Daily Quiz: UPSC Prelims Marathon – December 26, 2018

In addition to the making of the Constitution andenacting of ordinary laws, the ConstituentAssembly also performed the following functions:

1. It ratified the Indias membership of theCommonwealth in May 1949.
2. It adopted the national flag on July 22, 1947.
3. It adopted the national anthem on January 24, 1950.

Note: First Amendment of the Constitution of India wasmade in 1951, which says “state can make specialprovisions for advancement of any backwardclass”

4. It adopted the national song on January 24, 1950. 5.It elected Dr Rajendra Prasad as the first Presidentof India on January 24, 1950.

The term State has been used in different provisionsconcerning the fundamental rights. Hence, Article12 has defined the term for the purposes of Part

III. According to it, the State includes thefollowing:

(a) Government and Parliament of India, that is,executive and legislative organs of the Uniongovernment.

(b) Government and legislature of states, that is,executive and legislative organs of stategovernment.

(c) All local authorities, that is, municipalities,panchayats, district boards, improvement trusts,etc

(d) All other authorities, that is, statutory or non-statutory authorities like LIC, ONGC, SAIL, etc.Thus, State has been defined in a wider sense so as toinclude all its agencies. It is the actions of theseagencies that can be challenged in the courts asviolating the Fundamental Rights.

Note: According to the Supreme Court, even a privatebody or an agency working as an instrument of theState falls within the meaning of the Stateunder Article 12.

1st Statement is Incorrect:The proclamation of Emergency must be approved byboth the Houses of Parliament within one monthfrom the date of its issue. Originally, the periodallowed for approval by the Parliament was twomonths, but was reduced by the 44th AmendmentAct of 1978.

2nd Statement is Incorrect:

If approved by both the Houses of Parliament, theemergency continues for six months, and can beextended to an indefinite period with an approvalof the Parliament for every six months. Thisprovision for periodical parliamentary approvalwas also added by the 44th Amendment Act of1978. Before that, the emergency, once approvedby the Parliament, could remain in operation aslong as the Executive (cabinet) desired.

3rd Statement is Correct:

A resolution of disapproval is different from aresolution approving the continuation of a

proclamation in the following two respects:

1. The first one is required to be passed by the LokSabha only, while the second one needs to bepassed by the both Houses of Parliament.
2. The first one is to be adopted by a simple majorityonly, while the second one needs to be adopted bya special majority.

Statement 2 is Correct:

The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) is the main agency for preventing corruption in the Central government. Its establishment was recommended by the Santhanam Committee on Prevention of Corruption 1 (196264).

Statement 1 is Incorrect

It was established in 1964 by an executive resolutionof the Central government. Thus, originally theCVC was neither a constitutional body nor astatutory body. Recently, in September 2003, the Parliament enacted a law conferring statutory status on the CVC 2. In 2004, the Government of India authorised the CVC as the Designated Agency to receive written complaints for disclosure on any allegation of corruption or misuse of office and recommend appropriate action.The CVC is conceived to be the apex vigilance institution, free of control from any executive authority, monitoring all vigilance activity under the Central Government and advising various authorities in Central Government organizations in planning, executing, reviewing and reforming their vigilance work.

Charter Act of 1833 This Act was the final step towards centralisation in British India.Features of the Act

1. It made the Governor-General of Bengal as the Governor-General of India and vested in him all civil and military powers. Thus, the act created, for the first time, a Government of India having authority over the entire territorial area possessed by the British in India. Lord William Ben tick was the first governor-general of India.
2. It deprived the governor of Bombay and Madras of their legislative powers. The Governor General of India was given exclusive legislative powers for the entire British India. The laws made under the previous acts were called as Regulations while laws made under this act were called as Acts.
3. It ended the activities of the East India Company as a commercial body, which became a purely administrative body. It provided that the company territories in India were held by it in trust for His Majesty, His heirs and successors.
4. The Charter Act of 1833 attempted to introduce a system of open competition for selection of civil servants, and stated that the Indians should not be debarred from holding any place, office and employment under the Company. However, this provision was negated after opposition from the Court of Directors.

Statement is correct:

The Constitution (Article 4) itself declares that laws made for admission or establishment of new states (under Article 2) and formation of new states and alteration of areas, boundaries or names of existing states (under Articles 3) are not to be considered as amendments of the Constitution under Article 368. This means that such laws can be passed by a simple majority and by the ordinary legislative process.

Statement 2 is Incorrect:

Does the power of Parliament to diminish the areas of a state (under Article 3) include also the power to cede Indian Territory to a foreign country?This question came up for examination before the Supreme Court in a reference made by the President in 1960. The decision of the Central government to cede part of a territory known as Berubari Union (West Bengal) to Pakistan led to political agitation and controversy and there by necessitated the Presidential reference. The Supreme Court held that the power of Parliament to diminish the area of a state (under Article 3)does not cover cession of Indian territory to a foreign country. Hence, Indian Territory can be ceded to a foreign state only by amending the Constitution under Article 368. Consequently, the 9th Constitutional Amendment Act (1960) was enacted to transfer the said territory to Pakistan.

Statement 3 is Correct:

The Supreme Court in 1969 ruled that, settlement of a boundary dispute between India and another country does not require a constitutional amendment. It can be done by executive action as it does not involve cession of Indian Territory to a foreign country.

S.K Dhar Commission was appointed to look after the feasibility of demands from different regions,particularly South India, for reorganization of states on linguistic basis. It was a Linguistic Provinces Commission and not a States Reorganisation Commission.The commission submitted its report in December 1948 and recommended the reorganisation of states on the basis of administrative convenience rather than linguistic factor.This created much resentment and led to the appointment of another Linguistic ProvincesCommittee by the Congress in December 1948 itself to examine the whole question afresh. It consisted of Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallahbhai Pateland Pattabhi Sitaramayya and hence, was popularly known as JVP Committee 6. It submittedits report in April 1949 and formally rejected

language as the basis for reorganisation of states.However, in October 1953, the Government of India

was forced to create the first linguistic state,known as Andhra state, by separating the Telugu speaking areas from the Madras state.

The creation of Andhra state intensified the demand from other regions for creation of states on

linguistic basis. This forced the Government of India to appoint (in December 1953) a three- member States Reorganisation Commission under the chairmanship of Fazl Ali to re-

examine the whole question. Its other two members were K M Panikkar and H N Kunzru. It submitted its report in September 1955 and broadly accepted language as the basis of reorganisation of states.