UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Panel on SC status for Dalit converts yet to submit report

Question 1

Which one of the following most precisely describes the power conferred on the President by clause (1) of Article 341 of the Constitution of India?

Accepted Answer

To specify by public notification the castes, races or tribes deemed to be Scheduled Castes in relation to a State or Union Territory, after consultation with the Governor where a State is concerned

Answer

To specify the castes, races or tribes deemed to be Scheduled Castes in relation to a State or Union Territory, subject to the prior concurrence of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes

Answer

To specify the castes, races or tribes deemed to be Scheduled Castes for the whole of India by a single notification applying uniformly to every State and Union Territory

Answer

To specify the castes, races or tribes deemed to be Scheduled Castes in relation to a State, such notification taking effect only after it is laid before both Houses of Parliament

Question 2

Once a caste has been notified as a Scheduled Caste in relation to a State, which one of the following authorities alone can include a further caste in, or exclude a caste from, that notified list?

Accepted Answer

Parliament, by law, which may include in or exclude from the notified list any caste, race or tribe

Answer

The President, by a subsequent public notification issued after consultation with the Governor of the State concerned

Answer

The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, by gazette notification issued with the concurrence of the Registrar General of India

Answer

The Legislature of the State concerned, by law, subject to the assent of the President being obtained thereto

Question 3

The Commission of Inquiry notified in October 2022 to examine the question of Scheduled Caste status for persons who converted to religions other than those named in the Presidential Orders was originally required to submit its report within what period from the date the Chairperson took charge?

Accepted Answer

Two years

Answer

One year

Answer

Three years

Answer

Five years

Question 4

Who chairs the three-member Commission of Inquiry set up in October 2022 to examine whether Scheduled Caste status can be extended to Dalits who converted to Christianity or Islam?

Accepted Answer

Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, a former Chief Justice of India

Answer

Dr Ravinder Kumar Jain, a retired officer of the Indian Administrative Service

Answer

Prof. Sushma Yadav, a member of the University Grants Commission

Answer

Justice Ranganath Misra, a former Chief Justice of India

Question 5

The Commission of Inquiry examining the extension of Scheduled Caste status to converts was constituted under the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952 by which one of the following Ministries?

Accepted Answer

The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, which is the nodal Ministry for Scheduled Caste welfare

Answer

The Ministry of Minority Affairs, which administers welfare programmes for notified minority communities

Answer

The Ministry of Home Affairs, which handles matters of internal security and Centre-State relations

Answer

The Ministry of Law and Justice, through its Department of Justice, which services judicial commissions

Question 6

In the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952, the principal enabling provision under which a Commission of Inquiry is appointed to inquire into a definite matter of public importance is contained in which one of the following sections?

Accepted Answer

Section 3

Answer

Section 4

Answer

Section 5

Answer

Section 8B

Question 7

Consider the following statements regarding the term and reporting timeline of the Commission of Inquiry on Scheduled Caste status for converts:
1. Its initial deadline for submission of the report fell in October 2024.
2. Its term was subsequently extended, first to October 2025 and thereafter to 10 June 2026.
3. Its report was formally submitted to the Union Government immediately upon the expiry of its extended term on 10 June 2026.
4. Every extension of its term has been granted exclusively through an amendment to the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952 passed by Parliament.
Which of the above statements is/are NOT correct?

Accepted Answer

3 and 4

Answer

1 and 2

Answer

2 and 3

Answer

1 and 4

Question 8

Under the scheme of the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952, an extension of the term of a sitting Commission of Inquiry is ordinarily effected by which one of the following?

Accepted Answer

A notification issued in the Official Gazette by the Government that appointed the Commission

Answer

Only a fresh resolution adopted by both Houses of Parliament directing that the inquiry be continued

Answer

An order of the Supreme Court, which alone may enlarge the term of a Commission headed by a retired judge

Answer

An automatic extension operating on a written request of the Chairperson, requiring no notification at all

Question 9

Consider the following propositions about the Supreme Court's 2026 pronouncements on Scheduled Caste status and religious conversion:
1. A person professing a religion other than Hinduism, Sikhism or Buddhism cannot be deemed to be a member of a Scheduled Caste.
2. The Court described the bar in paragraph 3 of the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 as categorical and absolute.
3. The review petition against the Court's March 2026 judgment was allowed and the question was referred to a larger Bench.
4. Loss of Scheduled Caste status on conversion takes effect only after the convert has practised the new faith continuously for ten years.
Which of the above is/are correctly identified?

Accepted Answer

1 and 2

Answer

2 and 3

Answer

1, 3 and 4

Answer

3 and 4 only

Question 10

The Supreme Court's March 2026 judgment holding that a Scheduled Caste person who converts to Christianity ceases to be a member of a Scheduled Caste arose out of proceedings decided by which one of the following High Courts?

Accepted Answer

The Andhra Pradesh High Court, whose decision was challenged by the appellant before the Supreme Court

Answer

The Madras High Court, before which claims of Dalit Christians have frequently been agitated

Answer

The Kerala High Court, which exercises jurisdiction over a State with a large Christian population

Answer

The Telangana High Court, which was bifurcated from the erstwhile common High Court in 2019

Question 11

Consider the following statements comparing the present position of Scheduled Caste status with its earlier position:
1. As originally promulgated, the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 confined Scheduled Caste status to persons professing the Hindu religion; Sikhs were brought within its scope in 1956 and Buddhists in 1990.
2. Converts from Scheduled Castes to Christianity are included in the Central List of Other Backward Classes of some States and are entitled to reservation in Central Government services.
3. Since Scheduled Caste status operates in a religion-neutral manner, every person subjected to untouchability-based discrimination is entitled to be deemed a member of a Scheduled Caste, irrespective of the religion professed.
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 12

Which one of the following bodies, whose report was submitted in 2007 and laid on the Table of both Houses of Parliament in December 2009, recommended that Scheduled Caste status be delinked from religion and extended to Dalit converts to Christianity and Islam?

Accepted Answer

The National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities

Answer

The Prime Minister's High Level Committee on the Social, Economic and Educational Status of the Muslim Community of India

Answer

The National Commission for Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes

Answer

The Commission constituted to examine the sub-categorisation of Other Backward Classes

UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Panel on SC status for Dalit converts yet to submit report

Q1. Which one of the following most precisely describes the power conferred on the President by clause (1) of Article 341 of the Constitution of India?

Q2. Once a caste has been notified as a Scheduled Caste in relation to a State, which one of the following authorities alone can include a further caste in, or exclude a caste from, that notified list?

Q3. The Commission of Inquiry notified in October 2022 to examine the question of Scheduled Caste status for persons who converted to religions other than those named in the Presidential Orders was originally required to submit its report within what period from the date the Chairperson took charge?

Q4. Who chairs the three-member Commission of Inquiry set up in October 2022 to examine whether Scheduled Caste status can be extended to Dalits who converted to Christianity or Islam?

Q5. The Commission of Inquiry examining the extension of Scheduled Caste status to converts was constituted under the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952 by which one of the following Ministries?

Q6. In the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952, the principal enabling provision under which a Commission of Inquiry is appointed to inquire into a definite matter of public importance is contained in which one of the following sections?

Q8. Under the scheme of the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952, an extension of the term of a sitting Commission of Inquiry is ordinarily effected by which one of the following?

Q10. The Supreme Court's March 2026 judgment holding that a Scheduled Caste person who converts to Christianity ceases to be a member of a Scheduled Caste arose out of proceedings decided by which one of the following High Courts?

Q12. Which one of the following bodies, whose report was submitted in 2007 and laid on the Table of both Houses of Parliament in December 2009, recommended that Scheduled Caste status be delinked from religion and extended to Dalit converts to Christianity and Islam?