UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Analysing India’s budgets for justice
Q1. The India Justice Report (IJR), first published in 2019, is best described as which one of the following?
- A. A periodic ranking of States and Union Territories on the structural capacity of four justice-delivery pillars — police, judiciary, prisons and legal aid — assessed against their own declared standards
- B. A statutory annual audit by the National Human Rights Commission of custodial deaths and prison overcrowding across States
- C. A NITI Aayog composite index that ranks States solely on conviction rates and case-disposal speed of the subordinate judiciary
- D. A Supreme Court e-Committee report tracking pendency and vacancy of judges in the High Courts and district courts
Q2. With how many civil-society and academic partner organisations did Tata Trusts collaborate to produce the first India Justice Report (2019)?
- A. Four
- B. Five
- C. Six
- D. Eight
Q3. In the constitutional scheme of the Seventh Schedule, 'Police' and 'Prisons' — two of the four pillars of the justice system — are primarily placed under which one of the following?
- A. The State List
- B. The Union List
- C. The Concurrent List
- D. The residuary powers of Parliament
Q4. For the purpose of budgetary analysis, India's 'justice budget' is defined as the combined expenditure on which one of the following sets of institutions?
- A. Police, prisons, judiciary and legal aid
- B. Police, courts, public prosecution and forensic laboratories
- C. Judiciary, legal aid, human rights commissions and Lok Adalats
- D. Police, judiciary, prisons and information commissions
Q5. Consider the following statements about the institutional architecture through which India's justice-sector budget flows:
1. Police and prisons are largely State-administered subjects, with the Union Ministry of Home Affairs acting as the nodal ministry at the Centre.
2. Judiciary infrastructure and free legal aid are handled by the Department of Justice under the Ministry of Law and Justice.
3. The National Legal Services Authority is the statutory body responsible for the free legal aid pillar.
4. The Inter-Operable Criminal Justice System is implemented solely by the Reserve Bank of India.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
- Police and prisons are largely State-administered subjects, with the Union Ministry of Home Affairs acting as the nodal ministry at the Centre.
- Judiciary infrastructure and free legal aid are handled by the Department of Justice under the Ministry of Law and Justice.
- The National Legal Services Authority is the statutory body responsible for the free legal aid pillar.
- The Inter-Operable Criminal Justice System is implemented solely by the Reserve Bank of India.
- A. 1 and 2 only
- B. 1, 2 and 3
- C. 2, 3 and 4
- D. 1, 2, 3 and 4
Q6. The Inter-Operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS), a recurring Union-funded justice-sector initiative, is best described as which one of the following?
- A. A platform digitally integrating the databases of police, courts, prisons, forensic laboratories and prosecution, with the NCRB as the nodal implementing agency under the Ministry of Home Affairs
- B. A Reserve Bank of India network for tracking financial crimes and money-laundering cases across banks
- C. A National Legal Services Authority application for managing free legal-aid cases at the district level
- D. A National Crime Records Bureau portal that records only First Information Reports filed at police stations
Q7. The 'Budgets for Justice' study that analysed justice spending across 11 high-GDP States in 2024-25 was produced by which one of the following?
- A. The India Justice Report, a Tata Trusts–led civil-society initiative
- B. The National Crime Records Bureau under the Ministry of Home Affairs
- C. The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation
- D. NITI Aayog's Governance and Research vertical
Q8. The 'Budgets for Justice' analysis, which found a cumulative justice spend of about ₹2 lakh crore in 2024-25, covered how many high-GDP States?
Q9. Consider the following per-capita spending figures attributed to the India Justice Report 2025:
1. Police — about ₹1,275
2. Judiciary — about ₹182
3. Legal aid — about ₹60
4. Prisons — about ₹57
Which of the statements given above are correctly matched?
- Police — about ₹1,275
- Judiciary — about ₹182
- Legal aid — about ₹60
- Prisons — about ₹57
- A. 1, 2 and 3
- B. 1, 2 and 4
- C. 2, 3 and 4
- D. 1, 3 and 4
Q10. According to the India Justice Report 2025, roughly how many rupees per person per year does India spend on free legal aid — the lowest-funded of the four justice pillars?
Q11. In comparing India's justice spending with Europe, the Council of Europe's CEPEJ figure of about 0.31% of GDP refers to which one of the following?
- A. Spending by European states on their judicial systems — courts, public prosecution and legal aid — with policing excluded
- B. Total European public-order-and-safety expenditure, including police, prisons and the judiciary combined
- C. The share of GDP that European Union institutions devote to external rule-of-law and justice-aid programmes
- D. The proportion of GDP that European households spend on private litigation and lawyers' fees
Q12. Consider the following statements comparing the tiers of India's legal-aid architecture:
1. The National Legal Services Authority is the apex body constituted under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, while State Legal Services Authorities give effect to its policies at the State level.
2. The Chief Justice of India is the Patron-in-Chief of NALSA, whereas a State Legal Services Authority is headed by the Chief Justice of the concerned High Court as its Patron-in-Chief.
3. Unlike NALSA, District Legal Services Authorities are constituted under a separate statute distinct from the 1987 Act.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- The National Legal Services Authority is the apex body constituted under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, while State Legal Services Authorities give effect to its policies at the State level.
- The Chief Justice of India is the Patron-in-Chief of NALSA, whereas a State Legal Services Authority is headed by the Chief Justice of the concerned High Court as its Patron-in-Chief.
- Unlike NALSA, District Legal Services Authorities are constituted under a separate statute distinct from the 1987 Act.
- A. 1 and 2 only
- B. 2 and 3 only
- C. 1 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3