[Mission 2024] STATIC QUIZ, 9 September 2023 – Polity

Solution: a)

Only Statement 2 is correct.

Both Parliament and the State legislatures have power to legislate on Goods and Services Tax (GST), and that the Goods and Services Tax Council’s recommendations were just that: recommendations that could never be binding on a legislative body.

When, in July 2017, the Union government introduced the GST regime through the 101st constitutional Amendment, it did so based on an underlying belief that tax administration across India needed unification. ‘One Nation, One Tax’, was the mantra. To give effect to this idea, many entries in the State list of Schedule VII of the Constitution were either deleted or amended. 

Solution: b)

Statement 2 is incorrect.

Who is the Attorney General for India?

The Constitution of India places the post of the A-G on a special footing. The A-G is the Government of India’s first law officer, and has the right of audience in all courts of the country.

Article 76(2) of the Constitution says “it shall be the duty of the Attorney-General to give advice to the Government of India upon such legal matters, and to perform such other duties of a legal character, as may from time to time be referred or assigned to him by the President”.

The A-G is also supposed to “discharge the functions conferred on him by or under this Constitution or any other law for the time being in force”.

Also, the A-G for India is not, like the A-G for England and Wales and the A-G of the United States, a member of the Cabinet.

Solution: a)

Article 356 empowers the President to issue a proclamation, if he is satisfied that a situation has arisen in which the government of a state cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.

Notably, the president can act either on a report of the governor of the state or otherwise too (ie, even without the governor’s report).

A proclamation imposing President’s Rule must be approved by both the Houses of Parliament within two months from the date of its issue. If approved by both the Houses of Parliament, the President’s Rule continues for six months.

Solution: b)

Statement 2 is incorrect.

In-camera proceedings are private, unlike open court proceedings. Conducted as per the court’s discretion in sensitive matters to ensure protection and privacy of the parties involved, the proceedings are usually held through video conferencing or in closed chambers, from which the public and press are excluded.

In an open court or open justice system, which is the usual course of proceedings, the press is allowed to report on the matter being heard.

Section 327 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) has detailed the types of cases that should be recorded on camera, including inquiry into and trial in rape case.

The said section states that if the presiding judge or a magistrate thinks fit, she can order at any stage of the proceedings that the public generally, or any particular person, shall not remain present in the courtroom or the court building.

Section 327 of the CrPC states that it shall not be lawful to publish any matter in relation to in-camera proceedings except with the previous permission of the court. It adds that the ban on publishing of trial proceedings for offence of rape may be lifted subject to maintaining confidentiality of name and address of the parties.

In-camera proceedings are usually conducted at family courts in cases of matrimonial disputes, including judicial separation, divorce proceedings, impotence, and more. In-camera proceedings are also conducted during the deposition of witnesses of terrorist activities as per the court’s discretion, so as to protect them and maintain national security.

Solution: b)

Statement 1 is incorrect.

Under the Constitution, the power to legislate in respect of personal laws rests with both Parliament and state Assemblies. Preservation of legal diversity seems to be the reason for inclusion of personal law in the Concurrent List (entry No. 5).

Once a legislative field is occupied by parliamentary legislation, states do not have much freedom to enact laws. Such laws would require Presidential assent under Article 254.

The Constitution itself protects local customs of Nagaland, Meghalaya and Mizoram.