Constitution, Social Justice and Human Rights Questions and Answers

Answer: B

The fundamental duties are listed in Article 51A.

Article 51A, in Part IVA of the Constitution, was inserted by the 42nd Amendment in 1976. It lists eleven duties today, among them respecting the Constitution, the National Flag and the National Anthem, upholding the sovereignty and integrity of India, protecting the environment, developing scientific temper, and providing education to one's children aged six to fourteen.

Articles 50A, 52A and 53A do not exist. Article 50 itself is the directive on separating the judiciary from the executive, and Articles 52 and 53 deal with the President.

Answer: D

The one that is not a writ is Certification.

The Supreme Court (Article 32) and the High Courts (Article 226) can issue five writs:

• Habeas corpus: produce a detained person before the court.
• Mandamus: order a public authority to perform its duty.
• Prohibition: stop a lower court from exceeding its jurisdiction.
• Certiorari: quash an order already passed without jurisdiction.
• Quo warranto: ask by what authority a person holds a public office.

'Certification' is a distortion of certiorari and is not a writ. Habeas corpus, mandamus and prohibition are genuine writs.

Answer: C

The one that is not a function of a Human Rights Commission is To conduct election.

Under the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, the National and State Human Rights Commissions inquire into complaints of human rights violations, including negligence by public servants; visit jails and other institutions where people are detained to study living conditions; review safeguards; and spread human rights literacy and awareness.

So inquiring into the commission of violations, inspecting prisons and conducting awareness programmes are all functions. Conducting elections belongs to the Election Commission of India under Article 324, and to the State Election Commissions for local bodies.

Answer: B

The punishment is imprisonment for a term not less than seven years, which may extend to imprisonment for life.

The quoted definition is Section 304B of the Indian Penal Code, added in 1986. Sub-section (2) fixes this punishment: a minimum of seven years, and up to life imprisonment. The same offence and punishment are carried into Section 80 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, which replaced the IPC later in 2024.

Life imprisonment is only the upper limit, not a fixed sentence. Fourteen years is not the term the section prescribes. The death penalty is not provided for dowry death.

Answer: D

Fundamental Duties are in Part IV A, Article 51A.

The 42nd Amendment Act, 1976, on the recommendation of the Swaran Singh Committee, inserted a new Part IV A containing a single article, 51A, which lists the duties of every citizen. The 86th Amendment of 2002 added the eleventh duty, on providing opportunities for education to children aged six to fourteen.

Part IV holds the Directive Principles of State Policy, and Article 51 is the last of them, on the promotion of international peace and security. So every option naming Part IV or Article 51 alone is wrong.

Answer: B

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a UN General Assembly Resolution.

The General Assembly adopted it in Paris on 10 December 1948 as Resolution 217 A (III). As a resolution it was not a treaty and was not legally binding in itself, though much of it is now regarded as customary international law. Human Rights Day is observed on its anniversary.

It was not adopted at a conference of several nations. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights is a separate binding treaty of 1966 that gives effect to part of the Declaration, and Amnesty International is a non-governmental organisation that makes no treaties.

Answer: C

The National Human Rights Commission was constituted in 1993.

It was set up on 12 October 1993 under the Protection of Human Rights Ordinance, which was replaced by the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993. Justice Ranganath Misra, a former Chief Justice of India, was its first chairperson. It is a statutory body, not a constitutional one.

1991, 1992 and 1994 are near misses. The Act came into force with retrospective effect from the date of the ordinance, so the Commission dates from 1993.

Answer: C

The answer is the welfare state.

In India the duty to protect the rights of the individual rests on the State. The Constitution makes the State responsible for securing fundamental rights and for working towards the welfare goals of the Directive Principles, and it acts through the courts, the human rights commissions and the administration.

Social workers, political parties and the family can promote and defend rights, but none of them carries the legal responsibility or the authority to enforce them. That responsibility belongs to the state.

Answer: B

Social justice denotes the fair and equitable distribution of resources, opportunities and privileges in society.

Social justice means that every person has an equal claim to the basic resources and opportunities of society, with special measures for those who are disadvantaged. In India it underlies the Preamble, the Directive Principles and policies such as reservation.

Distribution by individual capacity or by economic status would preserve existing inequalities rather than correct them. Financial aid to the wealthy is the opposite of social justice.

Answer: D

The Minister in-charge of the Ministry of Defense is not a member.

Under Section 4 of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, the chairperson and members of the NHRC are appointed by the President on the recommendation of a committee of the Prime Minister (chairperson), the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, the Minister of Home Affairs, the Leaders of the Opposition in both Houses and the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.

The Prime Minister, the Speaker and the Home Minister are all on that committee. The Defence Minister is not.