The Jan 9th Static Quiz on Polity (Attorney General of India and Parliament)

Ans;- c) Only 1 and 3

Explantion;-

• The 2nd statemnet is incorrect because President of India appoints a person who is qualified for the post of Supreme Court Judge, not High Court.

About Attorney General of India (AG)

• President of India appoints a person who is qualified for the post of Supreme Court Judge.
• There are the following qualifications:
1. He should be an Indian Citizen.
2. He must have either completed 5 years in High Court of any Indian state as a judge or 10 years in High Court as an advocate.
3. He may be an eminent jurist too, in the eye of the President.

Ans;- b) Only 1 and 3

Explanation;-

• The 2nd statement is because President also part of it, as question asked to choose incorrect.
• The supreme legislative organ of the union of India is called the Parliament. Indian Constitution provides us a Parliamentary Democracy. Parliament of India is made from Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and President.  Articles 79-122 of the Indian Constitution deal with the composition, powers and procedures of the Parliament of India.
• Article 79 of the Constitution of India states that there shall be a Parliament for the Union, which comprises of the President and the two Houses- Rajya Sabha (the council of states) and Lok sabha (House of the people).   
• The President shall not be a member of either House of Parliament or of a House of the Legislature of any State, and if a member of either House of Parliament or of a House of the Legislature of any State be elected President, he shall be deemed to have vacated his seat in that House on the date on which he enters upon his office as President. 

Ans;- a) Only 1

Explanation;-

• The 2nd and 3rd statements are incorrect because it is Prime Minister not President
• In a parliamentary system, the head of the state may be a monarch or a president, but both of these positions are ceremonial.
• The head of the government, who is generally called as the Prime Minister, is the real head.
• Thus, all the real executive powers are vested in the Prime Minister.
• The parliamentary government is also called as the Cabinet government due to concentration of executive powers in the cabinet. Articles 74 and 75 deals with the parliamentary system at the centre and Article 163 and article 164 deals with the Parliamentary system at the states.

Ans;- d) Only 3

Explanation;-

• The 1st and 2nd statements are incorrect , 3rd is correct.

• Article 76 of the Constitution provides for the office of AG of India.
• AG is appointed by the President on the advice of the government.
• S/he must be a person who is qualified to be appointed a judge of the Supreme Court, i.e. s/he must be a citizen of India and must have been a judge of some high court for five years or an advocate of some high court for ten years or an eminent jurist, in the opinion of the President.
• Term of the Office is Not fixed by the Constitution.
• Removal Procedures and grounds for the removal of AG are not stated in the Constitution.
• S/he holds office during the pleasure of the President (may be removed by the President at any time).
• Also the AG is not a government servant and is not debarred from private legal practice.

Ans; -d) None of the above

Explanation;-

• Both the statements are incorrect.

• Prorogation (of a session) does not affect the bills or any other business pending before the House.
• However, all pending notices (other than those for introducing bills) lapse on prorogation and fresh notices have to be given for the next session. and so on pending before it or its committees lapse.
• A bill pending in the Rajya Sabha but not passed by the Lok Sabha does not lapse.
• If the president has notified the holding of a joint sitting before the dissolution of Lok Sabha, does not lapse.
• A bill passed by both Houses but pending assent of the president does not lapse.

Ans;- d) None of the above

Explanation;-

• The both the statements are incorrect.
• The first Speaker of the Lok Sabha was Ganesh Vasudev Mavalankar.
• He was the Speaker till February 1956.
• The first Deputy Speaker was M A Ayyangar and the Secretary-General was M N Kaul.
• The first Lok Sabha served for its full term of five years. It was dissolved on 4 April 1957.
• The first time Bicameral Legislation came from GOI Act 1919 not 1935.

Ans; -d) All of the above

Explanation;-

• All the above mentioned are the issues associated with the Rajya Sabha

No equal Representation of states

• Federal countries like US, Australia, institutionalize the principle of federalism more strongly than India, by providing equal representation to all states in their upper houses.
• This is in contrast with the Rajya Sabha, where states are represented proportionally to their relative populations.
• For example, the number of seats allocated in Rajya Sabha to Uttar Pradesh alone is significantly higher than that of combined north-eastern states.

Bypassing the Rajya Sabha

• In some cases, ordinary bills are being passed in the form of a Money Bill, circumventing the Rajya Sabha and giving rise to the question about the very efficacy of the upper house of Parliament.
• This can be seen recently in the controversy related to Aadhar Act.

Low Participation of Nominated Members

• More recently, the sincerity of nominated members has been questioned in multiple instances.
• Nominations are made by the government to satisfy the sentiments of the followers of certain personalities.
• Once nominated, they rarely participate in the working of the house.
• Sachin Tendulkar was appointed in 2012 and the House has met 374 days since then, but the attendance of Sachin Tendulkar is a meagre 24 days.

Ans;- b) The Committee on Estimates

Explanation;-

• The Estimates Committee is the largest committee of the parliament. It consists of 30 members, all are appointed from the Lok Sabha.

Ans;- d) All of the above

Explanation;-

All the statemenst are correct

Significance of Parliamentary Committee System
Inter-Ministerial Coordination
 They are envisaged to be the face of Parliament in a set of inter- related departments and ministries.
 They are assigned the task of looking into the demands for grants of the ministries/departments concerned, to examine Bills pertaining to them, to consider their annual reports, and to look into their long-term plans and report to Parliament.
Instrument for Detailed Scrutiny
 Committee reports are usually exhaustive and provide authentic information on matters related to governance.
 Bills that are referred to committees are returned to the House with significant value addition.
 Besides the standing committees, the Houses of Parliament set up ad hoc committees to enquire and report on specific subjects that are assigned the task of studying a Bill closely and reporting back to the House.
 Also, in the discharge of their mandate, they can solicit expert advice and elicit public opinion.
Acting as Mini-Parliament
• These Committees are smaller units of MPs from both Houses, across political parties and they function throughout the year.
• Also, Parliamentary committees are not bound by the populistic demands that generally act as hindrance in working of parliament.
• As committee meetings are ‘closed door’ and members are not bound by party whips, the parliamentary committee work on the ethos of debate and discussions.
• Moreover, they work away from the public glare, remain informal compared to the codes that govern parliamentary proceedings, and are great training schools for new and young members of the House.

Ans;- d) All of the above

Explanation;-

All the statemenst are correct