UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — ‘SC clean chit for Singh must trigger reform of criminal justice system’

Q1. Which one of the following judges headed the three-judge Supreme Court bench that in July 2026 set aside the summoning order in the Talabira-II coal block matter and accepted the investigating agency's closure reports?

  • A. Surya Kant
  • B. Joymalya Bagchi
  • C. V. Mohana
  • D. B.R. Gavai

Q2. The two closure reports accepted by the Supreme Court in July 2026, resulting in the quashing of the 2015 summoning order in the Talabira-II matter, had been filed by which one of the following?

  • A. The Enforcement Directorate, functioning under the Department of Revenue
  • B. The Serious Fraud Investigation Office, functioning under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs
  • C. The Central Bureau of Investigation, which derives its powers from the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946
  • D. The Central Vigilance Commission, a statutory body under the CVC Act, 2003

Q3. With reference to the CAG's Performance Audit on the Allocation of Coal Blocks and Augmentation of Coal Production, consider the following: 1. It was released in August 2012 and covered blocks allocated up to 31 March 2011. 2. It estimated the benefit accruing to private allottees of opencast blocks at about ₹1.86 lakh crore. 3. It recommended that captive coal blocks be allocated through competitive bidding. 4. It identified the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 as the primary legislation determining eligibility for coal mining in India. Which of the above is/are correctly identified?

  1. It was released in August 2012 and covered blocks allocated up to 31 March 2011.
  2. It estimated the benefit accruing to private allottees of opencast blocks at about ₹1.86 lakh crore.
  3. It recommended that captive coal blocks be allocated through competitive bidding.
  4. It identified the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 as the primary legislation determining eligibility for coal mining in India.
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 2, 3 and 4
  • C. 1, 2 and 3
  • D. 1 and 4 only

Q4. The much-publicised figure of about ₹10.7 lakh crore linked to coal block allocations — observations that the CAG subsequently described as 'exceedingly misleading' — first emerged from which one of the following?

  • A. The final CAG performance audit report tabled in Parliament in August 2012
  • B. The Supreme Court judgment of 2014 that cancelled the allotment of 214 coal blocks
  • C. A draft CAG report whose contents were reported in the media in March 2012
  • D. The first set of first information reports registered by the CBI in the coal allocation cases

Q5. With reference to the Talabira-II coal block case, which one of the following statements is correct?

  • A. Talabira-II was the only coal block whose allocation was examined by the CAG in its 2012 performance audit.
  • B. The special court's 2015 order summoned the former Prime Minister alone, every other person named by the CBI having been discharged.
  • C. In July 2026 the Supreme Court ordered a fresh investigation into all captive coal block allocations made between 2004 and 2009.
  • D. Talabira-II was allotted to Hindalco Industries in 2005, when the then Prime Minister additionally held the Coal portfolio.

Q6. Captive block allotments of the kind audited by the CAG for the 2004–2009 period, including Talabira-II, were recommended by a screening committee functioning under which one of the following?

  • A. Ministry of Mines, Government of India
  • B. Ministry of Coal, Government of India
  • C. Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
  • D. Ministry of Steel, Government of India

Q7. When an investigating agency submits, on completion of investigation, a report concluding that no offence appears to have been made out, the final say on whether that report is accepted rests with which one of the following?

  • A. The Director of the investigating agency, whose decision to close a case is final unless reopened by the Central Government
  • B. The Central Vigilance Commission, which exercises superintendence over the agency in corruption cases
  • C. The Public Prosecutor attached to the special court, upon whose consent the proceedings stand closed
  • D. The court empowered to take cognizance, which may accept the report or decline it and proceed against the accused

Q8. Consider the following statements about the laws that now govern criminal procedure and cognizance in India: 1. The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 replaced the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. 2. The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 replaced the Indian Evidence Act, 1872. 3. The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 contains 531 sections as against 484 in the Code it replaced. 4. The Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 replaced the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. Which of the above is/are NOT correct?

  1. The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 replaced the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
  2. The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 replaced the Indian Evidence Act, 1872.
  3. The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 contains 531 sections as against 484 in the Code it replaced.
  4. The Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 replaced the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
  • A. 1 and 3
  • B. 2 and 4
  • C. 2, 3 and 4
  • D. 4 only

Q9. The three Sanhitas that replaced India's colonial-era criminal codes were piloted in Parliament by which one of the following?

  • A. The Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice
  • B. The Department of Justice, Ministry of Law and Justice
  • C. The Department of Personnel and Training, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions
  • D. The Ministry of Home Affairs

Q10. The provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam were brought into force with effect from which one of the following dates?

  • A. 21 December 2023
  • B. 25 December 2023
  • C. 1 July 2024
  • D. 26 January 2024

Q11. The Committee that recommends the appointment of the Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation under the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946 is chaired by which one of the following?

  • A. The Chief Justice of India
  • B. The Prime Minister
  • C. The Union Home Minister
  • D. The Central Vigilance Commissioner

Q12. Consider the following statements about the offices held by Dr. Manmohan Singh: 1. He was Governor of the Reserve Bank of India between 1982 and 1985, immediately succeeding C. Rangarajan in that office. 2. He served as Union Finance Minister from 1991 to 1996, and entered the Rajya Sabha in the same year in which he took charge of that portfolio. 3. He was Prime Minister from 2004 to 2014, and during that tenure the Coal Ministry portfolio was for a period additionally held by him. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. He was Governor of the Reserve Bank of India between 1982 and 1985, immediately succeeding C. Rangarajan in that office.
  2. He served as Union Finance Minister from 1991 to 1996, and entered the Rajya Sabha in the same year in which he took charge of that portfolio.
  3. He was Prime Minister from 2004 to 2014, and during that tenure the Coal Ministry portfolio was for a period additionally held by him.
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 1 only
  • C. 2 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3