Which one of the following statements is not correct?

Correct — C, A censure motion cannot be moved against the entire Council of Ministers. The stem asks for the statement that is NOT correct, and this is the one that fails. A censure motion may be directed at an individual Minister, at a group of Ministers or at the whole Council of Ministers — its reach is wider than a no-confidence motion's, not narrower. The other three statements are accurate as they stand.

• (a)A censure motion can be moved against a single Minister of the Council of Ministers. — True, and it is one of the main differences from a no-confidence motion. A censure motion can name one Minister and set out the charge against that Minister alone.
• (b)A motion of no-confidence cannot be moved against the Prime Minister alone. — True. A no-confidence motion lies only against the entire Council of Ministers, because Article 75(3) fastens collective responsibility on the Council as a body before the Lok Sabha.
• (d)A censure motion can be moved against a group of Ministers. — True. A group of Ministers may be censured together, which is another reason the reach claimed for censure in option (c) is wrong.

Neither motion is named in the Constitution; both are creatures of the rules the Lok Sabha makes for itself under Article 118(1). A censure motion expresses the House's disapproval and must specify the charge or the reasons for it. A no-confidence motion needs no ground stated at all — it simply asserts that the House no longer has confidence in the Council of Ministers.

The consequences differ as much as the reach does. A censure motion that is carried does not oblige the Council of Ministers to resign; a no-confidence motion that is carried does. Leave of the House is required for a no-confidence motion under Rule 198, granted only if not fewer than fifty members rise in their places, while a censure motion needs no such leave and the Speaker rules on admissibility. Both may be moved only in the Lok Sabha.

• Censure may target one Minister, a group of Ministers, or the whole Council of Ministers.
• A no-confidence motion lies only against the entire Council of Ministers, and only in the Lok Sabha.
• A censure motion must state the charge; a no-confidence motion need give no reason.
• A carried censure motion does not compel resignation; a carried no-confidence motion does.

• A 'not correct' stem — three of the four statements are deliberately true.
• Treating censure and no-confidence as interchangeable ways of attacking the government.
• Citing Rule 198 for the censure motion; that rule belongs to the no-confidence motion.

Usually as a censure-versus-no-confidence distinction, sometimes as which motions the Constitution itself names.

No directly related past PYQ was found.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  A motion of no-confidence in the Lok Sabha requires the support of how many members rising in their places for leave to be granted?

  • (a)Not fewer than 25
  • (b)Not fewer than 50
  • (c)Not fewer than 100
  • (d)One-tenth of the total membership

  Answer(b) Not fewer than 50 — the threshold under Rule 198 of the Lok Sabha rules.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  If a censure motion against a Minister is passed by the Lok Sabha,

  • (a)the entire Council of Ministers must resign
  • (b)the Minister is automatically removed by the President
  • (c)the Council of Ministers is not obliged to resign
  • (d)the House stands dissolved

  Answer(c) the Council of Ministers is not obliged to resign — that consequence follows only from a no-confidence motion.