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Political Science (Organisation and Institutions)
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 2
2017 Dec Examination
munotes.in
Mumbai
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 2 Political Science (Organisation and Institutions) 2017 Dec 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 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 3 hours · Total marks 100 · 13 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.
Q1Define law. Examine the sources of law in detail and give suitable examples.[16]
Answer
For full marks, cover: definitions of law in five groups (natural law, positivist, historical, sociological, realist) with their authors; what a source of law is, and Salmond's formal and material sources; each source examined in detail with Indian examples (legislation, precedent, custom with its essentials, religion, equity, juristic writing, convention, international law and public opinion); the order of authority today and in history; cases (Kesavananda Bharati, Vishaka, Bhimashya); and a conclusion.
Definitions of law
Law is a body of rules of human conduct, made or recognised by the State and enforced by its power. Writers define it in different ways, and each group answers a different question.
- Natural law definitions link law with reason and justice. Aquinas called law "an ordinance of reason for the common good, made by him who has care of the community, and promulgated".
- Positivist definitions link law with the command of a sovereign. Austin defined law as the command of the sovereign backed by a sanction. Holland called it "a general rule of external human action enforced by a sovereign political authority".
- Historical definitions see law as growing out of a people's life. Savigny found its source in the Volksgeist, the common consciousness of a people.
- Sociological definitions see law as a means of social control. Roscoe Pound called law social engineering, a means of satisfying the greatest number of human wants with the least friction.
- Realist definitions see law in what courts do. Holmes wrote that "the prophecies of what the courts will do in fact" are what he meant by the law.
Each definition captures part of the truth. Law is made or recognised by the State, aims at justice and order, grows out of social life, and is finally applied by courts.
What a source of law is
A source of law is that from which a rule of law gets its binding force or its content. Salmond divided sources into two kinds.
- The formal source gives a rule its validity. In a developed state this is the will of the State, expressed through the legislature, the courts and recognised custom.
- The material source supplies the content of a rule. It may be legal, such as a foreign code adopted by statute. Or it may be historical, such as a jurist's book or a foreign judgment that influenced the law without binding.
For example, much of the Indian Contract Act 1872 came from English common law. English law is a material source of that Act; its formal source is the Indian legislature that enacted it.
The sources examined
1. Legislation. Legislation is law made deliberately by a competent body in written form. In India it includes the Constitution, Acts of Parliament and the State legislatures, Ordinances (articles 123 and 213) and rules made under Acts. It is the most important source today because it is clear, can be made in advance and can reform old law at once. Examples are the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023, which replaced the Indian Penal Code, and the Right to Information Act 2005. Legislation can also codify older law, as the Hindu Succession Act 1956 did for much of the Hindu law of inheritance. Its weakness is rigidity: words fixed in advance may not fit every new case.
2. Precedent. Precedent is law made by the decisions of higher courts, which bind lower courts. In India, "The law declared by the Supreme Court shall be binding on all courts" (article 141). Precedent fills gaps and adapts law to new facts. The leading example is Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala, AIR 1973 SC 1461. A religious head challenged Kerala's land reform laws and the constitutional amendments passed to protect them. A bench of thirteen judges held, by seven to six, that Parliament cannot alter the basic structure of the Constitution. No article states this rule; it is law only because the Court declared it.
3. Custom. Custom is a rule of conduct followed by a community for a long time in the belief that it is binding. It is the oldest source of law. A custom is enforced only if it is:
- ancient, followed for a long time;
- continuous and peaceable, not interrupted or disputed;
- certain, clear in its terms and in the people and place it covers;
- reasonable, not opposed to morality or public policy;
- obligatory, followed as a duty and not merely by choice;
- consistent with statute, since custom cannot override an Act unless the Act saves it.
Bhimashya v. Janabi (alias Janawwa) was decided by the Supreme Court on 11 December 2006. A defendant claimed to be validly adopted although the adoptive father already had a living son, which the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act 1956 forbids. He relied on a family and local custom. The Court rejected the claim because no custom was pleaded or proved. It restated that a custom must be ancient, uniform, certain, peaceable, continuous and compulsory.
4. Religion. In ancient and medieval societies religious texts were a major source of law. Hindu law drew on the Smritis and Muslim law on the Quran and the Hadith. In India religion still supplies much of the content of personal law, though much of it is now codified by statute.
5. Equity. Equity means fairness and good conscience used to fill gaps or soften harsh rules. Indian courts long decided cases without a clear rule by "justice, equity and good conscience". Equitable ideas such as specific performance and injunctions are now part of statute law.
6. Juristic writings. The works of great jurists, such as Blackstone in England or Manu and Yajnavalkya in ancient India, have shaped law. Today they persuade courts but do not bind them.
7. Conventions. Conventions are rules of political practice, such as the President acting on ministerial advice in Britain's tradition. Courts do not enforce them, but they shape the working constitution.
8. International law. Treaties and conventions influence domestic law. In Vishaka v. State of Rajasthan, AIR 1997 SC 3011, no Indian statute dealt with sexual harassment at work. The Supreme Court read the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women into articles 14, 15, 19 and 21. It laid down binding guidelines until Parliament legislated. An international convention thus supplied the content, and precedent supplied the binding force.
9. Public opinion. In a democracy public opinion presses legislatures to make or change laws. It is a material source, not a formal one.
A worked example
Meena wants to know whether she may build an extra floor on her house in a Bengaluru suburb.
- Legislation comes first: the town planning Act of the State and the building bye-laws made under it.
- Precedent explains the words: a High Court ruling on how floor area is measured binds the local authority.
- Custom may still matter: a neighbour may claim a long-established right of way across her plot.
- Juristic writing may help her lawyer argue an unsettled point, but it binds no one.
She cannot rely on a custom against the bye-laws, or on an old precedent against a later amendment. The sources work together, but in a fixed order of authority.
The order of authority
| Source | Binding force today | Indian example |
|---|---|---|
| Legislation | Highest, overrides the others | Acts of Parliament |
| Precedent | Binds until changed by statute | Article 141; basic structure |
| Custom | Binds where no statute applies | Local and family customs |
| Religion, equity, writings | Material sources | Personal law, equity |
| Conventions | Not enforced by courts | Cabinet practice |
Historically the order was the reverse. Custom came first and was the whole of law in early societies. Precedent grew out of courts applying custom, and legislation on a large scale is modern. Today legislation stands first because it expresses the will of the people's representatives.
Conclusion. Law is a body of rules of conduct made or recognised by the State and enforced by its power. Jurists differ in stressing reason, history, social purpose or court practice. Its sources are legislation, precedent and custom, supported by religion, equity, juristic writing, conventions, international law and public opinion. Legislation is supreme today, precedent fills the gaps, as in Kesavananda Bharati and Vishaka, and custom survives where it is proved, as Bhimashya requires.
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