KSLU Solved Question Papers
Family Law I (Hindu Law)
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 5
2024 Aug Examination
munotes.in
Mumbai
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 5 Family Law I (Hindu Law) 2024 Aug 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 2024 Aug examination, in the order it was set.
MarksPage
MarksPage
The Paper as Set
The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the 2024 Aug 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 questions. (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 or 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 Shruti and Smriti as ancient sources of Hindu law.[10]
Answer
For full marks, cover: Shruti: meaning (what was heard, revelation), its parts (the four Vedas with their Samhitas, Brahmanas, Aranyakas and Upanishads), the few legal ideas it contains, and its authority; Smriti: meaning (what was remembered), its two stages and its leading texts, its three divisions, and its basis in the Shruti; the relation between the two (Smriti presumed to rest on Shruti; the Mimamsa rule that a Smriti contrary to Shruti is set aside; Jaimini's definition of dharma, as Narayana Deekshitulu records); the Vedas in the judicial description of Hinduism (Yagnapurushdasji); custom against both (Collector of Madura); a table; a conclusion.
Shruti: meaning
Shruti means "that which is heard". Hindu tradition holds that it was revealed to the ancient sages, who heard it and passed it on. It is therefore regarded as the highest and most sacred source of dharma.
The parts of the Shruti
The Shruti consists of the four Vedas: the Rig, the Yajur, the Sama and the Atharva. Each Veda has four layers.
- Samhitas, the collections of hymns and prayers.
- Brahmanas, prose texts explaining the rituals.
- Aranyakas, the forest treatises on the meaning of ritual.
- Upanishads, the philosophical texts on the soul and the ultimate reality.
What the Shruti says about law
The Shruti is mainly religious and philosophical. It lays down few rules of law in the modern sense. But it is not empty of legal ideas.
- Marriage. The Rig Veda's marriage hymn describes the union of bride and bridegroom and the taking of the bride's hand.
- Sons. The Vedas stress the importance of a son for offering oblations to the ancestors. This idea later shaped adoption and inheritance.
- Property. There are references to the sharing of a father's property among his sons.
Its authority lay less in rules than in sanction. Every later text claimed to rest on the Vedas.
Smriti: meaning
Smriti means "that which is remembered". The Smritis are the works of sages who recorded rules of conduct from memory. They believed those rules rested on the Vedas and on the practice of the virtuous. They are human compositions, though of the highest authority after the Vedas.
The stages and the leading texts
- The Dharmasutras, in prose aphorisms, such as those of Gautama, Baudhayana, Apastamba and Vasishtha.
- The Dharmashastras, in verse, of which Manu, Yajnavalkya and Narada are the most authoritative. Brihaspati and Katyayana are known for law and procedure.
The three divisions of the Smritis
- Achara, rules of conduct and religious observance.
- Vyavahara, civil and criminal law and procedure, arranged under titles of law such as debts, partition and inheritance.
- Prayaschitta, penance for wrongdoing.
Vyavahara is the part the courts later applied as Hindu law.
The relation between Shruti and Smriti
- Smriti is presumed to rest on Shruti. Where a Smriti rule has no known Vedic text behind it, it is presumed that such a text once existed and has been lost.
- Shruti prevails in a conflict. The Mimamsa school of interpretation laid down that a Smriti text contrary to the Shruti is to be disregarded. In practice conflicts were rare, because the Shruti has so few legal rules.
- Dharma is what the Veda indicates. In A.S. Narayana Deekshitulu v. State of Andhra Pradesh, AIR 1996 SC 1765, the Supreme Court upheld a 1987 Andhra Pradesh law ending hereditary temple offices. In discussing dharma, the Court set out Jaimini's sutra. It explains dharma as that which is indicated by the Vedas as conducive to the highest good. The Smritis are the detailed working out of that Vedic dharma.
The Vedas in the description of Hinduism
The Vedas remain central to the very idea of a Hindu. In Sastri Yagnapurushdasji v. Muldas Bhudardas Vaishya, AIR 1966 SC 1119, the Satsangis claimed their sect was not Hindu, to keep Harijans out of their temples. The Supreme Court held that they were Hindus. It approved Tilak's formula, the first element of which is the "acceptance of the Vedas with reverence".
Custom against both
Neither Shruti nor Smriti was a closed code in practice. A proved custom could prevail over the written texts. In Collector of Madura v. Moottoo Ramalinga Sathupathy, (1868) 12 MIA 397, a widow's adoption with the consent of her husband's kinsmen was upheld under the Dravida school. The Privy Council said that clear proof of usage will outweigh the written text of the law.
Shruti and Smriti compared
| Point | Shruti | Smriti |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | What was heard | What was remembered |
| Nature | Believed revealed | Composed by sages |
| Content | Hymns, ritual, philosophy; little law | Conduct, law and procedure, penance |
| Authority | Highest in theory | Next to Shruti; presumed to rest on it |
| In a conflict | Prevails | Gives way |
| Practical importance for law | Small | The main written source |
Conclusion. Shruti, the revealed Vedas with their Brahmanas, Aranyakas and Upanishads, is the highest source of Hindu law in theory but holds few legal rules. Smriti, from the Dharmasutras to the Dharmashastras of Manu, Yajnavalkya and Narada, is the main written source. Its vyavahara part became the law the courts applied. Smriti is presumed to rest on Shruti and gives way to it in a conflict. Both give way to clearly proved custom, as Collector of Madura holds.
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