UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — SC Collegium names Chief Justices for four High Courts
Q1. Consider the following statements comparing the successive 'Judges Cases' that shaped judicial appointments in India:
1. The decision of 1993 vested the effective power of recommending appointments in the Chief Justice of India acting with two other senior-most judges of the Supreme Court, reversing the position taken in 1981 which had upheld executive authority in such appointments.
2. The pronouncement of 1998 was not a judgment in adversarial litigation but an opinion rendered on a reference made by the President, and it enlarged the recommending body to the Chief Justice of India together with the four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court.
3. Unlike the 1993 decision, the 1998 pronouncement derived the recommending body from an express amendment to the text of the Constitution rather than from judicial interpretation.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- The decision of 1993 vested the effective power of recommending appointments in the Chief Justice of India acting with two other senior-most judges of the Supreme Court, reversing the position taken in 1981 which had upheld executive authority in such appointments.
- The pronouncement of 1998 was not a judgment in adversarial litigation but an opinion rendered on a reference made by the President, and it enlarged the recommending body to the Chief Justice of India together with the four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court.
- Unlike the 1993 decision, the 1998 pronouncement derived the recommending body from an express amendment to the text of the Constitution rather than from judicial interpretation.
- A. 1 and 2 only
- B. 2 and 3 only
- C. 1 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q2. As settled by the Supreme Court's 1998 advisory opinion, the views of how many judges of the Supreme Court, other than the Chief Justice of India, must be taken into account in recommending appointments to the higher judiciary?
- A. Two, being the judges next in seniority to the Chief Justice of India
- B. Three, being the judges next in seniority to the Chief Justice of India
- C. Four, being the judges next in seniority to the Chief Justice of India
- D. Six, being the judges next in seniority to the Chief Justice of India
Q3. A recommendation for the appointment of a High Court judge under Article 217 is processed within the Union Government by which one of the following, before the warrant of appointment is issued?
- A. The Legislative Department of the Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India
- B. The Department of Justice of the Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India
- C. The Department of Personnel and Training of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions
- D. The Department of Legal Affairs of the Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India
Q4. Which one of the following correctly states the provision contained in Article 222 of the Constitution of India?
- A. The President may, after consultation with the Chief Justice of India, transfer a Judge from one High Court to any other High Court.
- B. The President may transfer a Judge from one High Court to any other High Court only with the prior written consent of the Judge concerned.
- C. The Governor of the State concerned may transfer a Judge from one High Court to any other High Court after consulting the Chief Justice of that Court.
- D. A Judge may be transferred from one High Court to any other High Court only upon a resolution passed by both Houses of Parliament.
Q5. With reference to the Supreme Court Collegium's resolution published in August 2026 recommending Chief Justices for four High Courts, consider the following pairings of the judge recommended with the High Court proposed:
1. Justice V. Kameswar Rao, a Judge of the Delhi High Court — Patna High Court
2. Justice Ravindra V. Ghuge, then functioning as Acting Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court — Bombay High Court
3. Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi, a Judge of the Allahabad High Court — Bombay High Court
4. Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra, whose parent High Court is Allahabad — Punjab and Haryana High Court
Which of the above is/are correctly identified?
- Justice V. Kameswar Rao, a Judge of the Delhi High Court — Patna High Court
- Justice Ravindra V. Ghuge, then functioning as Acting Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court — Bombay High Court
- Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi, a Judge of the Allahabad High Court — Bombay High Court
- Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra, whose parent High Court is Allahabad — Punjab and Haryana High Court
- A. 1 and 2
- B. 1, 3 and 4
- C. 2 and 4
- D. 3 and 4 only
Q6. The proposal for the transfer of a Chief Justice of a High Court to another High Court is initiated by which one of the following, whose opinion in the matter is determinative?
- A. The Union Minister of Law and Justice, acting on the advice of the Chief Justice of the High Court concerned
- B. The Governor of the State concerned, acting on the advice of the Council of Ministers of that State
- C. The collegium of the High Court concerned, comprising its Chief Justice and two senior-most Judges
- D. The Chief Justice of India, who takes into account the views of the Chief Justices of the courts involved
Q7. Which one of the following correctly describes the incumbent who headed the Supreme Court Collegium that recommended Chief Justices for four High Courts in August 2026?
- A. Justice Surya Kant, appointed the 53rd Chief Justice of India by warrant of the President, who assumed office on 24 November 2025
- B. Justice B. R. Gavai, appointed the 53rd Chief Justice of India by warrant of the President, who assumed office on 24 November 2025
- C. Justice Vikram Nath, appointed the 52nd Chief Justice of India by warrant of the President, who assumed office on 14 May 2025
- D. Justice M. M. Sundresh, appointed the 53rd Chief Justice of India by warrant of the President, who assumed office on 14 May 2025
Q8. By what criterion is the judge who heads the Supreme Court Collegium himself or herself selected for that office?
- A. The Judge who has served the longest as a Chief Justice of a High Court, if considered fit to hold the office
- B. The senior-most Judge of the Supreme Court, if considered fit to hold the office
- C. The Judge elected to the office by the Full Court of the Supreme Court from among its sitting members
- D. The Judge nominated to the office by the Union Council of Ministers from a panel forwarded by the outgoing incumbent
Q9. After the Supreme Court Collegium's resolution of August 2026, what step is constitutionally required before the recommended judges can take charge as Chief Justices of the four High Courts?
- A. Ratification of each recommendation by the Governor of the State in which the High Court concerned is situated
- B. Notification of each appointment by the Ministry of Home Affairs, followed by an oath administered by the Chief Justice of India
- C. Processing by the Union Government followed by the issue of a warrant of appointment by the President under Article 217
- D. Approval of each recommendation by a resolution of the Legislative Assembly of the State in which the High Court is situated
Q10. Consider the following statements about the Supreme Court Collegium resolution published in August 2026 recommending Chief Justices for four High Courts:
1. Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi was recommended for elevation from the Calcutta High Court.
2. Justice Ravindra V. Ghuge was already discharging the functions of Acting Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court when recommended, that office having fallen vacant on the elevation of Justice Shree Chandrashekhar to the Supreme Court.
3. Of the four judges recommended in this round, Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra alone was already serving in the very High Court he was recommended to head.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi was recommended for elevation from the Calcutta High Court.
- Justice Ravindra V. Ghuge was already discharging the functions of Acting Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court when recommended, that office having fallen vacant on the elevation of Justice Shree Chandrashekhar to the Supreme Court.
- Of the four judges recommended in this round, Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra alone was already serving in the very High Court he was recommended to head.
- A. 1 and 2 only
- B. 2 and 3 only
- C. 1 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q11. Under the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act, 2014, which one of the following correctly describes the rule that governed whether the Commission could recommend a person for appointment?
- A. The Commission could recommend a person only if all its members agreed, any dissent operating as a bar
- B. The Commission could recommend a person by a simple majority of members present, the Chairperson exercising a casting vote
- C. The Commission could not recommend a person if the two eminent persons on it jointly recorded their dissent
- D. The Commission could not recommend a person if any two of its members did not agree to such recommendation
Q12. Among the Patna, Calcutta, Bombay and Punjab and Haryana High Courts, over how many does the territorial jurisdiction extend to at least one Union territory?
- A. All four
- B. Three
- C. Two
- D. One