91st Amendment Minister Limit
The 91st Amendment Act restricts the Union Council of Ministers to 15 percent of the Lok Sabha's total strength. Additionally, it mandates that any parliamentarian disqualified for defection is barred from holding a ministerial post.
Primary Reference: Standard Educational Reference
Target: UPSC Civil Services Examination
Updated:
Difficulty
Hard
Skill Tested
Conceptual Clarity
Evaluate the legislative restrictions imposed on the executive branch by the 91st Constitutional Amendment Act (2003):
1. The Act caps the aggregate number of central ministers at fifteen percent of the total combined strength of Parliament.
2. The Act explicitly disqualifies any parliamentarian ousted under the Tenth Schedule from being appointed as a minister.
3. The Act limits the Prime Minister's cabinet to exactly fifteen members drawn exclusively from the Lok Sabha.
Detailed Solution & Context
Analyze the following Assertion and Reason regarding executive appointments:
1. Assertion (A): An MP from the Rajya Sabha disqualified for defection cannot bypass the penalty to become a Union Minister.
2. Reason (R): The 91st Amendment explicitly modified Article 75 to state that any member disqualified on grounds of defection is automatically barred from being appointed as a minister.
Detailed Solution & Context
A coalition government takes power. The Lok Sabha has 543 seats, and the Rajya Sabha has 245 seats, bringing the total Parliament strength to 788. To satisfy its diverse alliance, the Prime Minister plans to appoint exactly 100 ministers to the Union Council. Based on the 91st Amendment, is this appointment legally valid?
1. Yes, because 100 ministers is less than 15% of the total Parliament strength (788).
2. Yes, because the Prime Minister holds absolute discretion over the size of the Council of Ministers.
3. No, because the number of ministers is capped at 15% of the Lok Sabha strength (543), which is 81.
4. No, because the Constitution caps the total number of Union Ministers at a hard limit of 50.
Detailed Solution & Context
How many of the following conditions were introduced by the 91st Constitutional Amendment Act of 2003?
1. A cap limiting the central council of ministers to 15 percent of the total combined strength of Parliament.
2. A strict prohibition against appointing any defecting parliamentarian to a ministerial post.
3. A mandate requiring all cabinet ministers to be drawn exclusively from the lower house.
Detailed Solution & Context
🚨 The Examiner's Trap
Candidates instinctively assume that because Ministers can be drawn from either house, the 15% limit must apply to the 'total strength of Parliament' rather than exclusively the Lok Sabha.
⚡ Quick Revision
Concept Flow Mapping
Logic Quest
"Does the 15% cap on the Council of Ministers include the total combined strength of both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha?"
Topic Clusters