UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — HC quashes petition against EC transfer of West Bengal officials

Q1. Under Article 324 of the Constitution, the superintendence, direction and control of the conduct of all elections to Parliament and the State Legislatures is vested in which one of the following?

  • A. The Election Commission of India
  • B. The State Election Commission concerned
  • C. The Delimitation Commission
  • D. The Chief Electoral Officer of the State

Q2. In the context of a Public Interest Litigation, the term 'locus standi' most precisely refers to which one of the following?

  • A. The legal right or capacity of a person to bring a matter before a court
  • B. The territorial limits within which a High Court may issue writs
  • C. The principle that a transfer is merely an incident of service
  • D. The court's power to examine the constitutional validity of a law

Q3. The Model Code of Conduct, once it comes into force on the announcement of the election schedule, is enforced by which one of the following authorities?

  • A. The Election Commission of India
  • B. The Ministry of Law and Justice
  • C. The Ministry of Home Affairs
  • D. The Central Administrative Tribunal

Q4. Once the Model Code of Conduct comes into force, the Election Commission's standard direction concerning officers connected with the conduct of elections is best described as which one of the following?

  • A. A ban on the transfer and posting of such officers except with the Commission's prior approval
  • B. Automatic suspension of all such officers until results are declared
  • C. Compulsory retirement of officers having less than three years of residual service
  • D. Mandatory transfer of every officer back to his or her home district

Q5. The officer who, subject to the superintendence and direction of the Election Commission, supervises the conduct of all elections within a State is primarily designated as which one of the following?

  • A. The Chief Electoral Officer of the State
  • B. The District Election Officer
  • C. The Returning Officer
  • D. The Electoral Registration Officer

Q6. In quashing the petition against the transfer of West Bengal officials ahead of the elections, the High Court upheld that the authority to order such transfers flows from which one of the following?

  • A. The Election Commission of India under Article 324
  • B. The State Government under the Police Act
  • C. The Ministry of Home Affairs under the All India Services Act
  • D. The Central Administrative Tribunal under the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985

Q7. Under the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, the Selection Committee that recommends names for the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner is chaired by which one of the following?

  • A. The Prime Minister
  • B. The President of India
  • C. The Chief Justice of India
  • D. The Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha

Q8. The Election Commission of India became a permanent multi-member body (a Chief Election Commissioner and two Election Commissioners) with effect from which one of the following?

  • A. 1 October 1993
  • B. 25 January 1950
  • C. 16 October 1989
  • D. 1 January 1990