List of top Legal Studies Questions on Criminal Law asked in CLAT

Children come in contact with the criminal justice system either as victims or witnesses to a crime or as children in conflict with law (CICL). As CICL, they could be alleged of, accused or recognised as having broken the law by committing a crime. According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) Report 2021, India recorded a total number of 1,49,404 instances of crimes against children in 2021 a rise of over 16 per cent from the previous year. In terms of percentage, the top categories under crime against children were kidnapping and abduction, followed by cases registered under the POCSO Act. Further, the NCRB report revealed that of the total cases, 53,874 were registered under POCSO Sections. Sexual offences against children shows a steady ascent, with 47,221 such cases being recorded in 2020, and 47,335 cases in 2019. In 2019, as many as 32,269 cases were registered across the country, while the 2021 report registered a decline of 3.5 per cent recording 31,170 cases.
The Criminal Justice system of any country broadly refers to agencies of the government charged with enforcing law, adjudicating crime, and correcting criminal conduct. The main objective of the criminal justice system is 'deterrence', ie., to punish the 'transgressors and the criminals' and to maintain law and order in the society. Globally, children and young people are routinely exposed to various forms of violence if they are before the criminal justice system. They are at risk of physical and psychological abuse, sexual assault, and other harms, including inadequate educational opportunities, poor and outdated vocational training. They face several challenges including mental, emotional, and behavioural disorders. Children, who are victims of violence or exposed to violence during childhood, are more likely to have difficulty in school, abuse drugs or alcohol, act aggressively, suffer from depression or other mental health problems and engage in criminal behaviour as adults. 
[Extracted, with edits and revisions from "Child Rights in the Criminal Justice System: Need for Law Reform" written by Dr. Asha Bajpai published in the Journal of the National Human Rights Commission, India].

Parliament passed the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act, 2022 (the “Act”) in March 2022. The legislation enables police and central investigating agencies to collect, store and analyse the measurements of arrested persons. Until rules are notified, an Act cannot be implemented or come into force. On September 19, 2022, the Ministry of Home Affairs (the “MHA”) notified the rules (the “Rules”) under the Act.
The Act empowers a Magistrate to direct any person to give measurements to the police, which till now was reserved for convicts and those involved in heinous crimes. It also enables police personnel of the rank of Head Constable or above to take measurements of any person who resists or refuses to give measurements when ordered to do so by a Magistrate. As per the Rules, “measurements” mean finger-impressions, palm-print, footprint, photographs, iris and retina scan, physical, biological samples and their analysis, behavioural attributes including signatures, and handwriting. Though it has not been specified, analysis of biological samples could also include DNA profiling.
However, the Rules state that measurements of those detained under preventive Sections of the Code of Criminal Procedure (“CrPC”) shall not be taken unless such person is at that time charged or under arrest in connection with any other offence punishable under any other law. Measurements can also be taken under the Rules if a person has been ordered to give security for his good behaviour for maintaining peace under Section 117 of the CrPC for a proceeding under that Section. [Extracted, with edits and revisions, from “Explained | Rules for identifying criminals”, by Vijaita Singh, The Hindu]

Principle: Inducing any animal to move or to change its motion and thereby intentionally causing fear of injury or annoyance to others by such act, is an offence of use of criminal force.
Facts: X incites his dog to chase and run after his neighbour Y, to teach Y to stay away from him. The act is done without neighbour's consent and against his will.

Principle: Use of criminal force intentionally knowing that it would cause or is likely to cause injury or annoyance to the person against whom force is used, is an offence.
Facts: X, a renowned social worker who had launched a movement for the liberation of women, pulls up a Muslim women’s veil in public in good faith without her consent, causing annoyance to her.

Principle: Killing is not murder, if it is committed in a sudden fight without pre-meditation in a heat of passion upon a sudden quarrel.
Facts: X and Y were buying liquor from a liquor shop at 7 pm. Y abused X and there was quarrel between them. X told Y that he will not spare him and Y shouted that his house is adjoining the shop only and if X had the guts, he can come anytime. X went back to his shop which was nearby, procured a knife and went to Y's residence at 9 pm and stabbed him to death.

Principle: Whoever causes death by rash or negligent act commits an offence.
Facts: X is having a house on the roadside which is also having a street on the back of the house. He has a lawn on the back of his house where he has built a toilet. To prevent the intruders from entering his house, he got the fence charged with a high voltage live electric wire. Z was passing through the street at the backyard of the house of X and sat down to take rest near the fence. While getting up, his hands came in contact with the fence which was connected to high voltage electric wire causing his death.

Principle: Death caused by rash or negligent act of a person is an offence.
Facts: X was driving his SUV car in a lonely road leading to a forest at 160 km per hour. Suddenly, someone appears from the forest on the road and in the resultant accident, the car hits the commuter causing his death.

Principle: Whoever attempts to commit the offence of cheating, commits an offence.
Facts: A with an intention to defraud B, obtains from him an amount of Rs. 500.

Principle: A man is guilty of not only for what he actually does but also for the consequences of his doing. Facts: A wanted to kill the animal of B. He saw B standing with his animal and fired a gunshot at the animal. The gunshot killed B.

Principle: Nothing is an offence which is done in the exercise of the right of private defence. Nothing is an offence which is done in madness. Facts: A, under the influence of madness, attempts to kill B to save his life, kills A.

Principle: Causing an effect partly by an act and partly by an omission is an offence. Facts: A did not provide any food to his daughter D. He also confined D in a room. Consequently, D died.

Principle: Nothing is an offence if it is done in good faith for the purpose of preventing or avoiding greater harm or damage to person or property. Facts: A jumps into a swimming pool to save a boy from drowning. While pulling the boy from water A was hit by C. A left the boy in the water and attacked C. The boy died in the water.

Principle: Whoever takes away any moveable thing from the land of any person without that person’s consent is said to commit theft. Facts: During his visit to the home of C, A asks B, the son of C, to accompany A to a forest. Neither A nor B inform C in this regard. B accompanies A to the forest.

Examine the Statement and Conclusions given below and choose a suitable answer from the options given:
Statement: Necessity knows no law.
Conclusions:
1. The act of a captain throwing some cargo into the ocean to save the ship from sinking is justified by the principle.
2. The act of a man out of poverty and starvation stealing some food from a hotel is justified by the principle.
3. The act of a tourist killing a tiger when it was attacking a villager is justified by the principle.

What does FIR stand for under the Criminal Law?

Examine the Statement and Conclusions given below and choose a suitable answer from the options given:
Statement: A punishment is the imposition of an undesirable or unpleasant outcome upon a group or individual, meted out by an authority.
Conclusions:
1. Eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth is an example of punishment.
2. Imposition of fine on someone who inflicted bodily injury on another is justified by the statement.

Legal Principle: Nothing is an ‘offence’, if committed by a child below seven years of age.
Fact Situation: Adil, aged six years, is a student of class one. He placed his sharpened pencil on the bench with its pointed end up when his classmate Ajay stood up to answer a question from the teacher.
Ajay gets hurt when he sits on the pencil and Adil and his friends have a good laugh.
Ajay’s father, on seeing his son injured when he returns home, wants action against Adil.
Which of the following statements is the most appropriate in relation to the legal principle stated above?

Legal Principle: It is an offence to obstruct a public servant in the due discharge of his duty. Right of private defence is available to protect one’s person and property.
Fact Situation: Sidhu comes to the rescue of his uncle who is sought to be taken into a car by some men. In the process, he causes injury to some of them. Later, it turns out that the men were police persons in plain clothes trying to enforce a warrant against his uncle.
Which of the following statements is the most appropriate in relation to the legal principle stated above?

Legal Principle: The Latin maxim \textit{nemo bis punitur pro eodem delicto} means that nobody can be punished twice for the same offence.
Fact Situation: Sajan, a petty thief, is caught and thrashed thoroughly by the people before being handed over to the police. Sajan pleads before the magistrate that since he was already thrashed by the people he should not be again punished by the State.
Which of the following statements is the most appropriate in relation to the legal principle stated above?

Principles: - A person is said to abet the doing of a thing when he instigates any other person to do that thing. - Mere acquiescence, however, does not amount to instigation.
Facts: 'A' says to 'B': I am going to kill 'C'. And, 'B' replies: "Do as you wish and take the consequences"; thereafter 'A' kills 'C'.

'Alibi' means a plea by an accused person that he -

Principle: Nothing is an offence, which is done by accident or misfortune, and without any criminal intention or knowledge in the doing of a lawful act in a lawful manner by lawful means and with proper care and caution.
Facts: 'A' takes up a gun, not knowing whether it is loaded or not, points it playfully at 'B' and pulls the trigger. Consequently, 'B' falls dead.

Principle: Causing of an effect partly by an act and partly by an omission is an offence.
Facts: 'A' confined her daughter 'D' in a room. 'A' also did not provide any food to her daughter 'D'. Consequently, 'D' died of starvation.

Principle: Whoever does not arrest the killer and report the matter to the concerned authorities commits an offence.
Facts: 'A', a woman, sees 'B', another woman, killing a third woman 'C'. 'A' neither attempted to arrest 'B' nor informed the concerned authorities.