Consider the following statements :
An Amendment to the Constitution of India can be initiated by the :
1. Lok Sabha
2. Rajya Sabha
3. State Legislatures
4. President of India
Which of the above state

Question

Consider the following statements :
An Amendment to the Constitution of India can be initiated by the :
1. Lok Sabha
2. Rajya Sabha
3. State Legislatures
4. President of India
Which of the above statements is/are correct ?

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

Correct — B, 1 and 2. Article 368(2) is emphatic on the point: "An amendment of this Constitution may be initiated only by the introduction of a Bill for the purpose in either House of Parliament." The word 'only' shuts out every other body, and 'either House' opens both. So the power to *initiate* rests with the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, and with no one else. State Legislatures (item 3) enter the process only at a later stage and only for a defined class of amendments: under the proviso to Article 368(2), an amendment touching federal provisions — the election of the President, the extent of Union and State executive power, the Supreme Court and the High Courts, the distribution of legislative powers, any of the Lists in the Seventh Schedule, the representation of States in Parliament, or Article 368 itself — must also be ratified by the legislatures of not less than one-half of the States. Ratification comes after Parliament has passed the Bill; it is a consent, not an initiation. The President (item 4) also comes in at the end, not the beginning: the Bill is presented to him for assent, and since the 24th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1971 the wording of Article 368(2) is that he 'shall give his assent' — he can neither withhold it nor return the Bill. Unlike a Money Bill or the Bills covered by Articles 117 and 274, a Constitution Amendment Bill needs no prior recommendation of the President even to be introduced, so the President has no role at the initiating end at all.

Why the other options are wrong — (a) It confuses ratification with initiation. State Legislatures never introduce a Constitution Amendment Bill; for the federal entrenched provisions they merely ratify, by a simple majority, a Bill that Parliament has already passed — and even then, only for that limited category.  (c) This treats a Constitution Amendment Bill like a Money Bill. It is not one. Article 368(2) says 'either House', so the Rajya Sabha can originate an amendment on exactly the same terms as the Lok Sabha, and each House must pass it separately by the special majority — there is not even a joint-sitting escape route (Article 108 covers ordinary and financial Bills only).  (d) It drops the Lok Sabha, which plainly can initiate, and adds two bodies that cannot. The President's only role is at the assent stage, and after the 24th Amendment (1971) that assent is mandatory, not discretionary.

Concept: Article 368 gives Parliament the power to amend the Constitution by way of addition, variation or repeal of any provision, subject to the procedure laid down in the Article itself. The procedure has a fixed order: introduction of a Bill in either House → passage in each House separately by a special majority (a majority of the total membership of that House and at least two-thirds of the members present and voting) → for the entrenched federal provisions, ratification by the legislatures of not less than half the States → presentation to the President, whose assent is obligatory. Nothing in this chain lets a State legislature or the President start the process.

State PCS 2024 Q23 — Polity & Governance PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2024 Q23 — Polity & Governance PYQ with Answer