Answer: (b) 1 and 3 only

1 — CORRECT: CAG removed only by Parliament on address (same process as SC judge removal) ✓
2 — WRONG: Art. 148(4) — CAG shall NOT be eligible for further office under GoI or any State after ceasing to hold office. This means no HC or SC appointment either. ✗
3 — CORRECT: CAG’s salary charged to Consolidated Fund of India — not subject to Parliamentary vote ✓

Answer: (a) 1 and 2 only

1 — CORRECT: Compliance/Regularity Audit = checks adherence to law, rules, sanctions ✓
2 — CORRECT: Performance/Efficiency Audit = examines economy, efficiency, effectiveness of programmes ✓
3 — WRONG: CAG does NOT audit the wisdom or rationale of policy. CAG audits implementation. “Financial Audit” specifically checks accuracy of financial statements — it does NOT question policy rationale ✗

Answer: (a) 1 and 2 only

1 — CORRECT: Art. 280 — FC constituted within 2 years and every 5 years thereafter ✓
2 — CORRECT: 14th FC (2015–20) raised states’ share from 32% to 41% — landmark increase ✓
3 — WRONG: FC recommendations are ADVISORY — not binding. Government may accept with modifications. By convention substantially accepted but legally advisory. ✗

Answer: (a) 1 only

1 — CORRECT: Art. 88 — AG has right to participate in both Houses of Parliament but NO right to vote ✓
2 — WRONG: The senior-most puisne judge of the SC is entirely different. AG is the government’s chief law officer — a separate post from the judiciary entirely ✗
3 — WRONG: Solicitor General has NO constitutional basis. Only AG is constitutionally established under Art. 76. SG is a statutory/conventional appointment ✗

Answer: (c) Article 338B

102nd CAA 2018 inserted Art. 338B to give NCBC constitutional status.
Also inserted Art. 342A — empowering President to specify socially and educationally backward classes for each state/UT.

— Art. 338 = NCSC
— Art. 338A = NCST
— Art. 338B = NCBC (added 2018)
— Art. 340 = already existed — provides for appointment of a Commission to investigate conditions of backward classes (used for Mandal Commission etc.) — NOT the constitutional body for NCBC

Answer: (b) 2 and 4 only

1 — WRONG: Lokpal is a statutory body created by the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act 2013 — NOT a constitutional body ✗
2 — CORRECT: PM is within Lokpal’s jurisdiction but matters of international relations, security, space, atomic energy are excluded; requires full bench inquiry ✓
3 — WRONG: MPs’ conduct in Parliament (speeches and votes) is protected by parliamentary privilege — specifically excluded from Lokpal’s jurisdiction ✗
4 — CORRECT: At least 50% of Lokpal members shall be from SC/ST/OBC/minorities/women ✓

Answer: (a) 1 only

1 — CORRECT: NHRC Chairperson must be a former Chief Justice of India specifically ✓
2 — WRONG: NHRC cannot directly investigate armed forces — complaints referred to government (Ministry of Defence). This is NHRC’s most significant limitation ✗
3 — WRONG: NHRC recommendations are advisory — NOT binding. Governments must consider and respond but can reject with explanation ✗

Answer: (c) 2 and 3 only

1 — WRONG: There is NO CBI Act. CBI operates under the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act 1946 ✗
2 — CORRECT: Under Sec. 6 DSPE Act, CBI needs state government consent (general or specific) to investigate cases within a state ✓
3 — CORRECT: Courts (High Courts and Supreme Court) can order CBI investigation in the interest of justice even without state consent — several precedents exist ✓

Answer: (b) 2 and 3 only

RTI Act 2005 — Second Schedule lists organisations exempt from providing information:
— IB: EXEMPT ✓
— RAW: EXEMPT ✓
— CBI: NOT exempt from RTI — CBI must respond to RTI queries (subject to exceptions for ongoing investigations, informer identity, etc.) ✗
— NIA: NOT in the Second Schedule as exempt — subject to RTI ✗

Key: Only specific intelligence and security organisations are exempt, not all law enforcement. CBI is a law enforcement/investigation agency, not an intelligence agency — not in the exempt list.

Answer: (a) 1 and 2 only

1 — CORRECT: Lok Adalat award is deemed a decree of a civil court — has full legal force ✓
2 — CORRECT: No appeal lies against Lok Adalat award in any court — final and binding ✓
3 — WRONG: Court fees are REFUNDED (not forfeited) when a case is settled through Lok Adalat. This is an incentive to use Lok Adalats. ✗

Answer: (b)

The fundamental difference is fiscal power:
Planning Commission: Could allocate plan funds to states and ministries — had allocative power
NITI Aayog: CANNOT transfer funds to states — purely advisory/think tank role

Option (a) — Both had no constitutional basis; both created by executive resolution ✗
Option (c) — NITI Aayog does NOT formulate Five-Year Plans (abolished); it prepares strategy documents ✗
Option (d) — Planning Commission was also chaired by PM (Nehru was first chair); not Finance Minister ✗

Answer: (a) 1 and 2 only

89th CAA 2003: Separated the combined NCSC+NCST into two distinct constitutional bodies — NCSC (Art. 338) and NCST (Art. 338A). Both got their separate constitutional status through 89th CAA.

NCBC got constitutional status separately through 102nd CAA 2018 — Art. 338B. It was statutory (under 1993 Act) before 2018.

So 89th CAA = NCSC + NCST only; NCBC = 102nd CAA. This is a high-frequency confusion trap.

Answer: (b) Only two

1 — CORRECT: CAG is a constitutional body under Art. 148 ✓
2 — WRONG: Lokpal is a STATUTORY body (Lokpal Act 2013) — NOT constitutional ✗
3 — CORRECT: CBI operates under DSPE Act 1946 — statutory ✓
4 — WRONG: NITI Aayog has NO statutory basis — created by EXECUTIVE RESOLUTION (January 2015). It is not backed by any Act of Parliament ✗

Only pairs 1 and 3 are correctly matched — answer (b) two pairs.

Answer: (c) 1, 2 and 3 only

1 — CORRECT: President appoints — independence from legislative interference ✓
2 — CORRECT: Removal only on SC inquiry finding — strong security of tenure ✓
3 — CORRECT: Salary charged to Consolidated Fund — not votable ✓
4 — WRONG: UPSC Chairman is NOT eligible for reappointment (Art. 319). Also not eligible for any further government employment after ceasing to be Chairman. This bar is an independence safeguard, not a restriction ✗

Answer: (b) 20 days

RTI Act 2005:
Normal requests: 30 days
Requests involving life or liberty: 20 days (expedited)
Requests involving Third Party information: 40 days

“48 hours” is sometimes mentioned in context of information disclosure by courts or police but is not the RTI statutory timeline. “10 days” is not a RTI timeline. The 20-day provision for life/liberty is a specific testable fact.

Answer: (b) 1 and 3 only

1 — CORRECT: FC distributes net proceeds of taxes between Union and States (vertical devolution) + allocation among states (horizontal devolution) ✓
2 — WRONG: Central Assistance for State Plans and CSS are determined by the Finance Ministry and Cabinet — NOT the Finance Commission. After abolition of Planning Commission, these are handled through Union budget, not FC ✗
3 — CORRECT: Art. 280(3)(bb) — FC recommends measures to augment Consolidated Fund of States to supplement resources of Panchayats and Municipalities ✓

Answer: (c)

The key distinction:
Regular Lok Adalat: Award only with consent of both parties — purely conciliatory
Permanent Lok Adalat (for public utility services — transport, hospitals, insurance, telecom, electricity, postal): If conciliation fails, can impose a binding award without parties’ consent

Both are statutory (under Legal Services Authorities Act). Both awards are final/not appealable. But the consent requirement is the critical difference UPSC tests.

Answer: (c) 1, 2, 3 and 4 only

Lokpal Selection Committee under Lokpal Act 2013:
1. Prime Minister (Chairperson) ✓
2. Speaker of Lok Sabha ✓
3. Chief Justice of India or a nominee ✓
4. Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha ✓
5. An eminent jurist nominated by President

Chief Election Commissioner (5 in question) is NOT on the Lokpal Selection Committee. The 5th member is an eminent jurist nominated by the President — not CEC.

Note: Lokpal Selection Committee retains CJI — unlike the CEC Act 2023 which removed CJI. These two selection committees are different and often confused.

Answer: (b)

RTI Amendment 2019 — key change: The tenure (originally fixed at 5 years) and salary of CIC and State Information Commissioners are now to be determined by the Central Government (through rules).

Before 2019: CIC salary = Election Commissioner equivalent; State IC salary = Chief Secretary equivalent; fixed 5-year term.
After 2019: Government determines terms — raising concerns about independence of information commissioners.

Options (a), (c), (d) — none of these changes were made by the 2019 amendment.

Answer: (b)/(c) — 1, 2 and 3 only

1 — CORRECT: Art. 148 = CAG ✓
2 — CORRECT: Art. 165 = Advocate General of State ✓
3 — CORRECT: Art. 280 = Finance Commission ✓
4 — WRONG: Art. 338 = NCSC (National Commission for Scheduled Castes) — NOT NCBC. NCBC is under Art. 338B (inserted by 102nd CAA 2018) ✗

Three pairs correct; pair 4 is wrong because Art. 338 is NCSC, not NCBC.