MH CET Law Legal Aptitude and Legal Reasoning Flashcards

24 sample cards from the Legal Aptitude and Legal Reasoning deck

Sampled from the end of the deck, so these are different cards from the ones shown on the syllabus page.

1. What is the definition of a tort?

   A tort is a civil wrong, other than a breach of contract or trust, for which the remedy is an action for unliquidated damages. It involves a breach of a duty fixed by law.

2. What are the three essential elements (essentials) of a tort?

   (1) A wrongful act or omission, (2) a legal damage (injuria) caused to the plaintiff, and (3) a legal remedy in the form of an action for unliquidated damages.

3. Distinguish 'damnum sine injuria' from 'injuria sine damno'.

   Damnum sine injuria = actual loss without violation of a legal right (not actionable). Injuria sine damno = violation of a legal right without actual loss (actionable per se).

4. What are the main general defences available in an action for tort?

   Volenti non fit injuria (consent), Act of God (vis major), inevitable accident, private defence, necessity, plaintiff's own default, statutory authority, and mistake (in limited cases).

5. What does the defence 'volenti non fit injuria' mean?

   'To a willing person, no injury is done' — where the plaintiff voluntarily consents, with knowledge of the risk, to the harm suffered, the defendant is not liable.

6. What is defamation as a specific tort, and its two forms?

   Defamation is the publication of a false statement that injures a person's reputation. Its two forms are libel (written/permanent form) and slander (spoken/transient form).

7. What is the rule of strict liability laid down in Rylands v. Fletcher?

   A person who, for his own purposes, brings onto his land and keeps anything likely to do mischief if it escapes, is liable for all damage caused by its escape (non-natural use of land), irrespective of negligence — subject to exceptions.

8. How does absolute liability (M.C. Mehta v. Union of India, 1987) differ from strict liability?

   Absolute liability applies to enterprises engaged in hazardous activities; it admits NO exceptions (unlike strict liability's exceptions such as Act of God or plaintiff's fault). The enterprise is wholly liable for any harm from escape of a dangerous substance.

9. What is vicarious liability in tort law?

   Liability of one person for the wrongful act of another due to a special relationship — e.g., a master is liable for the torts of his servant committed in the course of employment (qui facit per alium facit per se).

10. Name the main judicial remedies available for a tort.

    Damages (compensation), injunction (court order to do or refrain from an act), and specific restitution of property. Extra-judicial remedies include self-defence, re-entry on land, and abatement of nuisance.

11. What are the essential elements of a valid contract under Section 10 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872?

    Offer and acceptance, lawful consideration, capacity of parties, free consent, lawful object, intention to create legal relations, certainty, possibility of performance, and not expressly declared void.

12. What is the difference between a void agreement and a voidable contract?

    A void agreement is not enforceable by law from the beginning (void ab initio); a voidable contract is valid until set aside at the option of the aggrieved party (e.g., consent obtained by coercion, fraud, misrepresentation, or undue influence).

13. What constitutes 'free consent' under the Indian Contract Act?

    Consent is free when not caused by coercion (s.15), undue influence (s.16), fraud (s.17), misrepresentation (s.18), or mistake (s.20-22). Consent so caused renders the agreement voidable (or void, in case of bilateral mistake of fact).

14. What is an illegal agreement and how does it differ from a void agreement?

    An illegal agreement involves an unlawful object/consideration (forbidden by law, immoral, or against public policy) and is punishable; all illegal agreements are void, but not all void agreements are illegal. Collateral agreements to an illegal agreement are also void.

15. What are the modes of discharge of a contract?

    By performance, by mutual agreement (novation, rescission, alteration, remission, waiver), by impossibility/frustration, by lapse of time, by operation of law, and by breach.

16. What is the difference between actual breach and anticipatory breach of contract?

    Actual breach occurs when a party fails to perform at the due time of performance; anticipatory breach occurs when a party declares, before the due date, that it will not perform, allowing the other party to sue immediately.

17. What remedies are available for breach of contract?

    Rescission of the contract, suit for damages (Sec. 73), suit for specific performance, suit for injunction, and quantum meruit (payment for work already done).

18. What is the rule in Hadley v. Baxendale regarding damages?

    Damages for breach of contract are limited to losses that arise naturally from the breach or that were reasonably in the contemplation of both parties at the time of contract; remote or indirect losses are not recoverable.

19. What are the two essential elements of every crime?

    Actus reus (the guilty/wrongful act or omission) and mens rea (the guilty mind/criminal intent). Both must generally coexist for criminal liability.

20. What is the difference between culpable homicide and murder under the IPC?

    All murder is culpable homicide, but not all culpable homicide is murder. Murder (s.300) is culpable homicide with higher degree of intention/knowledge; culpable homicide not amounting to murder (s.299/304) involves lesser intent or falls under specific exceptions.

21. What are inchoate (incomplete) offences? Give examples.

    Inchoate offences are preliminary crimes committed before the main offence is completed but which are themselves punishable — namely abetment, criminal conspiracy, and attempt to commit an offence.

22. What is the principle of common intention under Section 34 IPC (group liability)?

    When a criminal act is done by several persons in furtherance of the common intention of all, each is liable as if he did the act alone. It requires a prior meeting of minds and participation in the act.

23. What are some general exceptions to criminal liability under the IPC (Chapter IV)?

    Mistake of fact, judicial/legal acts, accident, necessity, infancy (doli incapax under 7, and 7-12 with immature understanding), unsoundness of mind (insanity), intoxication, consent, private defence, and acts done in good faith.

24. In principle-fact (principle-application) reasoning, what is the correct method to answer a legal reasoning question?

    Apply ONLY the given legal principle strictly to the given facts as true, even if the principle differs from actual law or seems unjust; do not bring in personal opinion or outside legal knowledge — the conclusion must follow logically from principle applied to facts.

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