Which one of the following statements with regard to Constitutional Am

Which one of the following statements with regard to Constitutional Amendments is correct ?

The Constitutional provisions relating to the election of the President of India can be amended simply by obtaining a special majority.

Amendment of a List in the VII Schedule shall be effected only after obtaining the ratification by one-half of the States, in addition to fulfilling the 'special majority' provision.

A bill seeking to establish a new State and alteration of areas, boundaries or names of existing ones require to be passed by a special majority in both the Houses of Parliament.

For creation or abolition of Legislative Councils in the States the concerned bill has to be passed in both the Houses of Parliament by a special majority.

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UPSC SO-Steno – 2017

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Option B is correct. Amendment of any of the Lists in the Seventh Schedule involves changes to the distribution of legislative powers between the Union and the States. Such amendments fall under the purview of the proviso to Article 368(2) of the Constitution, which requires the amendment bill to be passed by a special majority in both Houses of Parliament and then ratified by the legislatures of not less than one-half of the States.

– Amendments affecting the federal structure (like the distribution of legislative powers) require special majority plus state ratification.
– The Seventh Schedule Lists define the subjects on which the Union and State governments can legislate.

– Option A is incorrect. The election of the President (Articles 54, 55) is a provision related to the federal structure and requires amendment via special majority *plus* ratification by state legislatures (Article 368(2) proviso).
– Option C is incorrect. The creation of new states or alteration of areas/boundaries/names of existing states is done by Parliament by law under Article 3. Such a law is explicitly stated not to be an amendment of the Constitution for the purposes of Article 368 (Article 4(2)), meaning it requires only a simple majority.
– Option D is incorrect. The creation or abolition of Legislative Councils in states is done by Parliament by law under Article 169. This law is also not considered an amendment for the purposes of Article 368 (Article 169(3)) and thus requires only a simple majority in Parliament, provided the concerned state assembly has passed a resolution by special majority.

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