UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — SC modifies stay on HC order against District Magistrate

Q1. The requirement that a person cannot be kept under preventive detention beyond three months unless an Advisory Board consisting of persons who are, have been, or are qualified to be appointed as Judges of a High Court has reported sufficient cause is contained in which one of the following provisions of the Constitution?

  • A. Clause (4) of Article 22
  • B. Clause (2) of Article 22
  • C. Clause (7) of Article 22
  • D. Clause (3) of Article 22

Q2. Consider the following statements comparing the protections available to a person arrested under ordinary criminal law with those available to a person held under a preventive detention law in India: 1. The right to be produced before the nearest magistrate within twenty-four hours of arrest is available to every person arrested without exception, including a person detained under a preventive detention law. 2. The protections in clauses (1) and (2) of Article 22 are unavailable to an enemy alien. 3. A preventive detention law may authorise detention beyond three months without a favourable Advisory Board report only where Parliament has by law prescribed the circumstances permitting it. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. The right to be produced before the nearest magistrate within twenty-four hours of arrest is available to every person arrested without exception, including a person detained under a preventive detention law.
  2. The protections in clauses (1) and (2) of Article 22 are unavailable to an enemy alien.
  3. A preventive detention law may authorise detention beyond three months without a favourable Advisory Board report only where Parliament has by law prescribed the circumstances permitting it.
  • A. 1 only
  • B. 1 and 2 only
  • C. 2 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q3. Apart from the Central Government and the State Government, an order of detention under the National Security Act, 1980 may be made by which one of the following officers?

  • A. A District Magistrate specially empowered in that behalf by the State Government
  • B. A Superintendent of Police of the district specially empowered by the State Government
  • C. A Divisional Commissioner specially empowered by the Ministry of Home Affairs
  • D. A Sub-Divisional Magistrate specially empowered by the District Magistrate

Q4. Under the National Security Act, 1980, the obligation relating to the 'grounds of the order of detention' means that —

  • A. the detaining authority must communicate the grounds to the detenu, ordinarily within five days and in exceptional circumstances later, for reasons recorded in writing
  • B. the grounds must be laid before the Advisory Board within five days of detention, but need not be furnished to the detenu at that stage
  • C. the grounds must be published in the Official Gazette within five days of the detention order being confirmed by the appropriate Government
  • D. the grounds must be placed before the nearest magistrate within five days, who then decides whether detention may continue

Q5. The Supreme Court's interim order of 23 September 2026 in the petition of the Gautam Buddha Nagar District Magistrate stayed a specified block of consecutive paragraphs of the Allahabad High Court judgment. How many paragraphs did that block comprise?

  • A. Five
  • B. Seven
  • C. Nine
  • D. Eleven

Q6. Which one of the following most accurately describes the effect of the Supreme Court's interim order, as clarified in its revised text, on the Allahabad High Court judgment in the NSA detention case?

  • A. Only the adverse remarks and the direction to pay compensation were stayed, the quashing of the detention remaining in force
  • B. The entire judgment was suspended in its operation, including the quashing of the detention under the Act
  • C. The whole judgment was set aside and the matter was remitted to the High Court for a complete rehearing
  • D. The quashing of the detention alone was stayed, while recovery of the compensation from the officials' salaries was allowed to continue

Q7. In the context of a superior court's judgment, 'strictures' against a public officer are best understood as —

  • A. adverse observations censuring the officer's conduct, which by themselves neither convict nor impose a service penalty on the officer
  • B. binding directions to the State Government to launch departmental proceedings, forming part of the operative portion of the decree
  • C. a finding of criminal contempt against the officer, attracting punishment under the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971
  • D. an interim order attaching the officer's salary until compliance with the court's directions is certified to the Registry

Q8. A 'special leave petition' before the Supreme Court of India is best defined as —

  • A. a plea for the Court's discretionary leave to appeal from an order of any court or tribunal in India, other than those under laws relating to the Armed Forces
  • B. an appeal lying as of right from a High Court where the case involves a substantial question of law as to the interpretation of the Constitution
  • C. a petition for the enforcement of fundamental rights, the right to move the Court by such petition being itself a fundamental right
  • D. a reference by the President seeking the Court's advisory opinion on a question of law of public importance that has arisen

Q9. In the Supreme Court of India, the authority to constitute Benches and to allocate cases among them — the power described as being 'master of the roster' — is exercised by which one of the following?

  • A. The Chief Justice of India
  • B. The Collegium of the five senior-most judges of the Court
  • C. The Registrar (Judicial) of the Supreme Court
  • D. The Full Court of all the judges of the Supreme Court

Q10. With reference to the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023, which one of the following statements is correct?

  • A. It was piloted in Parliament by the Ministry of Law and Justice, and appointments are made by the President on a Selection Committee's recommendation
  • B. It is administered by the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the Leader of the Opposition alone nominates every member of the Search Committee
  • C. It is administered by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, whose recommendation on every appointment is binding on the President
  • D. It vests the entire selection in the Election Commission itself, the Union Government having no role whatsoever in the process