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Political Science (Organisation and Institutions)
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 2
2013 Jun Examination
munotes.in
Mumbai
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 2 Political Science (Organisation and Institutions) 2013 Jun Question Paper with Solutions
First published on munotes.in on 21 October 2026.
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The question paper reproduced here is the paper as set by Karnataka State Law University at the 2013 Jun examination.
Contents
The questions below are the paper as Karnataka State Law University set it at the 2013 Jun examination, in the order it was set.
MarksPage
MarksPage
The Paper as Set
The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the 2013 Jun 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 3 hours · Total marks 100 · 20 questions answered
Instructions printed on the paper
- N.B. (1) Answer all 5 Questions. (2) Answer one essay type and one short note question or problem from each unit have to be attempted. (3) Figures to the right indicate marks. (4) Answers should be written either in English or Kannada completely.
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.
Q1
Unit I
(a)What is the meaning of law ? Explain sources and kinds of law.[15]
Answer
For full marks, cover: law defined from four points of view (analytical: Austin and Holland; historical: Savigny and Maine; sociological: Duguit and Pound; the political science view of Woodrow Wilson); its essential features; the sources of law in Holland's two groups, each with an Indian example; the types of law with a table; two Indian cases on the sources and the types (Puttaswamy, Kesavananda Bharati); and a conclusion.
Law: four ways of defining it
There is no single agreed definition of law, because different schools look at it from different sides.
1. The analytical school: law as command. John Austin defined law as the command of the sovereign. In his words, "Every law or rule (taken with the largest signification which can be given to the term properly) is a command". A command is backed by a sanction, the threat of an evil if it is disobeyed. T. E. Holland refined this: law is "a general rule of external human action enforced by a sovereign political authority". This view stresses the state as the maker of law.
2. The historical school: law as the growth of custom. Savigny, the German jurist, argued that law is not made by a sovereign at will. It grows out of the common consciousness and customs of a people, later called the Volksgeist, as language does. Sir Henry Maine traced how law moved from status to contract as societies developed. This view stresses custom and history.
3. The sociological school: law as social control. Léon Duguit treated law as the rules required by social solidarity, the mutual dependence of people in society. Roscoe Pound described law as a kind of social engineering, balancing competing interests so as to satisfy as many as possible. This view stresses the purpose of law in society.
4. The political science view. Woodrow Wilson joined the historical and analytical views. Law, he said, is "that portion of the established thought and habit which has gained distinct and formal recognition in the shape of uniform rules backed by the authority and power of Government".
A good working definition combines them. Law is the body of general rules of external conduct that the state recognises and enforces for the good of society. It grows from custom and is made by the legislature.
Essential features of law
- It regulates external conduct. It does not punish thoughts.
- It is made or recognised by the state. Rules of a club or a caste are not law in this sense unless the state enforces them.
- It is general. It applies to classes of persons and situations, not to one person alone.
- It is certain and published. People must be able to know it.
- It carries a sanction. Breach leads to a penalty or to the undoing of an act.
- It changes with society. Law that no longer meets social needs is amended or repealed.
The sources of law
Holland divides the sources into two groups. The remote causes produced rules before the state gave them force: custom, religion and scientific discussion. The organs are the means by which the state recognises old rules or makes new ones: adjudication, equity and legislation.
Remote causes
1. Custom. The oldest source. A practice followed by a community for a long time, and accepted as binding, becomes a rule. Woodrow Wilson called custom "the earliest fountain of Law". The English common law grew from the customs of the realm. In India, custom still governs many questions of marriage, adoption and succession. Article 13(3)(a) of the Constitution counts "custom or usage having in the territory of India the force of law" as law.
2. Religion. In early societies, law and religion were one. The Manusmriti, the Quran and the canon law of the Church gave rules of conduct that states later enforced. The personal laws of Hindus and Muslims in India still draw on religious sources, now largely codified.
3. Scientific discussion. The writings of great jurists shape the law. Blackstone's Commentaries in England and the Mitakshara of Vijnaneshwara in India were followed by courts as authority.
Organs of the state
4. Adjudication. Judges decide disputes and, in doing so, state the law. Their decisions become precedents. Article 141 of the Constitution says: "The law declared by the Supreme Court shall be binding on all courts within the territory of India."
5. Equity. Where strict law produces injustice, judges decide according to fairness. In England the Court of Chancery built a separate body of equity. Indian courts long applied "justice, equity and good conscience" where no rule existed.
6. Legislation. The deliberate making of law by a legislature. Wilson called it "the conscious and deliberate origination of Law". It is now the chief source of law. Parliament and the State Legislatures make most Indian law. The executive also makes rules under Acts, which is delegated legislation.
An Indian case on judicial decisions as a source
Justice K. S. Puttaswamy (Retd.) v. Union of India, AIR 2017 SC 4161. Two earlier decisions, M. P. Sharma and Kharak Singh, had said the Constitution did not protect a right to privacy. During the challenge to the Aadhaar scheme, nine judges reconsidered the point. They held that those decisions "stand over-ruled" and that "The right to privacy is protected as an intrinsic part of the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21". The case shows judicial decision working as a source of law. A higher court can change the law declared by earlier benches, and under article 141 that change binds every court.
The types of law
1. National and international law. National, or municipal, law is made by a state for its own territory and people. International law governs the relations of states. Austin held that the law between nations "is not positive law" and should be called "positive international morality", because no sovereign stands above states. Modern writers treat it as law, enforced by consent, treaties and international courts.
2. Public and private law. Holland distinguishes them by the parties. In private law both parties are private persons, and the state is an impartial arbiter, as in contract, property and family law. In public law the state itself is a party, as in constitutional, administrative and criminal law.
3. Constitutional and ordinary law. Constitutional law lays down the structure and powers of the government and the rights of the people. Ordinary law is made by the legislature within the limits of the constitution.
4. Substantive and procedural law. Substantive law defines rights and duties, such as the law of contract or of crimes. Procedural law, which Holland calls adjective law, governs how those rights are enforced in court.
5. Civil and criminal law. Civil law deals with private wrongs and gives remedies such as damages. Criminal law deals with wrongs against society and punishes the offender.
6. Statute law, ordinance and common law. Statute law is enacted by the legislature. An ordinance is temporary law made by the executive when the legislature is not in session, as under article 123. Common law is law developed by courts from custom and precedent.
7. Administrative law and delegated legislation. The rules made by the executive under powers given by Acts, and the law controlling the administration.
| Basis of division | Types |
|---|---|
| Territory and parties | National and international |
| Who is a party | Public and private |
| Rank | Constitutional and ordinary |
| Function | Substantive and procedural |
| Wrong remedied | Civil and criminal |
| Maker | Statute, ordinance, delegated legislation, common law |
An Indian case on the types: constitutional law above ordinary law
Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala, AIR 1973 SC 1461. A religious head challenged Kerala's land reform laws and three constitutional amendments that protected them. By seven judges to six, the Supreme Court held that Parliament may amend any part of the Constitution but cannot destroy its basic structure. In Khanna J's words, the amending power "does not include power to abrogate the Constitution nor does it include the power to alter the basic structure or framework of the Constitution". So even constitutional amendments, the highest form of law-making, are subject to the basic structure. Ordinary law stands lower still.
Conclusion. Law is the body of general rules of external conduct that the state recognises and enforces. It grows from custom and is now mainly made by legislation. The analytical, historical and sociological schools each capture one side of it. Its sources are custom, religion, scientific discussion, adjudication, equity and legislation. Its types include national and international, public and private, constitutional and ordinary, substantive and procedural, and civil and criminal law. Puttaswamy shows the courts as a living source of law, and Kesavananda Bharati shows the ranking of the types under the Constitution.
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