CDS (II) 2020 General Knowledge · Question 51 of 120

Correct — C, at the commencement of the first session after general election and at the first session of each year. This is Article 176 of the Constitution, whose own heading is 'Special address by the Governor', and its first clause says exactly what the option says: at the commencement of the first session after each general election to the Legislative Assembly, and at the commencement of the first session of each year, the Governor shall address the Legislative Assembly — or, in a State with a Legislative Council, both Houses assembled together — and inform the Legislature of the causes of its summons. The second clause requires the House rules to set aside time to discuss the address, which is how the Motion of Thanks debate happens. Article 87 does the same job for the President and Parliament.

• (a)when President's Rule is called for — President's Rule works through Article 356, on the Governor's report to the President and a proclamation by the President. No address to the House is involved, and the Assembly is being suspended or dissolved, not addressed.
• (b)when a national emergency necessitates dissolution of Legislative Assembly — Contains a false premise. A national emergency under Article 352 does not dissolve a Legislative Assembly; it lets Parliament legislate on State subjects and lets the Assembly's own term be extended a year at a time.
• (d)whenever he/she has concluded that such is necessary — Describes the Governor's ordinary power to address a House, which exists under Article 175, not the special address. The special address is the one the Constitution requires on two fixed occasions, and it is the only one the House must formally set time aside to debate.

Article 176 gives the Governor an address that is compulsory rather than discretionary, and it is delivered on the advice of the State Council of Ministers, so its content is the government's programme rather than the Governor's own opinion. The House then debates it on a Motion of Thanks, and amendments to that motion are one of the recognised ways of testing a government on the floor. The Union counterpart is Article 87, under which the President addresses both Houses of Parliament at the first session after each general election to the Lok Sabha and at the first session of every year.

The item is really a two-part memory test — which occasions, and how many. Two occasions: the first session of a newly elected Assembly, and the first session of each year. In an Assembly's ordinary five-year life those coincide once, at the start of the term, and thereafter it is the annual address. Note that an address before every session was the original position for Parliament, and the First Amendment of 1951 narrowed it to the pattern Article 176 also uses; treat the annual-and-post-election formula as the settled rule. Option (d) is worth a second look rather than a dismissal, because the Governor genuinely can address a House at other times under Article 175 — but that is an ordinary address, not the special one this question names.

• Article 176 is headed 'Special address by the Governor'.
• Article 176(1) requires the address at the commencement of the first session after each general election to the Legislative Assembly and at the commencement of the first session of each year.
• In a State with a Legislative Council the Governor addresses both Houses assembled together.
• Article 176(2) requires House rules to allot time to discuss the address — the Motion of Thanks.
• Article 87 is the corresponding provision for the President and Parliament.

• Assuming the Governor addresses the House at the start of every session; the special address is only two occasions.
• Treating the address as the Governor's personal statement — it is drafted by the State government.
• Believing a national emergency dissolves State legislatures; it does not.

As a direct provision question like this one, as an Article-to-content match, or as a statements item on the Governor's legislative powers.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The President's address to both Houses of Parliament at the commencement of the first session of each year is provided for by which Article?

  • (a)Article 78
  • (b)Article 85
  • (c)Article 87
  • (d)Article 111

  Answer(c) Article 87 — the Union counterpart of Article 176 for the States.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  In a State having a Legislative Council, the Governor's special address under Article 176 is delivered to

  • (a)the Legislative Assembly only
  • (b)the Legislative Council only
  • (c)both Houses assembled together
  • (d)each House separately

  Answer(c) both Houses assembled together — the words of Article 176(1) itself.