Static GK that supports CLAT current affairs

A CLAT passage on a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General may say nothing about the Article that creates the office, how long the holder serves or who examines the report in Parliament. The questions may ask all three. The passage gives you the hook; static knowledge gives you the answer.

Static GK is the part of general knowledge that does not change from year to year: institutions, the Constitution, international bodies, important dates. It is not a separate syllabus that competes with current affairs. It is the background that makes current affairs answerable. This guide shows what to learn, how to organise it, and how much time it deserves.

How static GK shows up in a CLAT paper

CLAT does not ask stand-alone static questions such as "What is the capital of Brazil?" Every GK question hangs off a passage built on recent news. But in a typical set, one or two questions step outside the passage to test a connected fact. The pattern looks like this:

• The passage is about a report or decision; a question asks which Article or Act created the body.
• The passage is about a summit or treaty; a question asks where an organisation is headquartered.
• The passage mentions an observance; a question asks what the day commemorates.
• The passage names an institution; a question asks whether it is constitutional or statutory.

That tells you what to prioritise. Learn static facts that attach to things that are regularly in the news. Skip trivia that no news hook would ever reach, such as the longest bridge in a state or the oldest museum in a city.

Constitutional, statutory or executive?

This single distinction answers a surprising number of questions and eliminates wrong options in many more. A constitutional body is created by the Constitution itself. A statutory body is created by an Act of Parliament. An executive body is set up by a government resolution.

For the constitutional side in more depth, see Constitution basics for CLAT.

International organisations and headquarters

Headquarters questions are the most common static add-on in international passages. Learn them in groups; the groups are easier to remember than a list of thirty.

A common trap: the International Court of Justice is a principal organ of the UN and settles disputes between states. The International Criminal Court tries individuals, is not a UN organ, and was set up by the Rome Statute. Both sit in The Hague. India is not a party to the Rome Statute.

Important days

Learn days that connect to law, rights, the Constitution and the environment. They are the ones a passage is likely to mention.

Geography and history, lightly

Keep geography to what the news uses: India has 28 states and 8 Union Territories as of 2026, and you should know their capitals, India's neighbours, and the major rivers and the states they flow through. History gets its own guide: historical background for news passages.

How much time to give it

Spend roughly a fifth of your GK time on static topics, and never as a separate block of cramming. The better habit is to learn static facts at the moment the news raises them. When a story mentions the CAG, spend ten minutes on the CAG. The link to a live story is what makes the fact stick, and it guarantees that you are learning static facts the news actually reaches. Keep one topic sheet per recurring body, as described in the monthly notes guide.

A sample CLAT-style passage

Public money in India is spent by the executive but audited by an office that the executive cannot easily touch. The Constitution creates the post of [1] in Article 148. The holder is appointed by the President, but can be removed only in the manner and on the grounds on which a judge of the Supreme Court is removed. Once out of office, the holder cannot take up any further office under the Union or a state government, a bar meant to remove any temptation to please the government of the day.

Under a law passed by Parliament in 1971, the holder serves for six years or until the age of sixty-five, whichever comes first. The office audits the receipts and spending of the Union and the states, and of many bodies funded by them.

The audit is only half of the story. Under Article 151, reports on the accounts of the Union are submitted to the President, who has them laid before each House of Parliament. Reports on a state's accounts go to the Governor, who has them laid before the state legislature. In Parliament, the reports are examined in detail by the Public Accounts Committee. By a convention followed since the late 1960s, that committee is chaired by a member of the opposition, so that the party in power does not sit in judgement on its own spending.

Critics point out that the office can only report. It cannot compel the government to act on its findings, and its reports often reach Parliament long after the events they describe.

Q1. Which office fills [1]?

(a) Attorney General for India (b) Comptroller and Auditor General of India (c) Chief Election Commissioner (d) Chairman of the Finance Commission

Q2. According to the passage, the term of the office is:

(a) six years or until age 65, whichever is earlier (b) five years or until age 62 (c) until age 65 only (d) at the pleasure of the President

Q3. Which statement is supported by the passage?

(a) The holder can be removed by the President at any time.
(b) Reports on a state's accounts are submitted to the President.
(c) The holder cannot take up another government office after the term.
(d) The Public Accounts Committee is chaired by the Finance Minister.

Q4. Why, according to the passage, is the Public Accounts Committee chaired by an opposition member?

(a) The Constitution requires it.
(b) So that the ruling party does not judge its own spending.
(c) Because the opposition has more members in the committee.
(d) Because the CAG recommends the chairperson.

Q5. Article 280, like Article 148, creates a constitutional body. Which one?

(a) Election Commission (b) Union Public Service Commission (c) Finance Commission (d) GST Council

Answers:

1. (b) Article 148 and audit of public money identify the CAG.
2. (a) Stated in the second paragraph.
3. (c) Stated in the first paragraph. (a) contradicts the removal rule; (b) is wrong because state reports go to the Governor; (d) is unsupported.
4. (b) The passage says it is a convention, not a constitutional requirement, so (a) is wrong.
5. (c) Background. The Election Commission is Article 324, the UPSC Article 315 and the GST Council Article 279A.

Common mistakes

• Treating static GK as a separate subject and spending weeks on it in isolation. Tie each fact to a news hook.
• Learning trivia no passage will reach. If you cannot imagine the news story that would lead to it, skip it.
• Confusing constitutional and statutory bodies. The NHRC and the Lokpal are statutory, however important they are.
• Mixing up the two courts at The Hague. The ICJ settles disputes between states; the ICC tries individuals.
• Guessing why a day falls on its date. The reason is often the question. Learn it with the date.

What to do next

• Reproduce the constitutional, statutory and executive table from memory.
• Learn the headquarters table city by city, not organisation by organisation.
• Learn each important day with the reason for its date.
• Start a topic sheet for every body in this guide that appears in the news this month.
• Read the Constitution basics guide next.