UPSC Prelims 2006 · General Studies
Question 55: Polity and Governance
Consider the following statements:
- 1.A person who has held office as a permanent Judge of a High Court cannot plead or act in any court or before any authority in India except the Supreme Court.
- 2.A person is not qualified for appointment as a Judge of a High Court in India unless he has for at least five years held a judicial office in the territory of India.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
AnswerThe answer is (d).
Article 220 bars a former permanent High Court judge from pleading or acting in any court or before any authority in India except the Supreme Court and the other High Courts, so statement 1, which leaves out the other High Courts, is wrong. Article 217(2) requires a High Court judge to have held judicial office in India for at least ten years, or to have been a High Court advocate for ten years, not five. Neither statement is correct.
- 1. Article 220 excepts the Supreme Court and the other High Courts, not only the Supreme Court.
- 2. Article 217(2) asks for ten years as a judicial officer or advocate.
How you could have got this
- If you were sure statement 1 is not correct, (a) and (c) go: each of them includes 1.
What you needed to know: Article 220 excepts the Supreme Court and the other High Courts, not only the Supreme Court.
- Then, if you were sure statement 2 is not correct, (b) goes: it includes 2.
What you needed to know: Article 217(2) asks for ten years as a judicial officer or advocate.
Only (d) is left. This one needs every statement.
This follows an unofficial answer: UPSC has not published its key for this year, and if that answer is wrong, so is this path.
Which options go is worked out from UPSC’s key and the options, not by a model.
Why each option is right or wrong
- (a) Statement 1 omits the other High Courts, so it is incomplete and false.
- (b) The qualifying period is ten years, not five.
- (c) Both statements fail on facts.
- (d) Correct: neither statement is right.
Explanation: written by UPSC Grade, not by UPSC.
Source: UPSC, Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2006, General Studies. UPSC's own paper isn't online; the words are from a published compilation. The paper on upsc.gov.in.