Protection against Ex-post facto law — MCQs

All questions with answers and explanations

Read the full set here, or use the practice card above to test yourself one question at a time.

1. Article 20(1) protects a person against ex post facto criminal laws by providing that no person shall be:

   • Convicted of an offence except for violating a law in force at the time of the act's commission, nor subjected to a penalty greater than that in force at that time (correct answer)
   • Arrested without a warrant
   • Tried twice for any civil dispute
   • Compelled to pay taxes retrospectively

   Explanation. Article 20(1) bars conviction under a law that did not exist at the time the act was committed, and bars imposing a penalty greater than what the law in force at the time of commission prescribed.

2. In Rattan Lal v. State of Punjab (1965), the Supreme Court held that Article 20(1) operates as a 'one-way shield,' meaning:

   • It bars only harsher retrospective punishment but does not bar giving an accused the benefit of a subsequent, more lenient law (correct answer)
   • It bars all retrospective criminal legislation, beneficial or not
   • It applies only to death sentences
   • It protects only government officials

   Explanation. Article 20(1) protects against retrospective application of a harsher law or penalty, but does not prevent an accused from receiving the benefit of a subsequently enacted, more lenient law or punishment — hence a 'one-way' shield protecting the accused only from ex post facto detriment, not from ex post facto benefit.

3. Article 20(2), the protection against double jeopardy, bars a person from being:

   • Prosecuted and punished for the same offence more than once (correct answer)
   • Arrested more than once in a lifetime
   • Fined more than a fixed amount
   • Tried by more than one judge

   Explanation. Article 20(2) embodies the principle 'nemo debet bis vexari' — no person shall be prosecuted and punished for the same offence more than once.

4. During a Proclamation of Emergency, the President may suspend the right to move a court for Part III rights, except those in:

   • Articles 20 and 21 (correct answer)
   • Articles 14 and 19
   • Articles 21 and 22
   • Articles 32 and 226

   Explanation. Article 359(1) lets the President suspend the right to move a court for Part III rights during an Emergency, except those in Articles 20 and 21. So the protection of Article 20 survives an Emergency.

5. Article 20(3), the protection against self-incrimination, provides that no person accused of an offence shall be compelled to be:

   • A witness against himself (correct answer)
   • Present at his own trial
   • Represented by a lawyer
   • Released on bail

   Explanation. Article 20(3) protects an accused person from being compelled to be a witness against himself — the constitutional basis of the right against self-incrimination.

6. In 2020 the penalty for an offence was a fine of Rs 1,000. In 2023 a law adds three months of imprisonment. For an act done in 2020, the person can be punished with:

   • The fine only (correct answer)
   • The fine and the imprisonment
   • The imprisonment only
   • No punishment at all

   Explanation. Even if the act was already an offence, the sentence cannot be more severe than the law then in force allowed. A new law that adds imprisonment cannot be applied to an earlier act (Article 20(1)).

7. Which of the following would most likely fall within the protection of Article 20(3)?

   • Compelling an accused to give a blood sample for a paternity test
   • Compelling an accused, under threat, to make an oral confession implicating himself (correct answer)
   • Compelling an accused to stand in a police identification parade
   • Compelling an accused to provide a handwriting specimen for comparison

   Explanation. Article 20(3) protects an accused person from being compelled to be a witness against himself. A confession extracted under threat is the plainest case.

8. The three protections under Article 20 — against ex post facto laws, double jeopardy, and self-incrimination — apply to:

   • Only Indian citizens
   • 'Any person,' regardless of citizenship, since Article 20 (like Article 14) is not restricted to citizens (correct answer)
   • Only persons above 18 years of age
   • Only persons who have already been convicted once

   Explanation. Article 20 uses the words 'no person shall be' rather than 'no citizen,' extending these protections to any person, citizen or non-citizen, accused of an offence in India.