Question Discussion & Solution

The correct answer is Neither 1 nor 2.

Key Points

• Role of the commission:
  • From the above, it is clear that the functions of the commission are mainly recommendatory in nature.
  • It has no power to punish the violators of human rights, nor to award any relief including monetary relief to the victim. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.
  • Notably, its recommendations are not binding on the concerned government or authority. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.
  • But, it should be informed about the action taken on its recommendations within one month.
  • In this context, a former member of the Commission observed: 
    • The government cannot wash away the recommendations made by the Commission.
    • The commission’s role may be recommendatory, advisory, yet the Government considers the cases forwarded by it.
    • It is, therefore, improper to say that the commission is powerless.
    • It enjoys great material authority and no government can ignore its recommendation’.
    • Moreover, the commission has a limited role, powers and jurisdiction with respect to the violation of human rights by the members of the armed forces.
    • In this sphere, the commission may seek a report from the Central government and make its recommendations.
    • The Central government should inform the Commission of the action taken on the recommendations within three months.
    • The commission submits its annual or special reports to the Central government and to the state government concerned.
    • These reports are laid before the respective legislatures, along with a memorandum of action taken on the recommendations of the commission and the reasons for non-acceptance of any of such recommendations.

The correct answer is Part IVA.

Key Points

• Part IVA
  • Part IVA of the Indian Constitution relates to Fundamental Duties and is given in article-51 (a).
  • Fundamental Duties are taken from the Constitution of Russia.
  • The Fundamental Duties of citizens were added to the Constitution by the 42nd Amendment in 1976 on behalf of the Swaran Singh Committee recommendations.
  • These duties tell us of the national aims & the basic models of political order and they also motivate us to learn a sense of social responsibility.
  • Originally, the Constitution of India did not contain fundamental duties but today we have 11 fundamental duties.
  • Fundamental duties are applicable only to citizens and not to the aliens.
  • India borrowed the concept of Fundamental Duties from the USSR.

The correct answer is Contingency Fund.

• Contingency Fund is being used by the Government of India to meet the unforeseen expenses.

Additional Information 

• Consolidated Fund of India:
  • This is the most important of all accounts of the government.
  • This fund is filled by Direct and indirect taxes Loans taken by the Indian government, Returning of loans/interests of loans to the government by anyone/agency that has taken it.
  • The government meets all its expenditure from this fund.
  • The government needs parliamentary approval to withdraw money from this fund.
  • The provision for this fund is given in Article 266 (1) of the Constitution of India.
  • Each state can have its own Consolidated Fund of the state with similar provisions.
  • The Comptroller and Auditor General of India audit these funds and reports to the relevant legislatures on their management.
• Contingency Fund of India:
  • Provision for this fund is made in Article 267 (1) of the Constitution of India.
  • Its corpus is Rs. 500 crores.
  • The Secretary of, Finance Ministry holds this fund on behalf of the President of India.
  • This fund is used to meet unexpected or unforeseen expenditure.
  • Contingency Fund is being used by the Government of India to meet the unforeseen expenses
  • Each state can have its own contingency fund.
• Public Accounts of India:
  • This is constituted under Article 266 (2) of the Constitution.
  • All other public money (other than those covered under the Consolidated Fund of India) received by or on behalf of the Indian Government are credited to this account/fund.
  • This is made up of Bank savings account of the various ministries/departments, National small savings fund, defence fund, National Investment Fund (money earned from disinvestment), National Calamity & Contingency Fund (NCCF) (for Disaster Management), Provident fund, Postal insurance, etc.

The Correct answer is Justice Fazl Ali.

Key Points

• The creation of the Andhra state intensified the demand from other regions for the creation of states on a linguistic basis.
• This forced the Government of India to appoint (in December 1953) a three-member States Reorganisation Commission under the chairmanship of Fazl Ali to re-examine the whole question. Its other two members were K M Panikkar and H N Kunzru.
• It submitted its report in September 1955 and broadly accepted language as the basis of the reorganisation of states. But, it rejected the theory of ‘one language-one state’. Its view was that the unity of India should be regarded as the primary consideration in any redrawing of the country’s political units. It identified four major factors that can be taken into account in any scheme of the reorganisation of states:

1. Preservation and strengthening of the unity and security of the country.
2.  Linguistic and cultural homogeneity.
3. Financial, economic and administrative considerations.
4. Planning and promotion of the welfare of the people in each state as well as of the nation as a whole.

• The commission suggested the abolition of the four-fold classification of states under the original Constitution and the creation of 16 states and 3 centrally administered territories. The Government of India accepted these recommendations with certain minor modifications.
• By the States Reorganisation Act (1956) and the 7th Constitutional Amendment Act (1956), the distinction between Part-A and Part-B states was done away with and Part-C states were abolished. Some of them were merged with adjacent states and some others were designated as union territories. As a result, 14 states and 6 union territories were created on November 1, 1956.
• The States Reorganisation Act of 1956 established the new state of Kerala by merging the Travancore- Cochin State with the Malabar District of Madras state and Kasargode of South Canara (Dakshina Kannada).
• It merged the Telugu-speaking areas of Hyderabad state with the Andhra state to create the Andhra Pradesh state. Further, it merged the Madya Bharat state, Vindya Pradesh state and Bhopal state into the Madya Pradesh state. Similarly, it merged the Saurashtra state and Kutch state into that of the Bombay state.

The correct answer is option 2 i.e., Parliament.

• Parliament can impose reasonable restrictions on Fundamental Rights.
• Fundamental Rights listed in Part III of the Constitution are not absolute and can be restricted on reasonable grounds by legislation enacted by Parliament.
• Article 13(1)  states that all laws in force in the territory of India immediately before the commencement of this constitution, in so far as they are inconsistent with the provisions of this Part, shall, to the extent of such inconsistency, be void.
• Article 13(4)-Nothing in this article shall apply to any amendment of this Constitution made under article 368.
• The Constitutional Bench in Kesavananda Bharati case ruled that Parliament could amend any part of the Constitution so long as it did not alter or amend the basic structure or essential features of the Constitution.