Article 74(2) bars any inquiry by a court into the advice given by the Ministers to the President of India. This provision has been interpreted by the Supreme Court to not include:

Correct option is A

The correct answer is: (a) The question of whether any advice was given at all.

Explanation:

Article 74(2) of the Indian Constitution generally bars any inquiry by a court into the advice given by the Ministers to the President. This means courts cannot inquire into the specific contents of the advice tendered. However, this bar does not extend to the question of whether any advice was given at all.

In the landmark case S. R. Bommai vs. Union of India (AIR 1994 SC 1918), Justices Sawant and Kuldip Singh observed that Article 74(2) was intended not to exclude the scrutiny of materials or documents by courts. Rather, its object is to make the question whether the President followed or acted contrary to the Ministers' advice non-justiciable. The Court emphasized that an order by the President cannot be challenged solely on the ground that it was issued contrary to or without any ministerial advice.

Justice Ahmadi further clarified that Article 74(2) does not bar the production and scrutiny of the material on which the ministerial advice was based.

This position was reaffirmed in Rameshwar Prasad and Ors. vs. Union of India and Anr. (AIR 2006 SC 980), where the Supreme Court stated that, although the literal reading of Article 74(2) may seem to bar any inquiry into the advice given, Bommai clarified that the provision is not a bar against scrutiny of the material underlying that advice.

Therefore, Article 74(2) excludes judicial inquiry into the contents of ministerial advice but does not exclude:

• Inquiry into whether any advice was given at all (Option A)

• Examination of the material on which the advice was based

• Scrutiny of whether the President’s decision was reasonably based on those materials

This makes Option A the correct answer because the question of whether any advice was given falls outside the scope of the bar imposed by Article 74(2).

Additional Information:

Option B: The article protects the confidentiality of the specific contents of the advice given by the Ministers; therefore, judicial inquiry into the actual advice tendered to the President is barred. This preserves the executive’s confidentiality and independence.

Option C: The Supreme Court allows judicial scrutiny of the material or facts placed before the President, which form the factual basis or foundation for the advice. However, if this material is mixed inseparably with the confidential advice itself, inquiry into that part may be barred. Thus, inquiry into the material basis is allowed to the extent it can be separated from the confidential advice.

Option D: Courts may examine whether the President’s conclusions or decisions were based on relevant material and whether they complied with constitutional requirements. However, inquiry is limited to the material basis and does not extend to probing the President’s consideration or acceptance of the confidential advice itself, which remains protected under the bar of Article 74(2).

​