📘 Q.4 IAS Prelims 2023 — Polity & Governance: Constitutional vs Statutory Bodies
🧷 Authentic Classroom Explanation by IAS Monk
📍 The Question:
Consider the following organizations/bodies in India:
- The National Commission for Backward Classes
- The National Human Rights Commission
- The National Law Commission
- The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission
How many of the above are constitutional bodies?
(a) Only one
(b) Only two
(c) Only three
(d) All four
✅ Correct Answer: (a)
🔎 Curiosity Raiser (UPSC trap alert)
UPSC often tests whether you can separate constitutional status from importance.
Many powerful bodies are not constitutional even if they sound “national”.
📌 Keyword to watch: Created by Constitution vs Created by Law/Executive order
🧠 Core Concept Tested
Classification of bodies: Constitutional vs Statutory vs Executive
🔍 Classroom Explanation (UPSC Prelims Focused)
Let us examine each body:
1️⃣ National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC)
- Made a constitutional body by the 102nd Constitutional Amendment Act, 2018
- Inserted Article 338B in the Constitution
✅ Constitutional body
2️⃣ National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)
- Established under the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993
❌ Statutory body
3️⃣ National Law Commission
- Set up by an executive resolution of the Government of India
❌ Executive (non-constitutional) body
4️⃣ National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC)
- Established under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986
- Quasi-judicial, statutory in nature
❌ Statutory body
👉 Hence, only one of the above is a constitutional body.
❌ Why other options are not correct
- (b), (c), (d) assume constitutional status based on importance or function,
but UPSC cares only about the source of creation.
📘 Enrich Notes (Prelims Value Add)
- Constitutional Bodies
→ Created directly by the Constitution
→ Examples: EC, CAG, UPSC, NCBC (post-2018) - Statutory Bodies
→ Created by Acts of Parliament
→ Examples: NHRC, NCDRC - Executive Bodies
→ Created by government resolutions
→ Example: Law Commission of India
📌 Golden Rule for Prelims
If an Article number exists → Constitutional body.
🧘♂️ IAS Monk Whisper
Authority comes from power,
but legitimacy comes from the Constitution.