Citizenship, Emergency & Special Provisions: previous-year questions

Answer: (C) Article 9

Article 9 says that a person who voluntarily acquires the citizenship of a foreign state ceases to be a citizen of India, which is why India does not permit dual citizenship. Part II of the Constitution (Articles 5 to 11) in order: Article 5, citizenship at the commencement of the Constitution; 6, migrants from Pakistan to India; 7, migrants to Pakistan; 8, persons of Indian origin living abroad; 9, voluntary acquisition of foreign citizenship; 10, continuance of citizenship rights; 11, Parliament's power to regulate citizenship, used to pass the Citizenship Act, 1955. That Act provides five ways of acquiring citizenship (birth, descent, registration, naturalisation, incorporation of territory) and three of losing it (renunciation, termination, deprivation).

Answer: (C) Articles 20 and 21

Article 359 empowers the President, during a National Emergency, to suspend the right to move courts for the enforcement of Fundamental Rights named in the order, except Articles 20 (protection in respect of conviction for offences) and 21 (life and personal liberty). This exception was added by the 44th Amendment, 1978, in reaction to ADM Jabalpur v. Shivkant Shukla (1976), in which the Supreme Court had upheld the suspension of habeas corpus during the Emergency. Compare Article 358, under which Article 19 is suspended automatically, but only when the emergency is declared on the ground of war or external aggression. So Articles 19, 32, 14 and 15 (options A, B) can all be affected, and D is wrong.

Answer: (A) 371

Article 371 contains special provisions for Maharashtra and Gujarat, such as separate development boards for Vidarbha, Marathwada and the rest of Maharashtra. Article 371A is for Nagaland, 371B for Assam and 371D for Andhra Pradesh (and Telangana).

Answer: (D) The Parliament

Under Article 356(1)(b), when President's rule is proclaimed, the powers of the State Legislature become exercisable by or under the authority of Parliament. Parliament may delegate law-making to the President, but the power itself vests in Parliament, not the Governor or the Prime Minister.

Answer: (D) The British Constitution.

Single citizenship, along with the parliamentary system and the rule of law, was borrowed from the British Constitution. The USA has dual (federal and state) citizenship, so it is the tempting wrong option; France gave liberty-equality-fraternity, and Switzerland is not a source of this feature.

Answer: (C) Article 340

Article 340 empowers the President to appoint a commission to investigate the conditions of socially and educationally backward classes — the Kalelkar and Mandal Commissions were set up under it. Article 342 deals with notifying Scheduled Tribes, Article 344 with the Official Language Commission and Article 339 with control over Scheduled Areas.

Answer: (C) The President of India through an administrator appointed by him called the Lieutenant Governor.

Under Article 239 every Union Territory is administered by the President acting through an administrator he appoints, styled Lieutenant Governor in several UTs. UTs have no Governor, the President does not run them directly, and even where a UT has a Chief Minister the constitutional administrator remains the President's appointee.

Answer: (A) August, 2019

The Presidential order of 5 August 2019 (C.O. 272) and Parliament's resolution of 6 August 2019 ended the special status under Article 370, and the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019 followed. The two Union Territories came into existence on 31 October 2019, which is why October is a tempting wrong option.

Answer: (D) Anglo-Indian Community

Article 336 made special provision for appointments of members of the Anglo-Indian community to certain Central services (railways, customs, posts and telegraphs) for a transitional period after 1950. No such provision exists for the Sikh, Muslim or Hindu communities.

Answer: (B) Part II

Part II (Articles 5–11) deals with citizenship, and Article 5 specifically covers citizenship at the commencement of the Constitution. Part I deals with the Union and its territory, Part III with Fundamental Rights and Part IV with the Directive Principles.

Answer: (D) Manipur

The Sixth Schedule covers tribal areas in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram through autonomous district councils. Manipur's hill areas are governed under Article 371C and the Manipur Hill Areas District Councils Act, not the Sixth Schedule.

Answer: (B) Article 356

Article 356 provides for President's Rule (State Emergency) when the constitutional machinery of a State fails, usually on the Governor's report; it must be approved by Parliament within two months and can last a maximum of three years. Article 352 is National Emergency and Article 360 is Financial Emergency. Articles 350 and 351 are about language: representations for redress of grievances in any language used in the Union or State, and the duty of the Union to promote Hindi.

Answer: (D) None of the above

Answer as of 2021 — this may have changed since.

The National Register of Citizens is a register - a list of Indian citizens - not a draft, a Bill or an Act, so PSC's answer is 'None of the above'. It is prepared under the Citizenship Act, 1955 (section 14A, inserted in 2003) and the Citizenship Rules, 2003. First compiled in 1951, it has been updated only in Assam, under Supreme Court supervision: the draft appeared in July 2018 and the final NRC on 31 August 2019, leaving out about 19 lakh applicants. Do not confuse it with the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA), which is an Act, or with the National Population Register (NPR).

Answer: (A) 14 January 1969

Madras State was officially renamed Tamil Nadu with effect from 14 January 1969.

Answer: (B) 1975

Sikkim, a protectorate of India under the Chogyal, was made an 'associate state' by the 35th Amendment (1974) and a full-fledged state, the 22nd of the Union, by the 36th Amendment with effect from 16 May 1975, after a referendum abolished the monarchy. Kazi Lhendup Dorji was its first Chief Minister. Special provisions for Sikkim are in Article 371F.

Answer: (D) Article 44

Article 44 of the Constitution (Directive Principle) directs the State to endeavour to secure a Uniform Civil Code for the citizens throughout the territory of India. This remains one of the most debated provisions of the Constitution.