Supreme Court — Set 4

Correct Answer: C. Examine the constitutionality of legislative and executive orders

• **Judicial Review** = the power of the Supreme Court to. • **Derived from Article 13** — Article 13 explicitly states that laws inconsistent with Fundamental Rights shall be void; combined with Articles 32, 226, 131, and 136, this creates full judicial review. • 💡 Option A (Punish for contempt) is a Court of Record power under Article 129, not judicial review; Option B (Review its own judgments) is the review petition power under Article 137; Option D (Advise the President) is the advisory jurisdiction under Article 143.

Correct Answer: D. Excluded from Supreme Court's original jurisdiction

• **Inter-state water disputes — Excluded from SC original jurisdiction** = Article 131 explicitly bars inter-state river water disputes from the SC's exclusive original jurisdiction under Article 131. • **Article 262 — Tribunals** = Parliament used Article 262 to enact the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956, creating special tribunals instead of the SC for these disputes. • 💡 Option A (Under SC's original jurisdiction) is specifically excluded by a proviso in Article 131; Option B (Decided by Tribunals) is the current legal position but it is the outcome of Article 262, not Article 131; Option C (Under HC's jurisdiction) is wrong — HCs don't have inter-state jurisdiction.

Correct Answer: A. President

• **Article 145 — SC's own rules require Presidential approval** = the Supreme Court can make rules to regulate its own practice and procedure, but these rules must receive the approval of the President. • **Judicial self-governance with check** — this arrangement balances judicial autonomy (SC makes its own rules) with executive oversight (President must approve). • 💡 Option B (Parliament) can by law override SC rules but does not approve them in the first instance; Option C (Bar Council) represents legal professionals but has no role in approving SC procedural rules; Option D (Law Ministry) advises on legal matters but has no formal power to approve SC rules.

Correct Answer: B. Chief Justice of India

• **SC officers and servants — Appointed by CJI** = under Article 146, the Chief Justice of India (or such judge/officer as CJI directs) appoints all officers and servants of the Supreme Court. • **Administrative independence** — this power vested in the CJI (not the government) ensures the Supreme Court's administrative independence from executive interference. • 💡 Option A (Law Secretary) is a senior bureaucrat in the Law Ministry with no constitutional role in SC appointments; Option C () recruits for Central government posts but not for the Supreme Court staff; Option D (President) appoints judges but not the administrative officers and servants of the SC.

Correct Answer: D. Lok Sabha is dissolved

• **Motion lapses on Lok Sabha dissolution** = if a removal motion is pending in or passed by the Lok Sabha and dissolution occurs before both Houses act on it, the motion lapses. • **Rajya Sabha motion survives** — if the motion originated and is pending only in the Rajya Sabha (a permanent House), dissolution of Lok Sabha does not affect it. • 💡 Option A (Judiciary intervenes) cannot stop a valid legislative removal process initiated under the Constitution; Option B (President rejects it immediately) is not how the process works — the President issues the order only after Parliament passes the address; Option C (Rajya Sabha is dissolved) is wrong because the Rajya Sabha is never dissolved.

Correct Answer: B. H.J. Kania

• **H.J. Kania — First CJI** = Harilal Jekisundas Kania was the first Chief Justice of India, serving from January 28, 1950 until his death on November 6, 1951 while in office. • **Died in office** — H.J. Kania is the only CJI to have died while in office; his tenure was about 1 year and 9 months. • 💡 Option A (Mehr Chand Mahajan) was the 3rd CJI (1954); Option C (B.K. Mukherjea) was the 4th CJI (1954–1956); Option D (M. Patanjali Sastri) was the 2nd CJI (1951–1954).

Correct Answer: D. Fathima Beevi

• **First woman SC judge — Fathima Beevi (1989)** = Justice M. Fathima Beevi was the first woman to be appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court of India, appointed in 1989. • **Kerala's contribution** — Fathima Beevi was from Kerala; she later served as Governor of Tamil Nadu after retirement from the SC. • 💡 Option A (Sujata Manohar) was the second woman SC judge, appointed in 1994; Option B (Ruma Pal) was appointed in 2000; Option C (Gyan Sudha Misra) was appointed in 2010 — Fathima Beevi was the first of all four.

Correct Answer: C. Y.V. Chandrachud

• **Longest CJI tenure — Y.V. Chandrachud** = Justice Y.V. Chandrachud served as the 16th Chief Justice of India from 1978 to 1985, a tenure of over 7 years — the longest in SC history. • **16th CJI** — Y.V. Chandrachud was the 16th Chief Justice; his son D.Y. Chandrachud became the 50th CJI in 2022 — the father-son CJI pair is a memorable fact. • 💡 Option A (P.N. Bhagwati) is known for pioneering PIL, not longest tenure; Option B (K.G. Balakrishnan) was the first Dalit CJI (2007–2010); Option D (S.H. Kapadia) served as CJI from 2010 to 2012 — none had tenures close to Y.V. Chandrachud's 7+ years.

Correct Answer: C. Kamal Narain Singh

• **Shortest CJI tenure — Kamal Narain Singh (17 days)** = Justice Kamal Narain Singh, the 22nd Chief Justice of India, served for only 17 days in November-December 1991 — the shortest tenure. • **22nd CJI** — Kamal Narain Singh served from November 25, 1991 to December 12, 1991 — extremely brief due to his age at appointment. • 💡 Option A (S. Rajendra Babu) was the 32nd CJI who served a brief but longer tenure; Option B (G.B. Patnaik) was the 27th CJI; Option D (J.C. Shah) was the 15th CJI (1970–1971) — none had the extremely short 17-day tenure of Kamal Narain Singh.

Correct Answer: A. Government of India Act, 1935

• **Federal Court — Government of India Act, 1935** = the Federal Court of India was established under this Act and began functioning on October 1, 1937 in Delhi. • **Jurisdiction transferred in 1950** — when the Supreme Court was inaugurated on January 28, 1950, it took over all jurisdiction and powers of the Federal Court. • 💡 Option B (Government of India Act, 1919) introduced dyarchy in provinces but did not establish the Federal Court; Option C (Regulating Act, 1773) was the first act to regulate the East India Company; Option D (Indian High Courts Act, 1861) established High Courts in Calcutta, Bombay, and Madras.