KSLU Solved Question Papers
Property Law
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 6
2025 Jun (100 marks) Examination
munotes.in
Mumbai
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 6 Property Law 2025 Jun (100 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 2025 Jun (100 marks) examination.
Contents
The questions below are the paper as Karnataka State Law University set it at the 2025 Jun (100 marks) examination, in the order it was set.
MarksPage
The Paper as Set
The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the 2025 Jun (100 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 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 the essentials of a valid transfer.[16]
Answer
For full marks, cover: the definition in section 5, with "living person" and transfers to oneself; what is not a transfer (V.N. Sarin); each essential of a valid transfer: (1) between living persons, (2) transferable property under section 6 (Jumma Masjid), (3) a competent transferor under section 7 (Mohori Bibee), (4) a competent transferee, (5) a lawful object and consideration, (6) lawful conditions (sections 10 to 12, 25; Rosher v. Rosher), (7) the formalities of writing, attestation and registration (Suraj Lamp), (8) the rules on future interests (sections 13 and 14); what passes under section 8.
Transfer of property defined
Section 5 of the Transfer of Property Act 1882 defines "transfer of property" as "an act by which a living person conveys property, in present or in future, to one or more other living persons, or to himself and one or more other living persons". Since 1929, "living person" includes "a company or association or body of individuals, whether incorporated or not". A person may thus transfer property to himself jointly with others, as when an owner settles his land on himself and his sons.
A transfer must convey something the transferee did not have before. V.N. Sarin v. Major Ajit Kumar Poplai, AIR 1966 SC 432, decided on 9 August 1965, held that a partition is not a transfer. A Delhi family's let bungalow fell, on a partition in 1962, to Major Poplai. The tenant said Poplai had acquired it "by transfer". The Supreme Court held that partition only turns joint title into separate titles, so nothing is conveyed.
The essentials of a valid transfer
1. Between living persons. The transfer must be inter vivos, which means between persons alive at the time. A will speaks only on death and is governed by the Indian Succession Act 1925. Nor can property be conveyed directly to a person not yet born. Section 13 allows a transfer for his benefit only through a prior interest.
2. Transferable property. Section 6 makes property of any kind transferable, "except as otherwise provided by this Act or by any other law". It lists what cannot be transferred. These are a spes successionis, a mere right of re-entry, an easement apart from the dominant land, and a personal interest. They also include a right to future maintenance, a mere right to sue, a public office or salary, a pension, and an untransferable tenancy.
The Jumma Masjid, Mercara v. Kodimaniandra Deviah, AIR 1962 SC 847, decided on 11 January 1962, explained the bar on spes successionis. In 1920 three reversioners sold land, representing that they were already entitled. In truth they had only a chance of succeeding. When they later became entitled, the Supreme Court held them bound by section 43, and the buyer's successor took the land. Section 6(a) forbids a knowing transfer of a mere chance. It does not protect a transferor who misrepresented his title.
3. A competent transferor. Under section 7, a person may transfer if he is "competent to contract and entitled to transferable property, or authorised to dispose of transferable property not his own". He must be of age, of sound mind and not disqualified by law. He must be the owner, or authorised to dispose of the property, as an agent or guardian is.
Mohori Bibee v. Dharmodas Ghose, (1903) LR 30 IA 114, decided by the Privy Council, shows why a minor cannot transfer. Dharmodas, a minor, mortgaged his property to a moneylender for Rs 20,000, and the lender's agent knew he was a minor. The Privy Council held the mortgage absolutely void. The minor could not even be made to repay the advance.
4. A competent transferee. Any person capable of holding property may take. A minor may receive a gift. But under section 6(h), no transfer can be made "to a person legally disqualified to be transferee", such as a person whom a law forbids to hold certain land.
5. A lawful object and consideration. Under section 6(h), no transfer can be made "for an unlawful object or consideration within the meaning of section 23 of the Indian Contract Act". A transfer in return for committing a crime, or to defeat a law, is void. Where the transfer is a sale, mortgage or lease, consideration is part of its definition. A gift needs none.
6. Lawful conditions.
- Absolute restraint on alienation is void (section 10). A condition "absolutely restraining the transferee" from parting with his interest is void, except in a lease where it is for the lessor's benefit.
- A direction as to enjoyment of an absolute interest is void (section 11). The transferee may enjoy and dispose of the property as if there were no such direction.
- A condition making an interest determinable on insolvency or attempted alienation is void (section 12).
- An impossible, unlawful, fraudulent, injurious or immoral condition makes the dependent interest fail (section 25).
Rosher v. Rosher, (1884) 26 Ch D 801, is the classic example of an absolute restraint. A testator devised land to his son. If the son wished to sell in the widow's lifetime, he had to offer it to her first. The price was fixed far below its value. The court held the condition an absolute restraint on alienation and void.
7. The formalities. Under section 9, a transfer may be oral unless a law expressly requires writing. The Act requires a registered instrument for a sale of tangible immovable property worth Rs 100 or more under section 54. It requires one for a mortgage of Rs 100 or more under section 59, and a lease for more than a year under section 107. It does so too for a gift of immovable property under section 123. An actionable claim needs a signed writing under section 130.
Where the Act requires attestation, the instrument must be attested by two or more witnesses, as section 3 defines that word. Registration follows the Registration Act 1908.
Suraj Lamp and Industries (P) Ltd. v. State of Haryana, (2012) 1 SCC 656, decided on 11 October 2011, enforced this. Property around Delhi was being "sold" by an agreement of sale, a general power of attorney and a will, to avoid stamp duty. The Supreme Court held that immovable property can be transferred "only by a registered deed of conveyance". Such documents pass no title.
8. The rules on future interests. An interest for an unborn person must satisfy section 13, by giving him the whole remaining interest after a prior interest. Every interest must vest within the period of section 14. That period is the lives of persons living at the transfer plus the minority of the person who is to take.
What a valid transfer passes: section 8
"Unless a different intention is expressed or necessarily implied, a transfer of property passes forthwith to the transferee all the interest which the transferor is then capable of passing in the property, and in the legal incidents thereof." For land these incidents include the easements annexed, the rents and profits accruing after the transfer, and all things attached to the earth. For a house they include the doors, windows and other things provided for its permanent use. For a debt they include the securities for it, but not arrears of interest accrued before the transfer.
| Essential | Provision | Effect of failure |
|---|---|---|
| Living persons | Section 5 | No transfer under the Act |
| Transferable property | Section 6 | Transfer void |
| Competent transferor | Section 7 | Transfer void or voidable |
| Lawful object and consideration | Section 6(h) | Transfer void |
| Lawful conditions | Sections 10 to 12, 25 | Condition or dependent interest fails |
| Writing, attestation, registration | Sections 9, 54, 59, 107, 123; Registration Act | No title passes |
| Future interests | Sections 13, 14 | Interest void |
Conclusion. A transfer under section 5 is a conveyance of property by a living person, including a company, to another living person. A partition is not one, as V.N. Sarin holds. It is valid when the property is transferable under section 6 and the transferor is competent under section 7. A minor's transfer is void, as Mohori Bibee shows. The transferee must not be disqualified, and the object, consideration and conditions must be lawful. An absolute restraint fails, as in Rosher v. Rosher. The formalities the law requires must be followed, as Suraj Lamp insists, and future interests must satisfy sections 13 and 14.
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