With reference to cabinet mission, which of the following statements is/are correct? 1). It recommended a federal government. 2) It enlarged the powers of the Indian courts. 3) It provided for more Indians in the ICS.  Select the correct answer using the code given below:

Correct answer: A (only statement 1).

The Cabinet Mission (March to June 1946) proposed a federal Union of India covering British India and the princely states. The Union was to control only defence, foreign affairs and communications, with residuary powers vested in the provinces. Its three-tier scheme of provinces grouped into Sections A, B and C was the mechanism for that federal design. So statement 1 is correct.

Statement 2 is wrong. The Mission said nothing about enlarging the powers of courts. Its proposals concerned the Constituent Assembly, the interim government and the grouping of provinces. Statement 3 is also wrong. Indianisation of the ICS was not among its recommendations, which dealt with constitutional structure and the interim arrangement, not civil service recruitment.

Core concept: federalism and the constitution-making route to independence. Mains angle: the grouping clause and why its acceptance by the Muslim League and later rejection shaped the Partition debate.

Trap: Aspirants often pick B or C because the Mission had many Indian-facing features and they assume it covered administrative reforms. Test each statement against the Mission's core elements: a federal Union, provincial grouping, and an interim government with a Constituent Assembly.