KSLU Solved Question Papers
Criminal Law I
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 4
2015 Dec Examination
munotes.in
Mumbai
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 4 Criminal Law I 2015 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 2015 Dec examination.
Contents
The questions below are the paper as Karnataka State Law University set it at the 2015 Dec examination, in the order it was set.
MarksPage
MarksPage
The Paper as Set
The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the 2015 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 crime. Distinguish it with morality and explain the role of mens rea in statutory offences.[16]
Answer
For full marks, cover: Part A, crime defined: the legal view in section 40 of the Indian Penal Code ("offence", now section 2(24) of the Sanhita) and the marks of a crime; Part B, crime and morality: where they coincide, where a crime carries little moral blame, where a moral wrong is no crime, and where morality enters the criminal law directly (obscenity, Ranjit D. Udeshi, Aveek Sarkar); how the line has moved (Navtej Singh Johar, Joseph Shine, section 115 of the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017); a table of differences; Part C, the role of mens rea in statutory offences, as the point where crime and morality meet: the presumption that a guilty mind is required (Nathulal), its exclusion in public welfare laws (Kacheroo Mal), and no punishment for another's fault (Ravula Hariprasada Rao); the Sanhita; a conclusion.
Part A: crime defined
The Indian Penal Code, 1860 does not define "crime". Section 40 defines "offence" as "a thing made punishable by this Code", and in named provisions a thing punishable under a special or local law. Indian law therefore takes a legal view. A crime is an act or omission that a law in force makes punishable, prosecuted by the State and followed by punishment.
Its usual marks are a human act or illegal omission, and a guilty mind of the kind the offence names. Harm to society, and punishment imposed by the State, complete the picture.
Part B: crime and morality
Morality is the body of standards by which people judge conduct as right or wrong. It is enforced by conscience, family, religion and public opinion. The criminal law is enforced by the State through police, courts and prisons. The two overlap greatly, but they are not the same.
Where they coincide
The gravest crimes are also the gravest moral wrongs: murder, rape, theft, cheating, cruelty to a wife. These are often called mala in se, wrong in themselves. Here the criminal law gives the force of the State to what morality already condemns.
Crimes with little moral blame
Many offences punish conduct that ordinary morality would hardly call wicked. Examples are selling food below a standard, carrying goods without a licence, or failing to file a form. These are mala prohibita, wrong because prohibited. The law creates them for order, health or revenue. A trader who unknowingly sells adulterated oil is not a bad man, yet he may be guilty.
Moral wrongs that are not crimes
Much that is immoral is not criminal.
- Lying is immoral, but it is a crime only in special forms, such as cheating, perjury or forgery.
- Ingratitude, cruelty of words, selfishness are condemned by morality but not punished by law.
- Failing to help a stranger in danger may be morally shameful. But an omission is an offence only if it is "illegal", that is, a breach of a legal duty (section 43).
- Adultery. In Joseph Shine v. Union of India, (2019) 3 SCC 39, decided on 27 September 2018, the Supreme Court struck down section 497. The Court said adultery may still be a ground for divorce and other civil wrongs, but it is no longer a crime.
- Private sexual conduct between consenting adults. In Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India, (2018) 10 SCC 1, decided on 6 September 2018, the Court read down section 377. It no longer applies to consensual sexual conduct between adults in private.
Where morality enters the criminal law directly
Some offences exist to protect public morality itself. Section 292 punishes the sale of obscene books and objects. In Ranjit D. Udeshi v. State of Maharashtra, AIR 1965 SC 881, the Court upheld that section and a bookseller's conviction for selling an unexpurgated Lady Chatterley's Lover. It used the English test of whether the work tends to deprave and corrupt those open to immoral influences. Hidayatullah J. added that sex and obscenity are not the same thing.
Half a century later, in Aveek Sarkar v. State of West Bengal, (2014) 4 SCC 257, decided on 3 February 2014, the Court quashed a case over a magazine's photograph of a tennis player and his fiancée. The picture accompanied an article against racism. The Court discarded the old test and adopted contemporary community standards, reading the work as a whole in its context. The law of obscenity follows the community's morality as it changes.
The line moves
Attempt to commit suicide was a crime under section 309. Section 115 of the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017 now presumes, unless proved otherwise, that a person who attempts suicide is under severe stress. Such a person shall not be tried and punished. What was once treated as a crime is now treated as a call for care. Joseph Shine and Navtej Singh Johar show the same movement in the courts.
The differences
| Point | Morality | Criminal law |
|---|---|---|
| source | conscience, religion, custom | statutes enacted by the State |
| enforcement | conscience and public opinion | police, courts and prisons |
| sanction | guilt, shame, disapproval | imprisonment, fine, death |
| Point | Morality | Criminal law |
|---|---|---|
| concern | thoughts, motives and conduct | outward conduct with the required mind |
| certainty | varies between people and groups | written and uniform, as Article 20(1) requires |
| scope | wider: covers private vices | narrower: only what the law punishes |
Part C: the role of mens rea in statutory offences
The bridge between crime and morality is mens rea. A guilty mind is what makes a person morally blameworthy for what he did. So the question whether statutory offences need mens rea is really whether the law will punish without moral fault.
The presumption that it is required
Facts. In Nathulal v. State of Madhya Pradesh, AIR 1966 SC 43, decided on 22 March 1965, a grain dealer stored wheat without a licence. He had applied, paid the fee and believed the licence would issue.
Held. He was acquitted. Mens rea is an essential ingredient of an offence. A statute excludes it only expressly or by necessary implication, where the law's object would otherwise fail. Calling a law welfare legislation is not enough.
Its exclusion in public welfare laws
In Municipal Corporation of Delhi v. Kacheroo Mal, (1976) 1 SCC 412, a trader sold adulterated food. The Supreme Court did not require proof that he knew of the adulteration. In a public health law, the sale was the gist of the offence. This is where crime departs furthest from morality. A person may be punished without moral fault, because the risk to many people is great and proof of knowledge is nearly impossible.
No punishment for another's fault
In Ravula Hariprasada Rao v. The State, AIR 1951 SC 204, decided on 19 March 1951, a petrol-pump licensee living far away was charged because his employees sold petrol without ration coupons. He was not guilty of that charge. A person is not guilty without a guilty mind unless the statute rules it out. And a master is not, as a rule, liable for his servant's acts.
The balance
Courts keep statutory crime close to morality by presuming mens rea first. They allow strict liability only where a law's purpose demands it, and then usually for light penalties.
Under the Sanhita
Section 2(24) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 defines "offence" in the same way. The Sanhita has no offence of adultery, and no general offence of attempt to commit suicide. It also has no counterpart of the old section 377. Obscenity remains an offence in sections 294 and 296.
Conclusion. A crime is what the law makes punishable, as section 40, now section 2(24) of the Sanhita, shows. Crime and morality overlap but differ. Some crimes carry little moral blame, and many moral wrongs are not crimes. The line moves, as Joseph Shine, Navtej Singh Johar and the Mental Healthcare Act show, and obscenity law now follows community standards (Aveek Sarkar). In statutory offences, mens rea keeps crime tied to moral fault. It is presumed (Nathulal), and excluded only where the law's object requires it (Kacheroo Mal). No one is punished for another's fault (Ravula Hariprasada Rao).
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