Amendments — Set 4

Correct Answer: C. 99th Amendment

• **99th Amendment (2014)** = established the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) to replace the collegium system for appointing Supreme Court and High Court judges. • **Struck down in 2015** — in Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association v. Union of India, the Supreme Court struck down the NJAC by 4:1 majority, holding it violated judicial independence and the basic structure of the Constitution. • 💡 Option A (100th Amendment) operationalised the India-Bangladesh Land Boundary Agreement — not judicial appointments. Option B (98th Amendment) inserted Article 371-J for Hyderabad-Karnataka region. Option D (101st Amendment) introduced GST — none of these established the NJAC.

Correct Answer: C. Property

• **25th Amendment (1971)** = curtailed the Right to Property (Article 31) by providing that laws implementing DPSPs under Article 39(b)/(c) cannot be challenged for violating Articles 14, 19, or 31. • **Article 31C inserted** — created a shield for laws that distribute material resources equitably or prevent concentration of wealth, making them immune from FR challenges. • 💡 Option A (Speech) — the right to free speech under Article 19(1)(a) was not curtailed by the 25th Amendment. Option B (Assembly) — freedom of assembly under Article 19(1)(b) was unaffected. Option D (Religion) — freedom of religion under Articles 25–28 was not restricted by this amendment — only the Right to Property was curtailed.

Correct Answer: C. 14th Amendment

• **14th Amendment (1962)** = incorporated Puducherry (formerly Pondicherry) into the Indian Union after it was ceded by France in 1954 and formally transferred in 1962. • **Legislature provisions** — the amendment also provided for legislatures for certain UTs including Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Tripura, and Puducherry under Part C of the Constitution. • 💡 Option A (15th Amendment) increased the retirement age of High Court judges to 62 — unrelated to Puducherry. Option B (13th Amendment) granted statehood to Nagaland. Option D (12th Amendment) incorporated Goa, Daman and Diu (Portuguese territories) — not Puducherry.

Correct Answer: A. Hindi

• **58th Amendment (1987)** = inserted Article 394A into the Constitution to provide an authoritative Hindi text of the Constitution that carries the same legal standing as the English original. • **Article 394A** — empowers the President to publish the authoritative Hindi translation of the Constitution and any amendment made to it, authenticated under the President's authority. • 💡 Option B (Sanskrit) has not been adopted as an official constitutional text language by any amendment. Option C (Urdu) is one of the 22 scheduled languages but has not been given status as the authoritative constitutional text. Option D (English) is the original language of the Constitution — an authoritative Hindi text was what needed to be created by the 58th Amendment.

Correct Answer: C. Nagaland

• **13th Amendment (1962)** = conferred statehood on Nagaland and inserted Article 371A to protect Naga customary law, ownership of land and resources, and local practices. • **Article 371A protection** — no Act of Parliament applies to Nagaland in respect of religious or social practices, customary law, and land ownership unless the State Assembly decides so. • 💡 Option A (Mizoram) attained statehood much later by the 53rd Amendment (1986) — not the 13th. Option B (Manipur) became a state by the 27th Amendment (1971). Option D (Meghalaya) was carved out of Assam and became a state by the North-Eastern Areas Reorganisation Act (1971) — none of these were given statehood by the 13th Amendment.

Correct Answer: B. 26th Amendment

• **26th Amendment (1971)** = abolished privy purses and special privileges of former rulers of princely states by deleting Articles 291 and 362 from the Constitution. • **Background** — princes had surrendered their territories to India in exchange for privy purses (annual payments); the 26th Amendment ended these payments as incompatible with a socialist, egalitarian republic. • 💡 Option A (27th Amendment) reorganised certain north-eastern states and UTs. Option C (24th Amendment) affirmed Parliament's power to amend Fundamental Rights. Option D (25th Amendment) curtailed the Right to Property — none of these abolished privy purses and royal privileges.

Correct Answer: B. Odia

• **96th Amendment (2011)** = substituted 'Odia' for 'Oriya' in the Eighth Schedule and simultaneously renamed 'Orissa' to 'Odisha' — reflecting the correct Odia-language pronunciation. • **Constitutional significance** — the change to the Eighth Schedule required a formal Constitutional Amendment; the state's name change from Orissa to Odisha was also effected through this amendment. • 💡 Option A (Odiya) is a misspelling — the correct official name is 'Odia', not 'Odiya'. Option C (Orissa) is the old name that was replaced — not the new one. Option D (Udia) is not a recognised spelling at all — the correct substitution was specifically 'Odia' as the official language name.

Correct Answer: A. Simple Majority

• **Simple Majority for ratification** = when state ratification is required (e.g., for changes to election of President, Supreme Court, federal provisions), State Legislatures pass the resolution by a simple majority — majority of members present and voting. • **Half the states** — ratification is needed from at least half of all State Legislatures (i.e., at least 15 of 28 states); no time limit is specified in the Constitution for this ratification. • 💡 Option B (Special Majority) — Parliament itself must pass the amendment by special majority, but when the bill goes to State Legislatures for ratification, they only need simple majority. Option C (Absolute Majority) means majority of the total membership regardless of attendance — this is not required for state ratification. Option D (Effective Majority) means majority of effective strength (excluding vacancies) — also not the requirement for state ratification.

Correct Answer: B. 93rd Amendment

• **93rd Amendment (2005)** = added clause (5) to Article 15, enabling the state to make reservations for SCs, STs, and OBCs in both government and private unaided educational institutions. • **Minority institutions excluded** — the amendment specifically exempts minority educational institutions (under Article 30) from such reservation requirements, preserving their autonomy. • 💡 Option A (94th Amendment) replaced a reference to Bihar in Article 164 — unrelated to educational reservations. Option C (91st Amendment) capped the Council of Ministers at 15%. Option D (92nd Amendment) added four languages to the Eighth Schedule — none of these empowered the state to make reservations in private educational institutions.

Correct Answer: C. 545

• **31st Amendment (1973)** = increased the elective seats in the Lok Sabha from 525 to 545, based on the 1971 Census, while reducing the representation of Union Territories from 25 to 20 seats. • **Current strength** — Lok Sabha now has 543 elective + 2 Anglo-Indian nominated seats (though nominated seats ended in 2020); the 31st Amendment set the elected base at 545. • 💡 Option A (552) exceeds the actual 545 increased by the 31st Amendment — no amendment raised it to 552. Option B (540) is less than 545 — also incorrect. Option D (550) is also not the figure — the 31st Amendment specifically raised the number to 545 elective seats.