UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — SC rejects MLA’s plea over disqualification

Q1. Under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, a member who votes or abstains contrary to the direction of the party whip escapes disqualification if the act is condoned within fifteen days. This condonation is to be granted by which one of the following?

  • A. The political party to which the member belongs
  • B. The presiding officer of the House concerned
  • C. The leader of the legislature party in that House
  • D. The Election Commission of India

Q2. With reference to the first ground of disqualification under the Tenth Schedule, the expression 'voluntarily giving up membership of a political party' is best understood in which one of the following ways?

  • A. It is confined exclusively to a formal written resignation tendered by the member to the party
  • B. It necessarily requires proof that the member has joined some other political party
  • C. It applies only where the member votes contrary to the whip on a motion of confidence or no-confidence
  • D. It carries a wider connotation and may be inferred from the conduct of the member

Q3. With reference to the Supreme Court's handling of the Telangana defection matters since 2025, consider the following: 1. The Court directed the Telangana Assembly Speaker to decide the pending disqualification petitions within three months. 2. The petitions concerned ten sitting MLAs of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi who had shifted allegiance to the Congress. 3. The Court proceeded on the footing that the Speaker, while deciding defection pleas, functions as a tribunal and therefore does not enjoy constitutional immunity. 4. In the plea of the disqualified MLA Danam Nagender, the Court set aside the Telangana High Court's order and remitted the matter to the Speaker for fresh consideration. Which of the above is/are correctly identified?

  1. The Court directed the Telangana Assembly Speaker to decide the pending disqualification petitions within three months.
  2. The petitions concerned ten sitting MLAs of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi who had shifted allegiance to the Congress.
  3. The Court proceeded on the footing that the Speaker, while deciding defection pleas, functions as a tribunal and therefore does not enjoy constitutional immunity.
  4. In the plea of the disqualified MLA Danam Nagender, the Court set aside the Telangana High Court's order and remitted the matter to the Speaker for fresh consideration.
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 1, 2 and 3
  • C. 2, 3 and 4
  • D. 1 and 4 only

Q4. With reference to the disqualification of the Telangana MLA Danam Nagender and the connected defection proceedings, consider the following: 1. The disqualification was ordered by the Telangana High Court under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution. 2. The Supreme Court declined to interfere with that order, so the disqualification stands. 3. The Supreme Court accepted the contention that the Tenth Schedule's condonation provision can cure a voluntary giving up of party membership. 4. The connected disqualification petitions in Telangana were filed against legislators who had quit the Congress to join the Bharat Rashtra Samithi. Which of the above is/are NOT correct?

  1. The disqualification was ordered by the Telangana High Court under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution.
  2. The Supreme Court declined to interfere with that order, so the disqualification stands.
  3. The Supreme Court accepted the contention that the Tenth Schedule's condonation provision can cure a voluntary giving up of party membership.
  4. The connected disqualification petitions in Telangana were filed against legislators who had quit the Congress to join the Bharat Rashtra Samithi.
  • A. 1 and 2
  • B. 3 and 4
  • C. 2 and 3 only
  • D. 4 only

Q5. The ceiling restricting the total number of Ministers in the Council of Ministers to fifteen per cent of the total strength of the Lower House was introduced by which one of the following?

  • A. The Constitution (Fifty-second Amendment) Act, 1985
  • B. The Constitution (Eighty-ninth Amendment) Act, 2003
  • C. The Constitution (Ninety-seventh Amendment) Act, 2011
  • D. The Constitution (Ninety-first Amendment) Act, 2003

Q6. Which one of the following correctly describes the effect of the Constitution (Ninety-first Amendment) Act, 2003 on the working of the Tenth Schedule?

  • A. It withdrew the exemption earlier available where one-third of the members of a legislature party claimed a split
  • B. It removed both the split and the merger exemptions from the Tenth Schedule entirely
  • C. It made every disqualification decision under the Tenth Schedule subject to the prior opinion of the Election Commission
  • D. It transferred the power to decide all defection cases from the presiding officer to the Governor concerned

Q7. Which one of the following was the first decision of the Supreme Court to invalidate the provision of the Tenth Schedule that sought to bar the jurisdiction of courts over disqualification on the ground of defection?

  • A. Keisham Meghachandra Singh v. Speaker, Manipur Legislative Assembly (2020)
  • B. Ravi S. Naik v. Union of India (1994)
  • C. Kihoto Hollohan v. Zachillhu (1992)
  • D. Subhash Desai v. Principal Secretary, Governor of Maharashtra (2023)

Q8. Consider the following propositions about the adjudication of defection cases in India: 1. The presiding officer, while deciding a disqualification petition under the Tenth Schedule, functions as a tribunal. 2. Courts will ordinarily not intervene at a stage before the presiding officer has passed an order on the petition. 3. Save in exceptional circumstances, a disqualification petition ought to be decided by the presiding officer within three months of its filing. 4. An order passed by the presiding officer under the Tenth Schedule is final and cannot be questioned in any court. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. The presiding officer, while deciding a disqualification petition under the Tenth Schedule, functions as a tribunal.
  2. Courts will ordinarily not intervene at a stage before the presiding officer has passed an order on the petition.
  3. Save in exceptional circumstances, a disqualification petition ought to be decided by the presiding officer within three months of its filing.
  4. An order passed by the presiding officer under the Tenth Schedule is final and cannot be questioned in any court.
  • A. 1 and 3 only
  • B. 2 and 4 only
  • C. 1, 2 and 3
  • D. 1, 3 and 4

Q9. For the purposes of the Tenth Schedule, a merger of a legislature party with another political party is deemed to have taken place in which one of the following situations?

  • A. Where not less than two-thirds of the members of the legislature party concerned have agreed to such merger
  • B. Where not less than one-third of the members of the legislature party concerned have agreed to such merger
  • C. Where the merger has been approved by the presiding officer of the House on a report of the Election Commission
  • D. Where not less than two-thirds of the members of the original political party outside the legislature have agreed to it

Q10. A nominated member of a House incurs disqualification under the Tenth Schedule if he joins a political party after the expiry of how many months from the date on which he takes his seat in the House?

  • A. Three months
  • B. Six months
  • C. Nine months
  • D. Twelve months

Q11. If a question arises whether a member of a State Legislative Assembly has become subject to a disqualification under Article 191(1), such as holding an office of profit, that question is decided by which one of the following?

  • A. The Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, functioning as a tribunal in the matter
  • B. The President of India, after obtaining the opinion of the Election Commission of India
  • C. The Governor of the State, who acts according to the opinion of the Election Commission of India
  • D. The Governor of the State, after obtaining the recommendation of the State Election Commission

Q12. Which one of the following was the principal recommendation of the Dinesh Goswami Committee on Electoral Reforms (1990) concerning disqualification on the ground of defection?

  • A. Confining disqualification largely to defiance of the whip on confidence motions, with the President or Governor deciding on the Election Commission's advice
  • B. Making the decision of the presiding officer final and immune from review by any court in all circumstances whatsoever
  • C. Extending disqualification to every member who abstains from voting on any motion whatsoever taken up in the House
  • D. Vesting the entire power to disqualify defectors exclusively in a special constitutional bench of the Supreme Court