KSLU Solved Question Papers
Family Law I (Hindu Law)
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 5
2015 Dec (70 marks) Examination
munotes.in
Mumbai
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 5 Family Law I (Hindu Law) 2015 Dec (70 marks) 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 (70 marks) examination.
Contents
The questions below are the paper as Karnataka State Law University set it at the 2015 Dec (70 marks) examination, in the order it was set.
MarksPage
The Paper as Set
The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the 2015 Dec (70 marks) 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 2½ hours · Total marks 70 · 12 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.
Q1Who are Hindus ? Explain.[10]
Answer
For full marks, cover: why the word is not defined; the four ways a person comes within Hindu law under section 2 of the Hindu Marriage Act 1955 (and the parallel sections of the other three Acts): by religion, including sects and reform movements (Yagnapurushdasji); as a Buddhist, Jain or Sikh; by birth (the Explanation, clauses (a) and (b)); by conversion or reconversion (Perumal Nadar, Kailash Sonkar); the residuary clause; the persons excluded (Muslims, Christians, Parsis, Jews; Scheduled Tribes unless notified, Surajmani Stella Kujur); the matters on which Hindu law then applies; a conclusion.
No definition
The Hindu law statutes nowhere define "Hindu". Hindu religion has no single founder, scripture or creed, so a definition by belief would fail. The statutes therefore say to whom they apply, and the courts describe what Hindu religion is.
1. Hindus by religion
Section 2(1)(a) of the Hindu Marriage Act 1955 applies the Act "to any person who is a Hindu by religion in any of its forms or developments". It expressly includes a Virashaiva, a Lingayat and a follower of the Brahmo, Prarthana or Arya Samaj.
The courts read "Hindu by religion" broadly. Sastri Yagnapurushdasji v. Muldas Bhudardas Vaishya, AIR 1966 SC 1119. The followers of Swaminarayan, the Satsangis, said their sect was a separate religion. They wanted to keep non-Satsangi Harijans out of their temples under a Bombay temple entry law. The Supreme Court held that they were Hindus.
The Court described Hindu religion as "a way of life based on certain basic concepts". It has no one prophet, God or dogma. The Court approved Tilak's test. It has three parts: the Vedas are accepted with reverence, the paths to salvation are many, and the gods to be worshipped are many. A sect within that broad tradition remains Hindu.
2. Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs
Section 2(1)(b) applies the Act "to any person who is a Buddhist, Jaina or Sikh by religion". These are distinct religions. But for personal law they are governed by the Hindu law Acts.
3. Hindus by birth
The Explanation to section 2(1) treats two kinds of child as Hindus, Buddhists, Jains or Sikhs by religion. Both apply to legitimate and illegitimate children alike.
- Clause (a): a child both of whose parents are Hindus, Buddhists, Jains or Sikhs by religion.
- Clause (b): a child one of whose parents is such. The child must also be brought up as a member of that parent's tribe, community, group or family.
4. Hindus by conversion or reconversion
Clause (c) covers "any person who is a convert or re-convert" to the Hindu, Buddhist, Jain or Sikh religion.
Perumal Nadar v. Ponnuswami, AIR 1971 SC 2352. Annapazham, the daughter of an Indian Christian, married a Hindu by Hindu rites in 1950. She was accepted by the Hindu Nadar community. The Supreme Court held that a bona fide intention to become a Hindu, shown by unequivocal conduct, may be enough. No purification ceremony is needed. So she was a Hindu, and the marriage was valid.
A person who returns to Hinduism is a Hindu again. In Kailash Sonkar v. Maya Devi, AIR 1984 SC 600, the Supreme Court considered the revival of caste on reconversion. It held that the original caste revives where the person genuinely gives up the other religion, not for gain, and is accepted by the community.
5. The residuary clause
Section 2(1)(c) also applies the Act to "any other person domiciled in the territories to which this Act extends who is not a Muslim, Christian, Parsi or Jew by religion". This is unless it is proved that he would not have been governed by Hindu law or custom. So a domiciled person of no religion, or of a religion not listed, is presumed to be governed by Hindu law.
Persons excluded
- Muslims, Christians, Parsis and Jews, who have their own personal laws.
- Members of Scheduled Tribes. Section 2(2) excludes them unless the Central Government directs otherwise by notification.
Surajmani Stella Kujur v. Durga Charan Hansdah, AIR 2001 SC 938. Both spouses belonged to notified Scheduled Tribes. The wife prosecuted her husband for bigamy after he remarried. The Supreme Court held that the Hindu Marriage Act did not apply to them because of section 2(2). Their marriage was governed by their tribal custom. Since she had not proved a custom making the second marriage void, the charge failed.
To whom Hindu law applies, and on what
Every person within the four categories, and every person under the residuary clause, is governed by Hindu law in these matters:
- marriage and divorce (the Hindu Marriage Act 1955);
- succession (the Hindu Succession Act 1956);
- adoption and maintenance (the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act 1956);
- minority and guardianship (the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act 1956); and
- the joint family, partition and religious endowments, under the uncodified law.
Section 2(3) of the Marriage Act reads "Hindu" in the Act as including every person to whom it applies, though not a Hindu by religion.
Conclusion. Hindu law applies to Hindus by religion in all their forms, including Lingayats, Virashaivas and the reform movements, as Yagnapurushdasji confirms. It applies equally to Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs. A child of Hindu parents, or of one Hindu parent and brought up as a Hindu, is a Hindu by birth. A genuine convert or reconvert is a Hindu by conversion, as Perumal Nadar holds. The residuary clause brings in every other domiciled person who is not a Muslim, Christian, Parsi or Jew. Members of Scheduled Tribes are excluded unless notified, as Surajmani Stella Kujur shows.
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