The electrostatic field is

The correct answer is Option (2) → conservative

A field is conservative when the work it does on a charge depends only on the start and end points, not on the path. The Coulomb force between charges at rest has this property.

Option (1) sometimes conservative and sometimes non-conservative — Incorrect. The work done by an electrostatic field is path independent for every arrangement of static charges. It is never non-conservative.

Option (2) conservative — Correct. The work done in moving a charge between two points does not depend on the path. This is why electrostatic potential energy can be defined.

Option (3) non-conservative — Incorrect. With a non-conservative field, the work would change with the path. Potential and potential energy would then have no fixed value.

Option (4) directed from a negative charge to a positive charge — Incorrect. Field lines start from positive charges and end on negative charges. The field points from positive to negative, not the other way.

NCERT (2026-27):
Introduction – “… It means that the work done by an electrostatic field in moving a charge from one point to another depends only on the initial and the final points and is independent of the path taken to go from one point to the other. This is the fundamental characteristic of a conservative force. …”