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Q11·GS Paper 1 · Prelims 2013

Constitutional Amendment Procedure

PolityAmendment to ConstitutionStatement-basedMediumStatic

Question

Consider the following statements:

1An amendment to the Constitution of India can be initiated by an introduction of a bill in the Lok Sabha only.
2If such an amendment seeks to make changes in the federal character of the Constitution, the amendment also requires to be ratified by the legislature of all the States of India.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. 1.

    An amendment to the Constitution of India can be initiated by an introduction of a bill in the Lok Sabha only.

  2. 2.

    If such an amendment seeks to make changes in the federal character of the Constitution, the amendment also requires to be ratified by the legislature of all the States of India.

Options

a

1 only

b

2 only

Answer
c

Both 1 and 2

d

Neither 1 nor 2

Explanation

Statement 1 is incorrect because amendments to the Constitution can be initiated in either House of Parliament (Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha) as per Article 368. Statement 2 is correct - Article 368(2) requires that if an amendment seeks to make changes in the federal structure of the Constitution (affecting the distribution of legislative and executive powers between Union and States, or the representation of States in Parliament), it must also be ratified by the legislature of at least half of the States. The phrase 'federal character' specifically refers to provisions dealing with the structure and powers distribution of the federal system.

Key Point: Constitutional amendments can be initiated in EITHER house, but federal character changes need state ratification. Answer: (b).

Question details

Year

2013

Paper

GS Paper 1

Question

Q11

Subject

Polity

Sub-topic

Amendment to Constitution

Type

Statement-based

Difficulty

Medium

Nature

Static

Source hint

NCERT Polity Ch.10 - Constitutional Amendment

See all questions on Amendment to Constitution

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