SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 13 September 2024, Shift 1 · General Awareness · Question 5 of 100

Text as printed on a candidate's response sheet for this shift; answer per SSC's tentative key as marked on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 10 September 2026.

Where this paper and its answers come from

SSC does not publish CGL question papers or a public answer key. The questions and options here are reproduced as printed on a candidate's own response sheet for this shift — the Commission's text, unchanged. Each answer is SSC's tentative key as marked on that sheet; SSC allowed challenges to it and never publishes a final key. The solutions are written by UnlockIAS.

Which of the following features of the Indian Constitution was borrowed from Irish Constitution?

(a)Directive Principles of State Policy
(b)Fundamental Rights
(c)Rule of Law
(d)Concurrent List

Answer

Why

Correct — A. The Directive Principles of State Policy, Part IV of the Constitution, were taken from the Irish Constitution, along with the method of election of the President and the nomination of members to the Rajya Sabha.

The other three belong to different sources: Fundamental Rights to the United States, the rule of law to Britain, the Concurrent List to Australia.

So the Irish borrowing in this list is option (a).

Why the others are wrong

(b)
Fundamental Rights — Fundamental Rights are the American borrowing, together with judicial review and the independence of the judiciary. They sit in Part III, not Part IV.
(c)
Rule of Law — Rule of law comes from Britain, along with parliamentary government, single citizenship, the office of the Speaker and the writs.
(d)
Concurrent List — The Concurrent List is Australian, as are freedom of trade and commerce across the country and the joint sitting of the two Houses.

Concept

The borrowed features of the Constitution are a fixed table, and SSC works through it one source at a time. Learn it as a table, not as prose.

Ireland gave the Directive Principles. The United States gave Fundamental Rights, judicial review and the impeachment of the President. Britain gave parliamentary government and the rule of law. Canada gave a federation with a strong Centre and residuary powers. Australia gave the Concurrent List.

Directive Principles differ from Fundamental Rights in one decisive way: they are non-justiciable. Article 37 calls them fundamental in the governance of the country but not enforceable by any court.

Two options here are genuine constitutional features and one, the rule of law, is a doctrine rather than a text — but all four are borrowings, so the question is settled by the source and not by the nature of the item.

Key facts

Directive Principles of State Policy occupy Part IV, Articles 36 to 51.
Article 37 makes the Directive Principles non-justiciable.
Fundamental Rights (Part III) were drawn from the Constitution of the United States.
The Concurrent List was drawn from the Constitution of Australia.

Study next

The full borrowed-features table across Britain, the USA, Ireland, Canada, Australia, the USSR, France, South Africa, Germany and JapanClassification of the Directive Principles as socialistic, Gandhian and liberal-intellectualDirective Principles added by later amendments, including the 42nd

Common traps

Swapping Ireland and the United States, which puts Fundamental Rights in the Irish column
Treating the Directive Principles as enforceable in a court

The borrowed-features table is asked one source at a time — the Republic feature from the French Constitution on 10 Sep 2024, 16:00, GA Q.4, and the law-making process from the British Constitution on 11 Sep 2024, 16:00, GA Q.11. Part IV itself returns as recall on 26 Sep 2024, 09:00, GA Q.10.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.