Previous Year Question

The Ninth Schedule of the Indian Constitution does not deal with the allocation of Rajya Sabha seats. The allocation of seats to States and the relevant Union Territories in the Rajya Sabha is provided under the Fourth Schedule.

(a) Third Schedule — Forms of Oaths or Affirmations

The Third Schedule prescribes the forms of oaths or affirmations for various constitutional offices.

It includes the forms of oaths for Union Ministers, Members of Parliament, State Ministers, members of State Legislatures, judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts, and the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India.

The provisions concerning the oaths of the President and Vice-President are contained in Articles 60 and 69, respectively.

(b) Ninth Schedule — Allocation of seats in the Council of States

The Ninth Schedule was added to the Constitution by the First Constitutional Amendment Act, 1951.

This Schedule is associated with Article 31B. It was introduced to provide special constitutional protection to specified Acts and Regulations. Initially, its principal objective was to protect laws relating to land reforms and the abolition of the zamindari system.

However, laws included in the Ninth Schedule are not completely immune from judicial review. The Supreme Court has clarified that laws placed in this Schedule after 24 April 1973 can be judicially reviewed on the basis of the Basic Structure Doctrine.

The allocation of Rajya Sabha seats is provided under the Fourth Schedule. It is associated with Articles 4(1) and 80(2).

(c) Eighth Schedule — Languages

The Eighth Schedule contains the languages recognised by the Constitution.

The original Constitution included 14 languages. Subsequent constitutional amendments increased their number to 22.

The 92nd Constitutional Amendment Act, 2003, added Bodo, Dogri, Maithili and Santhali to this Schedule.

(d) Tenth Schedule — Disqualification on the ground of defection

The Tenth Schedule was added to the Constitution by the 52nd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1985.

It contains provisions relating to the disqualification of Members of Parliament and State Legislatures on the ground of defection.

A member of a political party may be subject to disqualification if they voluntarily give up their party membership or vote against the party's directions under specified circumstances.

Under the Tenth Schedule, questions relating to disqualification are decided by the Speaker or Chairman of the respective House. Such decisions are subject to judicial review.