UPSC Prelims 2016 · Question 65 of 98
UPSC Prelims 2016 question on Gram Nyayalaya Act
- ExamUPSC CSE
- Year2016
- PaperGeneral Studies Paper I
- SubjectPolity
- TopicHigher Judiciary (SC and HC)
- DifficultyMedium
- TypeStatement
With reference to the ‘Gram Nyayalaya Act’, which of the following statements is/are correct?
1. As per the Act, Gram Nyayalayas can hear only civil cases and not criminal cases.
2. The Act allows local social activists as mediators/reconciliators.
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Show answer
Answer: B. 2 only
Verdict
The answer is 2 only. Gram Nyayalayas can use social activists as conciliators, but they hear both civil and criminal cases.
Analysis
Statement 2 is CORRECT. The Act directs these courts to attempt settlement by conciliation between the parties wherever possible, and for that purpose they may use conciliators, including social activists and mediators appointed for the purpose. Statement 1 is INCORRECT. Gram Nyayalayas, established under the Gram Nyayalayas Act, 2008 as mobile village courts for speedy and accessible justice in rural areas, exercise the powers of both criminal and civil courts within prescribed limits.
Source
India Year Book, chapter on Law and Justice, with press reporting on rural courts.
How to crack it
Reason from the purpose of the institution. A court created to bring accessible justice to villages would be crippled if it could not hear the petty criminal matters that make up much rural litigation, so a civil only jurisdiction contradicts the design. Statement 1 also carries the restrictive word only, which is where these questions are usually decided. Purpose plus quantifier closes the question without recalling the Act.