UPHESC Assistant Professor Law 2025 PYQs

Concept: Match each wetland to its actual state.

1. Sakhya Sagar (Shivpuri) – Madhya Pradesh (2022) ✔.
2. Sirpur Wetland (Indore) – Madhya Pradesh, not Tripura ✘.
3. Pala Wetland (Saiha) – Mizoram, not Meghalaya ✘.
4. Sur Sarovar / Keetham Lake (Agra) – Uttar Pradesh (2020) ✔ → 1 and 4.

Short trick: Indore has two Ramsar sites – Sirpur and Yashwant Sagar; Mizoram's only one is Pala.

Concept: The Aihole inscription (634 CE) of Chalukya king Pulakeshin II was composed by the Jain poet Ravikirti.

1. In it Ravikirti claims to have attained the fame of Kalidasa and Bharavi – the earliest dated mention of both poets.
2. Prayag Prashasti (Harishena) praises Samudragupta; Bhitari pillar is of Skandagupta; Ayodhya inscription is of Dhanadeva (Shunga).

Short trick: Aihole → Ravikirti → "Kalidasa-Bharavi"; also records Pulakeshin II defeating Harsha.

Concept: During the Zulu (Bambatha) Rebellion of 1906 in Natal, Gandhi raised an Indian Stretcher-Bearer Corps.

1. For the duration of service he was given the temporary rank of Sergeant Major (his autobiography, Part IV).
2. He and his men mostly nursed wounded Zulus, an experience that pushed him towards brahmacharya and Satyagraha.
3. In the Boer War (1899) he had led the Indian Ambulance Corps.

Short trick: Boer War 1899 – Ambulance Corps; Zulu Revolt 1906 – Sergeant Major.

Concept: Babur wrote his memoirs, Tuzuk-i-Baburi (Baburnama), in his mother tongue Chagatai Turkish.

1. It was translated into Persian by Abdur Rahim Khan-i-Khanan in 1589 at Akbar's order.
2. English translations: Leyden & Erskine (1826), A. S. Beveridge (1922).

Short trick: Babur – Turki original; Rahim – Persian translation.

Concept: Public Interest Litigation originated in the USA in the 1960s (civil-rights and legal-aid movements), where it was used to represent unrepresented interests.

1. In India it was developed in the late 1970s–80s by Justices P. N. Bhagwati and V. R. Krishna Iyer by relaxing locus standi.
2. Landmark Indian cases: Hussainara Khatoon (1979), S. P. Gupta (1981).

Short trick: PIL – born in the USA, popularised in India by Bhagwati & Krishna Iyer.

Concept: The Constituent Assembly met for the first time on 9 December 1946 in the Constitution Hall (Central Hall), New Delhi.

1. Dr. Sachchidananda Sinha was the temporary (oldest) President; Dr. Rajendra Prasad was elected President on 11 December 1946.
2. Objectives Resolution moved by Nehru on 13 December 1946; Constitution adopted on 26 November 1949.

Short trick: 9-12-1946 first sitting → 26-11-1949 adoption → 26-1-1950 commencement.

Concept: Article 326: elections to the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies shall be on the basis of adult suffrage.

1. Voting age reduced from 21 to 18 years by the 61st Amendment Act, 1988.
2. Art. 324 – Election Commission; Art. 325 – single general electoral roll, no exclusion on religion, race, caste or sex; Art. 327 – Parliament's power to make election laws.

Short trick: 324 Commission, 325 one roll, 326 adult vote, 327 Parliament's law.

Concept: As per FAO world production statistics available when the paper was set, China was the largest producer of rice (paddy) and India the second.

1. India is, however, the largest exporter of rice (about 40% of world trade).
2. Note for later readers: USDA estimates for 2024-25 placed India's milled-rice output (~150 Mt) above China's (~145 Mt), so later sources call India No. 1.

Short trick: Rice: China 1st producer (FAO), India 2nd producer but No. 1 exporter.

Concept: The Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme (2020–21) gives incentives on incremental sales of goods made in India in 14 key sectors.

1. Sectors include large-scale electronics/mobile manufacturing, automobiles & auto components, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, telecom, food processing, textiles, solar modules, ACC batteries, specialty steel, drones, white goods, IT hardware.
2. All three given sectors are covered, so "None of the above".

Short trick: PLI started with mobiles, medical devices and pharma (2020), then expanded to 14 sectors.

Concept: Post-1947 land reforms aimed at social justice and higher productivity by giving land to the tiller.

1. Measures: abolition of zamindari/intermediaries, tenancy reforms, land ceiling and redistribution of surplus land to the landless, consolidation of holdings.
2. Real estate, agro-industries or privatisation were never the primary aim.

Short trick: "Land to the tiller" – abolish zamindari, fix ceiling, redistribute surplus.

Concept: Granville Austin (The Indian Constitution: Cornerstone of a Nation, 1966) wrote that the Indian Constitution is “first and foremost a social document”.

1. Most provisions aim at social revolution – Parts III and IV are its ‘conscience’.
2. Ivor Jennings called it too long and rigid (“lawyers’ paradise”).
3. K. C. Wheare called India “quasi-federal”; John Locke is a 17th-century philosopher, not a commentator on it.

Short trick: Austin = Social document + Cornerstone; Wheare = Quasi-federal.

Concept: Article 224 lets the President appoint additional judges (temporary increase in work/arrears) for a period not exceeding two years.

1. Art. 224(1): additional judges – up to 2 years.
2. Art. 224(2): acting judge – till the permanent judge resumes duty; no one may hold office beyond 62 years (Art. 224(3)).
3. So the period asked in the question is ‘not exceeding two years’.

Short trick: 224 → ‘2’ years for additional judges.

Concept: Prospective overruling was first applied in I. C. Golak Nath v. State of Punjab (1967), not in Maneka Gandhi (1978).

1. Re Berubari (1960): Preamble not a part of the Constitution – correct.
2. Indira Gandhi v. Raj Narain (1975): Art. 329A(4) (39th Amendment) struck down on basic structure – judicial review of amendment – correct.
3. Selvi v. State of Karnataka (2010): involuntary narco-analysis, polygraph, BEAP violate Arts. 20(3), 21 – correct.
4. Maneka Gandhi is about ‘procedure established by law’ being fair, just and reasonable.

Short trick: Prospective overruling = Golak Nath (borrowed from American law).

Concept: After the 44th Amendment (1978), Art. 359 cannot suspend enforcement of Articles 20 and 21 during an emergency.

1. ADM Jabalpur (1976) had allowed suspension of Art. 21 – the 44th Amendment reversed this.
2. Art. 20 (protection in respect of conviction) and Art. 21 (life and personal liberty) remain enforceable.
3. Hence both I and II.

Short trick: 20–21 never sleep, even in emergency.

Concept: The original Constitution (1950) had 8 Schedules; today it has 12.

1. 9th Schedule – 1st Amendment, 1951.
2. 10th Schedule (anti-defection) – 52nd Amendment, 1985.
3. 11th (Panchayats) and 12th (Municipalities) – 73rd/74th Amendments, 1992.

Short trick: Original 8 → 1st Amdt adds 9 → 52nd adds 10 → 73/74 add 11/12.

Concept: The Constitution (86th Amendment) Act, 2002 inserted Art. 21A (free and compulsory education, 6–14 years).

1. It also substituted Art. 45 (early childhood care below 6) and added Art. 51A(k) (parent’s duty).
2. RTE Act, 2009 gives effect to Art. 21A from 1 April 2010.
3. Background: Unni Krishnan (1993) recognised education as part of Art. 21.

Short trick: 86th → 21A + 45 + 51A(k): three changes, one amendment.

Concept: In Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association v. Union of India (2015) Justice Kurian Joseph, while striking down NJAC, admitted that the collegium system “needs improvement requiring a glasnost and a perestroika” (openness and restructuring).

1. Bench 4:1 – Khehar, Lokur, Goel, Kurian Joseph struck down the 99th Amendment and NJAC Act.
2. Justice Chelameshwar was the lone dissent (upheld NJAC).
3. Khehar wrote the lead opinion; the ‘glasnost–perestroika’ phrase is Kurian Joseph’s.

Short trick: Kurian Joseph – Russian words (Gorbachev reforms) for the collegium.

Concept: Article 137: subject to law and rules under Art. 145, the Supreme Court may review any judgment or order made by it.

1. Art. 134 – criminal appeals; Art. 136 – special leave to appeal; Art. 135 – Federal Court jurisdiction.
2. Beyond review lies the curative petition (Rupa Ashok Hurra, 2002).

Short trick: 13‘7’ = ‘re-view’ – second look.

Concept: Lokpal/Lokayukta is the Indian form of the Ombudsman – its core power is to investigate complaints of citizens about maladministration and corruption.

1. Proposed by the First ARC (1966) for redress of citizens’ grievances against administration.
2. It does not run the administration (B) and its basic role is not merely advisory (C).
3. Disciplinary action is taken by the competent authority on its report; the Lokpal’s own power is investigation/inquiry into complaints.

Short trick: Ombudsman = complaint-investigator of maladministration.

Concept: A. V. Dicey, in Introduction to the Study of the Law of the Constitution (1885), systematically propounded the Rule of Law.

1. Three pillars: supremacy of law (no arbitrary power), equality before law, and constitution as the result of ordinary law (judge-made rights).
2. Ivor Jennings later criticised Dicey’s view.
3. Sir Edward Coke is associated with its early origin, but the doctrine is credited to Dicey.

Short trick: Dicey = 3 pillars: Supremacy, Equality, Judge-made constitution.