UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Judicial drift in the Special Intensive Revision hearings

Q1. Under which constitutional and statutory provisions did the Election Commission of India order the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in 2025?

  • A. Article 324 of the Constitution and Section 21 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950
  • B. Article 326 of the Constitution and Section 14 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951
  • C. Article 324 of the Constitution and Section 30 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951
  • D. Article 327 of the Constitution and Section 22 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950

Q2. In the context of the Supreme Court's hearings on the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, the expression "judicial drift" most accurately refers to:

  • A. the Court progressively abandoning its role as a constitutional adjudicator and instead acting as an administrative supervisor of the SIR process without deciding the core constitutional question
  • B. the lateral migration of an electoral matter from one constitutional bench to another without a reasoned transfer order
  • C. the practice of the Court transferring electoral roll disputes from High Courts to itself under Article 139A of the Constitution
  • D. the deferment of constitutional questions to specially constituted election tribunals set up under the Representation of the People Act, 1951

Q3. Phase-II of the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, ordered by the Election Commission of India on 27 October 2025, covered how many States and Union Territories?

  • A. 7 States and 2 Union Territories
  • B. 9 States and 3 Union Territories
  • C. 11 States and 1 Union Territory
  • D. 12 States and 4 Union Territories

Q4. The Supreme Court bench that issued the slew of directions on the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in West Bengal in February 2026 was headed by:

  • A. Chief Justice Surya Kant
  • B. Justice Joymalya Bagchi
  • C. Justice Vipul M. Pancholi
  • D. Justice B. R. Gavai

Q5. With reference to Phase-II of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) ordered by the Election Commission of India in October 2025, consider the following States: 1. Tamil Nadu 2. Bihar 3. West Bengal 4. Maharashtra Which of the above are correctly identified as States covered under Phase-II of the SIR?

  1. Tamil Nadu
  2. Bihar
  3. West Bengal
  4. Maharashtra
  • A. 1 and 3 only
  • B. 2 and 4 only
  • C. 1, 3 and 4 only
  • D. 2, 3 and 4 only