Indian Polity Quiz: Day: 113

Answer: (c)

• First Judges Case (1981)ruled that the “consultation” with the CJI in the matter of appointments must be full and effective.
• Second Judges Case (1993)introduced the Collegium system, holding that “consultation” really meant “concurrence”. It added that it was not the CJI’s individual opinion, but an institutional opinion formed in consultation with the two senior-most judges in the Supreme Court.
• Third Judges Case (1998):On a Presidential Reference for its opinion, the Supreme Court, in the Third Judges Case (1998) expanded the Collegium to a five-member body, comprising the CJI and four of his senior-most colleagues.
• Collegium recommends the transfer of Chief Justices and other judges. Article 222 of the Constitution provides for the transfer of a judge from one High Court to another.

Answer: (a)

Following are the elements of a state:

1) People, i.e. the community of persons permanently living there.

2) Government

3) Territory: Demarcated boundary that separates one state from the other.

4) Sovereignty: It has independent say in all domestic and external decision making

Answer: (d)

• Recently, the Election Commission ordered the delisting of 86 registered unrecognised political partiesit found to be “non-existent” and declared 253 others “inactive”.
• The parties that have been declared inactive would not be eligible to avail benefits under the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968, which allows parties to apply for a common symbol for its candidates.
• ECI has the power to register parties under the Representation of the People Act,(RPA) 1951, but it does not have the power to deregister parties that are inactive.
• A party can only be de-registered if its registration was obtained by fraud; if it is declared illegal by the Central Government; or if a party amends its internal Constitution and notifies the ECI that it can no longer abide by the Indian Constitution.

Answer: (b)

• The Supreme Court will examine whether The Constitution (103rd Amendment) Act, which introduced a 10 per cent quota for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS)in government jobs and admissions, violates the basic structure of the Constitution.

S R Sinho Commission

• The EWS reservation was granted based on the recommendations of a commission headed by Major General (retd) S R Sinho. The commission, which was constituted in March 2005, submitted its report in July 2010.
• The Sinho Commission recommended that all below-poverty-line (BPL) families within the general category as notified from time to time, and also all families whose annual family income from all sources is below the taxable limit, should be identified as EBCs (economically backward classes).

Answer: (d)

• The Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India lists the official languages of the Republic of India.
• Part XVII of the Indian Constitution deals with the official languages in Articles 343 to 351.
• World Hindi Day or Vishwa Hindi Divas is celebrated every year on January 10th to mark the first World Hindi Conference that was held in Nagpur on January 10 in 1975. In 2006, former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh declared that January 10 will be observed as World Hindi Day every year.
• India also celebrates National Hindi Divas on September 14th. It, however, is different from World Hindi Day as National Hindi Divas is celebrated to commemorate the adoption of Hindi as an official language of India by the Constituent Assembly.

Answer: (d)

Why the 103rd Constitution Amendment Act is challenged in court?

The 103rd Constitution Amendment Act has been challenged on the following grounds:

• Firstly, it violates the basic structure of the Constitution. The special protections guaranteed to socially disadvantaged groups are part of the basic structure. But the 103rd Amendment departs from this by promising special protections on the sole basis of economic status.
• Secondly, it violates the Supreme Court’s 1992 ruling in Indra Sawhney & Ors v Union of India, which upheld the Mandal report and capped reservations at 50 per cent. The court held that economic backwardness cannot be the sole criterion for identifying a backward class.
• Thirdly, it has been challenged on behalf of private, unaided educational institutions. They have argued that their fundamental right to practise a trade/ profession is violated when the state compels them to implement its reservation policy and admit students on any criteria other than merit.

Answer: (b)

Exceptions in Law:

Legislators may change their party without the risk of disqualification in certain circumstances.

• The law allows a party to merge with or into another party provided that at least two-thirds of its legislators are in favour of the merger.
• In such a scenario, neither the members who decide to merge, nor the ones who stay with the original party will face disqualification.

Answer: (c)

The Government of India is all set to constitute a National Commission to study the social, economic and educational status of members of Scheduled Castes or Dalits who converted to religions other than Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism.

Background

• The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order,1950 under Article 341 stipulates that no person professing a religion different from Hinduism, Sikhism or Buddhism can be deemed to be a member of a Scheduled Caste(SC).
• The original order under which only Hindus were classified as SCs was amended in 1956 to include Sikhs, and in 1990 to cover Buddhists.
• A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking SC reservation benefits for Dalits who converted to Christianity or Islam.
• The Ranganath Mishra Commission’s report submitted in 2007 recommended that SC status be completely delinked from religion and be made religion-neutral like STs.

Answer: (a)

Union Cabinet has approved a proposal to add several tribes to the list of Scheduled Tribes(ST) in States such as Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh so that they can avail of benefits meant for STs including reservation.

How many Scheduled Tribes are there officially?

• According to the Scheduled Tribes in India, as revealed in Census 2011, there are said to be 705 ethnic groups listed as Scheduled Tribes under Article 342.
• Over 10 crore Indians are notified as STs, of which 1.04 crore live in urban areas. The STs constitute 8.6% of the population and 11.3% of the rural population.

How is a community added or removed from SC, ST lists?

• The process begins at the level of a State or Union Territory with the concerned government or administration seeking the addition or exclusion of a particular community from the SC or ST list.
• The final decision rests with the President’s office issuing a notification specifying the changes under powers vested in it from Articles 341 and 342.
• The inclusion or exclusion of any community in the Scheduled Tribes or Scheduled Castes list comes into effect only after the President assents to a Bill that amends the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 and the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order,1950 as is appropriate after it is passed by both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

Answer: (d)