KSLU Solved Question Papers
Family Law I (Hindu Law)
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 5
2018 Jun Examination
munotes.in
Mumbai
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 5 Family Law I (Hindu Law) 2018 Jun Question Paper with Solutions
First published on munotes.in on 21 October 2026.
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Contents
The questions below are the paper as Karnataka State Law University set it at the 2018 Jun examination, in the order it was set.
MarksPage
The Paper as Set
The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the 2018 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 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.
Q1Explain ancient and modern sources of Hindu Law.[16]
Answer
For full marks, cover: what "source" means here (where a rule of Hindu law comes from and what gives it force); each source stated and explained by the same four questions (what it is, its authority, its use today, a decided case): Shruti (Narayana Deekshitulu), Smriti (Ram Jankijee), commentaries and digests and the schools (Sukhram), custom (Hurpurshad, Collector of Madura), judicial precedent (Vineeta Sharma), legislation, Central and Karnataka's own (Prema v. Nanje Gowda), and justice, equity and good conscience (Waghela Rajsanji, Saraswathi Ammal); the Constitution as a limit; how the sources rank today and how a court resolves a conflict; a table; a conclusion.
What a "source" means
A source of law is where a rule comes from and what gives it binding force. Hindu law has drawn its rules from religion, scholarship, the practice of communities, the courts and, now mostly, Parliament. The sources are usually grouped as ancient (Shruti, Smriti, commentaries and digests, custom) and modern (precedent, legislation, and justice, equity and good conscience).
Each source below is taken through the same four questions. What is it? How much authority does it have? How is it used today? Which case shows it at work?
1. Shruti
What it is. Shruti means "that which is heard". It is the Vedas, with the Brahmanas, Aranyakas and Upanishads, believed to be revealed.
Authority. In theory it is the highest source, and a Smriti contrary to it gave way. In practice it contains few legal rules. It speaks of marriage rites, sonship and duties, but not in the form of law.
Use today. It is a source of ideas, not of rules a court applies.
A case. A.S. Narayana Deekshitulu v. State of Andhra Pradesh, AIR 1996 SC 1765. Hereditary temple priests challenged a 1987 Andhra Pradesh law ending hereditary offices in temples. The Supreme Court upheld the law. Explaining the idea of dharma that flows from the Vedas, it said that "Dharmarajya means Rule of Law and not rule of religion or a theocratic State". So the Vedic idea survives as a principle, not as enforceable text.
2. Smriti
What it is. Smriti means "that which is remembered". It covers the Dharmasutras, in prose, and the Dharmashastras, in verse, of Manu, Yajnavalkya, Narada and others.
Authority. The Smritis were the main written source of the classical law. They dealt with conduct (achara), civil and criminal law (vyavahara) and penance (prayaschitta). Only vyavahara was enforced by the courts.
Use today. Where the Acts are silent, Smriti rules still decide cases, for example on endowments and the joint family.
A case. Ram Jankijee Deities v. State of Bihar, (1999) 5 SCC 50. In 1950 a mahant dedicated land by two deeds to two deities. Under a land ceiling law, the State treated the land as one holding. The Supreme Court held each deity a separate juristic person. It relied on the Shastras, which require sankalpa and utsarga for a valid dedication. A Smriti rule decided a modern land dispute.
3. Commentaries and digests
What they are. Commentaries explain one Smriti; digests gather many. The Mitakshara of Vijnaneswara, written in present-day Karnataka, and the Dayabhaga of Jimutavahana are the chief ones.
Authority. They reconciled conflicting Smritis and, in doing so, made new law. They created the two schools, Mitakshara and Dayabhaga, and the sub-schools within the Mitakshara: Benares, Mithila, Maharashtra (Bombay) and Dravida (Madras).
Use today. The schools still matter for the joint family, the coparcenary and alienation, which the Acts leave largely untouched.
A case. Sukhram v. Gauri Shankar, AIR 1968 SC 365. A widow sold her interest in joint family property in 1956 without the consent of the male members. The Supreme Court held that the Hindu Succession Act had made her full owner, so the sale stood. In doing so it recorded a difference between the sub-schools. Under the Benares school a coparcener may not sell his undivided share without consent. Under the Maharashtra and Madras schools he may sell it for value.
4. Custom
What it is. Custom is a rule that a family, a caste or a district has followed for so long that it has the force of law.
Authority. Proved custom outweighs the written texts. It must be ancient, certain, reasonable and continuous, and not against public policy or a statute.
Hurpurshad v. Sheo Dyal, (1876) LR 3 IA 259, gave the Privy Council's definition. A custom is a rule which in a family or district has from long usage obtained the force of law. It must be ancient, certain and reasonable, and it is construed strictly.
Collector of Madura v. Moottoo Ramalinga Sathupathy, (1868) 12 MIA 397, shows its force. A widow in the Dravida country adopted a son with the consent of her husband's kinsmen. The Privy Council upheld the adoption. It said that clear proof of usage will outweigh the written text of the law.
Use today. The codifying Acts override custom, except where they save it. Custom still allows certain marriages within prohibited degrees or between sapindas, under section 5 of the Hindu Marriage Act. It also saves customary divorce under section 29(2), and certain adoptions under section 10(iv) of the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act.
5. Judicial precedent
What it is. The decisions of higher courts bind lower courts. Under Article 141 of the Constitution, the law declared by the Supreme Court binds every court in India.
Authority. Precedent fixes the meaning of the texts and, now, of the statutes.
Use today. It is a living source. Many rules students learn as "the law" are judicial readings of a section.
A case. Vineeta Sharma v. Rakesh Sharma, (2020) 9 SCC 1. Two-judge Benches had disagreed on whether a daughter's coparcenary right under the amended section 6 depended on her father being alive in 2005. A three-judge Bench held that the right arises by birth, so the father's death before 2005 does not matter. That reading now governs every court.
6. Legislation
What it is. Statutes made by Parliament and the State legislatures. The main ones are the Hindu Marriage Act 1955 and the Hindu Succession Act 1956. The others are the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act 1956 and the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act 1956. Others include the Special Marriage Act 1954 and the Dowry Prohibition Act 1961.
Authority. Legislation is now the highest source. Section 4 of the Marriage Act and section 4 of the Succession Act give the Acts overriding effect on the matters they cover.
Use today. It covers marriage, divorce, succession, adoption, maintenance and guardianship. States may also legislate on personal law, a concurrent subject.
A case. Prema v. Nanje Gowda, (2011) 6 SCC 462. In a Karnataka partition suit, the preliminary decree gave a daughter a small share. While the final decree was pending, Karnataka inserted section 6A into the Hindu Succession Act in 1994. It gave an unmarried daughter coparcenary rights equal to a son. The Supreme Court held that she could claim the enlarged share in the final decree proceedings. A State statute had changed the source of her right.
7. Justice, equity and good conscience
What it is. A rule for cases that no law covers: the court decides by what is fair.
Authority. It is the last resort. It cannot override a text, a custom or a statute.
A case. In Waghela Rajsanji v. Shekh Masludin, (1887) LR 14 IA 89, the Privy Council read the phrase as the rules of English law "if found applicable to Indian society and circumstances". In Saraswathi Ammal v. Jagadambal, AIR 1953 SC 201, a woman of the dasi community died leaving three daughters. The custom one daughter set up was not proved. The Supreme Court applied nearness of relationship as justice, equity and good conscience, and the three took equally.
The Constitution as a limit
The Constitution is above every source. Article 13 voids laws inconsistent with fundamental rights. Articles 14 and 15 shape how courts read the Hindu law statutes. Article 44 directs the State to endeavour to secure a uniform civil code.
How the sources rank today
A court facing a question of Hindu law now asks, in order:
- Does a statute, Central or State, answer it? If so, that decides, subject to the Constitution.
- Has a binding precedent interpreted that statute or the old law? If so, the court follows it.
- Does the statute save a custom, and is the custom proved? If so, the custom applies.
- Is the matter outside the Acts, such as the joint family or endowments? Then the texts, as the commentaries and schools explain them, apply.
- If nothing applies, the court decides by justice, equity and good conscience.
The sources at a glance
| Source | Ancient or modern | Rank today | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shruti | Ancient | Background ideas | Narayana Deekshitulu |
| Smriti | Ancient | Where the Acts are silent | Ram Jankijee |
| Commentaries, schools | Ancient | Joint family, alienation | Sukhram |
| Custom | Ancient | Where proved and saved | Collector of Madura |
| Precedent | Modern | Binding interpretation | Vineeta Sharma |
| Legislation | Modern | Highest | Prema v. Nanje Gowda |
| Equity | Modern | Last resort | Saraswathi Ammal |
Conclusion. Hindu law draws on seven sources. The ancient ones are Shruti, Smriti, the commentaries with their schools, and custom. The modern ones are precedent, legislation, and justice, equity and good conscience. Their order has reversed over time. Legislation, Central and Karnataka's own as Prema v. Nanje Gowda shows, now stands first. Binding precedent follows, as Vineeta Sharma shows. Proved custom applies where the Acts save it, as Collector of Madura shows. The texts and schools still govern the uncodified law, and equity fills the last gaps, as Saraswathi Ammal shows. All of it is subject to the Constitution.
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