UPSC Static Quiz – Polity : 30 October 2024

Solution: b)

The All-India Services Act of 1951 authorised the Central government to make rules in consultation with the state governments for the regulation of recruitment and service conditions of the members of all-India services. The members of these services are recruited and trained by the Central government but are assigned to different states for work. They belong to different state cadres; the Centre having no cadre of its own in this regard.

They serve the Central government on deputation and after completing their fixed tenure they go back to their respective states.

Hence, statement 1 is correct but statement 2 is incorrect.

Solution: a)

Statement 1 is not correct: The impeachment charges can be initiated by either House of Parliament. These charges should be signed by one-fourth members of the House (that framed the charges), and a 14 days’ notice should be given to the President.

Statement 2 is correct: An impeachment is a quasi-judicial procedure in the Parliament.

In this context, two things should be noted:

Statement 3 is not correct: the nominated members of either House of Parliament can participate in the impeachment of the President though they do not participate in his election;

Solution: c)

Statement 1 is not correct: The term ‘chargesheet’ has been expressly defined under Section 173 of the CrPC but ‘First Information Report’ or FIR, has not been defined in either the Indian Penal Code (IPC) or the CrPC.

Instead, it finds a place under the police regulations/ rules under Section 154 of CrPC, which deals with ‘Information in Cognizable Cases’.

Statement 2 is correct: A chargesheet must be filed against the accused within a prescribed period of 60-90 days, otherwise the arrest is illegal and the accused is entitled to bail.

Statement 3 is correct: The Supreme Court held that a chargesheet cannot be made publicly available as it’s not a ‘public document’ under Sections 74 and 76 of the Evidence Act, as argued by the petitioners’.

Section 74 of the Evidence Act defines ‘public documents’ as those which form the acts or records of sovereign authority, official bodies, tribunals, and of public offices either legislative, judicial or executive in any part of India, Commonwealth or a foreign country.

Solution: c)

Statement 1 is correct: The time gap between the question hour and the agenda is known as zero hour. It is an Indian innovation in the field of parliamentary procedures and it does not include the Question hour. It has been in existence since 1962

Statement 2 is correct: Thus, unlike question hour, zero hour is an informal device available to the members of the Parliament to raise matters without any prior notice. The zero hour starts immediately after the question hour and lasts until the agenda for the day (ie, regular business of the House) is taken up.

Statement 3 is correct: Unlike the question hour, the zero hour is not mentioned in the Rules of Procedure.

Solution: b)

Statement 1 is correct: The Supreme Court has held in an order that preventive detention cannot be used to counter ordinary law and order situations.

Statement 2 is correct: Preventive detention is an “exceptional power” of the State which affects the personal liberty of the individual and has to be employed sparingly. The State should not arbitrarily resort to “preventive detention” to deal with all and sundry “law and order” problems, which could be dealt with by the ordinary laws of the country.

Statement 3 is not correct: Preventive detention must fall within the four corners of Article 21 (due process of law) read with Article 22 (safeguards against arbitrary arrest and detention) and the statute in question.