UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Reiterating the basics of criminalisation

Question 1

With reference to the Supreme Court's August 2026 ruling on the Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 1986, consider the following:
1. The Bench that delivered the ruling comprised Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K. Vinod Chandran.
2. The persons whose gangster proceedings were quashed by the Court were two practising advocates.
3. The Court declared every provision of the Act unconstitutional and void from the date of its enactment.
4. The constitutional guarantee on which the Court rested its conclusion was Article 22(5), concerning communication of the grounds of detention.
Which of the above is/are correctly identified?

Accepted Answer

1 and 2 only

Answer

2 and 3 only

Answer

1, 3 and 4

Answer

2 and 4 only

Question 2

In its August 2026 judgment, the Supreme Court identified which one of the following as the principal defect that rendered the Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 1986 incapable of sustaining a prosecution?

Accepted Answer

Its definitions of 'gang' and 'gangster' are not accompanied by any offence created by the statute itself

Answer

Its provisions for attachment of property operate before conviction and without any prior hearing

Answer

Its bail provisions reverse the burden of proof onto the person accused of being a gangster

Answer

Its preventive clauses permit confinement for twelve months without any charge being framed

Question 3

A person claiming that a conviction has been secured in breach of the guarantee contained in Article 20(1) may, as of right, move which one of the following for enforcement of that guarantee as a fundamental right?

Accepted Answer

The Supreme Court, by a petition under Article 32 of the Constitution

Answer

The National Human Rights Commission, whose directions under the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 bind the State

Answer

The Law Commission of India, a statutory body that vets penal statutes for constitutional compliance

Answer

The Legislative Department of the Ministry of Law and Justice, which reviews convictions for excess of delegated power

Question 4

During a Proclamation of Emergency, a Presidential order under Article 359 may suspend the right to move courts for the enforcement of Fundamental Rights, except in the case of Article 21 and which one of the following?

Accepted Answer

Article 20

Answer

Article 19

Answer

Article 22

Answer

Article 25

Question 5

At the Union level, the drafting of all principal legislation — the only instrument through which a new offence may validly be created — together with the scrutiny and vetting of subordinate legislation framed under Central Acts, is entrusted to which one of the following?

Accepted Answer

The Legislative Department of the Ministry of Law and Justice

Answer

The Department of Legal Affairs of the Ministry of Law and Justice

Answer

The Department of Justice of the Ministry of Law and Justice

Answer

The Legislative Wing of the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs

Question 6

Consider the following propositions concerning the principle nullum crimen sine lege as it operates in Indian criminal law:
1. No person shall be convicted of any offence except for violation of a law in force at the time of the commission of the act charged as an offence.
2. Its companion maxim nulla poena sine lege, with roots in Roman law, requires that the punishment too be prescribed by a law existing before the act.
3. The principle permits an offence itself to be constituted by executive rules framed under a parent statute, so long as the parent statute prescribes the punishment.
4. The principle bars only the retrospective creation of offences and places no limit on retrospectively increasing the punishment for an existing offence.
Which of the above is/are NOT correct?

Accepted Answer

3 and 4

Answer

1 and 2

Answer

1 and 3

Answer

4 only

Question 7

Which one of the following statements most accurately describes where the power to declare an act to be an offence primarily vests in the Indian constitutional scheme?

Accepted Answer

It vests in the legislature alone; declaring an act an offence and fixing its punishment cannot be handed over to the executive

Answer

It vests concurrently in the legislature and the executive, since all rules framed under a parent Act carry the same force as the Act

Answer

It vests in the executive wherever the parent Act is silent, because every gap left in a statute must necessarily be filled by rules

Answer

It vests exclusively in Parliament, since criminal law is entirely a Union subject under the Seventh Schedule

Question 8

In Indian constitutional and administrative law, the expression 'essential legislative function' denotes which one of the following?

Accepted Answer

The determination of the choice of legislative policy and its formal enactment into a binding rule of conduct

Answer

The minimum number of members whose presence is required before a House may transact any legislative business

Answer

The subjects on which a legislature is obliged to make laws in order to give effect to the Directive Principles

Answer

The stage at which a parliamentary committee examines rules and orders laid on the Table of the House

Question 9

Consider the following statements comparing principal Central legislation with subordinate legislation in India:
1. Besides Bills to be introduced in Parliament, the responsibility for drafting Ordinances promulgated by the President and Regulations made by the President for Union territories rests with the same Union department.
2. Rules framed under Central Acts and laid before Parliament are examined by a Committee on Subordinate Legislation, which sees whether the delegated power has been exercised within the limits of the conferment.
3. Unlike the wing that drafts Bills, the Official Languages Wing that translates Central Acts and subordinate legislation into Hindi functions under the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Accepted Answer

1 and 2 only

Answer

1 only

Answer

2 and 3 only

Answer

1, 2 and 3

Question 10

Consider the following statements regarding special and preventive criminal statutes in India:
1. Under the National Security Act, 1980, the maximum period of detention in pursuance of a confirmed detention order is twelve months from the date of detention.
2. The power to designate an individual, and not merely an organisation, as a terrorist was introduced into the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 by an amendment made in 2019.
3. Individuals designated as terrorists under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 are listed in the Second Schedule to that Act.
4. The National Security Act, 1980 is administered by the Ministry of Law and Justice.
Which of the above is/are NOT correct?

Accepted Answer

3 and 4

Answer

1 and 2

Answer

2 and 3

Answer

1 and 4

Question 11

The Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 1986 prescribes for a gangster a minimum and maximum term of imprisonment, along with a minimum fine, of which one of the following?

Accepted Answer

Not less than two years, extending to ten years, with a fine of not less than five thousand rupees

Answer

Not less than three years, extending to seven years, with a fine of not less than ten thousand rupees

Answer

Not less than one year, extending to five years, with a fine of not less than five thousand rupees

Answer

Not less than two years, extending to fourteen years, with a fine of not less than twenty-five thousand rupees

UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Reiterating the basics of criminalisation

Q2. In its August 2026 judgment, the Supreme Court identified which one of the following as the principal defect that rendered the Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 1986 incapable of sustaining a prosecution?

Q3. A person claiming that a conviction has been secured in breach of the guarantee contained in Article 20(1) may, as of right, move which one of the following for enforcement of that guarantee as a fundamental right?

Q4. During a Proclamation of Emergency, a Presidential order under Article 359 may suspend the right to move courts for the enforcement of Fundamental Rights, except in the case of Article 21 and which one of the following?

Q5. At the Union level, the drafting of all principal legislation — the only instrument through which a new offence may validly be created — together with the scrutiny and vetting of subordinate legislation framed under Central Acts, is entrusted to which one of the following?

Q7. Which one of the following statements most accurately describes where the power to declare an act to be an offence primarily vests in the Indian constitutional scheme?

Q8. In Indian constitutional and administrative law, the expression 'essential legislative function' denotes which one of the following?

Q11. The Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 1986 prescribes for a gangster a minimum and maximum term of imprisonment, along with a minimum fine, of which one of the following?