RAS question
Article 74 states that the President shall act on the aid and advice of:
Correct answer: (A) Council of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister.
Under Article 74, the President acts on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister.
Explanation
Article 74(1) places the real advisory role with the Council of Ministers, with the Prime Minister at its head. The official constitutional text says this Council exists to aid and advise the President, and that the President shall act in accordance with such advice. This is why the answer is not a general institution such as Parliament or a legal or judicial office: the Constitution identifies the Union executive's ministerial council as the President's constitutional adviser for these functions. The existing amendment position also matters for exams: after the 42nd Amendment the President is bound by ministerial advice, while the 44th Amendment allows the President to ask the Council to reconsider once; after reconsideration, the President must act on the advice tendered.
Why the other options are wrong
- (B) Parliament makes laws and holds the Council of Ministers politically accountable, but Article 74 does not make Parliament the President's advisory body for executive action.
- (C) The Attorney General of India is a legal adviser to the government, not the Council of Ministers that Article 74 names as aiding and advising the President.
- (D) The Chief Justice of India heads the judiciary, but Article 74 concerns executive advice to the President, not judicial guidance on presidential functions.
Concept
This tests the parliamentary executive under the Union Constitution, especially the distinction between the formal head of state and the real executive. It recurs in RAS because Article 74 links constitutional text, cabinet government and amendment-based limits on presidential discretion.