UP PCS-J Personal and Local Laws Syllabus

Personal and Local Laws syllabus — full chapter and topic list

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for Personal and Local Laws in UP PCS-J, not a summary of it.

1. 1

   Hindu Law

   4 topics

   • Sources, Schools and Application
     • Sources of Hindu law and its codification
     • Mitakshara and Dayabhaga schools
     • Application of Hindu law
   • Marriage and Matrimonial Remedies
     • Conditions for a valid Hindu marriage
     • Void and voidable marriages
     • Divorce, judicial separation, and restitution of conjugal rights
   • Joint Family, Coparcenary and Partition
     • Joint Hindu family and coparcenary
     • Rights of daughters post-2005 Amendment
     • Partition and reunion
   • Succession, Adoption and Maintenance
     • Intestate succession to males and females
     • Adoption: requirements and effects
     • Maintenance and guardianship
2. 2

   Muslim Law

   4 topics

   • Sources and Schools
     • Sources of Muslim law
     • Sunni and Shia schools
   • Marriage (Nikah) and Dower (Mahr)
     • Essentials and kinds of marriage
     • Dower: kinds and enforcement
   • Dissolution of Marriage
     • Talaq and its forms; triple talaq jurisprudence
     • Khula, mubarat, and judicial divorce
     • Iddat and maintenance
   • Gift, Wakf and Succession
     • Hiba (gift): essentials and revocation
     • Wakf and its administration
     • Will (wasiyat) and inheritance
3. 3

   Law of Torts

   4 topics

   • General Principles of Tortious Liability
     • Definition, nature, and essentials of tort
     • Damnum sine injuria and injuria sine damno
     • Mental elements: malice, intention, and motive
   • General Defences and Vicarious Liability
     • Volenti non fit injuria, act of God, inevitable accident
     • Vicarious liability of master and principal
     • State liability and sovereign immunity
   • Specific Torts
     • Negligence and contributory negligence
     • Nuisance and trespass
     • Defamation and malicious prosecution
   • Strict and Absolute Liability
     • Rule in Rylands v. Fletcher
     • Absolute liability and M.C. Mehta principle
     • Consumer protection and tortious remedies
4. 4

   Uttar Pradesh Local and Revenue Laws

   3 topics

   • UP Revenue Code, 2006
     • Classes of tenure holders and land rights
     • Revenue courts and jurisdiction
     • Suits and proceedings relating to agricultural land
   • UP Urban Buildings (Regulation of Letting, Rent and Eviction) Act, 1972
     • Application and key definitions
     • Grounds for eviction of tenants
     • Allotment and release of buildings
   • UP Panchayat Raj and Municipal Laws
     • Constitution and functions of panchayats
     • Nyaya panchayats and local self-governance

Personal and Local Laws flashcards for UP PCS-J

25 of 52 cards from the Personal and Local Laws deck — real questions with worked answers.

1. What are the principal sources of Hindu law?

   Ancient/primary sources: Shruti (Vedas), Smriti (Manusmriti, Yajnavalkya etc.), Commentaries & Digests (Nibandhas), and Custom. Modern sources: Justice/equity/good conscience, Legislation, and Judicial precedent.

2. Name the two main schools of Hindu law and the texts they are founded on.

   The Mitakshara school (commentary by Vijnaneshwara on the Yajnavalkya Smriti) prevails all over India except Bengal; the Dayabhaga school (digest by Jimutavahana) prevails in Bengal and Assam.

3. State the key distinction between the Mitakshara and Dayabhaga schools on right by birth.

   Under Mitakshara a son acquires an interest in ancestral property by birth (right by birth). Under Dayabhaga the son has no right by birth; he takes property only on the death of the father (right by death/succession).

4. To whom does the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 apply?

   It applies to Hindus by religion (including Virashaiva, Lingayat, followers of Brahmo/Prarthana/Arya Samaj), Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs, and to any person domiciled in India who is not a Muslim, Christian, Parsi or Jew.

5. List the conditions for a valid Hindu marriage under Section 5 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.

   (i) Neither party has a living spouse (monogamy); (ii) neither is incapable of consent due to unsoundness of mind/mental disorder/recurrent insanity; (iii) bridegroom 21 and bride 18 years; (iv) parties not within prohibited degrees unless custom permits; (v) parties not sapindas of each other unless custom permits.

6. What is the difference between a void and a voidable marriage under the Hindu Marriage Act?

   A void marriage (Sec 11 — bigamy, prohibited degrees, sapinda) is null from the start and needs no decree. A voidable marriage (Sec 12 — impotence/non-consummation, lack of valid consent, pregnancy by another at marriage) is valid until annulled by a decree of nullity at the option of the aggrieved party.

7. What are the grounds for judicial separation that are also grounds for divorce under the Hindu Marriage Act?

   Adultery, cruelty, desertion (2 years), conversion to another religion, unsoundness of mind/mental disorder, virulent leprosy (now omitted), venereal disease, renunciation of the world, and presumption of death (not heard of for 7 years).

8. What is the minimum period of separation required for divorce by mutual consent under Section 13B of the Hindu Marriage Act?

   The parties must have been living separately for one year or more, then jointly present a petition; the motion is heard after a 6-month and within 18-month cooling-off period (the 6-month period is waivable by the court).

9. Define a Hindu coparcenary and state how it differs from a joint Hindu family.

   A joint Hindu family is broader — all persons lineally descended from a common ancestor plus their wives and unmarried daughters. A coparcenary is the narrower body within it consisting of those who acquire a right by birth in the joint/ancestral property — traditionally the holder and three lineal male descendants (now including daughters since 2005).

10. What change did the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005 make to coparcenary rights of daughters?

    It made a daughter a coparcener by birth in the same manner as a son, giving her equal rights and liabilities in coparcenary property. (Vineeta Sharma v. Rakesh Sharma, 2020 held the right is by birth and applies whether or not the father was alive on 9-9-2005.)

11. What is the doctrine of survivorship in Mitakshara coparcenary, and is it still applicable?

    Survivorship meant that on a coparcener's death his interest passed to the surviving coparceners, not by succession. Section 6 of the Hindu Succession Act (as amended in 2005) abolished survivorship for property; interest now devolves by testamentary or intestate succession.

12. What is partition in Hindu law and what are the modes of effecting it?

    Partition is the severance of the joint status of a coparcenary into separate shares. Modes: by agreement, by notice/declaration of intention to separate, by suit, by arbitration, by conduct, and (formerly) by father during his lifetime; partition by metes and bounds gives actual physical division.

13. Under the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, who are the Class I heirs of a male Hindu dying intestate?

    Class I heirs include: son, daughter, widow, mother, son/daughter of a predeceased son or daughter, widow of a predeceased son, and other specified descendants (with 2005 additions of children of predeceased daughters of predeceased daughters etc.). They inherit simultaneously and exclude all other heirs.

14. State the general rule of devolution when a male Hindu dies intestate under the Hindu Succession Act.

    Property devolves first on Class I heirs; if none, on Class II heirs; if none, on agnates; and if no agnates, on cognates. Class I heirs take simultaneously and to the exclusion of others.

15. What are the essential requirements of a valid adoption under the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956?

    The person adopting must have capacity and consent of spouse; the person giving in adoption must have capacity; the child must be a Hindu, unmarried (unless custom permits), under 15 (unless custom permits), and not already adopted; and there must be actual giving and taking. A child of the same sex already living cannot ordinarily be adopted.

16. Who is entitled to maintenance under the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956?

    A Hindu wife (during life), a widowed daughter-in-law, minor children and unmarried daughters, aged/infirm parents, and dependants of a deceased Hindu are entitled to maintenance from the relevant person or out of the estate.

17. What are the sources of Muslim law?

    Primary sources: Quran, Sunna/Hadis (traditions of the Prophet), Ijma (consensus of jurists), and Qiyas (analogical deduction). Secondary/derivative sources: Custom, judicial precedent, legislation, and equity (Istihsan, Istislah).

18. Name the two major sects of Muslim law and their main sub-schools.

    Sunni and Shia. Sunni sub-schools: Hanafi (predominant in India), Maliki, Shafi'i, Hanbali. Shia sub-schools: Ithna Ashari (Twelvers, main in India), Ismaili, Zaidi.

19. Define Nikah (Muslim marriage) and state its legal nature.

    Nikah is a civil contract (aqd) intended for the procreation and legalisation of children and regulation of social life, not a sacrament. It requires offer (ijab) and acceptance (qubul) at one meeting, before witnesses (under Sunni law), with competent parties and free consent.

20. What are the classifications of a Muslim marriage by validity?

    Sahih (valid), Batil (void — e.g. marriage within prohibited degrees), and Fasid (irregular — e.g. marriage without witnesses, with a fifth wife, during iddat) which can be regularised by removing the defect. Shia law recognises only valid and void (no irregular category).

21. Define Mahr (dower) in Muslim law and state its purpose.

    Mahr is a sum of money or property which the wife is entitled to receive from the husband in consideration of the marriage. It is an obligation imposed by law as a mark of respect and to secure the wife's economic position, not a sale price.

22. Distinguish between prompt (Muajjal) and deferred (Muwajjal) dower.

    Prompt dower is payable immediately on demand and before consummation; the wife can refuse cohabitation until it is paid. Deferred dower is payable on dissolution of marriage by death or divorce.

23. What remedies does a Muslim wife have if the dower is not paid?

    She may refuse conjugal rights until prompt dower is paid; she may sue for the dower debt (a simple unsecured debt); and as a 'dower-debtor in possession' she may retain her late husband's property until her dower is satisfied (right of retention).

24. What are the modes of dissolution of a Muslim marriage?

    By death; by the husband's act (Talaq, Ila, Zihar); by mutual consent (Khula and Mubarat); by the wife under a delegated power (Talaq-e-Tafweez); and by judicial decree under the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1939.

25. Distinguish between Talaq-e-Sunnat and Talaq-e-Biddat.

    Talaq-e-Sunnat is the approved form, revocable: Ahsan (single pronouncement in tuhr followed by abstention through iddat) and Hasan (three pronouncements in three successive tuhrs). Talaq-e-Biddat (triple talaq) is the disapproved, irrevocable instantaneous form, now void and a punishable offence under the 2019 Act.

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