UPSC Prelims 2015 GS Paper I · Q28 of 100 History medium

The Government of India Act of 1919 clearly defined

  1. (a) the separation of power between the judiciary and the legislature
  2. (b) the jurisdiction of the central and provincial governments ✓ UPSC's answer
  3. (c) the powers of the Secretary of State for India and the Viceroy
  4. (d) None of the above

Why the answer is (b)

• The Government of India Act, 1919 for the first time separated central and provincial subjects, demarcating the jurisdiction of the central and provincial governments, and further divided provincial subjects into reserved and transferred under dyarchy — option (b).

• It did not separate judiciary from legislature (a) or define the Secretary of State–Viceroy relationship in detail (c), though it created a High Commissioner for India in London.

• Hence option (b).

Why the other options are wrong

(a) the separation of power between the judiciary and the legislature
The Act did not address judiciary–legislature separation.
(c) the powers of the Secretary of State for India and the Viceroy
It did not define the Secretary of State's and Viceroy's powers in detail.
(d) None of the above
Option (b) is correct, so 'none' is wrong.

Asked in the GS Paper I of the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2015, held on 23 August 2015. Question and answer key: Union Public Service Commission. Explanation: UPSC Answer Check.

Reading the answer is not the same as getting it right under a clock. Practise this question with UPSC's negative marking, and anything you miss goes into an error notebook until you get it right twice.

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