KSLU Solved Question Papers
Professional Ethics and Professional Accounting System
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 7
2015 Jun Examination
munotes.in
Mumbai
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 7 Professional Ethics and Professional Accounting System 2015 Jun Question Paper with Solutions
First published on munotes.in on 21 October 2026.
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Model answers written and edited by the munotes.in editorial desk.
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The question paper reproduced here is the paper as set by Karnataka State Law University at the 2015 Jun examination.
Contents
The questions below are the paper as Karnataka State Law University set it at the 2015 Jun examination, in the order it was set.
MarksPage
MarksPage
The Paper as Set
The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the 2015 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 2½ hours · Total marks 80 · 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 why legal profession is considered as a noble profession.[12]
Answer
For full marks, cover: what "noble" means for a profession (service before gain, a public trust, high standards of honour); the reasons law is called noble, one by one (its tradition, its object of justice, its defence of liberty against power, its duty to the poor, its role in public life and the freedom struggle, its self-discipline and code of honour, its place as a partner of the court); the judicial statements on nobility (Bar Council of Maharashtra v. M.V. Dabholkar, V.C. Rangadurai v. D. Gopalan, In Re: Sanjiv Datta); the condition the courts attach (nobility lasts only while lawyers keep their integrity); a conclusion.
What makes a profession "noble"
A noble profession is one whose members put service before gain. Its work serves a public good, not only the paying customer. It holds its members to standards of honour higher than the law demands of ordinary people. The legal profession has long been described in these terms. Cicero, as the Supreme Court recalled in Dabholkar, called the law "a noble profession".
Why law is called noble
1. An old tradition of service. By old tradition the advocate's reward was an "honorarium", a mark of honour, not a price. In England a barrister could not sue for his fees, because his work was treated as an honourable service and not a contract for hire. Modern Indian advocates are paid, but the idea that the work is a service survives in the rules. An advocate is ordinarily bound to accept a brief (rule 11 of the Bar Council of India Rules). He may not stipulate for a share of the result (rule 20).
2. Its object is justice. The profession exists to help courts reach just decisions. The Preamble to the Bar Council of India's standards calls the advocate "an officer of the Court". In Dabholkar, AIR 1976 SC 242, the Supreme Court said "the central function of the legal profession is to promote the administration of justice". Few callings have a higher object.
3. It defends the citizen against power. The lawyer stands between the individual and the State, defending liberty, property and reputation. Article 22(1) gives an arrested person the right to a lawyer of his choice. An advocate must defend an accused whatever his own opinion of the guilt (rule 15). The law requires that no one be convicted without adequate evidence.
4. It serves the poor. Rule 46 calls free legal assistance to the indigent and oppressed "one of the highest obligations an advocate owes to society". Article 39A and the Legal Services Authorities Act 1987 make legal aid a public duty in which advocates take part.
5. Its record in public life. Lawyers led India's freedom struggle and drafted its Constitution. Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel, Dr Rajendra Prasad and Dr B.R. Ambedkar were all trained in law. In Dabholkar the Court described law as "a calling to which Lincoln, Gandhi, Lenin and a galaxy of great men belonged".
6. Its code of honour and self-discipline. The profession governs itself through elected Bar Councils under the Advocates Act 1961. Its rules forbid soliciting, touting and advertising (rule 36). They also forbid conflicts of interest (rule 33) and abuse of a client's confidence (rule 24). The Preamble says an advocate must behave as "a gentleman". Conduct lawful for others "may still be improper for an advocate".
7. Courage and independence. Rule 15 requires an advocate to uphold his client's interests "without regard to any unpleasant consequences to himself or any other". He must be willing to take unpopular cases and to stand up to powerful opponents, including the State. Rule 1 forbids him to be servile even before the judge. A profession that asks its members to risk their own comfort for others is rightly called noble.
8. A partner of the court. Judges are drawn largely from the Bar (Articles 124, 217 and 233). The courts depend on honest advocates to state the law and facts correctly. That shared responsibility for justice gives the profession its dignity.
What the courts have said
- "Law is no trade, briefs no merchandise." In Bar Council of Maharashtra v. M.V. Dabholkar, advocates in Bombay had scrambled and fought for briefs at the court gates. The Supreme Court restored the finding of misconduct. It said that if such conduct were accepted, "it is difficult to call the legal profession noble". The nation has given lawyers a monopoly, and that obliges them to keep norms worthy of public confidence.
- Nobility depends on integrity. In V.C. Rangadurai v. D. Gopalan, AIR 1979 SC 281, an advocate deceived elderly clients about suits he had never pursued. Justice Krishna Iyer said that law's nobility as a profession "lasts only so long as" its members keep "their commitment to integrity and service to the community". The monopoly given by Parliament "is coupled with a responsibility", especially towards the poor.
- A noble calling. In In Re: Sanjiv Datta, (1995) 3 SCC 619, a contempt case, the Supreme Court called the legal profession "a solemn and serious occupation" and "a noble calling". Its honour depends on its members' conduct in and out of court. If people lose confidence in it, the whole administration of justice suffers.
A word of caution
Nobility is not automatic. Justice Krishna Iyer added in Rangadurai that law is also an "elitist profession" whose ethics in practice leave much to be desired. Strikes, touting, delay and overcharging all damage it. The profession remains noble only so far as each advocate lives up to the standards that make it so.
Conclusion. Law is called a noble profession because its object is justice and it defends the citizen against power. It serves the poor, it has led the nation's public life, and it governs itself by a code of honour. The Supreme Court has repeated it in Dabholkar ("law is no trade, briefs no merchandise"), Rangadurai and Sanjiv Datta. But the Court has also made clear that the nobility lasts only while lawyers keep their integrity and their commitment to service.
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