KSLU Solved Question Papers
Criminal Law I
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 4
2025 Jun Examination
munotes.in
Mumbai
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 4 Criminal Law I 2025 Jun 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 2025 Jun examination.
Contents
The questions below are the paper as Karnataka State Law University set it at the 2025 Jun examination, in the order it was set.
MarksPage
MarksPage
The Paper as Set
The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the 2025 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 one short note/problem. (3) Figures to the right indicate marks. (4) Answers should be written either in English or in 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)Explain territorial and extra territorial application of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023.[10]
Answer
For full marks, cover: the principles on which a State claims criminal jurisdiction; territorial application under section 1(3), including offences begun abroad and completed here (Mobarik Ali Ahmed); the persons exempt; extra-territorial application under section 1(4) and the three heads of section 1(5); the Explanation and Illustration; the procedural rule in section 208 of the Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita; the saving in section 1(6); worked examples; a conclusion.
The principles behind jurisdiction
A State may punish conduct on several recognised bases. Section 1 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 uses four of them.
- The territorial principle. The State punishes crimes committed on its soil, by anyone.
- The nationality principle. The State follows its own citizens abroad.
- The flag principle. A ship or aircraft registered in the State is treated as part of it.
- A protective principle. The State protects its vital interests against attacks from abroad. The Sanhita applies this to attacks on computer resources in India.
These were spread over sections 1 to 5 of the Indian Penal Code. The Sanhita gathers them in one section.
Territorial application: section 1(3)
Section 1(3) reads: "Every person shall be liable to punishment under this Sanhita and not otherwise for every act or omission contrary to the provisions thereof, of which he shall be guilty within India."
"Every person." The words cover citizens and foreigners alike. A foreign tourist who steals in Goa is punished as an Indian would be.
"Within India." An offence is committed in India if its ingredients occur here, even if the offender is abroad.
Facts. In Mobarik Ali Ahmed v. The State of Bombay, AIR 1957 SC 857, decided on 6 September 1957, the accused was a Pakistani national in Karachi. By letters, telegrams and telephone calls he deceived a Bombay firm. It sent him money for rice he never shipped. He never entered India during the transaction.
Held. The Supreme Court upheld his conviction for cheating. The deception operated at Bombay, so the offence was committed there. "Every person" means all persons without limitation as to nationality, allegiance, rank, status, caste, colour or creed. Physical presence is not needed.
Why it bears. Section 1(3) repeats the Code's words, so an offender who acts from abroad on a victim in India is within the Sanhita.
Persons exempt. The rule is subject to exemptions the Court recognised in Mobarik Ali. The President and the Governors enjoy immunity from criminal proceedings under Article 361 of the Constitution during their term. Foreign sovereigns, ambassadors and diplomatic agents are exempt under international law.
Extra-territorial application
Section 1(4). Another Indian law may make a person liable to be tried for an offence committed outside India. He is then dealt with under the Sanhita as if the act were done in India. This sub-section applies the Sanhita where another law already gives jurisdiction.
Section 1(5). The Sanhita also applies to offences committed by three classes of person.
- Any citizen of India in any place outside India. This is the nationality principle.
- Any person on any ship or aircraft registered in India, wherever it may be. This is the flag principle, and it covers foreigners on board.
- Any person in any place outside India committing an offence targeting a computer resource located in India. This limb is new.
The Explanation. "Offence" includes every act done outside India which would be punishable if done in India. So a citizen can be tried here even if his act was not a crime where he did it.
The Illustration. A citizen of India commits a murder outside India. He can be tried and convicted of murder in any place in India where he is found.
How the trial happens
Section 208 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 gives the procedure. It covers an Indian citizen who commits an offence abroad, and anyone who commits one on an Indian ship or aircraft. He may be tried where he is found in India, or where the offence is registered. But no such offence may be inquired into or tried without the previous sanction of the Central Government.
What is saved: section 1(6)
The Sanhita does not affect the Acts punishing mutiny and desertion in the armed forces, or any special or local law. Those laws keep their own rules, including their own territorial reach.
Worked examples
- A foreigner in India. A German national assaults a man in Bengaluru. Section 1(3) applies. He is tried like any Indian.
- An Indian abroad. An Indian citizen kills a man in Dubai and returns home. Section 1(5)(a) and the Illustration apply. He may be tried where he is found, with the Central Government's sanction.
- On an Indian ship. A foreign sailor steals on board an Indian-registered ship on the high seas. Section 1(5)(b) applies.
- A hacker abroad. A person in another country hacks a hospital server in Pune. Section 1(5)(c) applies, though he has never been to India.
Conclusion. The Sanhita applies territorially to every person, citizen or foreigner, for offences committed within India. Mobarik Ali Ahmed confirms this even where the offender acted from abroad. It applies extra-territorially to Indian citizens anywhere and to anyone on an Indian ship or aircraft. Newly, it also reaches anyone abroad who targets a computer resource in India. Trial for an offence abroad needs the Central Government's sanction under section 208 of the Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita. Constitutional and diplomatic immunities, and the armed forces and special laws, remain outside its reach.
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