UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — SC seeks Centre’s response to challenge against CAPF Act

Q1. Under the Central Armed Police Forces (General Administration) Act, 2026, at which one of the following rank levels is the entire complement of posts required to be filled by deputation of Indian Police Service officers?

  • A. Deputy Inspector General, which the Act treats as the entry point for deputation into the forces
  • B. Inspector General, for which the Act prescribes a fixed share of deputation posts
  • C. Special Director General and Director General
  • D. Additional Director General, for which the Act prescribes a floor on deputation posts

Q2. The Supreme Court's judgment of May 2025 directed that deputation of Indian Police Service officers into the Central Armed Police Forces be progressively reduced over a period of two years. Up to which one of the following ranks did that direction extend?

  • A. Deputy Inspector General, the senior-most field command rank in the forces
  • B. Additional Director General, immediately below the Special Director General
  • C. Inspector General
  • D. Special Director General, immediately below the Director General

Q3. Consider the following in relation to the recognition of Group 'A' Executive Cadre officers of the Central Armed Police Forces as an Organised Group 'A' Service: 1. Extension of the benefit of Non-Functional Financial Upgradation to these officers. 2. Extension of the benefit of Non-Functional Selection Grade to these officers. 3. Conferment of All India Service status on the cadre, placing it on the same footing as the Indian Police Service. 4. Dismissal by the Supreme Court of the Union government's Special Leave Petitions against the High Court orders that had treated these officers as belonging to an organised service. Which of the above is/are correctly identified?

  1. Extension of the benefit of Non-Functional Financial Upgradation to these officers.
  2. Extension of the benefit of Non-Functional Selection Grade to these officers.
  3. Conferment of All India Service status on the cadre, placing it on the same footing as the Indian Police Service.
  4. Dismissal by the Supreme Court of the Union government's Special Leave Petitions against the High Court orders that had treated these officers as belonging to an organised service.
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 2 and 3 only
  • C. 1 and 3
  • D. 1, 2 and 4

Q4. The batch of petitions by CAPF cadre officers seeking a declaration that Sections 3 and 4 of the CAPF (General Administration) Act, 2026 are ultra vires was brought directly before the Supreme Court. Under which one of the following constitutional provisions was it filed?

  • A. Article 32
  • B. Article 136, which is the only route by which the validity of a central Act can be tested in the Supreme Court
  • C. Article 226, under which the Supreme Court exercises exclusive writ jurisdiction over service matters
  • D. Article 131, which vests in the Supreme Court original jurisdiction over all disputes to which the Union is a party

Q5. Consider the following statements comparing the relief sought in the pending challenge to the CAPF (General Administration) Act, 2026 with the Supreme Court's earlier 2025 ruling on IPS deputation: 1. The petitioners seek a declaration that Sections 3 and 4 of the Act are ultra vires the Constitution. 2. Section 4, one of the two provisions under challenge, confers on the Union government the power to amend the Schedules to the Act by notification. 3. The petitioners also seek the setting aside of the 2025 judgment on IPS deputation, contending that it was wrongly decided against the cadre officers. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. The petitioners seek a declaration that Sections 3 and 4 of the Act are ultra vires the Constitution.
  2. Section 4, one of the two provisions under challenge, confers on the Union government the power to amend the Schedules to the Act by notification.
  3. The petitioners also seek the setting aside of the 2025 judgment on IPS deputation, contending that it was wrongly decided against the cadre officers.
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 1 only
  • C. 2 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q6. Consider the following statements comparing the Central Armed Police Forces recognised by the Ministry of Home Affairs with the forces listed in the Schedule to the CAPF (General Administration) Act, 2026: 1. The Ministry of Home Affairs recognises seven Central Armed Police Forces, two more than the number of forces listed in the Schedule to the Act. 2. The Central Industrial Security Force is one of the forces recognised by the Ministry of Home Affairs that falls outside the Schedule to the Act. 3. The National Security Guard draws its personnel from the Army and the para-military forces rather than through recruitment to a general duty cadre of its own. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. The Ministry of Home Affairs recognises seven Central Armed Police Forces, two more than the number of forces listed in the Schedule to the Act.
  2. The Central Industrial Security Force is one of the forces recognised by the Ministry of Home Affairs that falls outside the Schedule to the Act.
  3. The National Security Guard draws its personnel from the Army and the para-military forces rather than through recruitment to a general duty cadre of its own.
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 2 and 3 only
  • C. 1 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q7. The Ministry of Home Affairs describes the National Security Guard as a 'federal contingency force'. Which one of the following best describes how that force is manned?

  • A. By retired armed forces and central police personnel re-employed on contract for counter-terrorist duties
  • B. By State armed police battalions placed under central operational control for specified periods of deployment
  • C. By selected personnel drawn from the Army and the para-military forces
  • D. By direct recruitment to a permanent general duty cadre of its own through a separate all-India examination

Q8. The Indian Police Service, whose officers hold the senior command posts at issue in the CAPF dispute, is an All India Service. Which one of the following most precisely describes what that classification entails?

  • A. A service constituted by executive order of the Union Cabinet, whose officers serve only under the Union government and are lent to the States on request
  • B. A service created by Parliament by law, whose officers are recruited centrally, borne on State cadres, and serve both the Union and the States
  • C. A service constituted separately by each State legislature, whose officers may be placed at the disposal of the Union government on deputation
  • D. A service created by Parliament under Article 312 only after a resolution to that effect has been passed by the Lok Sabha by a special majority

Q9. Cadre management of the Indian Police Service — including cadre structure, cadre allocation, empanelment and deputation, the very levers that govern IPS postings into CAPF senior ranks — is handled by which one of the following?

  • A. The Police Division of the Ministry of Home Affairs
  • B. The Union Public Service Commission, which conducts the annual examination through which the service is recruited
  • C. The Department of Personnel and Training, which performs this function for the Indian Administrative Service
  • D. The Bureau of Police Research and Development, the Ministry of Home Affairs body concerned with police modernisation and doctrine

Q10. Besides the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, the challenge to the CAPF (General Administration) Act, 2026 also arrays as respondent the department of the Union government responsible for the classification and general conditions of service of central civil services. Which one of the following is that department?

  • A. The Department of Legal Affairs, under the Ministry of Law and Justice, which advises the government on the vires of legislation
  • B. The Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, under the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions
  • C. The Department of Personnel and Training, under the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions
  • D. The Department of Expenditure, under the Ministry of Finance, which approves pay structures and cadre strength proposals