Q120. In the environmental-clearance litigation, which two years corresponded to the government office memoranda scrutinized by the Supreme Court?
[RRB Group D, 27 November 2025, Shift 1]
(A) 2006 and 2011
(B) 2012 and 2014
(C) 2017 and 2021
(D) 2009 and 2015
Answer: (C) 2017 and 2021
Explanation: The cited memoranda were issued in 2017 and 2021, addressing retrospective or ex-post-facto environmental approvals. Judicial examination turned on consistency with environmental law and the preventive purpose of prior environmental impact assessments.
Q119. Which of these constituted the proposed National Judicial Appointments Commission:
CJI,
two senior Supreme Court judges,
Union Law Minister
two eminent persons
[CGPSC Prelims, 9 February 2025]
(A) CJI and Law Minister only
(B) Two judges and eminent persons only
(C) CJI and eminent persons only
(D) All the listed categories
Answer: (D) All the listed categories
Explanation: The Ninety-ninth Amendment proposed the NJAC with the Chief Justice, two senior judges, Law Minister and two eminent persons. The Supreme Court invalidated that amendment in 2015 for violating judicial independence under the basic structure.
Q118. Which Article was called the “heart and soul” of the Constitution by B.R. Ambedkar?
[CGPSC Prelims, 9 February 2025]
(A) Article 32
(B) Article 14
(C) Article 15
(D) Article 19
Answer: (A) Article 32
Explanation: Ambedkar used that phrase for Article 32 because it guarantees access to the Supreme Court for enforcement of Fundamental Rights. Without an effective constitutional remedy, many substantive rights would be difficult to vindicate against unlawful state action.
Q117. Consider:
1. India’s Parliament is legally sovereign without constitutional limits.
2. The Supreme Court may invalidate unconstitutional legislation.
Which is correct?
[UKPSC Lower PCS, 11 May 2025]
(A) Statement 1 only
(B) Statement 2 only
(C) Both statements
(D) Neither statement
Answer: (B) Statement 2 only
Explanation: Unlike the British doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty, Indian legislation is limited by the Constitution. The Supreme Court may apply judicial review to invalidate laws that violate constitutional provisions. Parliament remains powerful but is not constitutionally unlimited.
Q116. On which date did the Constitution of India establish the Supreme Court?
[Punjab Police Constable, 10 June 2025]
(A) 15 August 1947
(B) 26 January 1947
(C) 26 January 1950
(D) 15 August 1950
Answer: (C) 26 January 1950
Explanation: The Constitution came into force on 26 January 1950, when the Supreme Court was constitutionally established. Its formal inauguration occurred on 28 January 1950. Distinguishing establishment from inauguration prevents confusion between these two dates.
Q115. Which city housed the first Supreme Court created under the British colonial constitutional framework in India?
[Telangana High Court Field Assistant, 20 April 2025]
(A) Madras
(B) Bombay
(C) Calcutta
(D) Delhi
Answer: (C) Calcutta
Explanation: The Supreme Court of Judicature at Fort William in Calcutta was established under the Regulating Act framework, beginning work in 1774. This colonial court was separate from the modern Supreme Court created under the Constitution in 1950.
Q114. By what common designation is the Supreme Court of India described?
[OSSSC Combined Recruitment Prelims, 31 October 2025]
(A) People’s Court
(B) Legal Court
(C) Apex Court
(D) Sessions Court
Answer: (C) Apex Court
Explanation: The Supreme Court is the apex court of the integrated Indian judicial system. It exercises original, appellate and advisory jurisdictions, besides protecting constitutional rights. Sessions Courts operate at a different, subordinate judicial level.
Q113. A writ of prohibition is issued by the Supreme Court or a High Court to whom?
[UPSC Civil Services Prelims 2024]
(A) A government officer to stop performing public duty
(B) Parliament to restrain legislative debate
(C) A lower court from exceeding its jurisdiction
(D) The Government to halt an entire policy
Answer: (C) A lower court from exceeding its jurisdiction
Explanation: Prohibition is a supervisory writ directing a lower court or tribunal not to continue proceedings beyond its lawful jurisdiction. Unlike certiorari, which may quash a completed order, prohibition primarily operates preventively before an unlawful determination is made.
Q112. Which organization was associated with litigation challenging the criminalization of consensual same-sex relations under Section 377?
[UPSC CDS (II) 2024]
(A) Naz Foundation
(B) Bachpan Bachao Andolan
(C) Common Cause
(D) Association for Democratic Reforms
Answer: (A) Naz Foundation
Explanation: Naz Foundation initiated important legal proceedings contesting Section 377’s application to consensual adult relationships. Later Supreme Court decisions, especially Navtej Singh Johar (2018), protected consensual same-sex intimacy under constitutional guarantees of dignity, privacy and equality.
Q111. Which Article was described by B.R. Ambedkar as the heart and soul of the Constitution?
[UPSC CDS (I) 2024]
(A) Article 15
(B) Article 21
(C) Article 23
(D) Article 32
Answer: (D) Article 32
Explanation: Article 32 is itself a Fundamental Right, enabling direct access to the Supreme Court for enforcing other Fundamental Rights. Ambedkar stressed that constitutional remedies make rights meaningful when governments or authorities unlawfully violate them.
