UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Analysing the SC’s judgment on sex work

Q1. The dignity-based protection affirmed in Budhadev Karmaskar (2022) operates through the statutory 'threshold inquiry' that determines whether a rescued adult is a consenting sex worker. Which authority actually conducts that inquiry?

  • A. The appropriate Magistrate, in an inquiry under Section 17 of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956
  • B. The District Anti-Trafficking Unit, which alone is competent to decide the question in every rescue case
  • C. The National Anti-Trafficking Bureau, whose determination on the point is final in all inter-State cases
  • D. The Press Council of India, acting through its statutory inquiry committee constituted in each district

Q2. The 2022 Budhadev Karmaskar ruling, which recognised sex work as a profession and held sex workers entitled to dignity under Article 21, was delivered by a Bench of how many judges?

  • A. Two
  • B. Three
  • C. Five
  • D. Seven

Q3. The judgment of 29 May 2026 in Prajwala vs Union of India was authored by a Bench comprising which of the following judges?

  • A. Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan
  • B. Justices L. Nageswara Rao, B.R. Gavai and A.S. Bopanna
  • C. Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and Hima Kohli
  • D. Justices K.M. Joseph and Ajay Rastogi

Q4. Consider the following statements comparing the 2026 Prajwala judgment with the position obtaining after the 2022 Budhadev Karmaskar ruling: 1. ... 2. ... 3. ... Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. The 2026 judgment holds that a victim's awareness that she was being employed in the sex industry necessarily excludes her from being treated as a victim of trafficking, a departure from the 2022 position.
  2. Going beyond the 2022 ruling, the 2026 judgment holds that the consent of a child victim is irrelevant regardless of whether 'means' such as force or deception were employed.
  3. Unlike the earlier position, the 2026 judgment rejects the conflation of migration with trafficking and mandates an individualised consent inquiry before intervention.
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 2 and 3 only
  • C. 1 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q5. The constitutional power to pass such decree or order as is necessary for doing 'complete justice' in any cause or matter pending before it is conferred on which one of the following?

  • A. The Supreme Court of India, in exercise of its jurisdiction over any cause pending before it
  • B. Every High Court, in exercise of its writ jurisdiction over matters arising within its territory
  • C. The Supreme Court and the High Courts concurrently, in matters involving enforcement of fundamental rights
  • D. Only a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court of not less than five judges hearing a constitutional question

Q6. Consider the following statements distinguishing Article 142 from other constitutional provisions: 1. ... 2. ... 3. ... Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. While Article 142 enables the Supreme Court to pass a decree necessary for doing complete justice in a pending cause, Article 141 makes the law declared by the Supreme Court binding on all courts within the territory of India.
  2. Article 226 confers on every High Court a 'complete justice' power identical in scope to Article 142, differing only in that it is territorially limited.
  3. In Prajwala (2026) Article 142 supplied the source of binding force for the Court's directions, whereas Article 21 supplied the dignity-based rights foundation relied on earlier in Budhadev Karmaskar (2022).
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 2 and 3 only
  • C. 1 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q7. With reference to the Supreme Court's May 2026 order on protecting the identity of sex workers, consider the following: 1. ... 2. ... 3. ... 4. ... Which of the above is/are NOT correct?

  1. Publishing or telecasting photographs of sex workers caught in raids was made a punishable offence.
  2. The Press Council of India was directed to frame guidelines for the media to protect the identity of sex workers after raids and rescue operations.
  3. The National Human Rights Commission was designated the nodal body for framing and enforcing these media guidelines.
  4. Media houses were barred permanently from reporting on any raid or rescue operation conducted under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956.
  • A. 1 and 2
  • B. 3 and 4
  • C. 2, 3 and 4
  • D. 4 only

Q8. Consider the following statements comparing the May 2026 identity-protection order with the main judgment delivered later the same month: 1. ... 2. ... 3. ... Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. The earlier order addressed disclosure of sex workers' identity in media coverage of raids, whereas the later judgment laid down the broader consent-centric anti-trafficking framework.
  2. The task of framing media guidelines was assigned to the Press Council of India, while the Victim Protection Plan relied upon in the same proceedings had been prepared by NALSA jointly with the petitioners.
  3. Both directions were issued in the Budhadev Karmaskar proceedings, the Prajwala petition having been finally disposed of in 2022.
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 2 and 3 only
  • C. 1 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q9. Which of the following are correctly identified as components of the Victim Protection Plan prepared in 2006 and filed before the Supreme Court? 1. ... 2. ... 3. ... 4. ... Which of the above is/are correctly identified?

  1. A pre-rescue stage dealing with trafficking victims before any rescue operation is undertaken.
  2. A rescue stage governing the conduct of the rescue operation itself.
  3. A post-rescue stage covering the treatment of victims after removal from the place of exploitation.
  4. A prosecution stage under which trafficking cases are compulsorily taken over by the National Anti-Trafficking Bureau.
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 2, 3 and 4
  • C. 1, 2 and 3
  • D. 1, 3 and 4

Q10. Consider the following statements about the National Network of Sex Workers and other actors in these proceedings: 1. ... 2. ... 3. ... Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. Arguments developed by the National Network of Sex Workers were adopted in substance by the Court, though the collective was not formally acknowledged in the 2026 judgment.
  2. NALSA, by contrast with such collectives, is a statutory legal services body and co-authored the 2006 Victim Protection Plan filed before the Court.
  3. The National Network of Sex Workers was constituted under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 as the statutory advisory body on rescue operations.
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 2 and 3 only
  • C. 1 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q11. Which of the following are correctly identified as propositions of the Indian legal framework on trafficking as distinct from migration? 1. ... 2. ... 3. ... 4. ... Which of the above is/are correctly identified?

  1. Trafficking involves recruitment, transportation, harbouring, transfer or receipt of a person for exploitation using threat, force, abduction, fraud, deception or abuse of power.
  2. Voluntary movement of an adult to another State for work is necessarily trafficking wherever an intermediary facilitates the travel.
  3. Trafficking for forced labour and trafficking for begging are treated as aggravated forms of the offence.
  4. The consent of a child victim excludes the offence in all cases where no force or coercion was used.
  • A. 1 and 3
  • B. 2 and 4
  • C. 1, 2 and 4
  • D. 3 and 4

Q12. Which of the following are correctly identified as directions or holdings of the Supreme Court in NALSA v. Union of India (2014)? 1. ... 2. ... 3. ... 4. ... Which of the above is/are correctly identified?

  1. Recognition of transgender persons as a third gender, with self-identification of gender held to be part of dignity and autonomy under Article 21.
  2. A direction that transgender persons be treated as socially and educationally backward classes for reservation in educational institutions and public employment.
  3. Directions to construct separate public toilets and to have medical departments address transgender-specific health issues, along with awareness campaigns to reduce stigma.
  4. A holding that sex work is a profession protected as such under Article 19(1)(g), with police barred from interfering with consenting adult sex workers.
  • A. 1 and 4
  • B. 1, 2 and 3
  • C. 2 and 3 only
  • D. 3 and 4