UPSC Static Quiz, 11th May 2023

Correct Answer: B
Explanation
• Statement 1 is incorrect. The first Constituent Assembly for undivided India was
constituted in November 1946 under the scheme formulated by the Cabinet
Mission Plan.
• The Indian Independence Act of 1947 made the Constituent Assembly a fully
sovereign body, which could frame any Constitution it pleased. The act
empowered the Assembly to abrogate or alter any law made by the British
Parliament in relation to India. Hence, Statement 2 is correct.
• Statement 3 is correct. In addition to the making of the Constitution and
enacting of ordinary laws, the Constituent Assembly performed the following
functions:
1. It ratified the India’s membership of the Commonwealth in May 1949.
2. It adopted the national flag on July 22, 1947.
3. It adopted the national anthem on January 24, 1950.
4. It adopted the national song on January 24, 1950.
5. It elected Dr Rajendra Prasad as the first President of India on January 24, 1950.

Correct Answer: C
Explanation
● Fundamental Rights and Power of judicial review limit the power of the
government. Hence, the correct answer is C.
● The Fundamental Rights prevent the establishment of an authoritarian and
despotic rule in the country, and protect the liberties and freedoms of the people
against the invasion by the State. They operate as limitations on the tyranny of
the executive and arbitrary laws of the legislature.
● All laws that are inconsistent with or in derogation of any of the fundamental
rights shall be void (Article 13). The power of judicial review has been conferred
on the Supreme Court (Article 32) and the high courts (Article 226) that can
declare a law unconstitutional and invalid on the ground of contravention of any
of the Fundamental Rights.
● The Directive principles that are to be treated as fundamental in the
governance of the state. However, they are not judicially enforceable.
● The fundamental duties are a combination of both moral and civic duties for the
citizen. These were added during the operation of internal emergency (1975–77)
by the 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act of 1976 on the recommendation of
the Swaran Singh Committee.

Correct Answer: D
Explanation
• All the statements are correct. In Parliamentary form of government, the head
of the government is usually known as Prime Minister. He is the leader of the
majority party in Legislature.
• Article 74(1) of the Constitution provides that there shall be a Council of
Ministers with the Prime Minister as its head to aid and advise the President, who
shall exercise his/her functions in accordance to the advice. The real executive
power is thus vested in the Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister as its
head.
• The Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the House of the People
(Lok Sabha).
• In a Parliamentary form of government the head of the state may be Monarch
in case Constitutional Monarchy and President in case of Parliamentary Republic.
India has the later form of government

Correct Answer: B
Explanation
• The word fundamental suggests that these rights are so important that the
Constitution has separately listed them and made special provisions for their
protection.
• The Fundamental Rights are so important that the Constitution itself ensures
that they are not violated by the government.
• Statement 1 is correct. The Fundamental Rights provide the necessary
conditions for the material and moral protection of man. The Fundamental Rights
are named so because they are guaranteed and protected by the Constitution,
which is the fundamental law of the land. They are ‘fundamental’ also in the
sense that they are most essential for all-round development (material,
intellectual, moral and spiritual) of the individuals.
• Statement 2 is correct. The Fundamental Rights facilitate the participation of
people in the political and administrative process.
• Statement 3 is incorrect. The Fundamental Rights check the absoluteness of the
authority of the government. It does not check the sovereignty of the state. In
order to safeguard the sovereignty, unity, integrity and security of the country,
the democratic political system and the Constitution,
there is an elaborate provision on curtailing the Fundamental Rights. For an
example, imposition of national emergency

Correct Answer: B
Explanation
• Statement 1 is incorrect. The writ ‘Prohibition’ literally, it means ‘to forbid’. It is
issued by a higher court to a lower court or tribunal to prevent the latter from
exceeding its jurisdiction or usurping a jurisdiction that it does not possess. Thus,
unlike mandamus that directs activity, the prohibition directs inactivity.
• The writ of prohibition can be issued only against judicial and quasi-judicial
authorities. It is not available against administrative authorities, legislative bodies,
and private individuals or bodies.
• Statement 2 is correct. It literally means ‘we command’. It is a command issued
by the court to a public official asking him to perform his official duties that he has
failed or refused to perform. It can also be issued against any public body, a
corporation, an inferior court, a tribunal or government for the same purpose.
• The writ of mandamus cannot be issued (a) against a private individual or body;
(b) to enforce departmental instruction that does not possess statutory force; (c)
when the duty is discretionary and not mandatory; (d) to enforce a contractual
obligation; (e) against the president of India or the state governors; and (f) against
the chief justice of a high court acting in judicial capacity.
• Statement 3 is correct. A Writ of Certiorari has much in common with a Writ of
Prohibition. The only difference between the two is, whereas a writ of prohibition
is issued to prevent an inferior court or tribunal to go ahead with the trial of a
case in which it has assumed excess of jurisdiction, a writ of certiorari is issued to
quash the order passed by an inferior court or tribunal in excess of jurisdiction.