🧷 Authentic Classroom Explanation by IAS Monk

📍 The Question:

Consider the following organizations/bodies in India:

1. The National Commission for Backward Classes
2. The National Human Rights Commission
3. The National Law Commission
4. 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.