Polity and governance

Current affairs on this topic 53

• Does a valid visa guarantee entry into India? The Delhi High Court says no 5 October 2026

  She held a valid business visa. Her husband walked through immigration. She was sent back. Can a court help her?

• Op-ed: Over-regulation is stifling India's universities; one regulator may not fix it 5 October 2026

  India's least-regulated institutes are its best. Should a new super-regulator mean more rules or more trust?

• Andhra Pradesh moves Supreme Court to restore 34% BC quota in local bodies 4 October 2026

  Can a State give Backward Classes 34% of local body seats when the Supreme Court caps all quotas at 50%?

• Centre issues rules creating a National Tribunals Commission to select tribunal members 3 October 2026

  Who should choose the judges of India's tribunals, the government or an independent body? New rules set up one.

• Op-ed: Split verdict on the Election Commissioners Act exposes how the Supreme Court sits 3 October 2026

  Two judges could not agree on who should even hear the case. What does that say about how India's top court is built?

• Supreme Court orders curbs on vehicle services until unpaid e-challans are cleared 2 October 2026

  Of ₹49,194 crore in traffic fines issued, only ₹26,175 crore was collected. Can blocking services fix that?

• EC orders drive to enrol left-out voters in 20 SIR States, drops added Form 6 question 2 October 2026

  After the voter-roll clean-up, the Election Commission now has to find the eligible voters it may have lost.

• Editorial: Supreme Court flags ten-fold drug markups, exposing gaps in price control 1 October 2026

  A cancer drug sold to the chemist at ₹2,700 reaches the patient at ₹27,000. Who decides that, and who stops it?

• Supreme Court rules out a total firecracker ban, open to next-generation green crackers 1 October 2026

  Neither a total ban nor round-the-clock bursting: where will the court draw the line this Deepavali?

• Supreme Court: a police-custody confession alone cannot justify NSA detention 30 September 2026

  Can the state lock up a man already on bail, using only what he allegedly told the police?

• Policing report: one in eight faced cybercrime, poor victims paid more bribes for redress 30 September 2026

  If the rich are scammed more often, why do the poor end up paying bribes to get their money back?

• Supreme Court orders Delhi-NCR safety audit in four weeks after a string of rapes 29 September 2026

  Nirbhaya was 2012. Why is the Supreme Court still asking who answers for a dark park in 2026?

• Supreme Court asks Centre to frame rules to stop social media firms signing up minors 29 September 2026

  If a minor cannot sign a contract, how is a 13-year-old agreeing to a platform's terms of service?

• J&K Assembly passes resolution seeking restoration of statehood as BJP walks out 29 September 2026

  An elected House can ask for statehood, but only Parliament can grant it. What does the resolution change?

• Should the right to vote become a fundamental right? 28 September 2026

  If voting is only a statutory right, how well is a voter protected when the rolls go wrong?

• Tamil Nadu withdraws order that kept its law and order department out of RTI 28 September 2026

  Can a State simply declare one of its departments a security agency and shut it out of the RTI Act?

• Justice Nagarathna: family disputes need mediation and adjudication working together 27 September 2026

  Can mediation clear family court backlogs without weakening the rights of the weaker party?

• AFSPA extended in parts of Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal for six more months 26 September 2026

  Why does the Centre keep renewing 'disturbed area' status in the North-East every six months?

• Opposition demands the Chief Election Commissioner's exit 25 September 2026

  Can Parliament remove a Chief Election Commissioner, and how hard is it?

• Chhattisgarh's anti-conversion law takes effect 25 September 2026

  Where does the right to propagate religion end and a ban on conversion begin?

• A Supreme Court judge defends the Collegium and hits back at the Centre 24 September 2026

  Who should pick judges, and who is to blame for vacancies?

• Supreme Court: refusing to sing the National Song cannot be punished 23 September 2026

  Respect can be expected. Can singing be compelled?

• Supreme Court: an accused must be released if not told the grounds of arrest 22 September 2026

  If the police skip one step, the whole arrest can fall.

• Article 371 A to J, and what a new 371K could do for Ladakh 22 September 2026

  Ladakh wants safeguards. Is Article 371 the answer, or the Sixth Schedule?

• India's NGOs at a new funding crossroads 21 September 2026

  A new FCRA Bill proposes powers over assets built with foreign money.

• What does Tulu's new official language status mean? 21 September 2026

  A language spoken by lakhs, missing from the Eighth Schedule.

• Supreme Court strikes down Maharashtra's methanol rules, calls prohibition no solution 20 September 2026

  Dry Gujarat still sees hooch deaths. Does banning alcohol, or dyeing methanol, actually save lives?

• New film certification guidelines notified for the CBFC 19 September 2026

  New age ratings and an anti-drug warning. Guidance or censorship?

• Supreme Court asks the Centre to defer the three-language rule for Class 6 18 September 2026

  A third language, four months before the year ends. The Court says wait.

• Urban Ministry tells House panel the 'census town' definition is outdated; RGI keeps it 17 September 2026

  Is India 31% urban or closer to 63%? The answer depends on a definition the Census will not change for 2027.

• Op-ed: Section 9D of mining law curbs States' mineral taxes, undercutting a 2024 verdict 17 September 2026

  The Supreme Court said States may tax mineral land. Can Parliament make that power depend on Central conditions?

• Hindi Diwas: how the Constituent Assembly settled India's language question 15 September 2026

  Why does the Constitution call Hindi the 'official language' of the Union and never the 'national language'?

• Op-ed: After the SIR, use Aadhaar to keep voter rolls clean 15 September 2026

  The government trusts Aadhaar to pay pensions and deliver rations. Should it also decide who stays on the voter list?

• Why the NCPCR has summoned Meta over ads linked to child sexual abuse material 13 September 2026

  A child rights body can summon a tech giant, but can it make it act? The Meta case tests the limits.

• Centre tightens e-commerce rules: prior price, origin labels and a 48-hour grievance clock 12 September 2026

  A '50% off' tag means little if you cannot see the old price. What must online platforms now disclose?

• Bankers' Books Evidence Act, 2026 to replace the 1891 law from 1 October 2026 12 September 2026

  A 135-year-old law written for paper ledgers still governs bank records in court. What changes in a cloud-banking age?

• How should registered unrecognised political parties be regulated? 11 September 2026

  Six little-known Gujarat parties reported more donations than five national parties. Who keeps watch on such parties?

• Centre launches DILRMP 3.0 guidelines for a GIS-based land records system, 2026-31 11 September 2026

  Most land disputes start with a messy record. Can a 14-digit ID and digital maps fix India's land records?

• Editorial: The push to dilute gram sabha consent for forest diversion 9 September 2026

  Should a dam wait for every affected village to agree, or is the consent of three in four villages enough?

• PAC flags ₹9,222 crore of cess collections not moved to their reserve funds in 2024-25 9 September 2026

  A cess is collected for one purpose. So why did ₹9,222 crore of it never reach the funds meant for that purpose?

• Manipur to press the Centre for an NRC update with 1951 as the base year 8 September 2026

  Who counts as a citizen in Manipur, and why does the choice of 1951 divide its communities?

• Punjab asks Centre to hold High Court Chief Justice appointment, citing MoP breach 7 September 2026

  The Constitution says the Governor must be consulted. Does that give a State a say in who heads its High Court?

• Tribal Affairs Ministry says Forest Rights Act has no provision for gram sabha consent 7 September 2026

  If the forest rights law never asked for gram sabha consent, why are hydro projects waiting years for it?

• Bihar makes prior State consent mandatory for CBI probes into its employees 6 September 2026

  The CBI is a central agency. Why must it ask a State before probing that State's own officials?

• Supreme Court asks States to raise district judges' retirement age from 60 to 62 5 September 2026

  With 5.18 crore cases pending in district courts, can two more years on the bench help?

• Supreme Court: Bar Councils have no power to discipline law students 4 September 2026

  Can a professional regulator punish people who have not yet joined the profession it regulates?

• Ladakh notifies autonomous hill development councils for all seven districts 4 September 2026

  Will five new hill councils answer Ladakh's demand for a real say in how it is governed?

• Supreme Court ties Bar Council of India's policy decisions to the AG and SG 3 September 2026

  Who regulates the regulator of India's lawyers when its own chairman's tenure is under challenge?

• Supreme Court uses Article 142 to quash FIRs against NEET-UG protesters 2 September 2026

  Can the Supreme Court close criminal cases across India in one order, and when should it?

• Why no 'distinguished jurist' has ever been appointed to the Supreme Court 2 September 2026

  The Constitution opened a third door to the Supreme Court in 1950. In 76 years, why has nobody walked through it?

• Is 'purifying' a venue after a Dalit leader's rally untouchability under Article 17? 2 September 2026

  No one was stopped and no one was touched. Can a ritual of 'cleansing' still be untouchability in law?

• Delhi HC: return from maternity leave must restore role, not just pay and title 2 September 2026

  If a mother returns to the same salary but a shrunken job, has the law protected her?

• Op-ed: Is the right to work fading under the new rural jobs law? 1 September 2026

  The new law promises 125 days of work, not 100. Why do critics say the right to work has weakened?

Background from the reference shelf

• Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala
• Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India
• Indra Sawhney v. Union of India
• S.R. Bommai v. Union of India
• Shreya Singhal v. Union of India
• K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India
• Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India
• Association for Democratic Reforms v. Union of India
• 1st Amendment
• 42nd Amendment
• 44th Amendment
• 61st Amendment
• 73rd Amendment
• 74th Amendment
• 86th Amendment
• 103rd Amendment
• 106th Amendment
• Balwantrai Mehta Committee
• Sarkaria Commission
• Punchhi Commission
• Second Administrative Reforms Commission
• Justice B.N. Srikrishna Committee
• World Press Freedom Index

Previous-year questions 23

1. 2025 · Prelims Consider the following statements: I. Panchayats at the intermediate level exist in all States. II. To be eligible to be a Member of a Panchayat at the intermediate level, a person should attain the…
2. 2025 · Prelims With reference to India, consider the following: I. The Inter-State Council II. The National Security Council III. Zonal Councils. How many of the above were established as per the provisions of the…
3. 2025 · Prelims Consider the following statements: I. The Constitution of India explicitly mentions that in certain spheres the Governor of a State acts in his/her own discretion. II. The President of India can, of…
4. 2024 · Prelims Under which of the following Articles of the Constitution of India, has the Supreme Court of India placed the Right to Privacy? (a) Article 15 (b) Article 16 (c) Article 19 (d) Article 21
5. 2023 · Prelims Consider the following statements: Statement-I: The Supreme Court of India has held in some judgements that the reservation policies made under Article 16(4) of the Constitution of India would be…
6. 2023 · Prelims Consider the following statements: 1. According to the Constitution of India, the Central Government has a duty to protect States from internal disturbances. 2. The Constitution of India exempts the…
7. 2021 · Prelims A legislation which confers on the executive or administrative authority an unguided and uncontrolled discretionary power in the matter of application of law violates which one of the following…
8. 2021 · Prelims 'Right to Privacy' is protected under which Article of the Constitution of India? (a) Article 15 (b) Article 19 (c) Article 21 (d) Article 29
9. 2021 · Prelims What is the position of the Right to Property in India? (a) Legal right available to citizens only (b) Legal right available to any person (c) Fundamental Right available to citizens only (d)…
10. 2020 · Prelims In India, Legal Services Authorities provide free legal services to which of the following type of citizens? 1. Person with an annual income of less than Rs 1,00,000 2. Transgender with an annual…
11. 2020 · Prelims Consider the following statements: 1. The Constitution of India defines its 'basic structure' in terms of federalism, secularism, fundamental rights and democracy. 2. The Constitution of India…
12. 2019 · Prelims With reference to the Constitution of India, prohibitions or limitations or provisions contained in ordinary laws cannot act as prohibitions or limitations on the constitutional powers under Article…
13. 2019 · Prelims Which Article of the Constitution of India safeguards one's right to marry the person of one's choice? (a) Article 19 (b) Article 21 (c) Article 25 (d) Article 29
14. 2018 · Prelims Right to Privacy is protected as an intrinsic part of Right to Life and Personal Liberty. Which of the following in the Constitution of India correctly and appropriately imply the above statement?…
15. 2018 · Prelims Consider the following statements: 1. The Parliament of India can place a particular law in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution of India. 2. The validity of a law placed in the Ninth Schedule…
16. 2018 · Prelims Consider the following statements: 1. As per the Right to Education (RTE) Act, to be eligible for appointment as a teacher in a State, a person would be required to possess the minimum qualification…
17. 2018 · Prelims If the President of India exercises his power as provided under Article 356 of the Constitution in respect of a particular State, then (a) the Assembly of the State is automatically dissolved (b)…
18. 2018 · Prelims Consider the following statements: 1. No criminal proceedings shall be instituted against the Governor of a State in any court during his term of office. 2. The emoluments and allowances of the…
19. 2017 · Prelims Consider the following statements: 1. The Election Commission of India is a five-member body. 2. Union Ministry of Home Affairs decides the election schedule for the conduct of both general…
20. 2017 · Prelims Right to vote and to be elected in India is a (a) Fundamental Right (b) Natural Right (c) Constitutional Right (d) Legal Right
21. 2015 · Prelims The fundamental object of Panchayati Raj system is to ensure which among the following? 1. People's participation in development 2. Political accountability 3. Democratic decentralization 4…
22. 2015 · Prelims The provisions in Fifth Schedule and Sixth Schedule in the Constitution of India are made in order to (a) protect the interests of Scheduled Tribes (b) determine the boundaries between States (c)…
23. 2014 · Prelims Consider the following languages: 1. Gujarati 2. Kannada 3. Telugu Which of the above has/have been declared as 'Classical Language / Languages' by the Government? (a) 1 and 2 only (b) 3 only (c) 2…