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 statements is/are correct? 1. If an offence has no minimum prescribed punishment, it cannot be considered heinous as per the JJ Act, 2015. 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.

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

Why the answer is (c)

• Statement 1 is correct: a heinous offence has a minimum punishment of seven years, so an offence with no prescribed minimum cannot be heinous (the passage gives culpable homicide as an example).

• Statement 2 is correct: the amended Act treats an offence with no minimum sentence but a maximum of seven years or more as a serious offence.

• Hence both: (c).

Why the other options are wrong

(a) 1 only: Statement 2 is also correct.
(b) 2 only: Statement 1 is also correct.
(d) Neither 1 nor 2: Both statements are 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.