In which Article of the Constitution is there the provision of Public Service Commissions for the Union and the States?

The correct answer is D, Comptroller and Auditor-General. Article 148 of the Constitution creates the office of the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India, who audits all receipts and expenditure of the Union and the States and of bodies largely financed from public funds. The President appoints the CAG, who holds office for six years or till the age of 65, whichever comes first, and can be removed only in the manner laid down for a judge of the Supreme Court. The reports go to the President or the Governor, who lays them before Parliament or the State legislature, where the Public Accounts Committee examines them, which is why the CAG is called the guardian of the public purse. A is wrong because the Attorney General, under Article 76, is the highest law officer and advises the government on legal matters. B is wrong because the Advocate General, under Article 165, does the same work for a State. C is wrong because the Union Public Service Commission conducts examinations and advises on recruitment. Exam tip: Article 148 CAG, 76 Attorney General, 165 Advocate General, 315 Public Service Commissions.

The correct answer is D, We Command. Mandamus is a Latin word meaning we command, and the writ is an order from a court to a public official, a public body, a corporation or a lower court to perform a public duty it has refused to do. It cannot be issued against a private person, against the President or a Governor, or against a chief justice of a High Court acting in a judicial capacity. The Supreme Court issues writs under Article 32 and the High Courts under Article 226, which is the wider power. A is wrong because you may have the body is the meaning of habeas corpus, the writ used to produce a detained person before a court and test whether the detention is lawful. B is wrong because to be certified is the meaning of certiorari, by which a higher court moves a pending case to itself or quashes an order of a lower body. C is wrong because by what warrant is the meaning of quo warranto, an enquiry into a person's claim to a public office. Exam tip: habeas corpus – produce the body; mandamus – we command; prohibition – stop; certiorari – to be certified; quo warranto – by what authority.

The correct answer is A, 297. The Constitution (Fortieth Amendment) Act, 1976 rewrote Article 297 so that all lands, minerals and other things of value lying in the territorial waters, the continental shelf and the exclusive economic zone of India vest in the Union and are held for the purposes of the Union. The same amendment empowered Parliament to fix the limits of these maritime zones from time to time, and it also added a large number of state land-ceiling laws to the Ninth Schedule to protect them from court challenge. B is wrong because Article 248 deals with the residuary powers of legislation, which rest with Parliament. C is wrong because Article 245 sets out the extent of the laws made by Parliament and by State legislatures. D is wrong because Article 226 gives every High Court the power to issue writs. Exam tip: Article 297 – things of value in the territorial waters and the exclusive economic zone vest in the Union; widened by the 40th Amendment, 1976.

The correct answer is D, Mizoram. Mizoram is a full state, not a Union Territory. It was carved out of Assam as a Union Territory in 1972, and after the Mizo Accord of 1986 it became a state on 20 February 1987 under the 53rd Constitutional Amendment, on the same day as Arunachal Pradesh. The difference matters: a Union Territory is administered by the President through an Administrator or Lieutenant Governor under Article 239, while a state has its own Governor and its own government under Part VI of the Constitution. Option A is wrong because Ladakh has been a Union Territory since 31 October 2019 and Puducherry since 1962, and both are listed as Union Territories in the First Schedule. Option B is wrong because Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu were joined into one Union Territory on 26 January 2020. Option C is wrong because Lakshadweep is a Union Territory of coral islands in the Arabian Sea, with its capital at Kavaratti. Exam tip: Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh became states on 20 February 1987, Goa on 30 May 1987.

The correct answer is C, Fundamental Rights. Article 226 gives every High Court the power to issue writs for the enforcement of Fundamental Rights. The five writs are habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, certiorari and quo warranto. Article 226 is in fact wider than Article 32, because a High Court may issue these writs both for Fundamental Rights and 'for any other purpose', which covers ordinary legal rights as well, while the Supreme Court's power under Article 32 is confined to Fundamental Rights. The other difference is that Article 32 is itself a Fundamental Right and cannot be taken away, whereas the power under Article 226 is not. Option A is wrong because ordinary civil rights are enforced through civil suits in the regular courts. Option B is wrong because 'sanctioning rights' is not a category the Constitution knows. Option D is wrong because children's rights come from statutes such as the Juvenile Justice Act and bodies like the NCPCR, not from Article 226. Exam tip: Article 32 — Supreme Court, Fundamental Rights only; Article 226 — High Court, wider reach.