Mumbai University Solved Question Papers
Criminal Jurisprudence
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
LLM · Group 5 Criminal Law and Criminal Administration
Jul 2026 - ATKT Examination
munotes.in
Mumbai
LLM Group 5 Criminal Law and Criminal Administration Criminal Jurisprudence Jul 2026 - ATKT Question Paper with Solutions
Get access to whole semester resourcesSemester Pass
MU LLM student group
Free to join
First published on munotes.in on 2 November 2026.
Published by munotes.in, Mumbai.
Model answers written and edited by the munotes.in editorial desk.
Passages from this volume may be quoted, in print, online or by an AI system, with credit: name munotes.in and link to this volume's page. The volume may not be reproduced as a whole. Full terms at munotes.in/content-license.
munotes.in is an independent study resource for students of the University of Mumbai. It is not affiliated with the University of Mumbai, and is not endorsed by it.
The University does not publish an official answer key for this paper. The answers in this volume are model answers, written to show how a full-mark answer is built. They are a study aid, not an authority on what an examiner marked.
The question paper reproduced here is the paper as set by the University of Mumbai at the Jul 2026 - ATKT examination.
Contents
The questions below are the paper as the University of Mumbai set it at the Jul 2026 - ATKT examination, in the order it was set.
MarksPage
The Paper as Set
The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the Jul 2026 - ATKT examination, reproduced as the University of Mumbai set them, in the order it set them. Nothing has been reworded, added or left out. Only the answers are ours. See the original question paper.
Duration 3 hours · Total marks 100 · 7 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.
1)What is criminal justice administration in India? Why is it needed, how has it developed over time, and what role does it play in keeping society orderly and fair?[25]
Answer
For full marks, cover: the four limbs the question asks, in order. Define criminal justice administration and its components; explain why it is needed; trace its development from pre-colonial times through colonial codification and the Constitution to the 2023 Sanhitas; and explain its role in order and fairness, with the cases that made fairness a constitutional demand.
What criminal justice administration is
Criminal justice administration is the system by which the State prevents crime, detects and investigates offences, prosecutes and tries offenders, and punishes and reforms those convicted. It is administration in the full sense: a set of institutions working under law.
It has four main components.
- The police, who prevent crime, register offences, investigate and arrest.
- The prosecution, which presents the State's case in court.
- The courts, which decide guilt and sentence.
- Correctional institutions, prisons, probation and juvenile homes, which carry out sentences and aim at reform.
Its law is in three statutes and the Constitution. The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 defines offences and punishments. The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 lays down the procedure from complaint to appeal. The Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 governs proof. All three came into force on 1 July 2024. Above them stand Articles 14, 20, 21 and 22 of the Constitution.
Why it is needed
First, to protect people and property. Without a system that punishes violence and theft, the strong would prey on the weak.
Second, to replace private revenge with public justice. When the State punishes, victims do not need to take revenge, and the cycle of feuds is broken.
Third, to uphold the rule of law. Crimes are defined in advance and punished only after a fair trial, which restrains both offenders and the State.
Fourth, to deter and to reform. Certain and proportionate punishment deters; probation and correctional treatment reform.
Fifth, to give victims a voice and a remedy. Section 396 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita requires every State to prepare a victim compensation scheme.
How it has developed
1. The ancient and medieval periods. Ancient Indian texts, such as the Dharmashastras and Kautilya's Arthashastra, dealt with crime and punishment, and punishment (danda) was seen as the king's duty to maintain order. In the medieval period, Islamic criminal law was administered by qazis. Punishment varied with status, and procedure was not uniform.
2. Colonial codification. The British unified the system. The Indian Penal Code, 1860, drafted under Macaulay, gave India a single code of offences. The Code of Criminal Procedure followed, in versions of 1861, 1872 and 1898, and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 codified proof. The police were organised under the Police Act, 1861. The system was designed to keep order for a colonial government, more than to protect the rights of the governed.
3. The Constitution of 1950. The Constitution transformed the system by placing it under fundamental rights. Article 20 protects against retrospective criminal laws, double jeopardy and self-incrimination. Article 21 protects life and personal liberty. Article 22 gives an arrested person the right to know the grounds of arrest, to consult a lawyer and to be produced before a Magistrate within twenty-four hours.
4. The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. It replaced the 1898 Code, separated the judiciary from the executive in criminal matters and strengthened safeguards.
5. Judicial activism from the late 1970s. The Supreme Court made fairness a constitutional requirement. In Hussainara Khatoon v. Home Secretary, State of Bihar, (1980) 1 SCC 81, it found thousands of undertrial prisoners in Bihar detained for longer than the maximum sentence for their alleged offences, and held that speedy trial and free legal aid are part of Article 21. In D.K. Basu v. State of West Bengal, (1997) 1 SCC 416, it laid down safeguards against custodial violence on arrest. In Lalita Kumari v. Government of Uttar Pradesh, (2014) 2 SCC 1, it made registration of a first information report mandatory where information discloses a cognizable offence. In Prakash Singh v. Union of India, (2006) 8 SCC 1, it directed police reforms to insulate the police from political interference.
6. Reform committees. The Committee on Reforms of the Criminal Justice System, chaired by Justice V.S. Malimath, reported in 2003 and recommended changes to make the system more effective and more attentive to victims.
7. The 2023 Sanhitas. The three new laws replaced the colonial codes from 1 July 2024. They added offences such as organised crime and terrorist act, introduced community service as a punishment, allowed information to be given electronically and from any police station, and required forensic examination at the scene for serious offences.
Its role in keeping society orderly and fair
Order. The system keeps order by deterring crime, incapacitating dangerous offenders and responding to breaches of the peace. It also maintains public confidence: people obey the law partly because they see it enforced.
Fairness. The system must also be fair, because a system that punishes the innocent or tortures the guilty destroys the confidence it depends on. Fairness has several parts.
- The presumption of innocence and the burden on the prosecution to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
- Legality: no punishment except for an offence defined by law in force when the act was done (Article 20(1)).
- Fair procedure: the grounds of arrest, access to a lawyer, production before a Magistrate within twenty-four hours, and protection against self-incrimination.
- Equality: the same law for all, rich and poor.
- Speed: justice delayed is justice denied, as Hussainara Khatoon held.
The tension between order and fairness. An efficient system wants quick arrests and convictions; a fair system insists on safeguards. Indian law resolves the tension in favour of fairness: Article 21 requires that liberty be taken away only by a procedure that is fair, just and reasonable.
Its problems today
- Delay and pendency, which keep undertrials in prison for years.
- Overcrowded prisons, where most inmates are undertrials.
- Police inefficiency and misuse of power.
- Low conviction rates in many categories of crime.
- Neglect of victims, only partly corrected by victim compensation.
One recent response is section 479 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, which requires an undertrial who has spent half the maximum sentence in detention (one-third for a first-time offender) to be released, except for offences punishable with death or life imprisonment.
Conclusion. Criminal justice administration in India is the system of police, prosecution, courts and correctional institutions that prevents, investigates, tries and punishes crime under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, all in force from 1 July 2024. It is needed to protect people, replace revenge, uphold the rule of law, deter and reform, and give victims a remedy. It developed from ancient and medieval practice through colonial codification to a constitutional system, which the Supreme Court made fair in Hussainara Khatoon, D.K. Basu, Lalita Kumari and Prakash Singh. Its role is to keep society orderly while treating every accused fairly, and its continuing problems of delay, overcrowding and low conviction show how far that balance remains unfinished.
The rest of the answers
The first answer is free. The rest come with the LL.M. Criminal Law and Criminal Administration Semester 1 solved papers.
You have read the question paper and its first answer in full. Buy the solved papers once and you can read every answer of every solved paper in this semester.
Notes + Solved papers: ₹798 Already bought it? Sign in
Or solved papers only: ₹499
Or notes only: ₹499
The question paper itself stays free, and so does the syllabus.
Found an error in this volume? Report it and we will check it against the paper.