Amendment of Constitution MCQs for UPSC Prelims

Correct answer: B - amending the Constitution

Under Article 368, a Constitution Amendment Bill must be passed by each House separately with the prescribed special majority, and there is no provision for a joint sitting, so the two Houses stand on an equal footing in amending the Constitution. Creating a new All India Service under Article 312 is actually a special power of the Rajya Sabha alone, requiring its resolution supported by two-thirds of members present and voting, so it is not an equal power. The government is responsible only to the Lok Sabha, which alone can remove it through a no-confidence motion. Cut motions relate to demands for grants, which are voted only in the Lok Sabha.

Correct answer: B - 2 only

It was the 39th Amendment of 1975, enacted during the Emergency, that placed the election of the Prime Minister beyond judicial review; the 44th Amendment of 1978 in fact undid several Emergency-era distortions, so statement 1 is wrong. In 2015, the Supreme Court struck down the 99th Amendment, which had created the National Judicial Appointments Commission, holding that it violated the independence of the judiciary, a part of the basic structure. Therefore only statement 2 is correct.

Correct answer: A - Jawaharlal Nehru

The Ninth Schedule was inserted by the very first Constitutional Amendment Act of 1951, along with Article 31B, to protect land reform and zamindari abolition laws from being struck down by courts. Jawaharlal Nehru was Prime Minister at that time. Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi and Morarji Desai all held office much later, so those options are wrong even though many laws were added to the Schedule during Indira Gandhi's tenure.

Correct answer: D - 1, 2 and 3

Article 368(1), as inserted by the 24th Amendment, states that Parliament may in exercise of its constituent power amend by way of addition, variation or repeal any provision of the Constitution in accordance with the procedure laid down in that article. All three modes are expressly mentioned in the text. Any option that omits addition, variation or repeal therefore contradicts the plain language of Article 368.

Correct answer: A - 1st Amendment

The First Amendment Act, 1951 (option a) was enacted largely to overcome court rulings that had interpreted Fundamental Rights restrictively against the State's reform agenda. It added the Ninth Schedule to shield land-reform laws from judicial review, and amended Articles 15, 19 and 31 to permit reasonable restrictions on free speech and to validate special provisions for backward classes following judgments such as Champakam Dorairajan and Romesh Thappar. The 42nd Amendment (b) was the sweeping 'mini-constitution' of the Emergency era. The 44th (c) restored several safeguards and made the right to property a legal right. The 86th (d) added the right to education (Article 21A).

Correct answer: D - Neither 1 nor 2

High Courts exercise the power of judicial review under Articles 226 and 13 and can strike down a central law as unconstitutional, so statement 1 is wrong. The Supreme Court can review constitutional amendments and, under the basic structure doctrine laid down in Kesavananda Bharati, can invalidate an amendment that violates the basic structure, so statement 2 is also wrong. As neither statement is correct, the answer is Neither 1 nor 2.

Correct answer: B - Participation of workers in the management of industries

The 42nd Amendment (1976) inserted Article 43A, which directs the State to secure the participation of workers in the management of industries. Equal pay for equal work (Article 39(d)) and securing a living wage (Article 43) were part of the original DPSP. The right to work, education and public assistance (Article 41) was also in the original Constitution. Hence the new principle added in 1976 was workers' participation in management.

Correct answer: A - I and II only

The proviso to Article 368(2) lists the matters whose amendment needs ratification by at least half the State Legislatures; these include any of the Lists in the Seventh Schedule and Article 162, which deals with the extent of the executive power of a State, so subjects I and II require ratification. The conditions of the Governor's office under Article 158 are not part of this entrenched list and can be amended by Parliament alone with a special majority, so subject III does not require ratification. Hence (a) I and II only is correct, and the other options either omit a required subject or wrongly include the Governor's office.