Ethics · 26 Aug 2026

Article 21 bodily autonomy Puttaswamy

Assertion (A): The mandatory pregnancy test imposed on returning female students in Maharashtra's tribal hostels constitutes a violation of the right to bodily autonomy under Article 21.
Reason (R): In Justice K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India, the Supreme Court held that bodily autonomy is a fundamental right protected under Article 21, which cannot be overridden by administrative convenience.
In light of the above, select the correct answer using the codes given below:

ABoth A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A
BBoth A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A
CA is true but R is false
DA is false but R is true
This question is based on: The Test a Protective Rule Should Never Have the Power to Demand
Take this in full test mode → Instructions for 26 Aug 2026
About this question

Why in news

Rahul Gandhi wrote to Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis on August 25, 2026 about tribal hostel rules requiring pregnancy tests for readmission and an age cap barring students above 30, amid a hunger strike by Adivasi students that has continued for over ten days, following the deaths of three tribal girls in an overcrowded Gadchiroli hostel earlier in August.

Why for UPSC

GS4-linked governance current affairs frequently anchor to a specific fundamental-rights judgment and this question tests whether the aspirant can connect a contemporary institutional practice to the precise constitutional doctrine (Puttaswamy on bodily autonomy) that makes it unconstitutional, rather than a vague sense that "something is wrong."

Prelims summary

The Puttaswamy judgment established bodily autonomy as a fundamental right under Article 21. Mandatory, non-consensual "fitness" tests such as pregnancy tests for hostel readmission violate this right and cannot be justified by administrative convenience, a principle now central to scrutiny of Maharashtra's tribal hostel governance.

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