KSLU Solved Question Papers
Political Science (State and Political Obligations)
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 3
2023 Mar Examination
munotes.in
Mumbai
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 3 Political Science (State and Political Obligations) 2023 Mar 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 2023 Mar examination.
Contents
The questions below are the paper as Karnataka State Law University set it at the 2023 Mar examination, in the order it was set.
MarksPage
MarksPage
The Paper as Set
The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the 2023 Mar 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 80 · 20 questions answered
Instructions printed on the paper
- N.B. (1) Answer all five Units. (2) One essay type question and short note is compulsory from each Unit. (3) Figures to the right indicate marks. (4) Answer 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 meant by political obligation ? Describe the grounds and limitations of political obligation.[10]
Answer
For full marks, cover: what political obligation means, with a working definition; the question it answers (why obey at all); the grounds on which the obligation is said to rest (consent, benefit and gratitude, fair play, the common good, utility, legitimate and lawful authority, membership); the limitations of the obligation, one by one (legitimacy, the constitution, the purpose of the state, conscience, rights, the manner of resistance, the person bound); an Indian case showing that even the highest power in the state works within limits (Kesavananda Bharati); and a conclusion.
What political obligation means
Political obligation is a person's duty to obey the laws of his state, because that state has the right to make them. It is more than fear of the police. A thief who obeys a gunman acts from fear, but owes him nothing. A citizen who pays tax to a lawful government acts from duty.
A simple working definition is this. Political obligation is the moral duty of the members of a political community to obey its laws and support its institutions. It holds so long as the state acts within its rightful authority.
The subject asks two questions. Why should I obey at all? And how far does that duty go? The first is answered by the grounds. The second is answered by the limitations.
The grounds of political obligation
A ground is a reason that makes obedience a duty, not merely a habit. Writers have offered several.
1. Consent. Locke and the contract thinkers held that people are bound because they agreed to form a government. Today the vote is the plainest sign of consent. Its weak point is that most people never signed anything; they were born into the state.
2. Benefit and gratitude. The state gives security, roads, schools, hospitals and courts. A person who receives these benefits owes something in return, and obedience is the natural return.
3. Fair play. Hart and Rawls argued that when people join in a scheme of rules, each one who enjoys its benefits must also bear its burdens. A person who travels on roads paid for by others' taxes must pay his own.
4. The common good. T. H. Green held that the state exists to secure the conditions in which every person can develop his best self. We obey because the law serves a good that we share with others.
5. Utility. Bentham said that obedience is justified because, on the whole, it produces more happiness than resistance. Law brings order, and order brings security and welfare.
6. Legitimate and lawful authority. We obey because the government came to power by rules we accept, such as a constitution and free elections. In a democracy this is the main ground in daily life.
7. Membership. Some writers say that belonging to a community carries duties, just as belonging to a family does. A citizen owes loyalty to the society that formed him.
No single ground is complete. Most students and writers today combine them. Consent and lawful authority explain why this government may command. Fair play, benefit and the common good explain why its laws deserve support.
The limitations of political obligation
The duty to obey is real, but it is prima facie. That means it holds unless a stronger moral reason outweighs it. The main limitations are these.
1. Only to legitimate authority. The duty is owed to a lawful government, not to a usurper or an armed gang that seizes power. A person who captures the state by fraud or force has not acquired the right to be obeyed.
2. Only within the constitution. In India, a law that takes away fundamental rights is void under article 13. A citizen is not bound to obey a law that the courts strike down. The obligation is owed to the constitutional order, not to every act passed in its name.
3. Only while the state serves its purpose. Green held that obedience is owed because the state maintains the conditions of a moral life. Where a law attacks those conditions, the ground of obedience is gone. But the citizen must still weigh the harm that resistance does to the social order as a whole. Laski went further. The state's claim to obedience, he said, depends on what it achieves for its members, and "We are the judges of that achievement".
4. Conscience. No one is bound to commit a grave moral wrong because the law commands it. An order to torture a prisoner or to kill an innocent person creates no duty to obey.
5. Basic rights. The state exists to protect life, liberty and dignity. A law that destroys these core rights defeats the reason for obeying.
6. The manner of resistance. Even where a law is unjust, the limits on the duty do not license violence. Gandhi and King taught resistance that is open and non-violent, with the penalty accepted. In a democracy the first remedy is the court, the vote and peaceful protest.
7. The person bound. The obligation is not the same for everyone. A citizen owes full loyalty. A foreigner owes only obedience to the law while he is here, not service in the army or allegiance.
The balance
The grounds and the limitations belong together. The grounds explain why law usually deserves obedience. The limitations explain why that obedience is never blind. A free people obeys good laws willingly and challenges bad ones lawfully.
An Indian case on limits to the highest power
Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala, AIR 1973 SC 1461. The head of a religious math in Kerala went to court in 1970 against the State's land reform laws. Parliament then passed the Twenty-fourth, Twenty-fifth and Twenty-ninth Amendments, and he was allowed to challenge them too. The question was the reach of the amending power in article 368. By seven to six, the Supreme Court held that the power reaches every article, but cannot destroy the basic structure of the Constitution. Khanna J said the power "does not include power to abrogate the Constitution". The case bears on the limitations of political obligation. If even Parliament's highest power has limits, the citizen's duty is owed to the constitutional order and not to unlimited power.
Conclusion. Political obligation is the moral duty to obey a rightful state. It rests on several grounds together: consent, benefit, fair play, the common good, utility, lawful authority and membership. But the duty is limited. It is owed only to legitimate authority acting within the constitution and for the common good, and it yields to conscience and basic rights. Kesavananda Bharati shows that in India the highest power in the state is itself bound by the basic structure.
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