UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — NSA provisions allow Wangchuk’s transfer to Rajasthan: Centre

Q1. Under which provision of the National Security Act, 1980 did the Union Government claim, before the Supreme Court in February 2026, the authority to shift detenue Sonam Wangchuk from Ladakh to Jodhpur Central Jail in Rajasthan?

  • A. Section 3(2)
  • B. Section 5
  • C. Section 9
  • D. Section 12

Q2. With reference to the National Security Act, 1980 and its predecessor, the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA), 1971, consider the following statements: 1. NSA, 1980 replaced MISA, 1971 as the principal Union law on preventive detention in peacetime. 2. Unlike MISA, the NSA, 1980 empowers only the Central Government, and not State Governments or Union Territory administrations, to pass detention orders. 3. The maximum period for which a person can be preventively detained under the NSA, 1980 is twelve months from the date of detention. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. NSA, 1980 replaced MISA, 1971 as the principal Union law on preventive detention in peacetime.
  2. Unlike MISA, the NSA, 1980 empowers only the Central Government, and not State Governments or Union Territory administrations, to pass detention orders.
  3. The maximum period for which a person can be preventively detained under the NSA, 1980 is twelve months from the date of detention.
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 1 and 3 only
  • C. 2 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q3. In the context of Section 5 of the National Security Act, 1980 — invoked by the Centre to justify Sonam Wangchuk's transfer to Rajasthan — the expression 'appropriate Government' refers to:

  • A. The Central Government or the State Government, as the case may be, by whose order the person has been detained
  • B. Only the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Union Government
  • C. The High Court within whose territorial jurisdiction the detenue is being held
  • D. The District Magistrate who passed the initial order of detention

Q4. Under Section 9 of the National Security Act, 1980, who is required to be appointed as the Chairman of an Advisory Board constituted to examine the validity of a detention order?

  • A. A sitting Judge of the Supreme Court of India
  • B. A person who is, or has been, a Judge of a High Court
  • C. The Chief Secretary of the State concerned
  • D. A retired Chief Justice of India nominated by the President