: c)

Article 368 in Part XX of the Constitution deals with the powers of Parliament to amend the Constitution and its procedure.

• An amendment of the Constitution can be initiated only by the introduction of a bill for the purpose in either House of Parliament and not in the state legislatures.
• The bill can be introduced either by a minister or by a private member and does not require prior permission of the president.
• If the bill seeks to amend the federal provisions of the Constitution, it must also be ratified by the legislatures of half of the states by a simple majority, that is, a majority of the members of the House present and voting.
• After duly passed by both the Houses of Parliament and ratified by the state legislatures, where necessary, the bill is presented to the president for assent.
• The president must give his assent to the bill. He can neither withhold his assent to the bill nor return the bill for reconsideration of the Parliament.

Solution: a)

Article 13 declares that all laws that are inconsistent with or in derogation of any of the fundamental rights shall be void.

The term ‘law’ in Article 13 has been given a wide connotation so as to include the following:

(a) Permanent laws enacted by the Parliament or the state legislatures;

(b) Temporary laws like ordinances issued by the president or the state governors;

(c) Statutory instruments in the nature of delegated legislation (executive legislation) like order, bye-law, rule, regulation or notification; and

(d) Non-legislative sources of law, that is, custom or usage having the force of law.

Further, Article 13 declares that a constitutional amendment is not a law and hence cannot be challenged. However, the Supreme Court held in the Kesavananda Bharati case (1973) that a Constitutional amendment can be challenged on the ground that it violates a fundamental right that forms a part of the ‘basic structure’ of the Constitution and hence, can be declared as void.

Solution: d)

Articles 52 to 78 in Part V of the Constitution deal with the Union executive. The Union executive consists of the President, the Vice-President, the Prime Minister, the council of ministers and the attorney general of India.

Solution: c)

The Constitution does not contain any specific procedure for the selection and appointment of the Chief Minister. Article 164 only says that the Chief Minister shall be appointed by the governor.

According to the Constitution, the Chief Minister may be a member of any of the two Houses of a state legislature. Usually Chief Ministers have been selected from the Lower House (legislative assembly), but, on a number of occasions, a member of the Upper House (legislative council) has also been appointed as Chief Minister.

Solution: a)

The Leader of the Opposition is the politician who leads the official opposition in either House of the Parliament of India. To claim the status of “official opposition” in either house a party has to secure 55 seats (10%) of the seats in the Lok Sabha and likewise 25 (10%) of the seats in the Rajya Sabha.

It received statutory recognition through the Salary and Allowances of Leaders of Opposition in Parliament Act, 1977 which defines the term “Leader of the Opposition” as that member of the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha who, for the time being, is the Leader of that House of the Party in Opposition to the Government having the greatest numerical strength and recognised, as such, by the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha or the Speaker of the Lok Sabha.

As per the Salary and Allowances of Leaders of Opposition in Parliament Act, 1977 by which the post has got official and statutory status, the majority required is decided by the heads of the houses, that is speaker and chairman as the case may be.