RAS question
Who has the power to dissolve the Lok Sabha?
Correct answer: (C) The President.
Under Article 85(2)(b) of the Constitution of India, the President has the power to dissolve the Lok Sabha.
Explanation
Article 85 deals with sessions of Parliament, prorogation and dissolution. Its clause (2) says that the President may prorogue either House and may dissolve the House of the People, which is the Lok Sabha. This makes the President the formal constitutional authority for dissolving the Lok Sabha. The explanation must be read with Article 74: the President acts in accordance with the advice of the Council of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister. That is why the Prime Minister is politically central to dissolution, but the legal power is exercised by the President. The distinction also matters because Article 83 treats the two Houses differently: the Council of States is not subject to dissolution, while the House of the People can be dissolved before its normal five-year term ends.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) The Chief Justice of India is not named in Article 85(2)(b), which assigns the dissolution of the House of the People to the President.
- (B) The Speaker presides over the Lok Sabha, but Article 85(2)(b) places the formal power to dissolve it with the President, not the presiding officer.
- (D) The Prime Minister heads the Council of Ministers whose advice binds the President under Article 74, but the act of dissolving the Lok Sabha is constitutionally the President's power under Article 85(2)(b).
Concept
This tests Union Parliament and President-related provisions in Part V of the Constitution, especially the link between Articles 74, 83 and 85. It recurs in RAS because it separates formal constitutional authority from the Prime Minister-led aid-and-advice system.