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Polity · Governor (Powers, Discretion, Role)

UPSC Prelims 2025, Question 59

The concept being tested: Article 361 (Governor immunity) & Articles 105/194 (legislative privilege).

With reference to the Indian polity, consider the following statements: I. The Governor of a State is not answerable to any court for the exercise and performance of the powers and duties of his/her office. II. No criminal proceedings shall be instituted or continued against the Governor during his/her term of office. III. Members of a State Legislature are not liable to any proceedings in any court in respect of anything said within the House. Which of the statements given above are correct?

Options

  1. AI and II only
  2. BII and III only
  3. CI and III only
  4. DI, II and IIICorrect answer

The answer: I, II and III

All three statements are accurate restatements of the Constitution's Governor and legislator immunity provisions, so all three must be selected together. Article 361(1) declares the Governor not answerable to any court for the exercise and performance of the powers and duties of the office, matching the first statement precisely. Article 361(2) separately bars any criminal proceedings from being instituted or continued against the Governor throughout the term of office, matching the second statement. This criminal bar is absolute, unlike the civil-proceedings bar under Article 361(4), which covers only personal-capacity acts and lifts after two months' notice. Article 194(2) grants members of a State Legislature freedom-of-speech immunity, protecting anything said or any vote given inside the House from court proceedings, which is exactly the third statement's claim. None of the three statements departs from the constitutional text, so the full set is correct.

What UPSC was testing

The paper places the absolute criminal-immunity bar of Article 361(2) right next to the qualified civil-immunity carve-out of Article 361(4), which aspirants routinely blur; the three-statement format then punishes anyone unsure that all three provisions, covering the Governor and the legislator separately, are independently correct.

How often this comes up

This concept has appeared 9 times in UPSC Prelims General Studies Paper I between 2015 and 2025 — in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2025.

The option-by-option autopsy for this question — why each of the other three is wrong, and which neighbouring concept each one was built from — is in the app.

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