Passage

Directions for the next 2 (two) items : Read the following passage and answer the items that follow. Your answers should be based solely on the passage. Passage The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, or the JJ Act, 2015 allows for the possibility for trying adolescents above 16 as adults if they are accused of committing a heinous offence. A heinous offence is one with a minimum punishment of seven years. Offences such as culpable homicide and causing death by negligence, which are common in drunken driving cases, are not heinous offences because they do not have a prescribed minimum punishment. The JJ Act, amended in 2021, now categorises an offence that has no minimum sentence, but has a maximum sentence of seven years or more as a serious offence which nonetheless, in the opinion of activists, does not merit the transfer of a case to the adult criminal justice system.

Which of the following conclusions is/are valid? 1. Only a serious offence as categorised by the revised JJ Act, justifies the transfer of a case to the adult judicial system. 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.

(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only ✓ UPSC's answer
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Why the answer is (b)

• Conclusion 1 is not valid: under the JJ Act it is a heinous offence that allows trying a juvenile as an adult; the passage says activists think a serious offence does NOT merit transfer.

• Conclusion 2 is valid: the 2021 amendment defines a serious offence as one with no minimum sentence but a maximum of seven years or more, i.e. by its maximum sentence.

• Hence 2 only: (b).

Why the other options are wrong

(a) 1 only: Conclusion 1 reverses the passage: heinous, not serious, offences allow transfer.
(c) Both 1 and 2: Conclusion 1 is not valid.
(d) Neither 1 nor 2: Conclusion 2 is stated in the passage.

Asked in the CSAT Paper II of the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2026, held on 24 May 2026. Question and answer key: Union Public Service Commission. Explanation: UPSC Answer Check.