KSLU Solved Question Papers
Family Law I (Hindu Law)
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 5
2023 Sep Examination
munotes.in
Mumbai
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 5 Family Law I (Hindu Law) 2023 Sep 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 2023 Sep examination.
Contents
The questions below are the paper as Karnataka State Law University set it at the 2023 Sep examination, in the order it was set.
MarksPage
MarksPage
The Paper as Set
The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the 2023 Sep 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 is compulsory from each Unit. (3) Figures to the right indicate marks. (4) Answer should be written either in English/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 in brief the sources of Hindu law.[10]
Answer
For full marks, cover: the sources in two groups; the ancient sources briefly (Shruti, Smriti, commentaries and digests, custom, with Collector of Madura on custom against the texts); the modern sources in more detail: justice, equity and good conscience (Saraswathi Ammal), judicial precedent (with an example of the Supreme Court changing the law's reading, Vineeta Sharma), and legislation (the four Hindu law Acts and the other statutes, with Karnataka's own laws); the Constitution as a source and a limit; the present order of authority; a table; a conclusion.
The two groups
The sources of Hindu law fall into two groups.
- Ancient sources: Shruti, Smriti, the commentaries and digests, and custom.
- Modern sources: justice, equity and good conscience; judicial precedent; and legislation.
The ancient sources made the classical law. The modern sources now make almost all of it.
The ancient sources in brief
- Shruti, the Vedas, believed revealed. Highest in theory, but with few legal rules.
- Smriti, the texts of the sages, such as Manu, Yajnavalkya and Narada. The main written source of the classical law.
- Commentaries and digests, such as the Mitakshara and the Dayabhaga. They adapted the Smritis and created the schools.
- Custom, the long practice of a community, which has the force of law once proved.
Custom proved the strongest in practice. In Collector of Madura v. Moottoo Ramalinga Sathupathy, (1868) 12 MIA 397, the Privy Council upheld a widow's adoption with the consent of her husband's kinsmen under the Dravida school. It said that clear proof of usage will outweigh the written text of the law.
Justice, equity and good conscience
Where the texts and custom gave no rule, the courts decided according to justice, equity and good conscience. The British courts introduced this source, and it filled many gaps.
Saraswathi Ammal v. Jagadambal, AIR 1953 SC 201. A woman of the dasi community of Tanjore died leaving three daughters. One of them set up a custom that only an unmarried daughter initiated as a dasi could inherit. The custom was not proved. The Supreme Court then applied the rule of nearness of relationship as justice, equity and good conscience. So all three daughters took equally.
Judicial precedent
Under the British system, decisions of the higher courts became binding on the lower courts. The Privy Council, and later the Supreme Court and the High Courts, have shaped much of Hindu law. Under Article 141 of the Constitution, the law declared by the Supreme Court binds all courts in India.
Precedent also settles how the statutes are read. In Vineeta Sharma v. Rakesh Sharma, (2020) 9 SCC 1, a three-judge Bench resolved conflicting decisions on section 6 of the Hindu Succession Act. It held that a daughter's right as coparcener arises by birth. So her father need not have been alive on 9 September 2005. That decision now governs every court in the country.
Legislation
Legislation is now the largest and highest source. Parliament has codified most of Hindu law.
- The Hindu Marriage Act 1955, on marriage, divorce and matrimonial relief.
- The Hindu Succession Act 1956, on intestate and testamentary succession.
- The Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act 1956, on minority and guardianship.
- The Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act 1956, on adoption and maintenance.
Other statutes add to these. Examples are the Special Marriage Act 1954 and the Dowry Prohibition Act 1961. Others are the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006 and the Guardians and Wards Act 1890. States have also legislated. Karnataka inserted section 6A in the Hindu Succession Act in 1994, giving unmarried daughters coparcenary rights. It has also made child marriages void by its own amendment to the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act.
Each of the codifying Acts overrides the old texts and customs on the matters it covers. Section 4 of the Hindu Marriage Act and section 4 of the Hindu Succession Act say so expressly. The Acts themselves save custom in some places.
The Constitution
The Constitution is both a source and a limit. Articles 14 and 15 guarantee equality and forbid discrimination by sex. Courts read the Hindu law statutes consistently with them. Article 44 directs the State to endeavour to secure a uniform civil code. Article 13 makes laws inconsistent with fundamental rights void.
The present order of authority
Today the order is reversed from the classical one. Legislation stands first, then binding precedent interpreting it, then custom where the Acts save it. Then come the old texts on matters the Acts do not cover, and lastly equity.
The sources at a glance
| Source | Group | Role today |
|---|---|---|
| Shruti | Ancient | Background only |
| Smriti | Ancient | The joint family, partition, endowments, where the Acts are silent |
| Commentaries and digests | Ancient | The schools and the uncodified law |
| Source | Group | Role today |
|---|---|---|
| Custom | Ancient | Where the Acts save it, and for Scheduled Tribes |
| Justice, equity and good conscience | Modern | Gaps in the law |
| Precedent | Modern | Binding interpretation |
| Legislation | Modern | The main source |
Conclusion. The sources of Hindu law are the ancient Shruti, Smriti, commentaries and custom, and the modern justice, equity and good conscience, precedent and legislation. Custom outweighed the texts in the classical law, as Collector of Madura holds. Equity filled the gaps, as Saraswathi Ammal shows, and precedent now fixes how the statutes are read, as Vineeta Sharma does. Legislation, above all the four Acts of 1955 and 1956, is now the main source, subject always to the Constitution.
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