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(Paper) Previous Year Question Paper (BA LLB) - 2013

Section - IV : Legal Aptitude

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This section consists of fifty (30) questions. Each question consists of legal propositions/ principles (hereinafter referred to as ‘principle’) and facts. These principles have to be applied to the given facts to arrive at the most reasonable conclusion. Such principles may or may not be true in the real sense, yet you have to conclusively assume them to be true for the purposes of this section. In other words, in answering the following questions, you must not rely on any principles except the principles that are given herein

The objective of this section is to test your interest towards study of law, research aptitude and problem solving ability even if the “most reasonable conclusion” arrived at may be unacceptable for any other reason. It is not the objective of this section to test your knowledge of law.

1. Principle: When an offer is accepted by a person to whom it is made, it becomes a promise. But this promise will become legally binding only when the acceptance of the offer is unconditional.

Facts: Ram makes an offer to sell his house to Shyam for Rs.50 lacs. Shyam accepts this offer but wants to pay the price of the house in five quarterly instalments. Ram does not agree to it. Thereafter Shyam agrees to pay the price of the house in the way as originally desired by Ram. But Ram does not reply to it. Can Shyam compel Ram to sell his house to him?

A. Shyam can compel Ram to sell his house because Shyam ultimately agrees to pay the price as originally desired by Ram
B. Shyam can compel Ram to sell his house because Shyam in the first instance substantially complied with the desire of Ram
C. Shyam can compel Ram to sell his house because Ram’s offer does not exclude the payment of price in instalments
D. Shyam can not compel Ram to sell his house because Shyam imposes a new condition about payment of price of the house while accepting the offer which is not ultimately accepted by Ram.

2. Principle: Generally an agreement without consideration is not valid. Therefore, in order to make a valid agreement, some consideration which may have some value in the eyes of law, is essentially required.

Facts: William has an old car of which he makes seldom use. He voluntarily enters into an agreement with Smith to sell this car for rupees ten thousand. Thereafter one Anson approaches William and offers to buy that car for rupees one lac as the car was one which Anson has been searching for long. Now William wants to cancel his agreement with Smith and refuses to deliver the car to him saying that consideration (price) for the car promised by Smith is negligible and, therefore, agreement with him can not be said to be valid one.

A. William can cancel his agreement with Smith as the consideration involved in that is really inadequate.
B. William can not cancel his agreement with Smith as the sale of car for rupees ten thousand was voluntary and this price has some value in the eyes of law.
C. William can cancel his agreement with Smith as he was ignorant about the value / price of the car for which it could be sold.
D. William can cancel his agreement with Smith as he is entitled to get full market value/price of his car.

3. Principle: In order to be illegible to appear in the semester examination, a student is required to attend, under all circumstances, at least 70% of the total classes held in that semester as per University rules.

Facts: Anand, an economically poor but a very brilliant student of LL.B. final semester, while going to his University by cycle received some leg injuries in road accident. Consequently Anand could not attend his classes for one week as he was advised rest by his doctor for that period. Due to this absence from the University, Anand failed to have 70% attendance essential to appear in the examination and, therefore, he was debarred from appearing in the examination by the University authorities. Anand challenges this decision in the court of law

A. Anand will succeed in the court of law as the accident was beyond his control
B. Anand will definitely get favour of the court on humanitarian ground as he comes from a economically poor family and may not afford to take readmission
C. Anand will not succeed as he could very easily fulfill eligibility criteria for appearing in the examination by being reasonably regular in the class throughout the semester.
D. Anand will succeed as requirement of 70% attendance may be declared arbitrary and, therefore, unreasonable by the court of law.

4. Principle: A seller of goods cannot transfer better rights than he himself possesses in the goods sold to the buyer.

Facts: Komal leaves his watch by mistake on a seat in the park. Sonal finds that watch and immediately sells the same for good price to Monal who without inquiring whether Sonal is its owner or not. Komal later on claims that watch from Monal. Decide whether Komal can succeed?

A. Komal cannot succeed as Monal has paid good price of the watch.
B. Komal cannot succeed as Monal is unaware of the fact that Sonal is not its owner.
C. Komal can not succeed as it was his carelessness and nothing else which enabled Sonal to sell the watch to Monal.
D. Komal can not succeed as Sonal is merely finder of the watch and, therefore, cannot transfer ownership rights thereon to Monal.

5. Principle: All citizens shall have the Fundamental Right to carry on any occupation, trade or business. But reasonable restrictions on the exercise of such rights can be imposed by law in the interest of the general public.

Facts: A large number of persons had been carrying on the business of dyeing and printing in Rajkot area for the last 25 years providing employment to about 30000 families. From these business places untreated dirty water was being discharged on the roads thereby causing damage to the public health. A notice, therefore, was given to close this business till necessary measures to protect public health as provided under the environmental statutes were taken by those business men.

A. Notice can not be justified as it will cause loss of employment to 30000 families.
B. Notice can not be justified as it amounts to violation of the fundamental right of the persons who have been carrying on the business for the last 25 years.
C. The notice can not be justified on the ground of damage to public health as the persons in that area have been voluntarily residing for long and have become used to that environment.
D. The notice can be justified as the right to business is not absolute and reasonable restriction can be imposed by law in the interest of the public.

6. Principle: A Contract can not be enforced by or against a person who is not a party to it. However, where some benefit is conferred on third party by the contract itself, there third party can be allowed to enforce that contract to get such benefit.

Facts: Dinesh is liable to pay Rs. 50000/- to Suresh. In order to discharge this liability Dinesh enters into a contract with Ramesh by which Dinesh sells his car to Ramesh for Rs. 1 lac. Ramesh takes the delivery of the car and promises/ assures to pay its price at the earliest. Dinesh separately informs Suresh about this contract for his satisfaction. Ramesh fails to pay the car’s price. Suresh wants to join Dinesh in filing suit against Ramesh for the recovery of price of the car. Whether Suresh is entitled to do so?

A. Suresh is entitled to do so because the contract was made for his benefit.
B. Suresh is entitled to do so because Dinesh is liable to him and discharge of this liability depends upon the payment of the price of the car by Ramesh.
C. Suresh is not entitled to do so because liability of Dinesh does not depand upon any assurance of Ramesh
D. Suresh is not entitled to do because he is not a party to the contract between Dinesh and Ramesh.

7. Principle: If a contract is made by post between two persons living in two different cities, then the contract is said to be complete as soon as the letter of acceptance is properly posted, and the place of completion of the contract is that city where acceptance is posted. It is worth mentioning here that in every contract there is always an offer from one party and the acceptance of the offer from the other party.

Facts: Sani, a resident of Patna, gives an offer by post to sell his house for Rs. 25 lacs to Hani, a resident of Allahabad. This offer letter is posted on 1st January 2013 from Patna and reaches Allahabad on 7th January 2013. Hani accepts this offer and posts the letter of acceptance on 8th January 2013 from Allahabad which reaches Patna on 16th January 2013. But Sani presuming that Hani is not interested in accepting his offer, sells his house to Gani at same price on 15th of January, 2013. Hani files a suit against Sani for the breach of contract in the competent court of Allahabad. Whether Hani will succeed?

A. Hani can not succeed as Sani can not be compelled by law to wait for the answer from Hani for an indefinite period of time.
B. Hani can not succeed as he could use some other effective and speedy mode for communicating his acceptance in minimum possible time
C. Hani can succeed as he properly posted the letter of acceptance and the delay was beyond his control
D. Hani can succeed as contract became complete in the eyes of law on the date of posting the letter of acceptance

8. Principle: He, who goes to the court of law to seek justice, must come with clean hands.

Facts: P enters into a contract with S under which S has to construct a house for P and has to complete the same within one year from the date of the contract. This contract includes two very important terms. According to first term if there is price hike of the materials to be used in the construction, then the escalation charges at a particular rate shall be payable by P to S. According to second term if the construction of the house is not completed within the period prescribed for it, then S will have to pay penalty at a particular rate to P. Before the completion of the construction work the workers of S go on strike and strike continues up to three months even after the expiry of one year. After that period workers return and the construction work again starts. During the last three months period of strike there was a considerable rise in the price of the building material. S claimed escalation cost from P. P did not agree to it. S filed a suit in the court of law either to order the payment of the price of the building material on the basis of escalated price or to allow him to stop the work without incurring any penal liability towards P.

A. S will succeed as strike by his workers was unexpected and beyond his control.
B. S can succeed as there is an escalation clause in the contract
C. S can not succeed as he has failed to complete the construction work in time and strike can not be treated as a valid excuse for delay in work.
D. S can succeed if he pays penalty to P for delay.

9. Principle: If the object of an agreement is or becomes unlawful or immoral or opposed to public policy in the eyes of law, then the courts will not enforce such agreements. Law generally prohibits Child labour.

Facts: P enters into an agreement with T by which P has to let his house to T for two years and T has to pay Rs. 20000.00 per month to P as rent. T starts a child care centre in that house. But after some time in order to earn some money for the maintenance of the centre, T starts sending the children of the centre on the rotation basis to work for four hour a day in some nearby chemical and hazardous factories. When P comes to know about this new development, he asks T either to stop the children from working in factories or to leave his house immediately. T neither agrees to leave the house nor to stop the children from working in the factories. P files a suit in the court of law for appropriate relief/ action

A. P can not succeed as the agreement was for the two years and it can not be terminated before the expiry of that period
B. P can not succeed as the object at the time of making of the agreement was not clear
C. P will succeed as the object of the agreement has become unlawful.
D. P will not succeed if T agrees to share the wages of the children with P

10. Principle: whosoever by his act or omission causes environmental pollution shall be held liable for any loss caused by such pollution. It shall be no defence in such cases that all due diligence or reasonable care was taken while carrying out the act or omission in question.

Facts: Hari is carrying on a chemical and fertilizer industry near a bank of a river. In order to prevent and control any kind of harm to the environment, suitable waste treatment and disposal plants were installed in the factory. Due to some sudden mechanical/ technical problem, these plants ceased to work properly and, therefore, caused environmental pollution, which ultimately caused substantial harm to the environment and to the people living around the factory. Victims of such pollution file a suit for suitable remedy.

A. Victims can not succeed as necessary precautions to prevent any harm were taken by Hari.
B. Victims can not succeed as the mechanical/ technical problem was sudden and, therefore, beyond the control of Hari.
C. Victims can succeed as it is the duty of Hari to see that no harm is caused to the environment/ people due to his activity under any circumstances.
D. Victims could succeed if treatment/ disposal plant were not installed in the factory

11. Principle: If a person transfers movable or immovable property with its full ownership and without any consideration to some other person, then it is called a gift.

Facts: S, who has no child of his own, makes a gift of his house worth Rs. 25 lacs to his nephew R. After completing all the legal formalities required for a valid gift, S says to R that in case of need R will provide that house to S for use without any questions. R does not react to it. After one year of this gift, S really needs that house and request R to make the house available to him, but R refuses to do so.

A. R cannot refuse as he got the house without paying any consideration for that.
B. R cannot refuse as S is without children.
C. R can refuse as he has become full owner of the house.
D. R can refuse as he himself may be in need of that house.

12. Principle: An agreement to do an act impossible in itself cannot be enforced by a court of law.

Facts: Ramesh agrees with his girl friend Shilpa to pluck stars from the sky through his extraordinary will power, and bring them down on earth for her within a week. After the expiry of one week, Shilpa filed a suit for damages against Ramesh for the breach of contract as Ramesh failed to perform his promise.

A. Shilpa can succeed in getting damages as Ramesh has deceived her.
B. Ramesh cannot be held liable as he honestly believes that his love for Shilpa is true and, therefore, he will succeed in his endeavour.
C. The court cannot entertain such suits as the act promised under the agreement is impossible in itself.
D. Ramesh can be held liable for making an absurd promise.

13. Principle: An agreement may be oral or written. However, if a law specifically requires that an agreement must be in writing then the agreement must be in writing. A law specifically requires that the agreements relating to transfer of the copyright in novel between an author of a novel and the producer of a motion picture must be in writing.

Facts: The author of a novel, Love at Lost Sight, had several rounds of discussion with a producer
of motion picture regarding making of a motion picture based on Love at Lost Sight. During the last discussion, they decided to make a motion picture on Love at Lost Sight. The producer made a motion picture on Love at Lost Sight after making a payment of Rs. 10, 00,000/- (Ten Lac Only) in cash to the author who happily accepted this amount as full and final payment. Later on, on the advice of his lawyer, the author brought a case in a court of law against the producer on the ground that there is no written agreement between the producer and him.

A. The author is likely to succeed in the case as the agreement is not in accordance with the law
B. The author cannot succeed in the case as he has given his consent to the agreement
C. The author is not likely to succeed in the case because he has already accepted the amount of Rs. 10,00,000/- as full an final payment
D. The author can succeed in the case as the consideration is not adequate

  

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14. Principle: A person is said to be of sound mind for the purpose of making a contract if, at the time when he makes it, he is capable of understanding it and of forming a rational judgment as to its effect upon his interest.

Facts: X who is usually of sound mind, but occasionally of unsound mind enters into a contract with Y when he (X) is of unsound mind. Y came to know about this fact afterwards and now wants to file a suit against X.

A. X cannot enter into contract because he is of unsound mind when he entered into contract.
B. X can enter into contract but the burden is on the other party to prove that he was of unsound mind at the time of contract.
C. X can enter into contract but the burden is on X to prove that he was of sound mind at the time of contract.
D. None of these.

15. Principle: Whosoever commits any act forbidden by the Indian Penal code with a view to obtain the consent of any person to enter into an agreement, he cannot get the agreement enforced by law but the person whose consent has been so obtained may get the agreement enforced by law. The Indian Penal code defines various offences and prescribes punishments therefor.

Facts: A obtains the consent of B to enter into an agreement by an act amounting to criminal intimidation under the Indian Penal Code. A brings a case against B for performance of agreement.

A. A will succeed in the case
B. A may succeed in the case
C. B will succeed in the case
D. B will not succeed in the case

16. Principle: A contract between the father and his son is a contract of utmost good faith. In such a
type of contract law presumes that at the time of entering into the contract the father was in a position to dominate the will of his son. Where one of the parties was in position to dominate the will of the other party, the contract is enforceable only at the option of the party whose will was so dominated.

Facts: Ram had advanced a sum of Rs. 10,000/- to his minor son Shyam. When Shyam became major, his father Ram misused his parental position and entered into an agreement with Shyam and obtained a bond from him for a sum of Rs. 30,000 in respect of the advance. Whether this agreement is enforceable?

A. The agreement is enforceable against Shyam only for Rs. 10,000/-, the actual amount of money advanced to him
B. The agreement is enforceable against Shyam for Rs. 30,000/- because he has signed the bond
C. The agreement is enforceable against Shyam because he was major at the time of agreement.
D. The agreement is not enforceable against Shyam because Ram has misused his position as father to obtain an unfair advantage.

17. Principle: When at the desire of one person, any other person has done or abstained from doing something, such act or abstinence or promise is called a consideration for the promise. Only a promise coupled with consideration is enforceable by law.

Facts: X, the uncle of Y, made a promise to pay him an amount of Rs. 10,000/- as reward if Y quits smoking and drinking within one year. X also deposited the above mentioned amount in a bank and informed Y that the said amount will be paid to him if he quits smoking and drinking within one year. Within a period of six months of making the promise X died. After the expiry of one year of making the promise by X, Y made a request to the legal heirs of X demanding the promised money. The legal heirs of X declined the request of Y.

A. The promise of X to Y is enforceable by law because Y has quitted smoking and drinking
B. The promise of X to Y is not enforceable by law because Y has benefitted by quitting smoking and drinking
C. The promise of X to Y is enforceable by law because the amount of Rs. 10, 000/- has been deposited in a bank
D. The promise of X to Y is enforceable by law because X has died within a period of six months of making the promise

18. Principle: ‘Work’ means literary work, artistic work, dramatic work, musical work, cinematographic film and sound recording but does not include acting in a cinematographic film. Only the works, as enumerated above, can be protected under copyright law.

Facts: A very famous actor acted in a cinematographic film. The actor was also the producer and director of cinematographic film.

A. The acting of the actor can be protected under copyright law
B. The acting of the actor can be protected under copyright law only as an artistic work
C. The acting of the actor cannot be protected under copyright law
D. The acting of the actor cannot be protected under copyright law as a cinematographic film

19. Principle: In case where the government is a party, the government shall be the first owner of the copyright in the work unless there is an agreement to the contrary.

Facts: The Government of the State of X entered into an agreement with a retired Professor of Botany. The Professor agreed to write a text book on Botany. The Government agreed to pay a sum of Rs. Ten Lacs to the Professor for this work.

A. The Government of the State of X shall be first owner of copyright in the text book
B. The Professor shall be first owner of copyright in the text book
C. Both the Government of the State of X and the Professor shall be the joint owners of copyright in the text book
D. The Professor shall be first owner of copyright in the text book only if he refuses to accept the amount of Rs. Ten Lacs from the Government

20. Principle: Licence is an agreement whereby the owner of the copyright agrees to grant an interest in the copyright to the licencee. Assignment is an agreement whereby the owner of the copyright transfers all the property rights to the assignee. Property right is a bundle of rights consisting of right to possess, right to use, right to alienate, and the right to exclude others.

Facts: A, an owner of copyright in a cinematographic film enters into an agreement with B, a film distributer. B agrees to distribute the film only in Mumbai. A also enters into many such agreements with other distributers for distribution of his film in other cities.

A. The agreement between A and B is more in the nature of assignment than in the nature of licence
B. The agreement between A and B is more in the nature of licence than in the nature of assignment
C. The agreement between A and B is both in the nature of assignment and licence
D. The agreement between A and B is neither in the nature of assignment nor in the nature of licence

21. Principle: Qui facit per alium facit per se, i.e. he who does things through others does it himself.

Facts: Nisha, the owner of a car, asked her friend Saurabh to take her car and drive the same to her office. As the car was near her office, it hit a pedestrian Srikant on account of Saurabh’s negligent driving and injured him seriously. Now Srikant files a suit for damages against Nisha.

A. Nisha is not liable as it was the negligence of Saurabh.
B. Saurabh is solely liable as Nisha was not driving the car.
C. Nisha is liable as Saurabh was driving under her authority and for her purpose.
D. Saurabh will be exempted from liability under the principle of inevitable accident.

22. Principle: Words describing quality of things cannot be registered as trade mark. However, such words may be registered as trade mark if they acquire a secondary meaning. Words acquire secondary meaning when people start associating the descriptive words with a person specific.

Facts: A hatchery located in Raipur is owned by ‘X’. X has been using the slogan “new laid eggs sold here” since 1970 to describe the quality of eggs sold in his hatchery. Over a period of time because of continuous use of this slogan, people started associating this slogan with X. X filed an application for registration of the words “new laid eggs” as trade mark in the year 1970.

A. The words will be registered as trade mark
B. The words will not be registered as trade mark
C. The words may be registered as trade mark
D. The words may not be registered as trade mark

23. Principle: Whoever takes away anything from the land of any person without that person’s consent is said to commit theft. A thing so long as it is attached to the earth is not the subject of theft; but it becomes capable of being the subject of theft as soon as it is severed from the earth.

Facts: Y cuts down a tree standing on the land of X with the intention of dishonestly taking the tree out of X’s possession without the consent of X. But Y is yet to take away the tree out of X’s possession.

A. Y has committed theft as soon as he came to the land of X
B. Y has committed theft as soon as the tree has been completely cut down by him
C. Y has committed theft as soon as he has started cutting down the tree
D. Y has not committed theft because he is yet to take away the tree out of X possession

24. Principle: res ipsa loquitur i.e. the thing speaks for itself.

Facts: Seema got herself operated for the removal of her uterus in the defendant’s hospital, as there was diagnosed to be a cyst in one of her ovaries. Due the negligence of the surgeon, who performed the operation, abdominal pack was left in her abdomen. The same was removed by a second surgery.

A. Surgeon cannot be held responsible because it is merely a human error.
B. Surgeon can be held responsible but Seema will have to prove in the court of law that the surgeon was grossly negligent.
C. Surgeon will be responsible and Seema need not to prove surgeon’s negligence because presence of abdominal pack in her abdomen is sufficient proof therefor.
D. None of the above

25. Principle: Whoever takes away with him any minor person less than sixteen years of age if a male, or less than eighteen years of age if a female out of the keeping of parents of such minor person without the consent of such parent, is said to kidnap such minor person.

Facts: A female born on January 01, 1995 got admitted to an undergraduate program of a reputed University on July 01, 2012. She became friendly with one of the boys, born on June 01, 1994, of her class. The boy and the girl decided to marry. The parents of the boy agreed but the family of the girl did not agree. On December 15, 2012 the girl made a call from her Blackberry to the boy.
The girl told the boy to come in his car at a particular place and time. The boy reached the stipulated place before the stipulated time. He waited there for about half an hour. The girl reached the stipulated place. She opened the door of the car and sat beside the boy who was on the driving seat. Without exchanging any pleasantries, the boy drove the car to an unknown place. The father of the girl lodged an FIR in the nearest police station on January 20, 2013.

A. The boy has committed the offence of kidnapping
B. The boy has not committed the offence of kidnapping
C. The boy has not committed the offence of kidnapping for there is a delay in filing the FIR
D. The boy has not committed the offence of kidnapping because the girl was his classmate

26. Principle: Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal shall be punished.

Facts: Two adult men were found engaged in carnal intercourse by the police. The police arrested the men and produced them before the Court.

A. Court will punish the police officer who arrested the men
B. Court will not punish the men for they were adults
C. Court will punish the men
D. Court may be requested to declare the law unconstitutional.

27. Principle: Wherever the causing of a certain effect, or an attempt to cause that effect, by an act or by an omission, is an offence, it is to be understood that the causing of that effect partly by an act and partly by an omission is the same offence.

Facts: A intentionally omitted to give food to his father. He also used to beat his father. Consequently A’s father died.

A. A did not commit any offence
B. A committed only the offence of omitting to give food to his father
C. A committed only the offence of beating of his father
D. A committed the offence of killing of his father

28. Principle: Nothing is an offence which is done by a child under seven years of age.

Facts: A, a child born on January 01, 2005 killed another child ‘B’ on December 30, 2011.

A. A has committed no offence.
B. A has committed the offence as it is heinous crime
C. Killing of one child by another child is not an offence
D. A has not committed the offence for on the date of killing of B, A was a minor

29. Principle: A pact, other than a pact to commit suicide, to suffer any harm is not an offence, provided the age of the person who has given his consent to suffer harm is above eighteen years.

Facts: A enters into a pact with B, a boy of less than 18 years of age, to fence with each other for amusement. They agreed to suffer any harm which, in the course of such fencing, may be caused without foul play.

A. A, while playing fairly, hurts B, A commits no offence
B. A, while playing only unfairly, hurts B, A commits an offence
C. A, while playing fairly, hurts B, A commits an offence
D. A, while playing unfairly, hurts B, A commits no offence

30. Principle: When an act, which would otherwise be an offence, is not that offence by reason of the youth, the want of maturity of understanding, the unsoundness of mind or the intoxication of the person doing that act, every person has the same right of private defence against that act which he would have if the act were that offence. Nothing is an offence which is done in the exercise of the right of private defence.

Facts: A, under the influence of madness, attempts to kill B. B in order to save his life causes grievous hurt to A.

A. A has committed an offence
B. A has not committed an offence
C. B has committed an offence
D. B has not committed any offence

  

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