UPSC Prelims 2021— Question 20

Separation of powers distributes and checks governmental authority among institutions, reducing the risk of arbitrary concentration of power and helping protect liberty. A committed judiciary can undermine impartial adjudication, centralization weakens checks, and elections alone do not prevent majoritarian or executive overreach. The constitutional principle most directly associated with institutional checks is separation of powers. The final answer-key position for Set C identifies option D as the correct option. Option A — A committed judiciary — is not correct because it does not satisfy the specific condition tested in the question; it represents an alternative that is contradicted, incomplete, or less precise than the accepted answer. Option B — Centralization of powers — is not correct because it does not satisfy the specific condition tested in the question; it represents an alternative that is contradicted, incomplete, or less precise than the accepted answer. Option C — Elected government — is not correct because it does not satisfy the specific condition tested in the question; it represents an alternative that is contradicted, incomplete, or less precise than the accepted answer. Option D — Separation of powers — is correct because it is the alternative that matches the constitutional, historical, geographical, scientific or economic principle established above. For PYQ interpretation, the distinction between the correct alternative and merely related facts is important. UPSC often places plausible distractors beside the precise statement that matches the underlying rule, chronology, definition or empirical relationship. The answer should therefore be read against the exact wording of the question rather than against a broadly related fact.