Which one of the following statements in respect of the States of India is not correct?
States in India cannot have their own Constitutions.
The State of Jammu and Kashmir has its own Constitution.
States in India do not have the right to secede from the Union of India.
The maximum number of members in the Council of Ministers of Delhi can be 15 percent of the total number of members in the Legislative Assembly.
Answer is Right!
Answer is Wrong!
This question was previously asked in
UPSC CDS-1 – 2018
Statement A is correct: States in India cannot have their own Constitutions separate from the Constitution of India. The Constitution of India is the supreme law applicable to all states.
Statement B was correct before August 2019: The State of Jammu and Kashmir had its own Constitution, adopted in 1956, under the special provisions of Article 370. This is no longer the case after the abrogation of Article 370. However, considering the timeframe of UPSC questions (often based on established facts prior to recent changes), this statement was historically correct for a State of India.
Statement C is correct: States in India do not have the right to secede from the Union of India. The Union is considered indestructible.
Statement D is not correct: The maximum number of members in the Council of Ministers of Delhi is fixed at ten percent (10%) of the total number of members in the Legislative Assembly by Article 239AA(4). The 15% limit was introduced by the 91st Amendment Act, 2003, but it applies to the Council of Ministers of states (except Delhi, for which a specific limit exists). Delhi is a Union Territory with a legislative assembly, not a full State.
Given the options, statement D is definitively incorrect as per the specific constitutional provision for Delhi, whereas statement B, while no longer true, was a correct historical fact about a State of India.
– States cannot secede from the Union.
– The size of the Council of Ministers in states is generally limited to 15% of the Assembly strength (by the 91st Amendment).
– For Delhi specifically, the limit for the Council of Ministers is 10% of the Assembly strength.