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B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 4 Criminal Law I 2019 Jun Question Paper with Solutions - KSLU

KSLU Solved Question Papers

Criminal Law I

Previous Year Question Paper with Solution

B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 4

2019 Jun Examination

munotes.in

Mumbai

First published on munotes.in on 21 October 2026.

Published by munotes.in, Mumbai.

Model answers written and edited by the munotes.in editorial desk.

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The question paper reproduced here is the paper as set by Karnataka State Law University at the 2019 Jun examination.

The Paper as Set

The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the 2019 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 80 · 20 questions answered

Instructions printed on the paper

N.B. (1) Answer all five Units. (2) One essay type question and short note/problem is compulsory from each Unit. (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.

Read the original question paper

Q1

Unit I

(a)Explain types of punishments to which offenders are liable under IPC with special reference to death sentence.[10]

Answer

For full marks, cover: the five punishments in section 53 of the Indian Penal Code (now section 4 of the Sanhita), each in a line, with section 53A on transportation; the death sentence in detail: the offences that carry it, the procedural safeguards (special reasons, confirmation by the High Court, a pregnant woman), the rarest of rare rule and how it is applied today (the crime, criminal and rarest of rare tests in Shankar Kisanrao Khade), and the middle path of life without release (Swamy Shraddananda (2)); the Sanhita's changes; a conclusion.

The five punishments: section 53

Section 53 lists the punishments to which offenders are liable.

Death.
Imprisonment for life. Under section 53A, every old sentence of "transportation for life" is read as imprisonment for life. It means imprisonment for the rest of the convict's natural life, subject to remission by the Government.

Imprisonment of two descriptions. Rigorous imprisonment means imprisonment with hard labour. Simple imprisonment carries no labour. Some offences allow either, and a few require one kind.
Forfeiture of property. A few offences, such as depredation on the territory of a friendly Power (section 126), carry forfeiture of the property used or gained.
Fine. Most offences allow fine, alone or with imprisonment. Where the amount is not fixed, it is unlimited but must not be excessive (section 63). A person who fails to pay may be imprisoned in default (sections 64 to 70).

Solitary confinement may also be ordered within a sentence of rigorous imprisonment (sections 73 and 74), within strict limits.

Death: the offences that carry it

The Code allows death only for the gravest offences, and always as an alternative to life imprisonment. Examples are waging war against the Government of India (section 121), murder (section 302) and kidnapping for ransom (section 364A). Dacoity with murder (section 396) and rape causing death or a vegetative state (section 376A) are others. Giving false evidence on which an innocent person is convicted and executed carries death too (section 194).

There was once a mandatory death sentence. Section 303 required death for a murder committed by a person already under a life sentence. The Supreme Court struck it down in 1983 because it took away the court's discretion. So death is never automatic.

Procedural safeguards

Special reasons. A court that imposes death must record "the special reasons for such sentence". This is section 354(3) of the old procedure code, now section 393(3) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023.
Confirmation. A death sentence passed by a Court of Session cannot be carried out unless the High Court confirms it (old section 366, now section 407).

A pregnant woman. If a woman sentenced to death is found to be pregnant, the High Court must commute the sentence to life imprisonment. That is old section 416, now section 456.
Mercy. The President and the Governors may pardon, commute or remit under Articles 72 and 161 of the Constitution.

The rarest of rare rule, as applied today

In Bachan Singh v. State of Punjab (1980) the Supreme Court upheld the death penalty, but confined it to "the rarest of rare cases" where life imprisonment is unquestionably foreclosed. The later difficulty has been how to apply that rule consistently.

Facts. A man and his wife kidnapped a young girl with an intellectual disability. He raped her repeatedly and strangled her. The trial court sentenced him to death, and the Bombay High Court confirmed it. The appeal is Shankar Kisanrao Khade v. State of Maharashtra (2013) 5 SCC 546, decided on 25 April 2013.

Held. Radhakrishnan J. said that courts must apply three tests, not a mere balancing of factors. The "crime test", the aggravating side, must be fully satisfied. The "criminal test" must find no mitigating circumstance at all, such as young age, no previous record or a chance of reform. Even then, the "rarest of rare" test asks whether society would approve the sentence. The death sentence was converted to rigorous imprisonment for life, with the sentences to run one after the other.

Why it bears. Death needs the worst crime and also an offender with nothing to be said for him. Any real mitigating factor points to life imprisonment.

The middle path: life without release

Facts. Shakereh, a wealthy woman of Bangalore, married the appellant, who called himself Swamy Shraddananda. In 1991 she vanished. Three years later he confessed that he had put her, probably still alive, in a wooden box. He had buried it in a pit at their Richmond Road home and cemented it over. He was sentenced to death. The appeal is Swamy Shraddananda (2) v. State of Karnataka (2008) 13 SCC 767, decided on 22 July 2008.

Held. The Court noted the practical choice between a life sentence that often ends in about fourteen years, and death. Faced with only those two, a court might be "nudged into endorsing the death penalty". The Court should instead use the "vast hiatus" between them. It substituted life imprisonment, with a direction that he not be released for the rest of his life.

Why it bears. Sometimes death seems too much and an ordinary life sentence too little. The court may then order life without release, or a long fixed term beyond remission.

Under the Sanhita

Section 4 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 keeps the five punishments and adds a sixth, community service, for some petty offences. Murder is punished under section 103. Several new offences, such as murder by a mob on grounds like caste or community (section 103(2)), may carry death.

Conclusion. Section 53 of the Code, now section 4 of the Sanhita, lists death, life imprisonment, rigorous or simple imprisonment, forfeiture and fine. Death is reserved for the gravest offences and is never mandatory. It needs special reasons and confirmation by the High Court. It is allowed only in the rarest of rare cases. Shankar Kisanrao Khade asks for the worst crime with no mitigating factor. Swamy Shraddananda (2) shows the alternative of life without release, which keeps death for the truly exceptional case.

B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 4 Criminal Law I 2019 Jun Question Paper with Solutions

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