BPSC commonly tests close comparisons: President versus Governor in appointment; constitutional tenure versus statutory tenure; removal by Parliament-linked procedure versus presidential order after a Supreme Court inquiry; charged expenditure versus voted expenditure; and Union body versus State counterpart. Current office-holders are time-sensitive and have intentionally not been used as durable facts.
Use this sequence for every body: constitutional source → composition → appointment → term → removal → safeguards → functions → reports/accountability → Bihar connection. A body being constitutional does not mean all its details are in the Constitution; Parliament or regulations may supply the operational rules.
2. One-table constitutional map
Body
Main Articles
Appointing authority
Core constitutional purpose
Election Commission of India (ECI)
324–329
President, subject to the current parliamentary law
Electoral rolls and elections to Parliament, State Legislatures, President and Vice-President
Comptroller and Auditor-General of India (CAG)
148–151
President by warrant under hand and seal
Independent public audit under the Constitution and parliamentary law
UPSC / State PSC / Joint PSC
315–323
President for Union/Joint; Governor for State
Examinations and consultation on public-service recruitment and service matters
Finance Commission
280–281
President constitutes and appoints
Recommendations on Union–State tax distribution, grants and specified fiscal matters
3. Election Commission of India: constitutional design
Point
Rule
Article 324(1)
Superintendence, direction and control of electoral-roll preparation and specified elections are vested in the Commission.
Election field
Parliament, every State Legislature, and the offices of President and Vice-President.
Composition
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and such number of other Election Commissioners, if any, as the President may from time to time fix, subject to parliamentary law.
Regional Commissioners
The President may appoint them after consulting the Commission when considered necessary for an election.
Staff support
On the Commission's request, the President or a Governor must make available necessary staff under Article 324(6).
Not its field
Panchayat and municipal elections belong to State Election Commissions under Articles 243K and 243ZA.
5. ECI term, salary and removal safeguards
Feature
Current verified rule
Term
Six years from assuming office or age 65, whichever is earlier.
Reappointment
Not eligible for reappointment; if an Election Commissioner later becomes CEC, aggregate service in both offices cannot exceed six years.
Salary
Equal to the salary of a Supreme Court judge under section 10 of the 2023 Act.
Resignation
Writing addressed to the President.
CEC removal
Only in the same manner and on the same grounds as a Supreme Court judge.
Other Election Commissioners
Cannot be removed except on the recommendation of the CEC.
Conditions after appointment
Article 324 protects the CEC's service conditions from disadvantageous variation after appointment.
6. ECI functions and limits
Within election administration
Important boundary
Supervising preparation/revision of rolls under law
Citizenship is determined by citizenship law, not created by ECI.
Election schedule, polling, counting and result-process supervision
Courts and election-petition law retain their constitutional/statutory roles.
Recognition and symbols under valid legal orders
A party's registration and its recognition as a national/state party are different questions.
Model Code administration and directions to preserve free and fair polls
The Model Code is not itself a parliamentary statute; legal violations must be tied to the applicable law.
Advisory role in specified disqualification questions under Articles 103 and 192
The formal decision is of the President or Governor respectively, who acts according to the Commission's opinion in the constitutional scheme.
7. CAG: appointment and independence
Feature
Constitutional/statutory rule
Article 148
There shall be a Comptroller and Auditor-General of India.
Appointment
President by warrant under hand and seal.
Oath
Before the President or a person appointed by the President, in the Third Schedule form.
Term under the 1971 Act
Six years or age 65, whichever is earlier.
Resignation
Writing addressed to the President.
Removal
Same manner and grounds as a Supreme Court judge.
Salary
Equal to a Supreme Court judge under the CAG's DPC Act, 1971.
After office
Ineligible for further office under the Union or any State government.
8. CAG safeguards: why the office can audit the executive
Safeguard
Meaning
Difficult removal
The executive cannot remove the CAG at pleasure.
No disadvantageous variation
Salary and other service conditions cannot be varied to the CAG's disadvantage after appointment.
No later government office
Reduces the incentive to please the executive for a future post.
Charged expenditure
Administrative expenses of the CAG's office are charged on the Consolidated Fund of India.
Departmental independence
Service conditions in the Indian Audit and Accounts Department and CAG administrative powers are prescribed by presidential rules after consultation with the CAG, subject to the Constitution and parliamentary law.
9. CAG duties, accounts and reports
Article / law
Exam-ready point
Article 149
Parliament prescribes duties and powers concerning Union/State accounts and other authorities or bodies; the principal law is the CAG's DPC Act, 1971.
Article 150
Union and State accounts are kept in the form prescribed by the President on the advice of the CAG.
Article 151(1)
Union audit reports go to the President, who causes them to be laid before each House of Parliament.
Article 151(2)
State audit reports go to the Governor, who causes them to be laid before the State Legislature.
DPC Act
Provides for audit of expenditure, receipts, stores/stock, substantially financed bodies, grants/loans and specified government companies/corporations.
Audit types
Financial, compliance and performance audit ask different questions: accuracy/presentation, legality/rule compliance, and economy-efficiency-effectiveness.
10. Public Service Commissions: Articles 315–323
Article
Subject
315
UPSC for the Union, SPSC for each State; two or more States may agree to a Joint State PSC created by parliamentary law.
316
Appointment, term and acting Chairperson.
317
Removal and suspension.
318
Regulations on service conditions of members and staff.
319
Post-tenure employment restrictions.
320
Functions and consultation.
321
Parliament/State Legislature may extend functions by law.
322
Expenses charged on the appropriate Consolidated Fund.
323
Annual reports and explanatory memorandum for non-acceptance of advice.
11. UPSC, SPSC and Joint PSC: appointment and term
Feature
UPSC
SPSC
Joint PSC
Appointment of Chairperson/members
President
Governor
President
Service-experience rule
As nearly as may be one-half of members must have held government office for at least ten years; qualifying pre-Constitution Crown service is counted by the Article.
Term
Six years or age 65, earlier
Six years or age 62, earlier
Six years or age 62, earlier
Resignation to
President
Governor
President
Reappointment to same office
A member completing the term cannot be reappointed to that same office; Article 319 separately allows specified elevation/cross-appointment.
Acting Chairperson
President appoints from members
Governor appoints from members
President appoints from members
13. Functions of UPSC and SPSC
Function under Article 320
Meaning
Conduct examinations
UPSC for Union services and SPSC for State services.
Joint recruitment assistance
UPSC may assist two or more States in joint-recruitment schemes when they request it.
Recruitment methods
Consultation on methods and principles for appointments, promotions and transfers.
Candidate suitability
Consultation on appointments, promotions and transfers from one service to another.
Disciplinary matters
Consultation on specified disciplinary cases affecting civil servants, including memorials/petitions.
Legal-cost and injury-pension claims
Consultation on specified claims arising from official acts or service injury.
14. PSC safeguards and reports
Safeguard/accountability
UPSC
SPSC
Expenses
Charged on Consolidated Fund of India
Charged on Consolidated Fund of the State
Service conditions after appointment
Cannot be varied to a member's disadvantage.
Annual report
To President
To Governor
Legislative placement
President lays it before each House of Parliament
Governor lays it before State Legislature
If advice was not accepted
An explanatory memorandum stating the cases and reasons accompanies the report.
Removal authority
President; the Supreme Court inquiry safeguard applies to misbehaviour.
15. Article 319: permitted movement after PSC office
Outgoing office
What may follow
UPSC Chairperson
No further employment under Union or State government.
SPSC Chairperson
May become UPSC Chairperson/member or Chairperson of another SPSC; no other government employment.
UPSC member other than Chairperson
May become UPSC Chairperson or an SPSC Chairperson; no other government employment.
SPSC member other than Chairperson
May become UPSC Chairperson/member or Chairperson of that or another SPSC; no other government employment.
16. Finance Commission: composition and functions
Feature
Article 280 rule
Nature
A periodic constitutional commission, not a permanently sitting body.
Constitution
President constitutes it every fifth year or earlier if necessary.
Composition
Chairperson and four other members, appointed by the President.
Vertical distribution
Recommends distribution of divisible net tax proceeds between Union and States.
Horizontal distribution
Recommends allocation of the States' share among the States.
Grants
Recommends principles governing grants-in-aid of State revenues from the Consolidated Fund of India.
Local bodies
Recommends measures to augment a State's Consolidated Fund for Panchayats and Municipalities on the basis of the State Finance Commission's recommendations.
Other matters
Any matter referred by the President in the interests of sound finance.
17. Finance Commission qualifications, powers and report
Point
Verified rule
Chairperson qualification
Experience in public affairs.
Four-member qualification pool
High Court judge/qualified to be one; special knowledge of government finance and accounts; wide financial and administrative experience; or special knowledge of economics.
Disqualification
The 1951 Act covers unsound mind, undischarged insolvency, conviction involving moral turpitude and interests likely to prejudicially affect functions.
Procedure
Commission determines its procedure.
Civil-court powers
For specified matters such as summoning witnesses, document production and requisitioning public records.
Article 281
President lays every recommendation, together with an explanatory memorandum on action taken, before each House of Parliament.
Effect
Recommendations are not self-executing appropriations; constitutional transparency comes from the report and action-taken memorandum.
1951 Act's membership/disqualification framework, not SC-judge removal formula
Report route
No annual-report route specified like Articles 151/323/281
President/Governor → legislature
President/Governor → legislature
President → both Houses with action memorandum
Bihar-facing role
Lok Sabha/Assembly/President–VP electoral process
Bihar government audit reports
BPSC recruitment/advice
Tax devolution and grants affecting Bihar
19. Bihar relevance
Institution
Bihar connection
ECI versus Bihar SEC
ECI handles Lok Sabha and Bihar Legislature elections; Bihar State Election Commission handles Panchayat, Gram Kachahri and urban-local-body elections.
CAG
Audit reports relating to Bihar's accounts are submitted to the Governor and laid before the Bihar Legislature under Article 151(2).
BPSC
Bihar Public Service Commission came into existence on 1 April 1949 after separation from the earlier joint arrangement; from 26 January 1950 it is a constitutional SPSC under Article 315.
BPSC functions
State competitive examinations, recruitment-method advice, promotion/transfer suitability and specified disciplinary consultation under Articles 320–321.
Union Finance Commission
Its tax-devolution and grant recommendations affect Bihar's finances; exact award-period shares must be verified from the current Commission report.
Bihar State Finance Commission
A distinct body constituted by the Governor under Article 243I for State–local-body fiscal review; its recommendations feed the local-body clause of Article 280.
22. Official PYQ status
No question below is labelled as an official BPSC previous-year question because its complete wording and options were not verified against an official BPSC booklet. They are original BPSC-style practice questions built from the Constitution, current central Acts and official institutional sources.