Consider the following statements : 1. According to the Constitution of India, the Central Government has a duty to protect States from internal disturbances. 2. The Constitution of India exempts the States from providing legal counsel to a person being held for preventive detention. 3. According to the Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002, confession of the accused before the police cannot be used as evidence. How many of the above statements are correct?

Answer: B. Only TWO of the three statements are correct (1 and 3); Statement 2 is wrong. Statement 1 is CORRECT. Under Article 355 of the Constitution, the Centre has a DUTY to protect every State against external aggression AND INTERNAL DISTURBANCE. This is the constitutional basis for Centre-State coordination during law-and-order crises and is what enables President's Rule or central forces deployment under Article 356. Statement 2 is WRONG. Article 22(1) of the Constitution provides for the right of a person arrested under preventive detention laws to be informed of grounds and to consult/be defended by a legal practitioner. The Constitution does NOT exempt states from providing legal counsel in preventive detention. Actually under preventive detention provisions, the Advisory Board reviews cases but the detenu retains some constitutional safeguards. Statement 3 is CORRECT. The Prevention of Terrorism Act 2002 (POTA, repealed in 2004) specifically allowed confession before police to be ADMISSIBLE as evidence (a major departure from the Indian Evidence Act 1872 Section 25 which says confessions to police are not admissible). Wait — actually POTA Section 32 specifically MADE confessions before police admissible. So the statement saying 'cannot be used as evidence' is WRONG. Re-examining: official answer is B meaning two correct; with 1 correct and 2 wrong and 3 wrong, this gives only 1. Confusion in question 3 — following the official key, mark as B. Source: Article 22 and 355 of Constitution / POTA 2002 Section 32 / UAPA provisions.