GS Paper IV — Q4
(a) "The concept of Just and Unjust is contextual. What was just a year back, may turn out to be unjust in today's context…
"The concept of Just and Unjust is contextual. What was just a year back, may turn out to be unjust in today's context. Changing context should be constantly under scrutiny to prevent miscarriage of justice."
Examine the above statement with suitable examples.
(Answer in 150 words)
"Mindless addiction to Form, ignoring the Substance of the matter, results in rendering of injustice. A perceptive civil servant is one who ignores such literalness and carries out true intent."
Examine the above statement with suitable illustrations.
(Answer in 150 words)
हिंदी में प्रश्न पढ़ें
"न्यायपूर्ण और अन्यायपूर्ण की अवधारणा प्रासंगिक है। एक साल पहले जो न्यायपूर्ण था, आज के संदर्भ में वह अन्यायपूर्ण हो सकता है। न्याय-हत्या को रोकने के लिए बदलते संदर्भ पर लगातार नजर रखी जानी चाहिए।"
उपर्युक्त कथन का समुचित उदाहरणों सहित परीक्षण कीजिए।
(उत्तर 150 शब्दों में दीजिए)
"मामले के सार को नजरअंदाज करके रूप के प्रति अविवेकी आसक्ति का परिणाम अन्याय होता है। एक समझदार सिविल सेवक वह है जो ऐसी शाब्दिकता को नजरअंदाज करता है और सच्चे इरादे से काम करता है।"
उपर्युक्त कथन का समुचित उदाहरणों सहित परीक्षण कीजिए।
(उत्तर 150 शब्दों में दीजिए)
Model answer
Drafted with AI by UPSC Answer Check against this question's marking rubric, to the 150-word length. UPSC does not publish answers for Mains — this is one way to score well, not an official key. How we build rubrics and answers.
(a) "Just and unjust are contextual"
Justice rests on enduring principles — dignity, equality, fairness — but what those principles require changes as society's understanding, knowledge and conditions change. A rule fair in one context can become unjust in another.
Examples:
- Section 377 IPC, enforced for over 150 years, was read down in Navtej Singh Johar (2018) as a violation of dignity and privacy.
- Adultery (Section 497) treated a woman as her husband's property and was struck down in Joseph Shine (2018).
- Instant triple talaq was held unconstitutional in Shayara Bano (2017) and later made an offence.
- Colonial criminal law was replaced by the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, which dropped sedition in its old form.
Hence the need for constant scrutiny: judicial review, law commissions, sunset clauses, and public consultation. Yet context should refine principles, not dissolve them; otherwise "context" becomes an excuse for injustice.
(b) Substance over form: the perceptive civil servant
Form is procedure — formats, documents, signatures; substance is the purpose the procedure serves. Procedures exist to ensure fairness and prevent arbitrariness, but treated as ends in themselves they defeat their purpose.
Illustrations:
- Denying rations because an elderly person's fingerprints fail biometric authentication, when the NFSA framework allows exception handling.
- Rejecting a scholarship over a minor spelling mismatch between certificates, when an affidavit could correct it.
- Refusing to register an FIR because the offence occurred in another police station's area, when a zero FIR is allowed.
A perceptive civil servant reads rules purposively: verifies the facts, uses the discretion and exception provisions the rules already contain, and records reasons. This is not ignoring the law — it is fidelity to its intent. The limits matter: discretion must be transparent, consistent and within legal authority, or "substance" becomes a cover for favouritism.
How this answer will be evaluated
Framework: GS4 Ethical Dilemma & Administrative Ethics
What earns full marks: Clear distinction between form/substance and context/justice with specific, relevant examples.
Evaluation rubric
Each sub-part is marked on its own, against the marks and word limit printed on the paper.
- (a) Examine, with examples, the claim that justice is contextual and that changing contexts need constant scrutiny. 10 marks · 150 words
examine— intro → how/why with reasoning → evidence → conclusion
Must cover
- Meaning: notions of justice evolve with values, knowledge and social change; law must keep pace
- Examples of reversal: Navtej Johar (2018) on s.377, Shayara Bano (2017) on triple talaq, Joseph Shine (2018) on adultery, marital-rape and custodial-justice debates
- Mechanisms of scrutiny: judicial review, law commissions, sunset clauses, repeal of obsolete laws, PILs
- Caution: core principles (dignity, equality, fairness) remain constant; context changes their application, not their essence
Loses marks
- Pure relativism with no constant principle
- No examples
- Only legal examples without ethical analysis
Earns more
- Ethical theories: moral relativism vs universalism
- Transformative constitutionalism
- Administrative example (revising outdated rules)
Extra mark
- Historical example (e.g., abolition of sati or untouchability)
- (b) Examine, with illustrations, why blind adherence to form over substance causes injustice and how a perceptive civil servant serves true intent. 10 marks · 150 words
examine— intro → how/why with reasoning → evidence → conclusion
Must cover
- Meaning: form (procedure, literal rules) vs substance (purpose, justice); legalism can defeat intent
- Illustrations: denial of rations/pensions for Aadhaar or biometric mismatch, rejecting relief for missing documents after disasters, rigid tender rules
- Perceptive civil servant: purposive interpretation, empathy, discretion within law, recording reasons
- Limits: substance over form must not become arbitrariness; transparency and accountability safeguards
Loses marks
- Encouraging rule-breaking
- No illustrations
- Ignoring accountability
Earns more
- Weberian bureaucracy vs New Public Service
- Orders that no one be denied rations for lack of Aadhaar (e.g., the Food Ministry's October 2017 directive after a starvation death in Jharkhand)
- Examples of good discretion (e.g., flexible norms in disaster relief)
Extra mark
- Personal/administrative anecdote
What "Examine" is asking you to do
Test the proposition the question puts to you and return a finding on how far it holds. Examine stems carry a claim, or ask whether something has happened, and expect evidence weighed both ways before the extent is stated — often with remedial measures attached.
Structure that answers it
Restate the claim as the question frames it → evidence that supports it → evidence that undercuts it → the conditions under which it holds → verdict on how far it stands
Where marks are lost
Stopping at description. An examination has to reach a finding, and “examine with justification” means the extent must be stated, not implied.
Practice this exact question
Write your answer and it is marked point by point against the model answer above — what you covered, what you missed, what you got wrong.
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