Parliament — UPSC Prelims Polity previous year questions

Statement 1 is wrong. Starred questions need an oral answer in the House. Unstarred questions need a written answer.
Statement 2 is wrong. For the same reason, starred questions are not answered in writing.
Statement 3 is correct. No supplementary question can be asked on an unstarred question. Supplementaries are allowed only on starred questions.
So only one statement is correct.
Remember: a starred question is marked with an asterisk; a short notice question is asked with less than ten days' notice.

Source: Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha; Laxmikanth, Indian Polity (Parliament)

The Committee on the Welfare of SCs and STs has 30 members. Twenty are from the Lok Sabha and ten are from the Rajya Sabha.
Statement 1 is wrong. Its chairperson is appointed by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, not by the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
Statement 2 is wrong. The Lok Sabha elects 20 and the Rajya Sabha elects 10, not the other way round.
Statement 3 is wrong. No Minister can be a member.
Statement 4 is wrong. The term is one year, not two.
So no statement is correct.
Remember: members are elected by proportional representation with single transferable vote.

Source: Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha; Laxmikanth, Indian Polity (Parliamentary Committees)

Statement I is correct. Under Article 94, the Speaker stays in office after dissolution until just before the first meeting of the new House.
Statement II is incorrect. The Constitution does not require the Speaker to resign from his party. Resigning is only a convention.
Statement III is correct. Under Article 94, the Speaker can be removed by a resolution passed by a majority of all the then members. Fourteen days' notice is needed.
So I and III are correct.
Remember: While a removal resolution is under consideration, the Speaker cannot preside. He can speak and vote as a member.

Source: Constitution of India, Arts. 94 and 96

Statement I is incorrect. Under the Tenth Schedule, the Speaker or the Chairman decides disqualification for defection. The President does not decide it on the Council of Ministers' advice. The President decides other disqualifications under Article 103, on the Election Commission's opinion.
Statement II is incorrect. The Tenth Schedule, added by the 52nd Amendment in 1985, uses the term 'political party'. So the Constitution does mention it.
So neither statement is correct.
Remember: The Kihoto Hollohan case (1992) made the Speaker's decision open to judicial review.

Source: Constitution of India, Tenth Schedule (para 6) and Art. 103; Kihoto Hollohan v. Zachillhu (1992)

Statement 1 is correct. Article 109 lays down the special procedure for Money Bills.
Statement 2 is correct. A Money Bill can be introduced only in the Lok Sabha.
Statement 3 is correct. The Rajya Sabha must return the Bill within 14 days. It can only recommend changes and cannot reject it.
Statement 4 is incorrect. The Lok Sabha may accept or reject the recommendations. It is not bound to accept them.
So 1, 2 and 3 are correct.
Remember: if the Rajya Sabha does not return the Bill in 14 days, it is deemed passed.

Source: Constitution of India, Art. 109 and Art. 110

Statement 1 is correct. The Ethics Committee began as an ad-hoc committee in 2000. It became a permanent committee in 2015.
Statement 2 is incorrect. Any person can complain, but a non-member must route it through a Member of the Lok Sabha, who certifies it. The complaint is not limited to Members.
Statement 3 is correct. The Committee does not take up matters that are sub-judice, that is, pending before a court.
So only 1 and 3 are correct.
Remember: the Ethics Committee examines the code of conduct of Members.

Source: Lok Sabha Secretariat, Committee on Ethics; Rules of Procedure of Lok Sabha

Statement 1 is incorrect. The reservation starts only after the next Census is published and delimitation is done. It does not apply from the 18th Lok Sabha.
Statement 2 is correct. The reservation lasts for 15 years from its start, and Parliament can extend it.
Statement 3 is correct. One-third of the seats reserved for Scheduled Castes are set aside for SC women.
So only 2 and 3 are correct.
Remember: the Act is the Constitution (106th Amendment) Act, 2023.

Source: Constitution (106th Amendment) Act, 2023

Statement 1 is correct. Article 96(1) bars the Speaker from presiding at such a sitting.
Statement 2 is incorrect. Article 96(2) gives the Speaker the right to speak and take part in the proceedings.
Statement 3 is incorrect. The Speaker can vote in the first instance, as any Member can. The Speaker cannot vote in the case of a tie.
So only statement 1 is correct.
Remember: the removal resolution needs 14 days' notice and a majority of all the then members.

Source: Constitution of India, Art. 96 and Art. 94

Statement 1 is incorrect. Both Houses approve an Emergency proclamation.
Statement 2 is correct. Only the Lok Sabha can pass a no-confidence motion. The Council of Ministers is responsible to it under Art. 75(3).
Statement 3 is incorrect. Either House can start impeachment, and both take part.
Remember: The Rajya Sabha has no say in the fall of a government.

Source: Constitution of India, Arts. 61, 75(3) and 352

Art. 368 gives both Houses equal power to pass a Constitution amendment Bill. A joint sitting is not available for it.
New All India Services need only a Rajya Sabha resolution under Art. 312, so power is not equal.
Removal of the government is by the Lok Sabha alone.
Cut motions on demands for grants are the Lok Sabha's right.
Remember: A joint sitting cannot be called for a Constitution amendment Bill.

Source: Constitution of India, Arts. 249, 312, 368

Statements 1 and 2 are correct. Regulators are statutory bodies that report to Parliament. Parliament reviews them through ad hoc committees and the Department Related Standing Committees.
Statement 3 is incorrect. The Finance Commission recommends the sharing of taxes between the Centre and States.
Statement 4 is incorrect. The Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission was a one-time body that drafted a law; it does not review regulators.
Statement 5 is incorrect. NITI Aayog is a policy think tank.
Remember: Regulators are accountable to Parliament.

Source: Parliament of India, Department Related Standing Committees; Constitution of India, Art. 280

Art. 110 defines a Money Bill. The third statement is wrong because Art. 110 deals with appropriation of money out of the Consolidated Fund of India. It does not name the Contingency Fund.
The first statement matches Art. 110(1)(a), on tax provisions.
The second matches Art. 110(1)(c), on custody of the Consolidated or Contingency Fund.
The fourth matches Art. 110(1)(e), on borrowing and guarantees.
Remember: A Money Bill is introduced only in the Lok Sabha.

Source: Constitution of India, Art. 110(1)

The Committee on Subordinate Legislation checks that the executive uses delegated law-making powers properly.
The Committee on Government Assurances tracks promises made by ministers in the House.
The Rules Committee considers matters of procedure and conduct of business.
The Business Advisory Committee allots time for Bills and other business.
Remember: Delegated legislation means rules framed by the executive under an Act.

Source: Rules of Procedure of Lok Sabha, Rule 317

Pair 1 is incorrect. Under the rule of lapse, unspent grant lapses at year end and is not carried over.
Pair 2 is incorrect. A supplementary grant is additional money when the sanctioned amount proves insufficient.
Pair 3 is incorrect. A vote on account is an advance grant for expenses until the Appropriation Bill is passed.
None of the pairs is correct.
Remember: Vote on account is an advance; supplementary grant is an addition.

Source: Constitution of India, Arts. 115, 116 and 266

Statement I is true. Article 83(1) says the Council of States is not subject to dissolution.
Members have a six-year term.
Statement II is true. The same Article provides that one-third of members retire every second year.
The staggered retirement keeps the House continuous.
This explains why it is never dissolved.
Remember: Rajya Sabha is a permanent House.

Source: Constitution of India, Art. 83(1)

Manipur has 60 seats in its Legislative Assembly, not 62. So this pair is wrongly matched.
Goa has 40 seats, Uttarakhand has 70 seats and Uttar Pradesh has 403 seats. These pairs are correct.
The strength of an Assembly is fixed between 60 and 500 members under Article 170. Smaller States such as Goa, Sikkim and Mizoram have fewer seats under special provisions.
Remember: Manipur - 60, Goa - 40, Uttarakhand - 70, Uttar Pradesh - 403.

Source: Constitution of India, Art. 170; Election Commission of India delimitation data

Statement I is incorrect. 84 seats are reserved for Scheduled Castes, but 47 seats are reserved for Scheduled Tribes, not 44.
Statement II is correct. The Delimitation Commission decides which constituencies are reserved.
Statement III is incorrect. The Delimitation Commission is appointed by the President (Central Government), not by the Speaker.
Remember: Delimitation orders cannot be questioned in any court.

Source: Delimitation Act, 2002; Constitution of India, Art. 82 and 330

Assertion (A) is true. Under proportional representation, minorities get seats in proportion to their votes.
Reason (R) is true. The system gives representation to groups based on ethnicity, gender, interests and ideologies.
R explains A, because wider group representation is how the minority problem is eased.

Source: Constitution of India, Arts. 55, 80; Laxmikanth, Indian Polity

The Public Accounts Committee is a financial committee, so A matches 3.
The Committee on Petitions is grouped among functional committees in the textbook classification, so B matches 4.
The Joint Committee on the Stock Market Scam was formed for a particular inquiry and ended after reporting. It is an ad hoc committee, so C matches 1.
Departmental committees are permanent standing committees, so D matches 2.
The code is 3, 4, 1, 2.
Remember: Ad hoc committees are temporary. Standing committees are permanent.

Source: Laxmikanth, Indian Polity, chapter on Parliamentary Committees; Lok Sabha Secretariat

Statement I is true. Of the 250 seats, 238 are filled by representatives of States and Union Territories, and most are elected by MLAs.
Statement II is false. The Representation of the People Act was amended in 2003.
A candidate for the Rajya Sabha no longer has to be an elector in the State he represents.
He only needs to be an Indian citizen aged at least 30 years and an elector somewhere in India.
Remember: The 2003 amendment also introduced open ballot for Rajya Sabha elections.

Source: Representation of the People Act 1951, s. 3 (as amended 2003); Constitution of India, Arts. 80 and 84