Indian Polity Quiz:

ANSWER: C

• Starting from the first general elections of free India in 1951 and the next three cycles of elections, the country witnessed concurrent Lok Sabha and Assembly elections with some exceptions.
• Exceptions to these were a few states like Kerala where a mid-term election was held in 1960 on the premature dissolution of the Assembly.
• In Nagaland and Pondicherry where the Legislative Assembly was created only after the 1962 general elections.

End of the era

• The fourth Lok Sabha constituted in 1967 was dissolved prematurely in 1971 ahead of its normal term resulting in a mid-term Lok Sabha election.
• This was the beginning of the end of simultaneous elections in India.
• Extension of the term of Lok Sabha during the National Emergency declared in 1975 and the dissolution of Assemblies of some States after the 1977 Lok Sabha election further disturbed this cycle.
• Currently, there are at least two rounds of Assembly general elections every year

ANSWER: B

• The period during which the House meets to conduct its business is called a session. The constitution empowers the president to summon each house at such intervals that there should not be more than a six-month gap between the two sessions. Hence the Parliament must meet at least twice a year. In India, the Parliament conducts three sessions each year: member committee to investigation into the charges[22]

a)Budget session: January/February to May

b)Monsoon session: July to August/September

c)Winter session: November to December

• Article 100 of the Constitution of India stipulates that at least 10% of total number of members of the House must be present to constitute the quorum to constitute a meeting of either House of Parliament.

ANSWER: D

Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991

• It underlines the need to protect the liberty of faith and worship.
• Section 3 of the Act: It bars the conversion, in full or part, of a place of worship of any religious denomination into a place of worship of a different religious denomination, or even a different segment of the same religious denomination.
• Section 4(1):It declares that the religious character of a place of worship shall continue to be the same as it existed on August 15, 1947.

Exemptions:

Ram Janma Bhumi Babri Masjid

• Under Section 5 of the Act, it does not apply to Ram Janma Bhumi Babri Masjid.
• Nothing contained in this Act shall apply to Ram Janma Bhumi-Babri Masjid situated in Ayodhya (Uttar Pradesh) and to any suit, appeal or other proceeding relating to it.

Any place of worship that is an ancient and historical monument or an archaeological site, or is covered by the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958

ANSWER: B

• Government of India Act of 1935: The Act marked a second milestone towards a completely responsible government in India. It was a lengthy and detailed document having 321 Sections and 10 Schedules.

 The features of this Act were as follows:

• It provided for the establishment of an All-India Federation consisting of provinces and princely states as units.
• It abolished dyarchy in the provinces and introduced ‘provincial autonomy’ in its place. The provinces were allowed to act as autonomous units of administration in their defined spheres.
• It provided for the adoption of dyarchy at the Centre.
• The Act introduced responsible Governments in provinces, that is, the Governor was required to act with the advice of ministers responsible to the provincial legislature.
• It introduced bicameralism in six out of eleven provinces. Thus, the legislatures of Bengal, Bombay, Madras, Bihar, Assam and the United Provinces were made bicameral consisting of a legislative council (upper house) and a legislative assembly (lower house).
• The Government of India Act of 1919, made a provision for classification of the central and provincial subjects.

ANSWER: C

• The Sixth Schedule under Article 244 provides for the formation of autonomous administrative divisions — Autonomous District Councils (ADCs) — that have some legislative, judicial, and administrative autonomy within a state.
• The Governor is empowered to organise and reorganise the autonomous districts.
• Each autonomous district has a District Council consisting of thirty members out which 4 members are nominated by the Governor and 26 are elected on the basis of adult franchise. The elected members hold office for a term of 5 years.
• District council can take decisions on certain specific matters like land forest, canal water, shifting cultivation, property, marriage etc. All such laws require the assent of the Governor.
• The Bodoland Territorial Council in Assam is an exception with more than 40 members and the right to make laws on 39 issues.
• The Sixth Schedule applies to the Northeastern states of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram (three Councils each), and Tripura (one Council).

ANSWER: D

• All the members of panchayats at the village, intermediate and district levels shall be elected directly by the people. Hence statement 1 is correct.
• The chairperson of a panchayat at the village level shall be elected in such manner as the state legislature determines. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.
• Further, the chairperson of panchayats at the intermediate and district levels shall be elected indirectly— by and from amongst the elected members thereof. Hence statement 3 is correct.

ANSWER: D

• Privilege Motion : Rules of Lok Sabha/Rajya Sabha permit a member, with the consent of the Speaker or the Chairperson, can move privilege motion involving a breach of privilege either of a member or of the House or of a committee.
• Removal of Judge of Supreme Court: The Judges Enquiry Act (1968) regulates the procedure relating to the removal of a judge of the Supreme Court by the process of impeachment. A removal motion can be moved either in Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha.
• Adjournment Motion L is introduced in the Parliament to draw the attention of the House to a definite matter of urgent public importance and needs the support of 50 members to be admitted. Rajya Sabha is not permitted to make use of this device.
• The voting of demands for grants is the exclusive privilege of the Lok Sabha, that is, the Rajya Sabha has no power of voting the demands and hence cannot move Economy Cut motion.

ANSWER: A

• The members of the Constituent Assembly were elected by the provincial assemblies by a single, transferable-vote system of proportional representation.
• The total membership of the Constituent Assembly was 389 of which 292 were representatives of the provinces, 93 represented the princely states and four were from the chief commissioner provinces of Delhi, Ajmer-Merwara, Coorg and British Baluchistan.
• The elections for the 296 seats assigned to the British Indian provinces were completed by August 1946. Congress won 208 seats, and the Muslim League 73.
• However, the 93 seats allotted to the princely states were not filled as they decided to stay away from the Constituent Assembly. After the acceptance of the Mountbatten Plan of June 3, 1947, for the partition of the country, the representatives of most of the princely states took their seats in the Assembly. Hence option (b) is not correct.

ANSWER: C

• On July 26, Lok Sabha passed a bill to grant statutory cover to already established family courts in Himachal Pradesh and Nagaland and retrospectively validate actions taken by them.
• The Family Courts Act was enacted in 1984 for the establishment of family courts by States to deal with disputes related to family and marriage.
• There are 715 Family Courts which are established and functioning in 26 States and Union territories, including three Family Courts in the State of Himachal Pradesh and two-Family Courts in the State of Nagaland. However, for Himachal and Nagaland, the Central Government notification was not issued for bringing the said Act into force in these states.
• Two family courts were established in Nagaland on September 12, 2008, and three in Himachal Pradesh on February 15, 2019, via notifications issued by the two State governments. While Himachal Pradesh set up family courts in Shimla, Dharamshala and Mandi, Nagaland established two such courts at Dimapur and Kohima. However; these courts were functioning without any legal authority since no central notification was issued in this regard, as prescribed under Section 1(3) of the Family Courts Act.

ANSWER: D

• State Human Rights Commission can inquire into violation of human rights in respect of subjects mentioned in the State List and concurrent list.
• Central Information Commission is an independent statutory body.
• The chairman and members of the State Human Right Commission can be removed by the President of India.