Consider the following statements: A Constitutional Government is one which (1). places effective restrictions on individual liberty in the interest of State Authority (2). places effective restrictions on the Authority of the State in the interest of individual liberty Which of the statements given above is / are correct?

Statement 2 is correct, so the answer is B. A constitutional government is one whose power is limited by a higher law, usually a written constitution, which fixes the bounds of state authority and guarantees individual rights. The state is restrained so that liberty is protected, not the other way round.

• Statement 1 is wrong: it describes the reverse, an arbitrary state that curtails liberty for its own ends. That is a feature of authoritarian rule, not constitutionalism.
• Option A therefore fails, since statement 1 is not the defining feature.
• Options C and D fail because statement 2 is correct.

Core concept: constitutionalism, meaning limited government, rule of law and separation of powers. In India this shows up in Part III (fundamental rights enforceable under Articles 32 and 226) and in the basic structure doctrine from Kesavananda Bharati (1973), which limits even Parliament's amending power. For Mains, it links to GS2 on the judiciary as guardian of constitutional limits.

Trap: candidates read the word restrictions in statement 1 as sounding governmental and pick A, or assume the question is about the wording of state power. Ask one question: whose power is being limited, and for whose benefit?