CSE Qualifier 2022

Ans
Answwer Hints: Test No
Test .05
No.05
www.iasscore.in

POLITY - 4
1. The Indian Presidency differs from most other Presidencies across the world. Do you
think the Indian President serves a purely ceremonial role? Give reasons in support
of your answer. Also, discuss the discretionary powers of the President of India.

Approach

E
1. Briefly introduce the post of the President in India (40 words)
2.
3.
OR
Give reasons for how Indian President is a purely ceremonial post (50 words)
Give reasons for how Indian President is more than just ceremonial post (50 words)
4. Also, mention the discretionary powers of the President (70 words)
5. Conclusion (40 words)

Hints:
SC

The Indian President is the head of the state and he is also called the first citizen of India. He is a part
of Union Executive, provisions of which are dealt with by Article 52-78 including articles related to
the President (Article 52-62). The primary duty of the president is to preserve, protect and defend the
constitution and the law of India as made part of his oath .The president is the common head of all
independent constitutional entities.
Reasons for how Indian President is purely ceremonial post:
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• The President does not exercise executive powers - he is the head of the state, and is required by
the Constitution to act on the advice of ministers.
• So, the role is more akin to that of the British monarch or monarchy in countries like the Netherlands
or Spain: a referee over a parliamentary system where ministers possess the real power. Countries
like Germany and Israel have Presidencies similar to India.
• The President does not have any say on money bills and constitutional amendment bills, even if it
curtails the powers of the president, he has to sign it.
• If parliament passes ordinary bills after reconsideration, then also the president has to sign it,
which makes parliament overriding the president’s opinion.
• Article 74 clearly states that the president shall act on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers
making him just a rubber stamp agreeing to the council’s decisions.
• All international treaties and agreements are signed on the name of the president; still the president
never takes part in any negotiations. This makes presidential posts as pure ceremonial and actual
power vests with the council of ministers.
• The Supreme Court has clearly said that parliamentary form of government is the basic structure
of the constitution. Hence it indirectly meant President as ceremonial post with parliament and
executive having more say.
Discretionary powers of the President of India
• The president does have some discretionary powers while inviting leaders to prove their majority
in parliament when no single party has secured a clear majority.
• President can return aid and advice to the council of ministers for one single time to make the
government rethink their decision.
• President Abdul Kalam in the past has returned the bill of Office of Profit for reconsideration of
parliament. And that bill was never passed again. This shows the president can be an activist in
safeguarding against unethical laws.
• President Dr. Rajendra Prasad has said that Indian president is not similar to the monarch of the
UK. President has a bigger electoral college than the prime minister, which even includes the
states. Also, the president can be impeached making it different from only ceremonial hereditary
post of UK monarch.
Conclusion:
There are many instances, as mentioned above, which make the President a very important personality

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in the governance of the nation. The activist president can protect the citizens of the country from
unethical populist laws of the Parliament. Hence the president of India is an honorable post with
office holders determining stature of the office.
OR
2. Although the Attorney General of India does not enjoy the right to vote in Parliament,
he plays a vital role both inside and outside the house with respect to the role played
in governance. Analyze.

Approach
SC

1. Briefly introduce with office of Attorney general of India. (50 words)

2. Mention role he plays both in and out of Parliament. (90 words)
3. Explain how changing governance requires role modification. (70 words)
4. Conclude with some positive remarks to AG. (40 words)
GS

Hints:
The Attorney General of India derives its power from Indian constitution from Article 76. He is the
highest law officer in the country appointed by the president and his duties include, to give advice to
the government of India upon such legal matters which are referred to him by the president, to perform
such other duties of a legal character those are assigned to him by the president, to discharge the
functions conferred on him by the constitution or any other law.
Role played by Attorney General inside the parliament:
• He has the right to speak and take part in the proceedings of both the houses of Parliament.
• He enjoys all the privileges and immunities that are available to a Member of Parliament.
• Thus he enjoys all the rights available to the members of Parliament except the right to vote. This
makes him an important part of parliamentary proceedings whereby he can analyze and comment
on the day to day perspective of the parliament based on the legal perspective of bills and
discussions. This constitutes an important aspect of democracy when viewed through the legal
prism of an expert.
Role played outside Parliament:
• To appear on behalf of the government of India in all cases in the Supreme Court and High Court
in which the government is concerned.
[2] Hints: Polity - 4
• To represent the government of India in any reference made by the president to the Supreme
Court under Article 143 of constitution.
• Thus he is the chief legal advisor to the government of India whereby the government consults
him on issues related to legal matters. Although he is not a full time counsel for the government,
doesn’t fall under the category of government servants and is not debarred from private legal
practice.
How changing governance requires role modification:
The office of Attorney General was created decades back when the role of government was majorly to
manage day to day aspects of governance. But the changing times has brought new aspects to the
governance like multiplicity of stakeholders, increased role of private players, increased role of e-
governance and need for better public service delivery to promote good governance to aware citizenry.
Conclusion:
Thus, it should be ensured that the office of Attorney General is free from political influence and it
discharges its duty as per mandates of constitution. What else could be done is to create multiple
organs within the body of the Attorney General so as to deal with legal aspects of matters individually

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for better expert advice. Thus the Attorney General’s role should be adaptive with changing nature of
governance and whichever party is in government.
3. The institution of the Governor should rise above its present stature of a mere
OR
representative of the Central government. Examine. Also, discuss the role of Governor
in the view of Punchhi commission recommendations.

Approach
SC

1. Introduction about the institution of Governor. (40 words)

2. Discuss the role of governors (60 words)
3. Discuss some issues associated with office of Governor (60 words)
4. Suggest remedial measures with the help of Punchhi commission. (50 words)
5. Conclude on futuristic vision (40 words)
GS

Hints:
The governor is the chief executive head of the state. But, like the president, he is a nominal executive
head (titular or constitutional head). The governor also acts as an agent of the central government.
Therefore, the office of governor has a dual role. The governor is neither directly elected by the people
nor indirectly elected by a specially constituted electoral college as is the case with the president. He is
appointed by the president by warrant under his hand and seal.
Role and responsibility of Governors:
Executive Role
• All executive actions of the government of a state are formally taken in his name.
• He can make rules specifying the manner in which the Orders and other instruments made and
executed in his name shall be authenticated.
• He can make rules for more convenient transaction of the business of a state government and for
the allocation among the ministers of the said business.
Legislative Role
• He can summon or prorogue the state legislature and dissolve the state legislative assembly.
• He can address the state legislature at the commencement of the first session after each general
election and the first session of each year.
Hints: Polity - 4 [3]
Financial Role
• He sees that the Annual Financial Statement (state budget) is laid before the state legislature.
• Money bills can be introduced in the state legislature only with his prior recommendation.
• No demand for a grant can be made except on his recommendation. Judicial Powers
The judicial Roles and functions of the governor are:
• He can grant pardons, reprives, respites and remissions of punishment or suspend, remit and
commute the sentence of any person convicted of any offence against any law relating to a matter
to which the executive power of the state extends.
• He is consulted by the president while appointing the judges of the concerned state high court.
• He makes appointments, postings and promotions of the district judges in consultation with the
state high court.
Issues associated with office of Governor:
• The role of the Governor has come in for attack on the ground that some Governors have failed to

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display the qualities of impartiality and sagacity expected of them.
• It has been alleged that the Governors have not acted with necessary objectivity either in the
OR
manner of exercise of their discretion or in their role as a vital link between the Union and the
States.
• Many have traced this mainly to the fact that the Governor is appointed by, and holds office
during the pleasure of the President, (in effect, the Union Council of Ministers). The part played
by some Governors, particularly in recommending President’s rule and in reserving State Bills for
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the consideration of the President, has evoked strong resentment.

• Frequent removals and transfers of Governors before the end of their tenure have lowered the
prestige of this high constitutional office.
• From Uttarakhand to Karnataka, the governor role is quite contentious. Criticism has also been
levelled that the Union Government utilizes the Governors for its own political ends.
GS

• Many Governors, looking forward to further office under the Union or active role in politics after
their tenure, came to regard themselves as agents of the Union
Recommendations with the help of Punchhi Commission:
• Punchhi committee on centre-state relations have made several recommendations in this regard
viz. the Governor should be given a fixed tenure of five years and if he needs to be removed, it
can only be through impeachment proceedings carried out at the state level on the lines of the
impeachment of the President at the union level.
• Further, clear guidelines are laid down regarding matters of how the Governor is expected to act
after the polls in matters of making invitations to form the government and that the Governor
should be necessarily a person from outside the state and must not be involved in active politics
for at least two years.
• While selecting Governors, the Central Government should adopt the following strict guidelines
as recommended in the Sarkaria Commission report and follow its mandate in letter and spirit:
(i) He should be eminent in some walk of life
(ii) He should be a person from outside the state
(iii) He should be a detached figure and not too intimately connected with the local politics of the
state
[4] Hints: Polity - 4
 (iv) He should be a person who has not taken too great a par politics generally and particularly
in the recent past
• Governors should be given a fixed tenure of five years and their removal should not be at the
sweet will of the Government at the Centre.
• Further in recent judgement of Supreme Court has clearly favoured towards sanctity of governor’s
post.
Conclusion:
Thus, the governor’s role is not merely an agent of the centre sitting in state capitals; he is the lynchpin
of India’s federalism and democracy at the state’s level. Therefore, the governor’s role is indispensable
for the successful working of constitutional democracy, and he must withhold the virtue of impartiality.
The institution of the Governor has to rise above the role of a mere representative of the Central
government. This is important so as to ensure that the extensive discretionary powers which the
Governor is vested with at the state level are exercised with utmost impartiality and neutrality.
4. The principle of individual responsibility in the Indian Parliamentary System is used
through the instrumentality of the Prime Minister to secure the principle of collective

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responsibility. Analyse.

Approach
OR
1. Briefly introduce the meaning of individual responsibility and collective responsibility
separately. (70 words)
2. Explain the ways in which they are ensured in our polity. (75 words)
3. Elaborate on the role of the office of PM in linking the two. (75 words)
SC

4. Conclusion (30 words)

Hints:
The fundamental principle underlying the working of parliamentary system of government is the
principle of collective responsibility. Article 75 clearly states that the council of ministers is collectively
responsible to the Lok Sabha. This means that all the ministers own joint responsibility to the Lok
GS

Sabha for all their acts of omission and commission. They work as a team and swim or sink together.
When the Lok Sabha passes a no-confidence motion against the council of ministers, all the ministers
have to resign including those ministers who are from the Rajya Sabha. Alternatively, the council of
ministers can advise the president to dissolve the Lok Sabha on the ground that the House does not
represent the views of the electorate faithfully and call for fresh elections. The President may not
oblige the council of ministers that has lost the confidence of the Lok Sabha. This is one of the basic
features of the Parliamentary form of government.
Concept of collective responsibility:
The principle of collective responsibility also means that the Cabinet decisions bind all cabinet ministers
(and other ministers) even if they differed in the cabinet meeting.
• It is the duty of every minister to stand by cabinet decisions and support them both within and
outside the Parliament.
• If any minister disagrees with a cabinet decision and is not prepared to defend it, he must resign.
• Several ministers have resigned in the past owing to their differences with the cabinet.
– For example, Dr BR Ambedkar resigned because of his differences with his colleagues on the
Hindu Code Bill in 1953.
– CD Deshmukh resigned due to his differences on the policy of reorganisation of states.
Hints: Polity - 4 [5]
 – Arif Mohammed resigned due to his opposition tothe Muslim Women (Protection of Rights
on Divorce) Act, 1986.
Concept of individual responsibility:
Article 75 also contains the principle of individual responsibility. It states that the ministers hold office
during the pleasure of the president, which means that the President can remove a minister even at a
time when the council of ministers enjoys the confidence of the Lok Sabha.
• However, the President removes a minister only on the advice of the Prime Minister.
• In case of a difference of opinion or dissatisfaction with the performance of a minister, the Prime
Minister can ask him to resign or advice the President to dismiss him.
• By exercising this power, the Prime Minister can ensure the realization of the rule of collective
responsibility.
Role of Prime Minister in upholding above:
Collective responsibility can be achieved only through the instrumentality of the Prime Minister.
Therefore, unless and until we create that office and endow that office with statutory authority to
nominate and dismiss ministers, there can be no collective responsibility. The key to ‘collective

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responsibility’ is the Prime Minister’s right to choose and dismiss his Ministers.
When the draft provision 61 (later to become Article 74) about “the Council of Ministers with the
OR
Prime Minister at the head to aid and advise the President in the exercise of his functions” came up
for discussion in the Assembly, Ambedkar pointed out the important role and the responsibility of the
Prime Minister:
“All members of the House are very keen that the Cabinet should work on the basis of collective
responsibility and all agree that is a very sound principle. But I do not know how many members of
the House realise what exactly is the machinery by which collective responsibility is enforced. Obviously,
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there cannot be a statutory remedy. Supposing a Minister differed from other members of the Cabinet
and gave expression to his views which were opposed to the views of the Cabinet, it would be hardly
possible for the law to come in and to prosecute him for having committed a breach of what might be
called collective responsibility. Obviously, there cannot be a legal sanction for collective responsibility.
The only sanction through which collective responsibility can be enforced is through the Prime Minister.”
Collective responsibility is enforced by the enforcement of two principles.
GS

• One principle is that no person shall be nominated to the Cabinet except on the advice of the
Prime Minister.
• Secondly, no person shall be retained as a member of the Cabinet if the Prime Minister says that
he shall be dismissed. It is only when members of the Cabinet both in the matter of their appointment
as well as in the matter of their dismissal are placed under the Prime Minister, that it would be
possible to realise our ideal of collective responsibility.
Collective responsibility can be achieved only through the instrumentality of the Prime Minister.
Therefore, the Prime Minister is really the keystone of the arch of the Cabinet and unless and until we
create that office and endow that office with statutory authority to nominate and dismiss Ministers,
there can be no collective responsibility.
Conclusion:
However, in times of coalition governments, the Prime Minister doesn’t command that authority as
happens in ordinary times. The actions of the PM are governed more by the need to defend the existence
of the government and less by the constitutional principles. Hence, there is a need to ensure that the
PM has enough leg room to ensure that idea of collective responsibility can be upheld.
5. While the Governor is the nominal executive authority, the Chief Minister is the real
head of the state. In light of the above statement, discuss the role of Chief Minister in a
parliamentary form of government.
[6] Hints: Polity - 4
 Approach
1. Briefly introduce the Parliamentary system of government. (40 words)
2. Elaborate on the constitutional provisions in the context of the question. (90 words)
3. Discuss the role of Chief Minister in the state government. (80 words)
4. Conclusion (40 words)

Hints:
In the scheme of the parliamentary system of government provided by the Constitution, the Governor
is the nominal executive authority and the Chief Minister is the real executive authority. The Governor
is the head of the state while the Chief Minister is the head of the government. Thus, the position of
the Chief Minister at the state level is analogous to the position of the Prime Minister at the Centre.
According to the convections of the parliamentary system of government, the Governor appoints the
leader of the majority party in the state legislative assembly as the Chief Minister. But, when no party
has a clear majority in the assembly, then the Governor may exercise his personal discretion in the
selection and appointment of the Chief Minister. In such a situation, the Governor usually appoints
the leader of the largest party or coalition in the assembly as the Chief Minister and asks him to seek

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a vote of confidence in the House within a month.
Constitutional provisions: OR
• The Indian Constitution does not contain any specific procedure for the selection and appointment
of the Chief Minister. Article 164 mentions that the Chief Minister shall be appointed by the
Governor. However, it does not mean that the Governor is free to appoint anyone as the Chief
Minister.
Role of Chief Minister:
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• The Governor appoints only those persons as ministers who are recommended by the Chief Minister.
• The CM allocates and reshuffles the portfolios among ministers.
• The CM can ask a minister to resign or advise the governor to dismiss him in case of difference of
opinion.
• The CM presides over the meetings of the council of ministers and influences its decisions.
GS

• The CM guides, directs, controls and coordinates the activities of all the ministers.
• The CM can bring about the collapse of the council of ministers by resigning from office.
• Since the Chief Minister is the head of the council of ministers, his resignation or death automatically
dissolves the council of ministers.
• The CM advises the governor with regard to the summoning and proroguing of the sessions of
the state legislature.
• The CM can recommend the dissolution of the legislative assembly to the governor at any time.
• The CM announces the government policies on the floor of the house.
• The CM is also the member of the Inter-State Council and the National Development Council,
both headed by the prime minister.
• The CM is the chief spokesman of the state government.
• The CM is the crisis manager-in-chief at the political level during emergencies.
Conclusion:
Although every work in a state is carried under the Governor’s name, the actual work is carried by
Chief Minister along with his Council of Ministers in a parliamentary form of government. Thus, it
can be said that the Chief Minister is the real head of a state as most of the work is performed by the
office of the CM, in the name of the office of the Governor.
Hints: Polity - 4 [7]