KSLU Solved Question Papers
Elements of Legal Research
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 1
2017 Dec Examination
munotes.in
Mumbai
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 1 Elements of Legal Research 2017 Dec Question Paper with Solutions
First published on munotes.in on 21 October 2026.
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The University does not publish an official answer key for this paper. The answers in this volume are model answers, written to show how a full-mark answer is built. They are a study aid, not an authority on what an examiner marked.
The question paper reproduced here is the paper as set by Karnataka State Law University at the 2017 Dec examination.
Contents
The questions below are the paper as Karnataka State Law University set it at the 2017 Dec examination, in the order it was set.
MarksPage
The Paper as Set
The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the 2017 Dec examination, reproduced as Karnataka State Law University set them, in the order it set them. Long reading passages are shortened to their first and last lines and our summary; the original paper prints them in full. Only the answers are ours. See the original question paper.
Duration 2½ hours · Total marks 70 · 12 questions answered
How to use this volume
Solve the paper first, under exam conditions and against the clock. Then read the answers here and mark your own. Reading a solution before attempting the question feels productive and teaches very little, because recognising an answer is not the same as being able to write one.
Q1How you find case law in library ?[10]
Answer
For full marks, cover: what case law is and where it is printed (the law report series); finding a case from its citation (reading AIR, SCC and SCR citations; equivalent and neutral citations); finding a case by name (tables of cases and indexes); finding cases by subject (digests, textbooks, commentaries, annotated Acts); finding cases on a section; checking currency (citators, later volumes, Sudeer and Bonnie Foi); electronic sources; reading the case properly (judgment, not head note); a worked example; a conclusion.
What case law is
Case law is the law found in the judgments of the courts. Under Article 141, the law declared by the Supreme Court binds all courts in India. Finding the right judgment is therefore often the most important step in solving a legal problem. In a library, judgments are found mainly in the law reports:
- The Supreme Court Reports (SCR), the Court's official series.
- Supreme Court Cases (SCC) and the All India Reporter (AIR), the two private series most cited.
- High Court series, such as the Indian Law Reports (ILR).
1. Finding a case from its citation
The quickest way to find a case is through its citation, which works like an address.
- "AIR 1978 SC 597" means the All India Reporter for 1978, Supreme Court section, page 597.
- "(1978) 1 SCC 248" means volume 1 of the Supreme Court Cases for 1978, page 248.
- "1978 SCR (2) 621" means the Supreme Court Reports for 1978, volume 2, page 621.
All three are the same case, Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India. They are equivalent citations, so a student can use whichever series the library holds. A neutral citation, such as "2015 INSC 257", gives the year, "INSC" for the Supreme Court of India, and a serial number, independent of any publisher.
2. Finding a case by its name
If only the name is known, the student uses the table of cases printed in each volume and in annual or consolidated indexes. These list cases alphabetically by the names of the parties and give the page. A library catalogue does not usually list individual cases, so the indexes of the report series are the right tool.
3. Finding cases on a subject
Where the student knows the topic but not the cases, he uses:
- Digests, which arrange cases by subject with short notes of what each decided.
- Textbooks and commentaries, which cite the leading cases on each point.
- Annotated bare Acts, which print short notes of cases under each section.
4. Finding cases on a section
To find the cases on a particular section, the student turns to a commentary on that Act. A commentary arranges the decisions section by section, so all the cases on one provision appear together.
5. Checking that the case is still good law
A judgment may have been overruled, distinguished or doubted. The student checks this with a citator, which lists how later courts treated a case, and by searching later volumes and databases. V. Sudeer v. Bar Council of India, (1999) 3 SCC 176, for example, was held not good law in Bar Council of India v. Bonnie Foi Law College, 2023 SCC OnLine SC 130. A student who relied on Sudeer alone would state the law wrongly.
6. Electronic sources
Most libraries now provide computers with access to court websites and legal databases. These allow searches by name, citation, words or section, and often show equivalent citations. The student should still read the full text and confirm the citation from a reliable source.
Reading the case properly
Once found, the case must be read in full. The head note is written by the reporter, not the court, and can be wrong. The Supreme Court Reports head note to Maneka Gandhi says the Passports Act "was enacted on 24-4-67", while the judgment says 24 June 1967. The student should note the facts, the issue, the reasoning and the order, and identify the ratio. In State of Orissa v. Sudhansu Sekhar Misra, 1968 AIR 647, the Supreme Court said that "A decision is only an authority for what it actually decides."
A worked example
A student must find whether a Lok Adalat award can be challenged in appeal. He opens a textbook on legal services, which cites section 21 of the Legal Services Authorities Act 1987 and P.T. Thomas v. Thomas Job, (2005) 6 SCC 478. Using the citation, he goes to volume 6 of the 2005 Supreme Court Cases, page 478, and reads the judgment. It holds that a Lok Adalat award is a deemed decree, final and binding, with no appeal. Finally, he searches later judgments to confirm the position has not changed.
Conclusion. Case law is found in the library mainly through the law reports. A citation leads straight to the volume and page, and a table of cases finds a case by name. Digests, textbooks, commentaries and annotated Acts find cases by subject or section. Citators and later volumes confirm that a case still stands, as the overruling of Sudeer shows. The student must then read the full judgment, not the head note, and cite the case only for what it decided.
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