Which one of the following is not a constitutional body ?

The correct answer is B) Planning Commission. It was set up by a Government of India executive resolution in March 1950, not by the Constitution, so it is a non-constitutional body. It was replaced by NITI Aayog in January 2015, which is a change since this exam.

• Finance Commission (A): Constitutional under Article 280, appointed by the President every five years to recommend the centre-state distribution of taxes.
• Public Service Commission (C): Constitutional under Articles 315 to 323 at both Union and State levels, and the UPPSC is one such body.
• Election Commission (D): Constitutional under Article 324, which vests the superintendence, direction and control of elections in it.

The core concept is the difference between constitutional bodies, which get their powers and tenure from the Constitution, and statutory or executive bodies, which are created by an Act or a resolution. This distinction matters for Mains questions on institutional design and accountability.

Trap: Aspirants often confuse the Planning Commission with the Finance Commission because both have a constitutional-sounding name and both dealt with resource allocation. Remember that only the Finance Commission has a constitutional basis.