KSLU Solved Question Papers
Criminal Law I
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 4
2021 Oct Examination
munotes.in
Mumbai
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 4 Criminal Law I 2021 Oct Question Paper with Solutions
First published on munotes.in on 21 October 2026.
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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 2021 Oct examination.
Contents
The questions below are the paper as Karnataka State Law University set it at the 2021 Oct examination, in the order it was set.
MarksPage
MarksPage
The Paper as Set
The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the 2021 Oct 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
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
(a)What is Crime ? Explain the difference between Crime and Tort.[10]
Answer
For full marks, cover: crime defined by its features and by section 40 of the Indian Penal Code ("offence", now section 2(24) of the Sanhita); what a tort is; the differences between crime and tort, point by point, in a table; where one act is both, and how the courts treat a civil dispute dressed as a crime (Indian Oil Corporation v. NEPC India, Hridaya Ranjan Prasad Verma); compensation in each, including compensation by the State (Rudul Sah); a conclusion.
What a crime is
A crime is a wrong that the State treats as an attack on the whole community, and punishes. Three features mark it.
- It is forbidden by law under threat of punishment.
- It is prosecuted by the State, not left to the person harmed.
- Its consequence is punishment, such as imprisonment or fine, imposed in the public interest.
The Indian Penal Code, 1860 does not use the word "crime". Section 40 defines "offence" as "a thing made punishable by this Code". Section 2(24) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 keeps this.
What a tort is
A tort is a civil wrong, other than a breach of contract, for which the injured person can sue for damages. Negligence, nuisance, trespass and defamation are torts. The law of torts in India is largely judge-made, not codified.
The differences
| Point | Crime | Tort |
|---|---|---|
| nature of the wrong | a public wrong, against society | a private wrong, against a person |
| who acts | the State prosecutes | the injured person sues |
| purpose | punishment, deterrence, reform | compensation for the loss |
| law | codified, as in the Code and the Sanhita | mostly judge-made |
| mental element | usually needs mens rea | often liability for negligence, sometimes strict |
| Point | Crime | Tort |
|---|---|---|
| standard of proof | beyond reasonable doubt | balance of probabilities |
| settlement | only compoundable offences may be settled | the parties may settle at will |
| court | criminal court | civil court |
| result | conviction and sentence | damages or injunction |
| death of the wrongdoer | the prosecution ends | the claim may survive against his estate |
One act, two wrongs
The same act can be both a crime and a tort. A man who strikes another commits hurt under the Code and the tort of battery. A newspaper that defames commits the offence of defamation and the tort of defamation. The victim may prosecute and sue at the same time.
Facts. In Indian Oil Corporation v. NEPC India Ltd., AIR 2006 SC 2780, decided on 20 July 2006, an airline that owed money to the oil company removed the engines from aircraft hypothecated to it. The oil company had already sued in the civil courts. The airline argued that the dispute was purely civil.
Held. The Supreme Court restored the complaint of mischief. A set of facts may be purely a civil wrong, purely a crime, or both. That a civil remedy exists, or has been used, is not by itself a reason to quash a criminal case. The test is whether the complaint discloses an offence. But the Court also warned against the growing tendency to turn civil disputes into criminal cases to force a settlement.
Facts. In Hridaya Ranjan Prasad Verma v. State of Bihar, (2000) 4 SCC 168, decided on 31 March 2000, a buyer of land prosecuted the sellers for cheating, because a family suit over the land was pending.
Held. The complaint was quashed. A mere breach of contract is not cheating unless a dishonest intention existed at the start. A civil wrong does not become a crime because one party is aggrieved.
Why they bear. The line between crime and civil wrong is drawn by the elements of the offence, not by the harm alone.
Compensation in each
In tort, compensation is the main remedy. In crime, the main remedy is punishment, but the victim may also receive compensation. The criminal court can award it out of a fine or by a separate order. That power was in section 357 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. It is now section 395 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023.
Facts. In Rudul Sah v. State of Bihar, AIR 1983 SC 1086, decided on 1 August 1983, a man was kept in jail for over fourteen years after he was acquitted.
Held. The Supreme Court ordered the State to pay him compensation under Article 32, while leaving him free to sue for damages. Public law compensation thus sits beside both the criminal law and the law of torts.
Conclusion. A crime is a public wrong that the State prosecutes and punishes. Indian law defines it as a thing made punishable by statute, in section 40 of the Code, now section 2(24) of the Sanhita. A tort is a private wrong that the injured person sues for, to get compensation. They differ in nature, parties, purpose, proof and result. One act may be both, and a civil remedy does not bar prosecution, as Indian Oil Corporation v. NEPC India holds. But a mere civil dispute is not a crime, as Hridaya Ranjan Prasad Verma shows.
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