Union Government: Executive, Legislature and Judiciary
What this domain tests
The Union executive (President, Vice-President, Prime Minister, Council of Ministers), Parliament (composition, sessions, law-making, Money Bill), and the Supreme Court (jurisdiction, judicial review, appointment) form the most heavily tested area.
Core rules
- The President (Article 52) is elected indirectly by an electoral college of elected MPs and elected MLAs, using proportional representation by single transferable vote. Impeachment is under Article 61. The President acts on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers (Articles 74 and 75); after the 42nd and 44th Amendments that advice is binding.
- Legislative powers: summoning and proroguing (Article 85), dissolving the Lok Sabha, nominating 12 Rajya Sabha members, and promulgating ordinances under Article 123 when either House is not in session.
- Parliament = President + Lok Sabha + Rajya Sabha. The Lok Sabha has 543 elected members; the two Anglo-Indian nominations ended with the 104th Amendment (2019). The Rajya Sabha has 245 members, of whom 12 are nominated.
- A Money Bill (Article 110) can be introduced only in the Lok Sabha, and the Rajya Sabha has 14 days to recommend; it cannot amend or reject.
- Supreme Court: Article 124; original jurisdiction (131), appellate (132-134), advisory (143), writ jurisdiction (32), and judicial review.
Worked example
The President issues an ordinance; Parliament reassembles 20 days later. What happens? Reasoning: the ordinance must be laid before both Houses within six weeks of reassembly. If not passed, it lapses. Its total life cannot exceed six months from promulgation plus six weeks from reassembly. Disagreement between the Houses does not save it; approval by both is required.
Traps
- Saying the President is head of government; the Prime Minister is.
- Letting the Rajya Sabha vote on a Money Bill.
- Stating that the collegium is written into the Constitution; it developed from the Second Judges Case (1993).
- Mixing Article 352 (national emergency) with Article 356 (President's rule).