Indian Polity and Constitution Mixed Practice — MCQs with Answers (Set 25)

The Court clarified that auction, while preferable for transparency, is not a constitutional requirement for allocating every natural resource.

In Dr. M. Ismail Faruqui v. Union of India (1994), the Court declined to answer the reference, treating it as superfluous since the same question would arise in ordinary litigation anyway.

Under Article 143(1), the Court ‘may’ give its opinion — it has genuine discretion to decline, unlike Article 143(2)’s mandatory ‘shall’ for certain pre-Constitution treaty disputes.

Article 143 lets the President seek the Supreme Court’s advisory opinion on a question of law or fact of public importance.

Kerala sued over Union-imposed borrowing limits; the Court affirmed Article 131 as a genuine constitutional right and referred the fiscal-federalism questions to a 5-judge Constitution Bench.

Parliament can pass a law barring the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction specifically over interstate river water disputes, carving them out of Article 131’s general reach — routing them to tribunals instead.

The Court rejected West Bengal’s sovereignty claim, dismissed the suit, and held that Parliament could acquire coal-bearing State land under its legislative authority.

In State of Bihar v. Union of India (1969-70), the Court held that private companies like Hindustan Steel Ltd. cannot be joined to an Article 131 suit — it is strictly Government-versus-Government.

Article 131 covers disputes between the Union and one or more States, or between States themselves, involving a question on which a legal right depends.

In M.K. Ranjitsinh v. Union of India (2024), the Court recognised a new constitutional right against the adverse effects of climate change.

Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra v. State of UP (1985), the Doon Valley mining case, is widely regarded as India’s first major environmental PIL, and it cited Article 48A directly.

Article 48A is a Directive Principle, and Article 37 makes Directive Principles non-justiciable on their own.

Article 48A directs the State to protect and improve the environment, and to safeguard the country’s forests and wildlife.

The CAG’s (Duties, Powers and Conditions of Service) Act, 1971, spells out the CAG’s audit powers and functions in detail.

CAG Vinod Rai’s 2010 report estimated a presumptive loss of about Rs 1.76 lakh crore, roughly 3.6% of India’s GDP.

The CAG can only be removed in the same manner and on the same grounds as a Supreme Court judge, protecting the office’s independence.

Dr. Jitendra Singh told the Rajya Sabha that 35 of the 46 recommendations from the high-level expert committee on strengthening the public examination ecosystem had already been implemented, including Aadhaar-based biometric authentication and AI-enabled face authentication.

Section 12A sets a 2-month deadline for completing investigations and a 3-month deadline for completing trials from the chargesheet date. Section 12B allows appeals against a Special Fast Track Court’s judgment to be filed in the High Court within 30 days, to be disposed of within 3 months where possible.

The Bill extends the period during which a service provider found involved in examination-related offences is debarred from conducting any public examination, from 4 years to 8 years.

The Supreme Court treated Fundamental Duties as useful guidance for constitutional interpretation. Duties are not directly enforceable by writ like Fundamental Rights. That distinction does not make them legally meaningless or automatically superior to rights. The judgment connected duties with scientific temper and excellence.

Voting in public elections, while civically important, is not listed as a Fundamental Duty under Article 51A.

Fundamental Duties are contained in Part IVA of the Constitution (added by the 42nd Amendment); Fundamental Rights are in Part III, and Directive Principles of State Policy are in Part IV.

India borrowed the Directive Principles of State Policy and the indirect presidential election method from Ireland.

The 42nd Amendment Act, 1976 added Socialist and Secular to the description of India. It also added Integrity to the phrase about national unity. The amendment therefore added three key words across the Preamble. Preamble to the Indian Constitution: A Complete Guide