UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — SC asks police to register FIRs in missing person cases quickly and activate anti-trafficking cells

Q1. The scheme for establishing and strengthening Anti-Human Trafficking Units (AHTUs) and the national coordination of India's law-enforcement response to human trafficking are handled by which of the following?

  • A. Anti-Trafficking Cell of the Ministry of Home Affairs
  • B. Integrated Child Protection Division of the Ministry of Women and Child Development
  • C. National Crime Records Bureau
  • D. Central Bureau of Investigation

Q2. The setting up and strengthening of Anti-Human Trafficking Units in all districts of States and Union Territories has been approved primarily under which of the following?

  • A. Nirbhaya Fund
  • B. Modernisation of Police Forces scheme
  • C. Central Victim Compensation Fund
  • D. Mission Shakti

Q3. The May 2026 directions mandating immediate registration of FIRs in every missing-person case and full activation of AHTUs within four weeks were issued by which of the following?

  • A. The Supreme Court of India
  • B. The National Human Rights Commission
  • C. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights
  • D. The Ministry of Home Affairs, through an advisory

Q4. With reference to the Supreme Court's May 2026 directions on missing children as compared with the pre-existing procedure, consider the following statements: 1. Whereas earlier guidelines allowed a waiting period of up to four months before a missing-child case was transferred to an AHTU, the new order dispenses with this wait. 2. The order requires the FIR to invoke the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita provisions on kidnapping/abduction from the outset, rather than a routine missing-person entry. 3. The Court entrusted the task of building the all-India inter-police-station grid to the State governments rather than to the Ministry of Home Affairs. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. Whereas earlier guidelines allowed a waiting period of up to four months before a missing-child case was transferred to an AHTU, the new order dispenses with this wait.
  2. The order requires the FIR to invoke the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita provisions on kidnapping/abduction from the outset, rather than a routine missing-person entry.
  3. The Court entrusted the task of building the all-India inter-police-station grid to the State governments rather than to the Ministry of Home Affairs.
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 2 and 3 only
  • C. 1 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q5. With reference to the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, consider the following section–offence pairs: 1. Section 137 — Kidnapping 2. Section 143 — Trafficking of person 3. Section 144 — Exploitation of a trafficked person 4. Section 139 — Abduction Which of the pairs given above are correctly matched?

  1. Section 137 — Kidnapping
  2. Section 143 — Trafficking of person
  3. Section 144 — Exploitation of a trafficked person
  4. Section 139 — Abduction
  • A. 1, 2 and 3
  • B. 2 and 4
  • C. 1 and 4
  • D. 1, 3 and 4

Q6. Under Section 143 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, the minimum term of rigorous imprisonment prescribed for the basic offence of trafficking of a person is exactly how many years?

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

Q7. In the context of Article 23 of the Constitution, which prohibits 'traffic in human beings and begar', the term 'begar' most precisely refers to which of the following?

  • A. Compelling a person to work against his will without any remuneration
  • B. Employing a child below fourteen years in a hazardous occupation
  • C. Bonded labour extracted only to repay an outstanding debt
  • D. Compulsory service lawfully imposed by the State for public purposes

Q8. The specialised police machinery (Anti-Human Trafficking Units) that gives operational effect at the enforcement level to the Article 23 prohibition on 'traffic in human beings' functions under which single Union ministry?

  • A. Ministry of Home Affairs
  • B. Ministry of Women and Child Development
  • C. Ministry of Labour and Employment
  • D. Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment

Q9. With reference to the Supreme Court's directions in Bachpan Bachao Andolan v. Union of India (2013) on missing children, consider the following: 1. Every complaint regarding a missing child must be registered as an FIR under Section 154 CrPC. 2. In every case of a missing child, an initial presumption of abduction or trafficking shall be made unless the contrary is proved during investigation. 3. Anti-Human Trafficking Units must prepare Standard Operating Procedures and file status reports. 4. Every recovered child must, in all cases, be restored to the family within 24 hours. Which of the above are correctly identified as directions laid down in that 2013 case?

  1. Every complaint regarding a missing child must be registered as an FIR under Section 154 CrPC.
  2. In every case of a missing child, an initial presumption of abduction or trafficking shall be made unless the contrary is proved during investigation.
  3. Anti-Human Trafficking Units must prepare Standard Operating Procedures and file status reports.
  4. Every recovered child must, in all cases, be restored to the family within 24 hours.
  • A. 1, 2 and 3
  • B. 2 and 4
  • C. 1, 3 and 4
  • D. 1, 2, 3 and 4

Q10. Which one of the following Supreme Court cases first laid down that a complaint of a missing child must be treated on the initial presumption of abduction or trafficking unless proved otherwise?

  • A. Bachpan Bachao Andolan v. Union of India (2013)
  • B. Lalita Kumari v. State of Uttar Pradesh (2014)
  • C. Prakash Singh v. Union of India (2006)
  • D. Vishaka v. State of Rajasthan (1997)

Q11. The concept of a 'Zero FIR' — allowing an FIR to be registered at any police station irrespective of the area where the offence was committed — is now statutorily codified under which of the following?

  • A. The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023
  • B. The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023
  • C. The Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023
  • D. The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973

Q12. With reference to the anti-trafficking data architecture directed/described in the Supreme Court proceedings, consider the following statements: 1. The Court directed the new human-trafficking portal to be integrated with the Mission Vatsalya portal and the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS). 2. The TrackChild and Khoya-Paya applications have been merged into the unified Mission Vatsalya portal. 3. CCTNS is a portal maintained exclusively by the National Human Rights Commission. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. The Court directed the new human-trafficking portal to be integrated with the Mission Vatsalya portal and the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS).
  2. The TrackChild and Khoya-Paya applications have been merged into the unified Mission Vatsalya portal.
  3. CCTNS is a portal maintained exclusively by the National Human Rights Commission.
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 2 and 3 only
  • C. 1 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3