Rajasthan Judiciary — Prelims 2017

Correct answer: C

Under the Indian Succession Act, 1925 (s.234 and related provisions), probate/letters of administration follow legitimate kindred; an illegitimate child is not recognised as kindred for grant of probate. A married daughter, minor son or half-brother can otherwise take a grant.

Correct answer: B

Section 10 of the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956 lists who may be adopted: the person must be a Hindu, not already adopted, not married (unless custom permits) and below 15 years. A child already adopted cannot be adopted again.

Correct answer: D

Section 22A of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 defines 'public utility service' to include transport, postal/telegraph/telephone, power/water, hospital and insurance services. Banking is not in the central statutory definition, so it is not a public utility service.

Correct answer: A

Under Order XXII Rule 10 (read with the proviso to s.21/limitation principles) CPC, where a party is added or substituted on assignment or devolution of interest during a suit, the suit as regards him is deemed instituted on the date the suit was originally instituted (the relation-back principle).

Correct answer: B

Under the Second Schedule to s.163A of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, one-third (1/3) of the income is deducted towards the amount the deceased would have spent on maintaining himself had he been alive.

Correct answer: A

Under s.17 of the Registration Act, 1908 (read with s.123 of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882), a gift of immovable property must be effected by a registered instrument; registration is compulsory.

Correct answer: A

Section 108(c) of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882 provides that where a lease for a year/years is determinable before expiry and the lease omits to mention at whose option, such option lies with the lessee.

Correct answer: A

'Actus curiae neminem gravabit' means an act of the Court shall prejudice no man — no party should suffer for a mistake or delay attributable to the Court.

Correct answer: B

Long title, marginal notes and preamble are internal aids to construction (parts of the statute). Illustrations, being explanatory of the section, are sometimes treated as internal aids too, but among the given options 'Illustrations' is the answer the paper treats as not an internal aid; the long title, marginal notes and preamble are the classic internal aids.

Correct answer: A

Under Muslim law (and the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986), iddat for a divorced woman subject to menstruation is three menstrual courses after the date of divorce.

Correct answer: C

The definition of 'agriculture' in the Rajasthan Relief of Agricultural Indebtedness Act, 1957 includes horticulture, breeding of cattle/camels/sheep/goats and reserving land for fodder/grazing/thatching grass, but does NOT include bee farming and collecting honey.

Correct answer: B

Section 65 of the Rajasthan Stamp Act, 1998 provides for revision by the Chief Controlling Revenue Authority; a person aggrieved by an order of the Collector (Stamps) applies to that authority.

Correct answer: B

Article 142 of the Constitution empowers the Supreme Court to pass such decree or order as is necessary for doing complete justice in any cause or matter pending before it.

Correct answer: D

In Justice K.S. Puttaswamy (Retd.) v. Union of India (2017) 10 SCC 1, a nine-judge bench held that the right to privacy is a fundamental right under Article 21.

Correct answer: B

Act of God (vis major) is a recognised general defence in tort. Mistake of fact and minority are generally not valid defences in the law of torts.

Correct answer: D

Section 15 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 provides that divorced persons may marry again after the time for appealing has expired without any appeal having been presented (or after dismissal of an appeal).

Correct answer: C

Promissory estoppel is an extension of the principle of estoppel contained in Section 115 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872.

Correct answer: D

Mother, widow and daughter were all Class I heirs of a male Hindu dying intestate even prior to the 2005 amendment (Schedule, s.8 HSA, 1956). Hence none of them was excluded — 'None of the above'.

Correct answer: A

Section 91 of the Rajasthan Land Revenue Act, 1956 provides for summary eviction of a person occupying, without lawful authority, land which is at the disposal of the State or a local authority.

Correct answer: D

Section 2(2) CPC: 'decree' includes rejection of a plaint and determination of any question within s.144, and a preliminary decree, but expressly excludes any order of dismissal for default.

Correct answer: D

By the proviso to Order XXIII Rule 3 and Rule 3A CPC, no separate suit/appeal lies challenging a recorded compromise; the only remedy is before the same court that recorded it. No appeal under the listed provisions lies, so 'None of the above'. (Order XLIII Rule 1A only allows raising the validity of the compromise within the appeal against the decree itself, not as an independent appeal.)

Correct answer: D

Section 3 of the Rajasthan Rent Control Act, 2001 exempts (excludes from Chapters II & III) premises let to foreign citizens, premises of a University/Government Company, etc. The Jaipur residential premises is the intended 'applies' answer (d). Flagged: per the bare Act, residential premises in Jaipur with rent of Rs.7,000 or more are also exempt, so Rs.8,000/month would arguably be exempt too — option appears internally inconsistent, but (d) is the official-key answer.

Correct answer: C

Suits against a municipality/its officers (other than for recovery of immovable property or declaration of title) must be instituted within six months next after the accrual of the cause of action (standard municipal-law limitation/notice provision).

Correct answer: D

Licences are dealt with under the Indian Easements Act, 1882 (ss.52-64); the grant and transfer of licences is governed by that Act.

Correct answer: C

Under the Rajasthan Court-fees and Suits Valuation Act, 1961, all questions on under-valuation or insufficiency of court-fee are to be heard and decided before the hearing of the suit (as contemplated by Order XVIII CPC).

Correct answer: B

Under Section 14(1) of the Specific Relief Act, 1963, a contract which is in its nature determinable cannot be specifically enforced. Options (a), (c) and (d) describe contracts that ARE specifically enforceable; (b) is the exception.

Correct answer: C

Section 229 of the Rajasthan Tenancy Act, 1955 confers the power of review on the Board of Revenue and other revenue courts (Sections 229-231 deal with review, revision and reference).

Correct answer: B

Section 13 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 recognises only promissory notes, bills of exchange and cheques as negotiable instruments. A Fixed Deposit Receipt is not a negotiable instrument.

Correct answer: A

Under the Rajasthan General Rules (Civil), 1986, pleadings, applications and petitions in civil judicial proceedings are required to be written in Hindi (the language of the courts in Rajasthan).

Correct answer: C

Under Section 2(1)(e)(ii) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, in the case of international commercial arbitration 'Court' means the High Court in exercise of its ordinary original civil jurisdiction (or having jurisdiction to decide the questions forming the subject-matter).

Correct answer: C

Section 37(1)(a) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 makes an order refusing to refer the parties to arbitration under Section 8 appealable. (Post the 2015 amendment Section 37 expressly covers refusal under Section 8.)

Correct answer: B

Section 38 of the Rajasthan Panchayati Raj Act, 1994 contains the provisions for removal and suspension of any member, Chairperson or Deputy Chairperson of a Panchayati Raj Institution.

Correct answer: B

Section 10 of the Indian Partnership Act, 1932 ('Duty to indemnify for loss caused by fraud') casts on every partner the duty to indemnify the firm for any loss caused to it by his fraud in the conduct of the business of the firm. The other duties fall under Sections 9, 11 and 16.

Correct answer: C

Under Section 2(7) of the Sale of Goods Act, 1930, 'goods' means every kind of movable property other than actionable claims and money, but includes stock and shares, growing crops, grass, and things attached to land agreed to be severed. Money is expressly excluded.

Correct answer: C

Under Order XXIX Rule 2 CPC, in a suit against a corporation the summons may be served on the secretary, or on any director or other principal officer of the corporation.

Correct answer: A

By virtue of Section 77B of the Information Technology Act, 2000, offences punishable with imprisonment of three years and above (which includes Sections 66B, 66C, 66D, 66E) are cognizable; these are bailable and not sessions-triable.

Correct answer: D

Under Section 378(4) CrPC, in a complaint case where the order is one of acquittal, the complainant may present an appeal to the High Court only after obtaining special leave to appeal from the High Court.

Correct answer: D

Section 27 of the Evidence Act prescribes no particular mode/witnesses for recording the information leading to discovery; the law mandates no presence of panch witnesses, Gazetted Officer or police officers as a condition. Hence 'None of the above.'

Correct answer: C

Section 94(2) of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 prescribes the order of preference: (i) date of birth certificate from school / matriculation certificate; failing which (ii) birth certificate from a municipality/corporation; and only in absence of both, (iii) ossification/age determination test.

Correct answer: C

Under Section 18 of the JJ Act, 2015, the Board can pass dispositional orders (attend school, vocational training, community service, etc.) but cannot sentence a child in conflict with law to imprisonment; Section 21 bars death penalty/life imprisonment, and the Board has no power to imprison.

Correct answer: C

Under Section 19 r/w Section 21 of the JJ Act, 2015, a Children's Court trying a child as an adult cannot sentence the child to imprisonment (death penalty/life imprisonment without release are barred and ordinary imprisonment is not the prescribed mode); a fixed-term sentence such as 10 years' imprisonment is impermissible.

Correct answer: D

Under Section 15 r/w Section 18(3) of the JJ Act, 2015, where the Board finds the child should be tried as an adult, it transfers the case to the Children's Court having jurisdiction to try such offences.

Correct answer: C

Under Section 42 of the NDPS Act, 1985 (search of a vehicle in transit/conveyance on a highway falls under Section 43 for public place; empowered officers under Section 42 are the Deputy Superintendent of Police or officer-in-charge of the police station/empowered gazetted officers of the area concerned).

Correct answer: A

Under Section 50 of the NDPS Act, 1985, before a personal search the officer must apprise the suspect of his right to be searched in the presence of a Gazetted Officer or a Magistrate (as held in State of Punjab v. Baldev Singh).

Correct answer: C

Under the proviso to Section 60(3) of the NDPS Act, 1985, a conveyance shall not be confiscated if the owner proves that it was used in the commission of the offence without his knowledge or connivance and that he had taken reasonable precautions.

Correct answer: C

Under Section 27 r/w Section 19(b) of the Specific Relief Act, the prior registered sale to B (whether or not fully paid) creates a transfer; C, who paid value without notice of the earlier transaction, is the person aggrieved/prejudiced by A's fraudulent second sale.

Correct answer: D

Section 14A of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 provides an appeal to the High Court against an order granting or refusing bail by the Special Court; hence the rejection is challenged by way of an appeal (not Section 439/397/482 CrPC).

Correct answer: A

In a free fight, the grievous hurt by sharp weapon is punishable under Section 326 IPC; the SC/ST Act offence under Section 3 requires the act to be committed 'on the ground that' the victim is a member of a SC/ST. In a free fight that caste-based intent is absent, so only Section 326 IPC applies.

Correct answer: A

Section 161 CrPC permits the police officer to examine and record statements of witnesses, including a woman and a child, at the scene of occurrence (or wherever the witness is found); there is no statutory bar requiring a particular police station or residence, so the statement may be recorded at the scene of occurrence.

Correct answer: C

Under Section 244 CrPC, in a warrant case instituted upon a complaint the Magistrate must take all such evidence as may be produced in support of the prosecution before framing of charge (Section 246). In police-report warrant cases (Section 240) and Sessions trials, charge is framed on the record/documents without pre-charge evidence.

Correct answer: D

Under Section 31 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, breach of a 'protection order' (or interim protection order) is the only non-compliance made a punishable offence (up to 1 year/Rs.20,000).

Correct answer: B

Once the maker is dead, her Section 164 CrPC statement as to the cause/circumstances of her death (rape leading to suicide) becomes admissible as a dying declaration under Section 32(1) of the Evidence Act; it is not 'substantive' evidence in the ordinary sense nor admissible under Section 33 (which needs prior cross-examination).

Correct answer: D

Close call. On grant of probation under Section 4 POA the offender executes a bond to appear and receive sentence and to keep peace/good behaviour up to 3 years, so a separate direction to furnish 'bail and bonds to keep peace and good behaviour for three years' (a CrPC Ch.VIII security measure) is the order that does not fit the POA scheme; admonition (s.3), removal of disqualification (s.12) and compensation/costs (s.5) are all permissible.

Correct answer: C

Where two persons are in a room bolted from inside and one is found murdered, the fact of how the death occurred is within the special knowledge of the survivor; burden to explain shifts to him under Section 106 of the Evidence Act.

Correct answer: B

Section 406 IPC (criminal breach of trust) is treated as a continuing offence; limitation under Section 468 CrPC therefore does not bar the proceedings (and Section 470/473 also save them), so the prosecution is not time-barred.

Correct answer: A

Where the wife is living separately under a decree of separation, sexual intercourse by the husband without her consent is an offence under Section 376-B IPC.

Correct answer: C

In a sudden 'free fight' there is neither common intention (s.34) nor common object (s.149); each combatant is liable only for the individual injuries he personally caused.

Correct answer: A

Call detail records (electronic records) are admissible and, proving contact/association between the recovered-from accused and the supplier-conspirator, can be used as substantive evidence to establish the charge of conspiracy.

Correct answer: A

Section 304 Part II IPC carries imprisonment up to 10 years (not 10 years or more), so the default-bail period under the proviso to Section 167(2) CrPC is 60 days; the accused becomes entitled to compulsive bail on the 61st day, and habitual-offender status is irrelevant to the statutory right.

Correct answer: A

A public servant (Patwari) who knowingly makes a false entry in a public/revenue record and certifies it to cause loss commits forgery of a record under Sections 467 and 468 IPC (Section 466 dealing with public records), i.e. creating false/forged documents.

Correct answer: B

Section 304 IPC is not punishable with death or life imprisonment mandatorily, so it is not outside Section 4 POA; the court 'may' (discretionary, not mandatory) release a 20-year-old first offender on probation.

Correct answer: C

In Rasiklal Dalpatram Thakkar v. State of Gujarat (AIR 2010 SC 715), the Supreme Court held that the investigating agency/police cannot refuse to register/investigate a complaint merely on the ground of lack of territorial jurisdiction.

Correct answer: B

In Meters and Instruments Pvt. Ltd. v. Kanchan Mehta (AIR 2017 SC 4594), the Supreme Court held that though compounding under the NI Act needs both parties' consent, the court may even without consent, on being satisfied the complainant is duly compensated, in its discretion close the proceedings and discharge the accused.

Correct answer: B

In Sakiri Vasu v. State of U.P. (AIR 2008 SC 907), the Supreme Court held that a Magistrate under Section 156(3) CrPC has wide power to direct registration of an FIR and to order a thorough and fair investigation, and even monitor it.

Correct answer: D

In Shafhi Mohammad v. State of Himachal Pradesh (SLP (Cri) No.2302/2017, dt. 30.01.2018), the Supreme Court held that a party not in possession/control of the device from which the electronic record was produced is not required to furnish the Section 65-B certificate.

Correct answer: C

In Amrutbhai Shambhubhai Patel v. Sumanbhai Kantibhai Patel (AIR 2017 SC 774), the Supreme Court held that once cognizance is taken and the accused has appeared, the Magistrate cannot suo motu (or on the complainant's request) direct further investigation.

Correct answer: C

Under Section 151 of the Electricity Act, 2003, a court takes cognizance only upon a complaint in writing made by the appropriate Government/Commission or their authorised officer, a Chief/Electrical Inspector, or a licensee or generating company.

Correct answer: C

Under Section 23 of the POCSO Act, 2012 the media cannot disclose the identity of the child victim, but the Special Court competent to do so may, for reasons recorded in writing, permit such disclosure if it is in the child's interest.

Correct answer: B

Under Section 41-A CrPC, in all cases where arrest is not required under Section 41(1), the police officer shall issue a notice directing the person to appear before him or at the specified place.

Correct answer: A

A Presiding Magistrate of the court to which the record belongs may take charge of the record of a case pending in his own court to examine it at his private residence without requiring any superior's permission under the General Rules (Civil).

Correct answer: D

'She will have completed her assignment by midnight' is the future perfect tense (will have + past participle).

Correct answer: B

The past participle of 'fling' is 'flung' (He has just flung out of the room); options (b) and (c) are identical 'Flung', the intended correct form.

Correct answer: A

'Man is the only animal that uses fire' uses 'man' generically (whole class) and takes no article; option (a) 'X' denotes the zero/no article.

Correct answer: D

With the adverb 'hardly' (a negative), the correct quantifier with an uncountable noun is 'any': 'He has hardly any money for his survival.'

Correct answer: C

The phrasal verb 'close in' means to come nearer / approach (often menacingly).

Correct answer: C

The idiom 'out of the woods' means no longer in danger or difficulty.

Correct answer: C

Passive of 'We must not look down on the poor' is 'The poor must not be looked down on by us.' Options (c) and (d) are printed identically; (c) chosen as first correct instance.

Correct answer: B

'Being a student, you must work hard' is active voice; the other three are passive constructions.

Correct answer: A

Cause-and-result requires 'so': 'I had studied a lot, so I did really well on the test.'

Correct answer: B

'Until' fits: 'You can only play outside until your father gets home' (time-based subordinating conjunction).

Correct answer: C

An exclamation of greeting in reported speech uses 'wished': 'She wished me a Merry Christmas.'

Correct answer: A

'Would that I had made contact with him before his departure' uses 'would' to express a wish/desire.

Correct answer: B

'Shall I close the door?' offers/suggests an action; 'shall I' is used for suggestions and offers.

Correct answer: A

'Robust' means strong and sturdy; 'strong' is the synonym (frail/infirm are antonyms).

Correct answer: C

'Veracity' means truthfulness; its opposite is 'mendacity' (lying/falsehood). Truthfulness, probity, integrity are synonyms.