UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah addresses the inaugural session of the 26th All India Fingerprint Conference 2026 in New Delhi as Chief Guest

Q1. In which one of the following cities was the world's first dedicated Fingerprint Bureau established in 1897?

  • A. London
  • B. Buenos Aires
  • C. Calcutta
  • D. Paris

Q2. The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) was set up in 1986 primarily on the recommendations of which one of the following?

  • A. Dharam Vira Committee on Police Reforms
  • B. Tandon Committee and the National Police Commission (1977-1981)
  • C. Ribeiro Committee on Police Reforms
  • D. Padmanabhaiah Committee on Police Reforms

Q3. With reference to the National Automated Fingerprint Identification System (NAFIS), consider the following statements: 1. It is developed and maintained by the National Crime Records Bureau under the Ministry of Home Affairs. 2. It assigns a unique 12-digit National Fingerprint Number to every person arrested for a cognizable offence. 3. It is linked with the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems (CCTNS) as a vertical of the Inter-Operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS). 4. In the National Fingerprint Number, the first two digits denote the year of arrest of the individual. Which of the statements given above are NOT correct?

  1. It is developed and maintained by the National Crime Records Bureau under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
  2. It assigns a unique 12-digit National Fingerprint Number to every person arrested for a cognizable offence.
  3. It is linked with the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems (CCTNS) as a vertical of the Inter-Operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS).
  4. In the National Fingerprint Number, the first two digits denote the year of arrest of the individual.
  • A. 1 and 3 only
  • B. 2 and 4 only
  • C. 1, 2 and 3
  • D. 2, 3 and 4

Q4. The National Automated Fingerprint Identification System (NAFIS), which maintains a pan-India searchable repository of criminal fingerprints, is developed and operationalised by which one of the following organisations?

  • A. Central Bureau of Investigation
  • B. Bureau of Police Research and Development
  • C. National Crime Records Bureau
  • D. Intelligence Bureau

Q5. The Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023, which came into force on 1 July 2024, replaces which one of the following colonial-era statutes?

  • A. The Indian Penal Code, 1860
  • B. The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973
  • C. The Indian Evidence Act, 1872
  • D. The Indian Contract Act, 1872

Q6. Under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, a visit by a forensic expert to the crime scene for collection of forensic evidence has been made mandatory for offences punishable with imprisonment for a term of not less than how many years?

  • A. Three years
  • B. Five years
  • C. Seven years
  • D. Ten years

Q7. At the 26th All India Fingerprint Conference 2026 in New Delhi, four digital applications — NCRB-Abhigyan, CrPI, e-Prosecution 2.0 and e-Forensics 2.0 — were rolled out. The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), the implementing agency for these applications, functions under which one of the following?

  • A. Ministry of Home Affairs
  • B. Ministry of Law and Justice
  • C. Department of Justice under the Ministry of Law and Justice
  • D. Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology

Q8. With reference to the National Automated Fingerprint Identification System (NAFIS) — central to the applications rolled out at the 26th All India Fingerprint Conference 2026 — which one of the following best describes it?

  • A. An indigenously developed, web-based central repository maintained by NCRB that integrates all State/UT Fingerprint Bureaux and allots a unique 10-digit National Fingerprint Number (NFN) to every arrestee
  • B. An INTERPOL-shared biometric database hosted by the CBI that allots an international identification number to convicted persons in India
  • C. A facial-recognition system maintained by UIDAI to authenticate criminal antecedents of arrestees against the Aadhaar database
  • D. A federated registry where each State Fingerprint Bureau maintains its own fingerprint database without a central searchable repository

Q9. Under which Union Ministry does the National Forensic Sciences University (NFSU), an Institution of National Importance established by an Act of Parliament, function?

  • A. Ministry of Education
  • B. Ministry of Home Affairs
  • C. Ministry of Law and Justice
  • D. Ministry of Science and Technology

Q10. Under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, which one of the following best describes the mandatory forensic-expert provision in Section 176(3)?

  • A. Forensic expert must visit the crime scene and collect evidence, with videography of the process, for offences punishable with imprisonment of seven years or more
  • B. Forensic expert must visit the crime scene for every cognizable offence, irrespective of the quantum of punishment prescribed
  • C. A forensic audit of every chargesheet filed under special laws must be completed before commitment to the Sessions Court
  • D. DNA profiling of every arrestee is compulsory and the profile must be uploaded to NAFIS within 24 hours of arrest

Q11. Under the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act, 2022, which one of the following has been designated as the central agency to collect, store and preserve the record of measurements at the national level?

  • A. Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)
  • B. Intelligence Bureau (IB)
  • C. National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB)
  • D. Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL)

Q12. The power of police or prison officers to collect iris and retina scans, biological samples and behavioural attributes such as signatures from arrested persons in India is derived from which one of the following statutes?

  • A. The Identification of Prisoners Act, 1920
  • B. The Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act, 2022
  • C. The Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023
  • D. The Information Technology Act, 2000