2026 CSAT, all questions

UPSC Prelims 2026 · CSAT

Question 39: Reading Comprehension

Passage · as printed by UPSC
Passage beginning “The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection…”

Which of the following conclusions is/are valid?

  1. 1.Only a serious offence as categorised by the revised JJ Act, justifies the transfer of a case to the adult judicial system.
  2. 2.The JJ Act, 2021, categorises an offence as a serious offence based on the maximum sentence it carries, rather than on the minimum sentence.

Select the answer using the code given below.

a1 only
b2 only
cBoth 1 and 2
dNeither 1 nor 2

AnswerUPSC’s answer is (b).

Statement 2 matches the passage: since the 2021 amendment, an offence counts as serious when its upper limit of punishment is seven years or more, even if no lower limit is set, so the test is the maximum. Statement 1 fails: the passage links the option of trying a teenager above 16 as an adult to heinous offences, those with a seven-year floor, and records activists arguing that serious offences should not lead to such transfer. Transfer is therefore not limited to serious offences.

  • 1. The passage links adult trial to heinous offences, not to serious ones.
  • 2. Serious status rests on an upper limit of seven years or more; no lower limit is needed.

How you could have got this

  1. If you were sure statement 1 is not correct, (a) and (c) go: each of them includes 1.

    What you needed to know: The passage links adult trial to heinous offences, not to serious ones.

  2. Then, if you were sure statement 2 is correct, (d) goes: it leaves 2 out.

    What you needed to know: Serious status rests on an upper limit of seven years or more; no lower limit is needed.

Only (b) is left. This one needs every statement.

This follows UPSC’s provisional key; the final key could change it.

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) Wrong: 1 is contradicted; adult trial is tied to heinous offences, and activists oppose it for serious ones.
  • (b) Right: only 2 is a valid conclusion.
  • (c) Wrong: 1 is false.
  • (d) Wrong: 2 is valid.

Only the provisional key (27 May 2026) was found; the final key replaces it when found.

Answer: UPSC’s key. Explanation: written by UPSC Grade, not by UPSC.

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Source: UPSC, Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2026, General Studies Paper II (CSAT), Series A. The paper on upsc.gov.in.