2026 CSAT, all questions

UPSC Prelims 2026 · CSAT

Question 40: Reading Comprehension

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

Which of the following statements is/are correct?

  1. 1.If an offence has no minimum prescribed punishment, it cannot be considered heinous as per the JJ Act, 2015.
  2. 2.As per the JJ Act, 2021, an offence for which there is a provision for a maximum sentence of seven years or more, but no minimum sentence, is to be considered a serious offence.

Select the answer using the code given below.

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

AnswerUPSC’s answer is (c).

Both statements restate the passage in other words. Statement 1: the 2015 Act counts an offence as heinous only when the law fixes a floor of seven years' punishment, so crimes like culpable homicide, which have no such floor, fall outside that category; an offence with no floor therefore cannot be heinous. Statement 2: the 2021 amendment adds a category for offences with no floor but a ceiling of seven years or more; these count as serious.

  • 1. A heinous offence needs a seven-year floor; without a floor it cannot be heinous.
  • 2. After 2021, a ceiling of seven years or more makes an offence serious even without a floor.

How you could have got this

  1. If you were sure statement 1 is correct, (b) and (d) go: each of them leaves 1 out.

    What you needed to know: A heinous offence needs a seven-year floor; without a floor it cannot be heinous.

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

    What you needed to know: After 2021, a ceiling of seven years or more makes an offence serious even without a floor.

Only (c) 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: 2 is also correct.
  • (b) Wrong: 1 is also correct.
  • (c) Right: both restate the passage.
  • (d) Wrong: both are supported.

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.