Which one of the following is not a constitutional body?

Correct — D, (d) The National Commission for Women. The ask is negative, with not in bold italic, so the answer is the body that the Constitution does not create. The National Commission for Women was set up by an ordinary Act of Parliament, the National Commission for Women Act, 1990, and began functioning in January 1992. It is therefore a statutory body: Parliament made it, Parliament can alter its composition or its functions by amending that Act, and Parliament could abolish it by repealing the Act, all by an ordinary majority. The other three owe their existence to the Constitution itself. The Election Commission is created by Article 324, which vests the superintendence, direction and control of elections to Parliament, the State legislatures, the office of President and the office of Vice-President in a Commission. The Finance Commission is created by Article 280, under which the President constitutes one every fifth year, or earlier if he thinks fit, to recommend the distribution of taxes between the Union and the States and the principles governing grants-in-aid. The Commission on official language is created by Article 344, which requires the President to constitute one at the expiration of five years from the commencement of the Constitution and again at the expiration of ten years; the body constituted under it in 1955 was chaired by B. G. Kher. Each of those three can be changed only by amending the Constitution, and that difference in the source of authority is the whole of what this question is testing.

Why the others are wrong

• (a)The Election Commission of India — The Election Commission of India is a constitutional body and one of the most securely entrenched of them. Article 324 creates it and confers on it the superintendence, direction and control of the preparation of electoral rolls and of the conduct of all elections to Parliament, to the State legislatures and to the offices of President and Vice-President. The same Article provides for the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners, and gives the Chief Election Commissioner security of tenure by providing that he shall not be removed from office except in the manner and on the grounds prescribed for a judge of the Supreme Court.
• (b)The Finance Commission — The Finance Commission is constitutional, under Article 280. The President is required to constitute it at the expiration of every fifth year, or earlier if he considers it necessary, and it recommends the distribution between the Union and the States of the net proceeds of taxes and their allocation among the States, the principles governing grants-in-aid out of the Consolidated Fund of India, and measures to augment the resources of the States for their panchayats and municipalities. Article 281 requires that its recommendations be laid before each House of Parliament along with an explanatory memorandum of the action taken on them.
• (c)The Official Languages Commission — The Commission on official language is also created by the Constitution, in Article 344. The President was to constitute it at the expiration of five years from the commencement of the Constitution and again at the expiration of ten years, to make recommendations on the progressive use of Hindi for the official purposes of the Union, on restrictions on the use of English, and on the language to be used for specified official purposes. Article 344 also provides for a committee of thirty members of Parliament — twenty from the House of the People and ten from the Council of States — to examine the Commission’s recommendations. The Commission constituted under it in 1955 is the one usually referred to by this name.

Bodies in Indian public administration fall into three classes by their source of authority, and a great many questions are built on the distinction. A constitutional body is created by the Constitution itself, so its existence and its core powers can be altered only by constitutional amendment: the Election Commission under Article 324, the Union and State Public Service Commissions under Article 315, the Comptroller and Auditor-General under Article 148, the Attorney-General under Article 76, the Finance Commission under Article 280, the Commission on official language under Article 344, the National Commissions for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes under Articles 338 and 338A, the Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities under Article 350B and the Goods and Services Tax Council under Article 279A. A statutory body is created by an Act of Parliament or of a State legislature — the National Commission for Women in 1990, the National Human Rights Commission in 1993, the Central Vigilance Commission on a statutory footing in 2003, the Central Information Commission in 2005. An executive body rests on a government resolution alone, which is how NITI Aayog exists. Status can change: the National Commission for Backward Classes was a statutory body under an Act of 1993 until the Constitution (One Hundred and Second Amendment) Act, 2018 inserted Article 338B and made it constitutional.

Key facts

• The National Commission for Women is a statutory body, established under the National Commission for Women Act, 1990; it began functioning in January 1992.
• The Election Commission of India is created by Article 324 of the Constitution.
• The Finance Commission is created by Article 280 and is constituted by the President every fifth year or earlier.
• Article 344 requires the President to constitute a Commission on official language, and the body constituted under it in 1955 was chaired by B. G. Kher.
• Article 344 also provides for a committee of thirty members of Parliament — twenty from the Lok Sabha and ten from the Rajya Sabha — to examine that Commission’s recommendations.
• Other constitutional bodies include the Public Service Commissions under Article 315, the Comptroller and Auditor-General under Article 148, and the Goods and Services Tax Council under Article 279A.
• The National Commission for Backward Classes was statutory under an Act of 1993 until the Constitution (One Hundred and Second Amendment) Act, 2018 inserted Article 338B and made it a constitutional body.

Common traps

• Assuming that a body with national in its title and a commission’s powers must be constitutional. Several of the best-known commissions are statutory.
• Confusing the National Commission for Women with the Commissions for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, which are constitutional under Articles 338 and 338A.
• Forgetting that the status of a body can change by amendment, as it did for the National Commission for Backward Classes in 2018.
• Overlooking the language commission because it is less discussed. Article 344 creates it as plainly as Article 324 creates the Election Commission.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which Article of the Constitution provides for the constitution of a Finance Commission by the President every fifth year or earlier?

  • (a)Article 263
  • (b)Article 280
  • (c)Article 315
  • (d)Article 324

  Answer(b) Article 280

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which of the following is a statutory and not a constitutional body?

  • (a)The National Commission for Scheduled Castes
  • (b)The National Human Rights Commission
  • (c)The Union Public Service Commission
  • (d)The Comptroller and Auditor-General of India

  Answer(b) The National Human Rights Commission