UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Oral remarks and institutional limits

Question 1

In the context of the distinction between a judge's oral courtroom observations and the formal written judgment, which one of the following best describes the 'ratio decidendi' of a judgment?

Accepted Answer

The legal principle or reasoning essential to the decision, which alone carries binding precedential value

Answer

Casual observations made orally by a judge during the course of a hearing

Answer

A separate concurring opinion agreeing with the outcome but differing in the reasoning

Answer

Observations of the court on points not necessary for deciding the case

Question 2

With reference to the legal position on a judge's oral courtroom observations as against the formal written order, consider the following:
1. Oral observations made by judges during a hearing do not form part of the official judicial record.
2. Since such oral observations are not part of the record, the question of formally expunging them does not arise.
3. Only the written and signed order or judgment carries precedential and binding value.
4. The media is constitutionally barred from reporting oral observations that are not incorporated into the final order.
Which of the above is/are correctly identified?

Accepted Answer

1, 2 and 3

Answer

1 and 4 only

Answer

2, 3 and 4

Answer

1, 2, 3 and 4

Question 3

The 'Restatement of Values of Judicial Life' (1997), India's code of judicial ethics, was formally adopted by which one of the following?

Accepted Answer

The Full Court of the Supreme Court of India

Answer

The Union Ministry of Law and Justice

Answer

The Bar Council of India

Answer

The Rajya Sabha through a resolution

Question 4

Consider the following statements distinguishing the Restatement of Values of Judicial Life from the statutory framework for dealing with judges:
1. The Restatement was adopted by the Supreme Court's Full Court in 1997, whereas the Judges (Inquiry) Act, which provides the statutory procedure connected with removal, dates to 1968.
2. Unlike the Judges (Inquiry) Act, the Restatement is a non-statutory, self-regulatory code that is not legally enforceable.
3. The Restatement was adopted in 1987, a decade before the Judges (Inquiry) Act came into force.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Accepted Answer

1 and 2 only

Answer

2 and 3 only

Answer

1 only

Answer

1, 2 and 3

Question 5

The Supreme Court's ruling in Chief Election Commissioner of India v. M.R. Vijayabhaskar (2021), upholding the media's freedom to report the oral observations of courts, was primarily grounded in which one of the following constitutional provisions?

Accepted Answer

Article 19(1)(a)

Answer

Article 21

Answer

Article 32

Answer

Article 129

Question 6

The Supreme Court bench that decided Chief Election Commissioner of India v. M.R. Vijayabhaskar (2021), on the reporting of oral observations, comprised how many judges?

Accepted Answer

Two

Answer

Three

Answer

Five

Answer

Seven

Question 7

With reference to the May 2026 controversy over the Chief Justice of India's oral remarks, consider the following statements:
1. The remarks were made during a hearing connected with the process of conferring senior advocate designation.
2. In the clarification issued the next day, the criticism was said to be directed at persons who entered professions using fake and bogus degrees, not at the youth of the nation.
3. Being part of the formal written order, the remarks could be removed only through a review petition.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Accepted Answer

1 and 2 only

Answer

2 and 3 only

Answer

1 and 3 only

Answer

1, 2 and 3

Question 8

Against the backdrop of the Supreme Court's May 2025 judgment that formed the context of the 2026 controversy, the final decision on conferring senior advocate designation now rests with which one of the following?

Accepted Answer

The Full Court of the Supreme Court or of the concerned High Court

Answer

A Permanent Committee headed by the Chief Justice alone

Answer

The Attorney General of India

Answer

Individual judges through personal recommendations

Question 9

The 'in-house procedure' for dealing with judicial misconduct that falls below the threshold of impeachment traces its origin to which one of the following?

Accepted Answer

The Supreme Court's decision in C. Ravichandran Iyer v. Justice A.M. Bhattacharjee (1995)

Answer

Article 124(4) of the Constitution

Answer

The Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968

Answer

The Restatement of Values of Judicial Life, 1997

Question 10

With reference to mechanisms of judicial accountability in India, consider the following:
1. Removal of a Supreme Court judge under Article 124(4) requires 'proved misbehaviour or incapacity'.
2. A motion for removal in the Lok Sabha requires the signatures of not less than 100 members.
3. The statutory inquiry committee under the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968 consists of a Supreme Court judge, a Chief Justice of a High Court, and a distinguished jurist.
4. The Restatement of Values of Judicial Life is a statutory code enforceable through Parliament.
Which of the above is/are correctly identified?

Accepted Answer

1, 2 and 3

Answer

1, 3 and 4

Answer

2 and 4 only

Answer

1, 2, 3 and 4

Question 11

The influential formulation that judicial discretion is not arbitrary but must be 'disciplined by system' — frequently invoked in debates on judicial restraint — derives from a series of 1921 lectures delivered by Benjamin Cardozo at which one of the following?

Accepted Answer

Yale Law School, as the Storrs Lectures

Answer

Harvard Law School, as the Holmes Lectures

Answer

Columbia Law School, as the Carpentier Lectures

Answer

the University of Oxford, as the Clarendon Lectures

Question 12

With reference to the process of designating Senior Advocates in India, consider the following:
1. The 2017 Indira Jaising judgment provided for a Permanent Committee headed by the Chief Justice of India along with the two senior-most judges.
2. The minimum period of practice prescribed for eligibility for senior advocate designation is ten years.
3. Under the 2017 framework, the Attorney General (or the Advocate General of a State) was made a member of the Permanent Committee.
4. Under the 2025 revision, the point-based assessment system was retained and further strengthened.
Which of the above is/are correctly identified?

Accepted Answer

1, 2 and 3

Answer

1 and 4 only

Answer

2, 3 and 4

Answer

1, 2, 3 and 4

UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Oral remarks and institutional limits

Q1. In the context of the distinction between a judge's oral courtroom observations and the formal written judgment, which one of the following best describes the 'ratio decidendi' of a judgment?

Q3. The 'Restatement of Values of Judicial Life' (1997), India's code of judicial ethics, was formally adopted by which one of the following?

Q5. The Supreme Court's ruling in Chief Election Commissioner of India v. M.R. Vijayabhaskar (2021), upholding the media's freedom to report the oral observations of courts, was primarily grounded in which one of the following constitutional provisions?

Q6. The Supreme Court bench that decided Chief Election Commissioner of India v. M.R. Vijayabhaskar (2021), on the reporting of oral observations, comprised how many judges?

Q8. Against the backdrop of the Supreme Court's May 2025 judgment that formed the context of the 2026 controversy, the final decision on conferring senior advocate designation now rests with which one of the following?

Q9. The 'in-house procedure' for dealing with judicial misconduct that falls below the threshold of impeachment traces its origin to which one of the following?

Q11. The influential formulation that judicial discretion is not arbitrary but must be 'disciplined by system' — frequently invoked in debates on judicial restraint — derives from a series of 1921 lectures delivered by Benjamin Cardozo at which one of the following?