Previous Year Question

The correct answer is the Lok Sabha. Article 75(3) of the Constitution expressly provides that the Council of Ministers shall be collectively responsible to the House of the People, i.e. the Lok Sabha.

Collective responsibility means that the Council of Ministers is accountable as a single body for the policies and decisions of the Government. To remain in office, the Government must retain the confidence of the Lok Sabha; hence, under the parliamentary system, the political survival of the Council of Ministers is linked to majority support in the Lok Sabha.

An important distinction must be made between responsibility to the President and responsibility to the Lok Sabha. Under Article 75(2), Ministers hold office during the pleasure of the President, but the collective responsibility of the Council of Ministers under Article 75(3) is to the Lok Sabha. Therefore, options (b) and (d) should not be confused.

Similarly, although the Prime Minister heads the Council of Ministers, the Constitution does not state that the Council is collectively responsible to the Prime Minister. Its constitutional collective responsibility is to the Lok Sabha.

Members of the Rajya Sabha may also become Ministers, but this does not make the Council collectively responsible to the Rajya Sabha. Under Article 75(5), a person may remain a Minister without being a member of either House of Parliament for a maximum of six consecutive months; after that period, the person ceases to be a Minister unless elected or nominated to Parliament.

Thus, the direct fact is—Council of Ministers → Collectively Responsible → Lok Sabha → Article 75(3).