Constitutional, Statutory and Executive Bodies — The One Test That Sorts CAG, ECI, UPSC, the Finance Commission and NITI Aayog

Four names appear in an option list — Finance Commission, UPSC, NITI Aayog, Election Commission — and the question asks which is not a constitutional body. Students who know all four well still get it wrong, because knowing what a body does is not the same as knowing where it comes from.

One test settles the whole topic. Ask what created the body. If the Constitution itself names it in an Article, it is a constitutional body. If it exists because Parliament passed an Act, it is a statutory body. If it exists because the Union Cabinet passed a resolution, it is neither — an executive or non-statutory body.

That matters beyond the exam. A constitutional body cannot be abolished by an ordinary law; changing it needs a constitutional amendment. A statutory body can be reshaped or wound up by the same Parliament that made it. An executive body can be replaced overnight, which is exactly what happened when the Planning Commission gave way to NITI Aayog in 2015.

1. Which of the following is NOT a constitutional body?

2. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India is provided for under which Article, and holds office for what term?

3. Elections to panchayats and municipalities in a State are conducted by:

4. The Finance Commission of India is constituted by the President under Article 280:

5. Regarding the Attorney General of India, which statement is correct?

6. A member of the Union Public Service Commission can be removed from office by the President:

7. The audit reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General relating to the accounts of the Union are examined in Parliament by the:

8. The National Commission for Backward Classes was given constitutional status by the 102nd Constitutional Amendment Act, 2018, by inserting which Article?