Which of the following is/are stated in the Constitution of India ?
1. The President shall not be a member of either of the Houses of the Parliament.
2. The Parliament shall consist of the President a

Question

Which of the following is/are stated in the Constitution of India ?
1. The President shall not be a member of either of the Houses of the Parliament.
2. The Parliament shall consist of the President and both Houses.
Select the correct answer from the codes given below :

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

Correct — A, Both 1 and 2. Each statement reproduces the express language of an Article, which is exactly what the question demands ("is/are stated in the Constitution"). Statement 1 is Article 59(1): "The President shall not be a member of either House of Parliament or of a House of the Legislature of any State, and if a member of either House of Parliament or of a House of the Legislature of any State be elected President, he shall be deemed to have vacated his seat in that House on the date on which he enters upon his office as President." Statement 2 is Article 79: "There shall be a Parliament for the Union which shall consist of the President and two Houses to be known respectively as the Council of States and the House of the People." Both are therefore stated in the Constitution, and the two sit together without contradiction: the President is a constituent part of Parliament without being a member of either House — the Indian version of the British 'King-in-Parliament'. That is why no Bill passed by the two Houses becomes law until the President assents to it under Article 111, and why the President summons and prorogues the Houses (Article 85), addresses them (Articles 86–87) and promulgates ordinances when Parliament is not in session (Article 123).

Why the other options are wrong — (b) It accepts Article 79 but rejects Article 59(1). Article 59(1) is not an inference or a convention — it is written text, and it goes further than statement 1 by also barring the President from being a member of any State legislature and by deeming a sitting member's seat vacated the day he takes office as President.  (c) Both statements are literal paraphrases of Articles 59(1) and 79 respectively, so neither can be rejected. This option would only work if the two rules were mere practice, which they are not.  (d) This is the intended trap. It accepts the President's non-membership but denies that the Constitution makes the President part of Parliament — the common misconception that 'Parliament = Lok Sabha + Rajya Sabha'. Article 79 says otherwise in so many words. UPSC set the identical trap in 2012 (statement: 'According to the Constitution of India, the Parliament consists of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha only' — marked incorrect).

Concept: India's Parliament is a three-limbed institution: the President, the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) and the House of the People (Lok Sabha). The President is a part of the legislature but not a member of it — an office that stands inside Parliament for the purpose of law-making yet outside both Houses for the purpose of membership. This is inherited from the Westminster idea of the Crown-in-Parliament, and it is what makes the presidential assent under Article 111 a legislative step rather than a courtesy.

State PCS 2024 Q22 — Polity & Governance PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2024 Q22 — Polity & Governance PYQ with Answer