Assam Judiciary — Prelims 2015

Correct answer: C

Nani Palkhivala was renowned for his annual public lectures critiquing the Union Budget, delivered for decades to packed audiences in Mumbai.

Correct answer: B

The writ of Habeas Corpus, which secures release from unlawful detention, is universally described as the bulwark of personal liberty/freedom.

Correct answer: C

TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) under the WTO sets minimum standards to harmonise the IPR regime across member states internationally.

Correct answer: B

Article 20(3) provides 'no person accused of any offence shall be compelled to be a witness against himself' — the protection is available to an accused.

Correct answer: B

In Mithu v. State of Punjab (1983), the Supreme Court struck down Section 303 IPC (mandatory death for murder by a life convict) as violative of Articles 14 and 21.

Correct answer: B

Homi J. Bhabha (option spelt 'H.V. Bhava') is regarded as the father of India's nuclear/atomic energy programme.

Correct answer: B

In Lata Singh v. State of U.P. (2006), the Supreme Court held a major girl is free to marry or live with anyone she chooses and inter-caste marriage is not barred.

Correct answer: A

Plea bargaining (Chapter XXIA, Ss. 265A-265L CrPC) was introduced by the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2005, which came into force in 2006; the enabling amendment was 2005.

Correct answer: B

Under Sections 56-57 and Article 22(2), an arrested person must be produced before the nearest Magistrate within 24 hours, not directly before the Sessions Court.

Correct answer: C

Deliberately giving a false statement on oath in court is perjury (giving false evidence, S.191 IPC).

Correct answer: B

Justice Leila Seth became India's first woman Chief Justice of a High Court (Himachal Pradesh High Court, 1991).

Correct answer: D

Locus standi denotes a party's right/standing to bring an action and be heard before a court.

Correct answer: A

In State of Maharashtra v. Dr. Praful B. Desai (2003), the Supreme Court held that recording of evidence by video-conferencing is permissible.

Correct answer: C

Section 82 IPC provides nothing is an offence done by a child under seven years of age (absolute immunity).

Correct answer: A

An agreement begins with a proposal/offer (S.2(a) Contract Act); acceptance of that offer converts it into a promise/agreement.

Correct answer: A

Parole is the temporary, conditional release of a prisoner; amnesty, discharge and pardon do not denote a temporary release.

Correct answer: B

Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala (1973) is popularly known as the Fundamental Rights Case.

Correct answer: A

Section 126 of the Evidence Act protects professional communications between client and advocate; the lawyer is privileged and protected from disclosing the confession to the police.

Correct answer: C

Section 15 CPC: every suit shall be instituted in the court of the lowest grade competent to try it.

Correct answer: B

The 2011 US operation that killed Osama bin Laden was code-named 'Operation Neptune Spear', and 'Geronimo' was the code name used for bin Laden/his death.

Correct answer: B

The Committee for Implementing Legal Aid Schemes (CILAS), constituted in 1980, was chaired by Justice P.N. Bhagwati.

Correct answer: C

Headline (wholesale) inflation in India was traditionally measured by the Wholesale Price Index (WPI), the standard answer for this 2015 exam.

Correct answer: A

A Demat (dematerialised) account holds shares in electronic form for trading.

Correct answer: A

The Malimath Committee (2003) report dealt with Reforms of the Criminal Justice System/Administration.

Correct answer: C

'An eye for an eye' (lex talionis) reflects the Retributive theory of punishment, based on revenge/just deserts.

Correct answer: B

A master's liability for the torts of his servant committed in the course of employment is termed vicarious liability, based on respondeat superior.

Correct answer: B

Under Muslim law (per Abdul Kadir v. Salima), nikah is essentially a civil contract for procreation and legalisation of children, not a sacrament.

Correct answer: A

Unliquidated damages in tort are not pre-ascertained; the court determines them, so they are 'not ascertainable' in advance (unlike liquidated/contract damages).

Correct answer: A

Under Section 73 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872, an aggrieved party in the usual course recovers ordinary (general) damages arising naturally from the breach.

Correct answer: C

An agreement to share the benefits/emoluments of a public office is opposed to public policy and void under Section 23 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872.

Correct answer: D

The 44th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1978 deleted Article 19(1)(f) and Article 31, making the right to property a mere legal/constitutional right (Article 300A); it came into force on 20 June 1979.

Correct answer: A

Anticipatory bail under Section 438 was introduced for the first time in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (it had no equivalent in the 1898 Code), on the Law Commission's 41st Report recommendation.

Correct answer: D

The Sarda Act (Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929) was enacted to prevent child marriage by fixing minimum marriage ages.

Correct answer: B

The CVC was given statutory teeth pursuant to the Supreme Court's directions in Vineet Narain v. Union of India (1998) 1 SCC 226 (Jain Hawala case).

Correct answer: B

Unlawful detention or threat to detain property to a person's prejudice to induce an agreement is coercion under Section 15 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872.

Correct answer: A

The Sarkaria Commission (1983) was appointed to examine Centre-State relations in India.

Correct answer: B

Crime is regarded as a public wrong (a wrong against society/the State), distinguishing it from a private/civil wrong like tort.

Correct answer: B

Under Section 93 IPC, a communication made in good faith for the benefit of a person causing harm is no offence; this is the illustration to Section 93.

Correct answer: C

Amnesty is a general pardon, usually extended to a class or group of offenders, as opposed to an individual pardon, remission, or reprieve.

Correct answer: B

Joint heirs to ancestral/coparcenary property under Hindu (Mitakshara) law are called coparceners.

Correct answer: B

Substantive law defines rights, duties and liabilities; procedural (adjective) law merely prescribes the method of enforcing them.

Correct answer: C

Jeremy Bentham described witnesses as 'the eyes and ears of justice' (cited approvingly by the Supreme Court in Swaran Singh v. State of Punjab).

Correct answer: B

The Tamil Nadu Mediation and Conciliation Centre at the Madras High Court, Chennai, inaugurated 9 April 2005, was India's first court-annexed mediation centre.

Correct answer: B

'My Own Boswell' is the autobiography/memoirs of Justice M. Hidayatullah, the 11th Chief Justice of India.

Correct answer: C

Withdrawing/withholding medical treatment with the intention of causing death is passive euthanasia (recognised in Aruna Shanbaug v. Union of India, 2011).

Correct answer: A

The quote on patience in hearing and the 'over-speaking judge being no well-tuned cymbal' is from Francis Bacon's essay 'Of Judicature'.

Correct answer: A

The book 'Judges' was written by David Pannick (Oxford University Press, 1987).

Correct answer: A

India inherited its adversarial system of criminal justice from the United Kingdom (English common law tradition).

Correct answer: B

The official answer is likely 'False': the CrPC, 1973 does contain provisions empowering the court to search for truth (e.g., Section 165 of the Evidence Act and Section 311 CrPC permitting the court to examine witnesses to elicit truth). The Malimath Committee noted weak truth-seeking duty, so this is debatable; best answer False.

Correct answer: B

The requirement of prior sanction (e.g., Section 197 CrPC; Section 19 of the Prevention of Corruption Act) is a safeguard against frivolous/vexatious prosecutions of public servants.

Correct answer: B

Sunil Batra v. Delhi Administration (1978) is widely regarded as one of the earliest cases where the Supreme Court relaxed the strict rule of locus standi, treating a prisoner's letter as a writ petition (epistolary jurisdiction), predating Ratlam Municipality (1980).

Correct answer: B

Following the Bar Council of India's 1979 directive, the five-year integrated LL.B. course was made effective so that law degrees obtained from 1 June 1982 required completion of the new five-year course; standard exam keys mark 1982.

Correct answer: C

Under Article III of the US Constitution, Supreme Court Justices hold office during 'good behaviour' i.e. for life, ending only on death, resignation, retirement or removal by impeachment/conviction.

Correct answer: B

An advocate standing surety for his own client is professional misconduct; the Bar Council of India Rules and judicial practice prohibit an advocate from being a surety for the accused he represents.

Correct answer: B

'Yato Dharmastato Jayah' (where there is dharma, there is victory) is the official motto of the Supreme Court of India.

Correct answer: C

Associated Provincial Picture Houses v. Wednesbury Corporation (1948) laid down the 'Wednesbury unreasonableness' principle, a foundational test for judicial review of administrative/statutory directions.

Correct answer: C

Among the listed criminologists, Cesare Lombroso is credited with the first scientific attempt to use physiological measurement for deception detection, an early precursor of the polygraph.

Correct answer: B

M.C. Setalvad, India's first Attorney-General, was the first Chairman of the Bar Council of India (constituted 1961).

Correct answer: B

Registering or using a domain name in bad faith to profit from another's trademark goodwill is 'cybersquatting'.

Correct answer: B

The Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB), established w.e.f. 15 September 2003, had its headquarters at Chennai.

Correct answer: D

Patents, copyrights and trademarks are intellectual property; the 'property of an intellectual' (a person) is not a category of intellectual property.

Correct answer: C

Under the CVC Act 2003, the Central Vigilance Commissioner/Vigilance Commissioners can be removed only on the ground of proved misbehaviour or incapacity after an inquiry by the Supreme Court on a reference by the President.

Correct answer: C

The manager/superintendent of a wakf is called the Mutawalli.

Correct answer: B

Ignorance of the law is no excuse (ignorantia juris non excusat) for those bound by it; the plea is sometimes available to foreigners unaware of Indian law in limited circumstances, and among the options foreigners is the intended answer.

Correct answer: A

The Quran is the primary (first/foremost) source of Muslim law; Sunna/Hadees, Ijma and Qiyas are secondary sources.

Correct answer: D

The passage states 'Both official and corporate India has always been allergic to any mention of clean technology.'

Correct answer: D

The passage says further crop failure 'will amount to a life and death question for many Indians.'

Correct answer: B

The passage states the increase in premature deaths 'will have adverse social and economic consequences.'

Correct answer: A

'Profligacy' means reckless extravagance/wastefulness; the closest synonym is 'wastefulness'.

Correct answer: A

India, already struggling with drought, cannot tolerate any further crop failure per the passage.

Correct answer: B

The number series itself is missing from the stem (only options are given), so the answer cannot be derived; best guess 366.

Correct answer: B

Interest = 3422-2900 = 522 over 3 yrs. Extra at +3% = 2900*0.03*3 = 261. New amount = 3422+261 = Rs. 3683.

Correct answer: A

Unique arrangement (clockwise) A,C,E,B,F,D. Going anti-clockwise from F to E (F,B,E) there is exactly 1 person (B) between them.

Correct answer: B

In the unique arrangement A,C,E,B,F,D facing centre (consistent with B being immediate left of F), B is to the immediate left of E.

Correct answer: A

The given example COUNTERS->OVPDRQDS does not yield a single clean uniform rule; the latter half (RING->QHMF, a -1 shift) fits, and standard published keys give BFMDQHMF for CLEARING.

Correct answer: B

The overriding objectives of informal tribunal procedure are equal footing of parties, expeditious and fair handling, and saving expense. Subordinating complex legal issues is not a stated overriding objective, so (b) is the odd one out.

Correct answer: A

Chapter VB (ss. 25K-25N, 25-O) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 applies to establishments employing not less than 100 workmen, requiring prior permission/intimation of the appropriate Government to lay off, retrench or close down.

Correct answer: A

The Limitation Act, 1963 governs proceedings before courts; it does not apply to quasi-judicial tribunals or executive authorities unless specifically extended. Hence the scheme is to govern proceedings before courts.

Correct answer: C

Section 2(m) of the Limitation Act, 1963 defines 'tort' as a civil wrong which is not exclusively the breach of a contract or the breach of a trust.

Correct answer: B

Section 18 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 ('Equal treatment of parties') provides that the parties shall be treated with equality and each party shall be given a full opportunity to present his case.

Correct answer: A

Section 19(1) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 expressly states that the arbitral tribunal shall not be bound by the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 or the Indian Evidence Act, 1872. The statement is True.

Correct answer: A

Section 163-A (compensation on structured formula basis) was inserted into the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 by Act 54 of 1994 with effect from 14.11.1994.

Correct answer: C

Section 6(2)(a) of the Specific Relief Act, 1963 bars a suit for possession (dispossession without consent) brought after the expiry of six months from the date of dispossession.

Correct answer: D

Section 3(a) of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 defines 'land' to include benefits to arise out of land, and things attached to the earth or permanently fastened to anything attached to the earth. Thus all of these are included.

Correct answer: B

Section 32A (compulsory affixing of passport size photograph and finger prints) was inserted into the Registration Act, 1908 by the Registration and Other Related Laws (Amendment) Act, 2001 (Act 48 of 2001), w.e.f. 24.9.2001.

Correct answer: B

Section 16 of the Court-fees Act, 1870 provides for refund of court fee where the court refers parties to any mode of settlement under Section 89 of the CPC, 1908.

Correct answer: D

The doctrine of transferred malice/intention is embodied in Section 301 IPC (culpable homicide by causing death of a person whose death was not intended), where the intent is transferred to the actual victim.

Correct answer: D

Section 1 of the Indian Trusts Act, 1882 expressly excludes its application to public or private religious or charitable endowments. Hence it does not apply to public, religious or charitable trusts.

Correct answer: D

This is the illustration to Section 81 (and the principle of Section 92) IPC: an act done in good faith to prevent greater harm, without criminal intention to cause death, for the benefit of the child, is no offence.

Correct answer: B

This is the illustration (b) to Section 105 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, which places the burden of proving the existence of circumstances bringing the case within a General Exception (here, unsoundness of mind) on the accused.