Constitution of India: Historical Background

• The constitution of India was enhanced by a Constituent Assembly set up under the
Cabinet Mission Plan, 1946.
• Sachidananda Sinha presided over the inaugural meeting of the Constituent Assembly of
India.
• B.R. Ambedkar was the Chairman of the Drafting Committee of the Indian Constitution.
• Dr. B.R. Ambedkar is known as the Father of the Indian Constitution.
• The Constituent Assembly for undivided India first met on 9th December, 1946.
• Dr. B.N. Rao was the Constitutional adviser to the Constituent Assembly.
• The Idea of the Constitution of India was first given by M.N. Rao.
• India became Sovereign, Democratic & Republic on 26 january 1950.
• Government of India Act, 1919 made the Indian Legislature bicameral. (Montague –
Chelmsford Reforms)
• Indian Councils Act,1909 (Morley-Minto Reforms) was the first attempt at introducing a
representative and popular element in administration. Lord Minto came to known as
Father of Communal Electorate.
• Indian Constitution Day is 26 November (1949).
• The Constitution names our country as India, that is Bharat. @SolutionsAndTricks
• India represent Indirect/Representative Democracy.
Note: Minimum permissible age for Employment in any factory or mine is 14 years.
https://t.me/Solutions
Note: Indian Constitution recognises minorities on the basis of religion. AndTricks
Note: U.S.A has the briefest Constitution in the world.

The Preamble: spirit of Constitution

• The Preamble which is based on “Objectives Resolution” was drafted and moved by
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.
• Preamble has been amended by 42nd Constitution Amendment Act, 1976 by which three
new words – Socialist, Secular & Integrity were added.
• The Indian Constitution is regarded as federal in form and unitary in spirit (Union of
States).
• India opted for a federal form of government because of linguistic and regional diversity.
• Objectives: Justice, Liberty, Equality & Ferternity
• Key words: Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic, Republic, Justice, Liberty &
Equality.

Sources of Constitution at a glance:

Sources Features borrowed
Government of India act of 1935 Federal Scheme, office of governor, judiciary, Public service
British Constitution Parliamentary government, Rule of Law, Legislative
(England, Britain, UK) Procedure, Single citizenship, Cabinet System
US Constitution Fundamental Rights, Independence of Judiciary, Judicial
review, Impeachment of the president, Public Interest
Litigation
Irish Constitution Directive Principles, nomination of members to Rajya
Sabha, Method of election of president
Canada Appointment of State governors by the centre , Advisory
juridiction of the Supreme Court.
Germany Suspension of Fundamental Rights during Emergency
Australia Concurrent List, Freedom of Trade, joint sitting of two
houses of Parliament
Russia (USSR) Fundamental Duties and idea of justice (Social, economic
and political) in the preamble
French Republic and the ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity in
the preamble.
South Africa Procedure for amendment and election of members of Rajya
Sabha
Japan Procedure for established by law

Parts of the Indian constitution:

Part Deals with Articles

I The Union and its territory 1 to 4
II Citizenship 5 to 11
III Fundamental Rights 12 to 35
IV Directive Principles of the state policy 36 to 51
IV-A Fundamental Duties (inserted by 42nd Constitution Amendment Act, 1976) 51-A
V The Union Government 52 to 151
XI Relations between the Union and the States. 245 - 263
XV Elections 324 – 329A
XVIII Emergency Provisions 352 - 360
XX Amendment of the Constitution (amended by 2/3rd majority) 368
XXI Temporary and Special provisions (separate Constitution) 369 to 392

Schedules of the Constitution:

Schedule Deals with

First Name and territorial extent (States and Union Territories)
Fourth Allocation of seats to Council of States (Rajya Sabha)
Fifth Provision as to administration and control of scheduled areas and scheduled tribes
Seventh Division of Power between the Union and the States (Union List, State List &
Concurrent List)
Eighth Languages recognised by constitution (14 languages) - Assamese, Bengali,
Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, malayalam, marathi, Odiya, Punjabi, Sanskrit,
Tamil, Telugu, Urdu. (English is not recognised an official language of a state)
Ninth Acts and regulations (was added by Ist Constitution Amendment Act, 1951)
Tenth Disqualification of the members of Parliament and State Legislatures
Eleventh Powers, authority and responsibilities of Panchayats.
Twelfth Powers, authority and responsibilities of Municipalities.

Important Articles of the Constitution:

Art. Deals with Context
1 Name and Territory of the Union
3 Formation of new states, alteration of areas, The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019
boundaries or names of existing States reorganises the state of Jammu and Kashmir into:
(i)Jammu & Kashmir and (ii)Ladakh
11 Parliament to regulate the right of The Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019, amends
citizenship by law the Citizenship Act, 1955.
The National Register of Citizens (NRC) is a
register containing names of all genuine Indian
citizens. At present, only Assam has such a register.
13 Judicial review of all Legislations in India
14 Equality before Law The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on
Marriage) Act 2019 makes a declaration of talaq a
cognizable offence.
Indian Constitution makes expectations in the case
of the President or a Governor.
15 Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of
religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth
16 Equality of opportunity in matters of public The Constitution (103rd Amendment) Act, 2019,
employment provides for 10% reservation for the economically
weaker sections (EWS) in higher educational
institutions and jobs within the general category. It
inserted article 15 (6) and 16 (6) in the constitution.
17 Abolition of untouchability
19 Protection of certain rights regarding The Supreme Court has declared access to the
Freedom of: (i) speech and expression, (ii) internet a fundamental right under Article 19 (1)(a)
assembly, (iii) association, (iv) movement, of the Constitution.
(v) residence, and (vi) profession.
20 Protection in respect of conviction for Rule 49 MA provides for prosecution of a voter for
offences making a false complaint of malfunction of an
electronic voting machine or a voter verifiable paper
audit trail machine.
21 Protection of life and personal liberty
(privacy)
21A Right to elementary education (added by
86th CAA, 2002)
25 Freedom of conscience and free profession,
practice and propagation of religion
29 Protection of language, script and culture of
minorities.
30 Right of minorities to establish and
administer educational institutions
32 Remedies for enforcement of Fundamental
Rights including Writs
40 Organisation of village panchayats
41 Right to work, to education and to public The Chhattisgarh Cabinet has approved an
assistance in certain cases. amendment to the State Panchayati Raj Act, 1993,
which makes mandatory the presence of a person
with disabilities in all panchayats across the state.
43 Living wage, etc., for workers Recently the government has enacted Wage Code
Act to ensure minimum wage to the workers
44 Uniform Civil Code for the Citizens
45 Childhood care and education of children
below 6 years
46 Promotion of educational and economic
interests of scheduled castes, scheduled
tribes and other weaker sections
50 Separation of judiciary from the executive
51 Promotion of international peace and
security
72 Power of President to grant pardons, etc. The convicts of Nirbhaya Case have misused the
and to suspend, remit or commute presidential pardon as dilatory tactics to frustrate
sentences in certain cases the judicial process.
It can be exercised at any time before, during or
after the trial.
123 Power of President to promulgate Ordinances promulgated
Ordinances during recess of Parliament. •Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation of Certain
Provisions) Ordinance, 2020
•Ordinance to Protect Health Workers
•Government Re-Promulgates Triple Talaq
Ordinance
124 Establishment and constitution of the The Supreme Court has ruled that the office of the
Supreme Court. Chief Justice of India (CJI) is a public authority
under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005.
124A Indian Penal Code to Punishent for Sedition
129 Supreme Court to be a court of record. The The Supreme Court of India has held former
Supreme Court has the power to punish for Ranbaxy promoters guilty of contempt for violating
contempt of itself. its order. However, the expression ‘contempt of
court’ has not been defined by the Constitution.
131 Original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court Kerala moved to the Supreme Court challenging the
Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 - CAA, 2019.
The suit has been filed under Article 131 of the
Constitution.
136 Special leave to appeal by the Supreme The Supreme Court has recently held that a
Court citizen’s right to own private property is a human
right.
137 Review of judgments or orders by the Nirbhaya case convicts filed Curative petitions in
Supreme Court. the Supreme Court after mercy petition and review
petition which has been rejected.
 The Supreme Court has agreed to review its
Sabarimala verdict. Under Article 137
143 Power of President to consult Supreme The President may seek the opinion of the
Court Supreme Court on any question of law or fact of
public importance on which he thinks it expedient to
obtain such an opinion.
155 Appointment of Governors
161 Power of Governor to grant pardons, etc., The Tamil Nadu government’s use of “executive
and to suspend, remit or commute clemency” under Article 161 of the Constitution for
sentences in certain cases. the 13 life convicts in the 1997 murder of six Dalits
at Melavalavu village in Madurai district.
163 Council of Ministers to aid and advise Recently, Article 162 and 163 was in news in
Governor context of Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thakrey’s
nomination to the State Legislative council.
164 Other provisions as to Ministers During the oath-taking ceremony of the new
government, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra with
other ministers has altered the oath by invoking the
names other than mentioned in the Constitution.
Article 164(3) states that before a Minister enters
upon his office, the Governor shall administer to
him the oaths of office and of secrecy according to
the forms set out in the Third Schedule.
167 Duties of Chief Minister with regard to the
furnishing of information to the Governor.
168 Constitution of Legislatures in the states
169 Abolition or creation of Legislative Councils The Andhra Pradesh (AP) assembly has passed a
in States resolution to abolish the state’s Legislative Council.

@SolutionsAndTricks The Odisha government is planning to introduce a

Bill in the Odisha Assembly for the creation of a
Vidhan Parishad or Legislative Council (LC), a
https://t.me/SolutionsAndTricks second House of legislature.
174 Sessions of the State Legislature, Recently, various political parties have voiced their
prorogation and dissolution concerns over holding elections in Bihar amid
Covid-19 pandemic and asked to postpone the
same. The six months is the constitutionally defined
limit between two sessions of the House/Assembly
(Article 85(1) and Article 174(1) of the Constitution,
respectively).
223 Appointment of acting Chief Justice In appointing acting Chief Justice in Madhya
Pradesh High Court under article 223, centre
ignored the recommendation made by the
collegium.
226 Powers of High Courts to issue certain
writs.
227 Powers of superintendence over all
subordinate courts to the High Courts

239A Creation of local Legislatures or Council of According to Section 13 of the J&K Reorganisation
Ministers or both for certain Union Act, 2019, the provisions contained in article 239A,
territories. which are applicable to “Union territory of
 Puducherry”, shall also apply to the “Union territory
of Jammu & Kashmir”.
239AA Special provisions with respect to Delhi. The Supreme Court (SC) delivered a split verdict on
the contentious issue of division of powers between
the Delhi government and the Central government
over control of services, covering issues like
transfer of officials, and referred the matter to a
larger bench.
240 Power of President to make regulations for The Union Cabinet, under Article 240 of the
certain Union territories. Constitution, approved the promulgation of the
Daman and Diu Civil Courts (Amendment)
Regulation, 2019, and the Dadra and Nagar Haveli
(Civil Courts and Miscellaneous Provisions)
Amendment Regulation, 2019.
243 Panchayti Raj System
243A Gram Sabha The Ministry of Panchayati Raj has directed all the
States and Union Territories to organise Special
Gram Sabhas and Mahila Sabhas (Women’s
Assemblies) in all Gram Panchayats on 8th March,
2020 to mark the International Women’s Day.
243K Elections to the Panchayats The Andhra Pradesh Panchayat Raj (Second
Amendment) Ordinance, 2020 has reduced the
term of State Election Commissioner from 5years to
3years and thereby removed the incumbent State
Election Commissioner.
246A Provisions of Goods and Services Tax
(GST)
267 Contingency Fund of India as well as each
State
269A Goods and Services Tax (GST) on Inter-
state trade
312 All-India Services (appointed under the signature of President)
343 Prescribes Hindi in Devanagari script as the
official language of Union
351 To promote the spread of Hindi language
352 Proclamation of Emergency (National Has been declared three times till now. It must be
Emergency) approved by the Parliament within one month.
During this Art. 20 & Art. 21 can not be suspended
356 State Emergency (President's rule) It means state is ruled by the Govennor of the state.
President Rule can be Imposed for period of 6
month.
360 Provisions as to Financial Emergency.
370 Temporary provision with respect to the
state of Jammu and Kashmir.
377 Unnatural offences (intercourse against the
order of nature) {LGBT}

Note: At the time of commencement there was 22 part, 395 articles & 8 schedule.
Important Costitutional Amendment Acts:

Constitutional Year Amended Subjects

Amendment Act
First 1951 • Right to equality, liberty & property were restricted in public
interest
• The land reforms acts were put into Ninth Schedule to
make them out of Juridction of the Courts
Forty-second 1976 • Words 'Secular', 'Socialist' and 'Integrity' added in the
Preamble
• Extension of the Directive Principles of State Policy
• The Fundamental Duties added
• The power of Judicial Review of the Courts was restricted.
• protection of Environment, forests and wildlife
• Emergency Provisions
Fourty-fourth 1978 Fundamental right to property was abolished
Sixty-first 1988 Voting Right was reduced to 18 yrs from 21 yrs
Seventy-fourth 1992 Provisions relating to the Constitution, election, finance and
functions of the Muncipalities (Nagar-Palika Bill)
Seventy-seventh Articles 16(4)(a) gives power to the state to make laws regarding
reservation in favour of Scheduled castes and Tribes
Eighty-sixth 2002 • It added a new Fundamental Duty under Art. 51A by
Swaran Singh Committee.
• It made a elementary education a fundamental right
Ninty-first 2003 Anti-Defection Law
• The infamous “Aaya Ram, Gaya Ram” slogan was coined
against the background of continuous defections by the
legislators in the 1960s.
• enacted as early as 1979 in Jammu and Kashmir
• Recently, some of the sitting MLAs in the Manipur government
defected to the opposition creating instability in the state's polity.
• final authority to decide on a member’s disqualification from the
House is Speaker of the House.
• A merger will not invite action under the Anti-Defection Act if
2/3rd Members of a political party decide to join another political
party.
Ninty-second 2003 Four more languages in Eight schedule, viz. Bodo, Dogri, Mathilli
and Santhali added.
One Hundreth 2015 Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) between India and Bangladesh
One Hundred first 2016 Good and Services Tax (GST)
One Hundred Third 2019 10% EWS Reservation for general category
One Hundred Fourth 2020 Extended Seats for SC & ST in Lok Sabha and State Assemblies
Citizenship & Fundamental Rights
• Indian citizenship can be acquired by Birth, Descent, Registration and Naturalization.
• To acquire citizenship by registration a person must have been resident in India for
immidiately before five years making an application.

Fundamental Duties: Total number of fundamental duties mentioned in the constitution is 11.
Fundamental duties are no more than meant to create psychological consciousness (No
enforecement) among the citizens and of education value also they are primarily moral
duties .Supreme Court confer special responsibility for enforcement of Fundamental Right.
Respect for national flag and National Anthem is fundamental duty of every citizen.

Note: Parliament has no power to repeal Fundamental Rights Because they are Part of basic structure of
essential framework of the constitution.

Right to Constitutional Remedies: was described as 'The Heart And Soul' of the Constitution
by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar which comes under fundamental right. It is available to all persons in
case of infringement of any fundamental right. It includes 5 Writs:

1. Habeas Corpus: 'To have a body of' i.e. issued by the court in case for illegal detention
of a person. It may be issued to enforce a Fundamental Right. Habeas
Corpus is a bulwark of personal freedom.
2. Mandamus: 'We order or we command' (issued against public authority) i.e. the
Court can direct the Government to do or not to do a thing.
3. Prohibition: 'To forbid' i.e. prevention
4. Certiorari: 'To be informed' (it is cure)
5. Quo warranto: 'What is your authority' i.e. issued by the court to quash the
appointment of a person to a public office

Directive Principles: Seperation of Judiciary from the Executive is enjoyed by Directive

Principle. In the part of Directive principles of the constitution the concept of welfare state finds
elaborated. It is not justifiable yet fundamental in Governance of the country.

The Union Executive:

Election of the President: The President is elected by the members of an electoral college
consisting of the elected members of both the Houses of Parliament (Lok Sabha and Rajya
Sabha) and State Legislative Assemblies by means of single transferable vote.Cheif Justice Of
India administers the Oath to the President. If the Cheif Justice is not available, he takes oath
in presence of the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court. Minimum Age required to contest
for Presidentship is 35 years.
Note: M. Hidayatullah was the Cheif Justice of India who also acted as President of India.
Note: The Chief Minister of a state is not eligible to vote in the Presidential election if he is a member of the
Upper House of the State Legislature.
Note: The only president who was elected unopposed is Neelam Sanjiva Reddy.

Tenure of President: The five year term of the President is calculated from the day he
assumes charge.
Note: Dr. Rajendra Prasad (served twice) was first President of India, Currently Ram Nath Kovind is serving.
Note: First women President of India was Pratibha Patil.
Pranab Mukherjee: (11 Dec. 1935 – 31 Aug. 2020) He was a 17th President of India (from period of 25 july
2012 to 25 july 2017). He was awarded with the Bharat Ratna (2019) & Padma Vibhushan (2008).

Impeachment (removal) of the President (Art. 61): If the president wants to resign from
office, he may do so by writing to the Vice President. In case of a President dies while in a
office, the Vice President can act as President for a maximum period of 6 month. The
procedure for impeachment can be initiated in either House of Parliament (members of Lok
Sabha and Rajya Sabha) by a 2/3rd majority.

Power and Functions of the President: The Preseident of India is Supreme Commander of
Defence Forces also he is a first Citizen of India. He has a power of Absolute veto, Suspective
veto & Pocket veto. President has a power to dissolve the Lok Sabha.
Ordinance issued by President must receive approval of Parliament (both the houses) within six
weeks of the reassembly of the Parliament. President has power to appoint the Prime Minister
and on his advice to appoint other Ministers of the Union. The executive power of the Union is
vested in the President.
Note: President can not appoint Speaker of the Lok Sabha.
Note: Indian post Office (Amendment Bill) is the only instance when the President of India exercised his
power of veto.
Note: Cheif Justice of India act as the President of India when neither President nor the Vice President is
available.

The Vice-President: Vice-President is a ex-officio Chairman of the Council of States. An

electoral college consisting of members of Parliament elects the Vice-President.
The Vice-President’s letter of resignation is to be addressed to the President. Parliament has
the authority to remove him from his office before the expiry of his term.
Note: V.V. Giri resigned as Vice-President to contest for the office of the President.
Note: First Vice-President of India was Dr. S. Radhakrishnan and currently M. Venkaiah Naidu is serving.
Note: M. Hamid Ansari is the 2nd only Vice-President of India after Dr. S. Radhakrishnan who get a second
term consecutively.
Note: M. Hidayatullah was the Chief Justices of India who has acted as President of India.
Note: When the Chairman of Rajya Sabha acts as President, the duties of the Chairman are performed by the
Deputy Chairman.

Attorney-General Of India (Art. 76): He is the first legal officer/Law Officer/Advocate General
of the Govt. of India. He is non-members of Parliament but can attend and speak in Parliament
(of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha), without a right to vote. He is assisted by two Solicitors-
General and four assistant Solicitors.
Note: Current Attorney-General of India is K.K.Venugopal .

The Comptroller & Auditor-General of India (Art. 148): CAG acts as the custodian and
trustee of Public money (controlls Parliament expenditure). He holds office for a term 6 years
or till he attains the age of 65. He is also known as the Guardian of the Public Purse.
Note: Girish Chandra Murmu assumed office as the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.

Union Public Service Commission (UPSC): Art. 315 to 323 of Part XIV titled 'Service Under
the Union and the States', provide for a Public Service Commission for the Union and for each
state. The Chairman and other members of the UPSC are appointed by the President and they
hold office for a term of 6 years from date of appointment, or they attain the age of 65 years.
Note: Pradeep Kumar Joshi appointed as UPSC chairman.
Prime Minister: The duty of the Prime Minister is to communicate all decisions of the Council
of Ministers to the President, whenever he requires as Art. 78 envisages duties of Prime
Minister in respect of furnishing information to the President. The salary and perquisites of the
Prime Minister of India are decided by the Parliament.
The Prime Minister is head of government & the leader of Lok Sabha, may allocate or change
the portfolios of the Ministers. The Minimum age required for becoming the Prime Minister is 25
years. In the event of the resignation or death of the Prime Minister, the Ministry is dissolved.
Note: Indira Gandhi was the member of the Rajya Sabha when first appointed as the Prime Minister of India.
Note: Chaudhary Charan Singh was the first politician who became P.M. after serving as C.M..

Council of Ministers: The Union Council of Ministers consists of Cabinet Ministers, Ministers
of State and Deputy Ministers. A person who is not a member of either House can also become
a minister but he cannot continue as minister for more than 6 month unless he secures seat in
either House of Parliament. Collective responsibility of the Cabinet was introduced by the
Constitution of India.
Note: A team of men selected by the party in opposition to take over the different portfolios in case the party is
able to wrest power is known as shadow Cabinet.

The Council of States (Rajya Sabha): As per Art. 80 (ii): The Council of State shall consist of
not more than 238 elected members and 12 nominated members (by President) for a period of
6 years. At present the strength of Rajya Sabha is 245. Rajya Sabha is permanent House while
one third of its members retire every two years by rotation. The Rajya Sabha can be dissolved
by Lok Sabha. 30 years is the minimum age for election/appointment as member of the Rajya
Sabha.
Note: The court held that making NOTA applicable in Rajya Sabha elections is contrary to Article 80(4)
of the constitution and the Supreme Court’s judgment in PUCL v Union of India (2013).
Note: Y.B. Chavan was the first leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha.

The House of the People (Lok Sabha): As per Art. 81 there should be not more than 530
representatives from the states, 20 from the Union Territories (by direct election) and 2
nominated members from Anglo-Indian community (Art. 331). Normal tenure of Lok Sabha is 5
years. The term of the Lok Sabha can be extended by 1 year at a time. The Speaker is the
Chief Presiding Officer of the Lok Sabha. The speaker is elected from the members of the Lok
Sabha after the new Lok Sabha is constituted. Only in the event of equality of votes Speaker
exercise his right to vote in the House.
Note: Malgaonkar was the first speaker of the Lok Sabha.
Note: Rajya Sabha is less powerful than Lok Sabha in terms of its financial powers because No money bill can
be introduced in Rajya Sabha.
Note: Meira Kumar was the first woman speaker of the Lok Sabha.
No Confidence Motion: The first no confidence motion moved in the Lok Sabha after
independence was in the year 1963. 50 members of the Lok Sabha must support a motion of
‘no confidence’ in the government, before it can be admitted by the Speaker.

The Parliament: Multi-Party system has been evolved in India. A Member of Parliament can
claim immunity from civil cases only. Joint sittings of the two Houses of Parliament are held to
consider and pass a bill on which two Houses disagree is presided over by the Speaker of Lok
Sabha. The Union Territories get representation in Both Houses of Parliament. 25 years is the
minimum age for being the member of the Parliament. The distribution of seats of the
Parliament are based on 1971 census. @SolutionsAndTricks
Sessions of Parliament: The time gap between two sessions of the Parliament should not
exceed 6 months. There are usually three sessions: Budget Session (February – May)
Monsoon Session (July – September)
Winter Session (November – December)
Bills introduced in Parliament: The Union budget is presented to the Parliament on The First
day of February. Finance Commission of authority recommends the principles governing the
grants-in-aid of the revenues of the States out of the Consolidated Fund of India.
• Money Bills: (Art. 110): These bills deal with the Taxes, borrowings, consolidated &
contingency funds, audit and accounting,etc which is presented by Speaker of the Lok
Sabha. Only Once can the President of India return a nonmoney Bill, passed by
Parliament.
• Finance Bills: (Art. 112) These bills can only be introduced in Lok Sabha on the
recommendation of the President & should be passed by both Houses by simple
majority.

Finance Commission (Art. 280): The Chairman of the Finance Commission must be a person
having experience in public affairs. Finance Commission is constituted by the President every
five years. The Centre-State financial distribution takes place on the recommendation by the
Finance Minister.

Question Hour: First hour of every sitting in both the Houses is devoted to asking and answering
questions. The timing is from 11 to 12 noon. Questions are of three types:
Starred Questions: To be answered orally. Supplementary questions can also be asked.
Unstarred Questions: Answer in writing and no supplementary questions can be asked.
Short Notice Questions: Asked with notice shorter than 10 days prescribed for ordinary question. It is
regarded as the most important questions allowed by the Speaker.
Note:Recently, the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha secretariats have notified that there will be no Question Hour
during the monsoon session of the Parliament in view of the Covid 19 pandemic.
Zero Hour: Starts at 12 noon & goes on upto 1 P.M.. Members raise any issue of public importance on
every short or even without notice.

Important Parliamentary Committees:

Committee on Estimates: Estimates Committee does not consist of any MP (Member of
Parliament) from the Rajya Sabha. It is the largest committee of Parliament. The Estimates
Committee has its members elected according to the system of proportional representation.
Committee on Public Accounts: The Speaker appoints the Chairman of this committee from
amongst its members.
Note: Committee on Estimates & Committee on Public Undertakings is known as Twin Sisters.

The State Executive & The State Legislature:

The Governor: The Governor is appointed by the President. Governor has a power to appoint
the Advocate General and the members of the State Public Service Commission. He act as the
Chancellor of Universities in the States. Cheif Minister and Ministers of State are responsible to
the Governor also Contingency Fund of the State is operated by him.
Note: The first woman Governor of a state in free India was Mrs. Sarojini Naidu.
Note: The Governor of Arunachal Pradesh has been vested with special powers regarding scheduled
tribal areas.
State Legislature:
• Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha) can have min. strength of 60 and max. of 500.
• Membership of Legislative Council shall not be more than 1/3rd of the membership of the
Legislative Assembly and shall not not be less than 40.
• 1/12th of the members of the Vidhan Parishad are to be elected from the graduates of
any university in any State of India.
• Normal duration of Leislative Assembly is 5 years whereas its 1/3rd members shall retire
on the expiry of every second year.
• State Legislative Council can be abolished, but not dissolved.
• The Chairman of the Legislative Council is elected by the members of the Legislative
Council from among themselves through Direct elections, Indirect elections &
Nomination.
States/UTs Legislature Lok Rajya Cheif Minister Governor Legislative Legislative
type Sabha Sabha Council Assembly
Seats Seats
Uttar Pradesh Bicameral 80 31 Yogi Anandiben 100 403
Aadityanath Patel
Maharashtra Bicameral 48 19 Uddhav Bhagat Singh 78 288
thackeray Koshyari
West Bengal Unicameral 42 16 Mamata Jagdeep 294
Banerjee Dhankar
Bihar Bicameral 40 16 Nitish Kumar Phagu 75 243
Chauhan
Madhya Pradesh Unicameral 29 11 Shivraj Singh Anandiben 230
Chouhan Patel
Karnataka Bicameral 28 12 BS Yediyuraapa Vijubhai vala 75 224
Rajasthan Unicameral 25 10 Ashok Gehlot Kalraj Mishra 200
Andhra Pradesh Bicameral 25 11 Jagan Mohan Bhushan 58 175
Reddy Harishchandan
Jammu & Kashmir Unicameral Manoj Sinha
(Lt. Governor)
NCT of Delhi Unicameral 7 3 Arvind Kejriwal Anil Baijal 70
Goa Unicameral 2 1 Pramod Sawant Satyapal Malik 40

Note: Longest serving Chief Minister in India Jyoti Basu.

Note: First Woman Cheif Minister was Sucheta Kriplani (from Uttar Pradesh).
Note: The Prime Minister, Union Cabinet Ministers, Chief Ministers and Council of Ministers are all
members of National Development Council.

Juridiciary In India:
The Supreme Court: It is the highest and final judicial tribunal in respect of the Constitution of
India. The Supreme Court of India decides the disputes regarding the election of the President
and Vice-President. The Supreme Court is a watch-dog of citizen’s liberty and it also interprets
the Constitution.
Note: First Women judge of Supreme Court was M. Fathima Beevi.
Note: Judicial Review means the power to examine the constitutional validity of the laws.
Note: Court of Record is meant by the court that preserves all its records.
Note: The Centre-State relations were bring by Sakaria Commission.
Appointment of Judges in Supreme Court: At present, the Supreme Court consists of 30
judges including Chief Justice. The judges of the Supreme Court are appointed by the
President in consultation with the Chief Justice of India and out of the judges of the Supreme
Court and High Court as he may deem necessary for the purpose. They take an oath or
affirmation before entering upon office, conducted by President or some person appointed by
him. A Judge can resign his office by writing to the President. Salaries of the Judges of the
Supreme Court are drawn from the Consolidated Fund.

Quallification of Judges in Supreme Court:

• He should have been a judge of a High Court for 5 years.
• Have been an Advocate of a High Court for 10 Years.
• Should be a distinguished jurist in the opinion of the President.
• He can hold office until he attains the age of 65 years.

Some Important Chief Justices of India:

SI. Name Tenure
1 Hiralal J. Kania Jan. 26, 1950 – Nov. 6, 1951
46 Ranjan Gogoi 3 Oct. 2018 – 17 Nov. 2019
47 Sharad Arvind Bobde 18 Nov. 2019 – Till Date (Bombay High Court)

Note: Leila Seth was an Indian judge who served as the first woman judge on the Delhi High Court
and became the first woman to become Chief Justice of a Himachal Pradesh High Court.
Note: Justice Ramaswami, Judge of the Supreme Court was unsuccessfully sought to be impeached.
Note: Public Interest Litigation (PIL) applies to any case of public injury arising from the breach of any
public duty from the violation of a constitutional provision from the violation of the law.

The High Courts: A common High Court for two or more States and/or Union Territory may be
established by Parliament by Law. The Chief Justice and Judges of the High Court are
appointed by the President and also he decides the number of judges to be appointed but the
oath is administered by the Governor. The age of retirement of the Judges of the High Court is
62 years. A retired judge of High Court cannot practice in the High Court from where he has
retired.

SI. Name Establishment Territorial Juridction Seat

1 Bombay 1862 Maharashtra, Goa, Dadra & Mumbai
Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu
2 Madras 1862 Tamil Nadu & Pondicherry Chennai
3 Calcutta 1862 West Bengal, Andaman & Kolkata
Nicobar Islands
4 Allahabad 1866 Uttar Pradesh Allahabad
5 Delhi 1966 NCT of Delhi New Delhi
6 Madhya Pradesh 1956 Madhya Pradesh Jabalpur
7 Guwahati 1948 Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram Guwahati
and Arunachal Pradesh

Note: Protection of the Fundamental Rights comes under the jurisdiction of both the High Court and the
Supreme Court.
Election Commission (Art. 324): The conditions of service and tenure of the Election
Commissioner is prescribed by Parliament. The State Election Commission can be removed
from office in the same manner and on the same grounds as a Judge of the Supreme Court.
Electioneering has to stop in a constituency 48 hours before the closing hour of polling. 8 days
given for the candidates to file their nominations from the date of notification of the election.

Note: The first general elections in India were held in 1951.

Note: Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) were used for the first time in 1998 in elections to the
Rajasthan, MP and Delhi Assemblies.
Note: EVM can record a maximum of 3840 votes.
Note: There were 556 women candidates in these elections to Lok Sabha out of these 59 became MP.
Note: The Electorate means All the citizens who possess the right to vote and elect their
representatives in an election.
Note: The chemical used in indelible ink (Election ink) is Silver Nitrate
Note: First Chief Election Commissioner was Sukumar Sen whereas currently Rajiv Kumar
(former Finance Secretary) has been appointed as the Election Commissioner of India.

Local Government: Panchayati raj has received constitutional status with the 73rd
Amendment Act. Balwant Rai Mehta Committee suggested that the structure of Panchayati Raj
should consist of the village, the block and the district levels. Father of local self government in
India is Lord Ripon. A person to be qualified for standing in a panchayat election must have
attained the age of 21 years. Rajasthan was the first to introduce Panchayati Raj. The District
Council (Zila Parishad) is the top level of the system.

Zilla Parishad, Panchayat Samiti & Gram Panchayat

is known as 3-tier of the Panchayti Raj.
Gram Sabha is known for Direct Democracy.
Local Government work in principle of Decentralisation.

Miscellaneous:

Some Important Items of the Seventh Schedule:

• Union List: It consists of National importance topic such as Naval, Army, Railways, NH,
Banking, Insurance, Taxes on Income, etc like this there are 98 entries.
• State List: Its is consist of local importance such as related to Public order, Police, Water,
Capitative Taxes, Pilgrimages, etc. like this there are 62 entries.
• Concurrent List: Its consist of summation of state and Union topics such as Criminal law,
Forest, Education, Marriage & devorce, etc. like this there are 52 entries in it.

Judgements & Cases:

• Main petitioner, Kesavananda Bharati, of Kesavananda Bharati Sripadagalvaru and Ors

v State of Kerala Case, 1973 (known for the basic structure doctrine of the Supreme Court),
passed away. The case was challenged under Article 26. This judgement defined the
basic structure of the Constitution. The SC held that although no part of the Constitution,
including Fundamental Rights, was beyond the Parliament’s amending power, the “basic
structure of the Constitution could not be abrogated even by a constitutional amendment.”
This is the basis in Indian law in which the judiciary can strike down any amendment
passed by Parliament that is in conflict with the basic structure of the Constitution.
• Repealing Section 377 (2018): The SC ruled that Section 377 was unconstitutional “in so
 far as it criminalises consensual sexual conduct between adults of the same sex.”
• The Kerala HC in response cited the Supreme Court judgment in the S. Rengarajan and
others v/s P. Jagjivan Ram case (1989) that the fundamental freedom under Article 19(1)
(a) can be reasonably restricted only for the purposes mentioned in the Article 19(2). The
Kerala High Court upheld the right to have access to the internet as a part of the
fundamental right to education along with the right to privacy under Article 21 of the
Indian Constitution.
• Recently, the Supreme Court has held the advocate Prashant Bhushan as guilty of
contempt of court for his two tweets criticising the judiciary. Constitutional Provisions:
Article 129 and 215 of the Constitution of India empowers the Supreme Court and High
Court respectively to punish people for their respective contempt. Article 142 of the
Indian Constitution also empowers the court to punish for its contempt. However what is
contempt of court per se has not been defined by the Indian Constitution.
• Recently, the Supreme Court (SC) has expanded the Hindu women’s right to be the
coparcener (joint legal heir) and inherit ancestral property on terms equal to male heirs.
The judgment pertains to the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005. It ruled that a
Hindu woman’s right to be a joint heir to the ancestral property is by birth and does not
depend on whether her father is alive or not. Coparcenary (joint-heirship) is by birth, so
the father doesn’t need to be living as on 9th September 2005, when the Hindu
Succession (Amendment) Act was enacted.
• Recently, a Union Minister emphasised the need to include all reservation-related laws in
the Ninth Schedule of Constitution so that they are shielded from judicial review. The
minister argued that reservation is not confined just to Scheduled Castes (SCs) and
Scheduled Tribes (STs) and is available to Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and poor
sections of the upper castes as well and have been attached to Fundamental Rights.

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