List of top Legal Studies Questions asked in Telangana State Law Common Entrance Test

The word ’tort’ is a French word equivalent of English word ’wrong’. The word tort is derived from Latin word Tor tum. Thus, simply stated ’tort’ means wrong. But every wrong or wrongful act is not a tort. Tort is really a kind of civil wrong as opposed to criminal wrong. ” Tort” means a civil wrong which is not exclusively the breach of a contract or the breach of trust. The distinction between civil and criminal wrongs depends on the nature of the appropriate remedy provided by law. In general, a tort consists of some act or omission by the defendant (tortfeasor) whereby he has without just cause or excuse caused some harm to plaintiff. Thus, every person whose legal rights, e.g ., right of reputation, right of bodily safety and freedom, and right to property are violated without legal excuse, has a right of action against the person who violated them, whether loss results from such violation or not. It is not every damage that is a damage in the eye of law. It must be a damage which the law recognizes as such. In some torts, the defendant is liable even though the harm to the plaintiff occurred without intention or negligence on the part of defendant. In other words, the defendant is held liable without fault. It is called strict or Absolute liability. An employer is liable whenever his servant or agent commits a tort in the course of his employment. An act is deemed to be done in the course of employment if it is either: (i) a wrongful act authorized by the employer, or (ii) a wrongful and unauthorized mode of doing some act authorized by the employer. The act is called as vicarious liability.
A contract is an agreement enforceable at law, made between two or more persons, by which rights are acquired by one or more to acts or forbearances on the part of the other or others. A contract is an agreement creating and defining obligations between the parties. The Indian Contract Act, 1872 lays down general principles relat- ing to formation and enforceability of contracts; rules governing the provisions of an agreement and offer; the various types of contracts including those of indemnity and guarantee, bailment and pledge and agency. It also contains provisions pertaining to breach of a contract. The Indian Contract Act has defined ”Contract” in Section 2(h) as ”an agreement enforceable by law”. This definition indicates that a contract essentially consists of two distinct parts. First, there must be an agreement. Secondly, such an agreement must be enforceable by law. An agreement gives birth to a contract. As per Section 2(e) of the Indian Contract Act, every promise and every set of promises, forming the consideration for each other, is an agreement. Agree- ments relating to social matters in which the idea of bargain is absent and there is no intention to create legal relations are not contracts. To form a valid contract there must be: an agreement based on the genuine consent of the parties, supported by a lawful consideration made for a lawful object, and between the competent parties. One of the early steps in the formation of a contract lies in arriving at an agreement between the contracting parties by means of an offer and acceptance. When one party (the offeror) makes a definite proposal to another party (the offeree) and the offeree accepts it in its entirety and without any qualification, there is a meeting of the minds of the parties and a contract comes into being, assuming that all other ele- ments are also present.

Read the following passage and answer the questions from 111 - 115: 

The Constitution of India came into force on January 26, 1950. It is a comprehensive document. Apart from dealing with the structure of Government, the Constitution makes detailed provisions for the rights of citizens and other persons in a number of entrenched provisions and for the principles to be followed by the State in the governance of the country, labelled as ”Directive Principles of State Policy”. All public authorities - legisla- tive, administrative and judicial derive their powers directly or indirectly from the Constitution which in turn derives its authority from the people. The freedoms under Article 19 are those great and basic rights which are recognized as the natural rights inherent in the status of a citizen. At the same time, none of these freedoms are absolute but subject to reasonable restrictions specified under sub-clauses (2) to (6) of Article 19 of Indian Constitution. The Sub-committee on Fundamental Rights constituted by the Constituent Assembly suggested two types of Fundamental Rights - one which can be enforced in the Courts of law and the other which because of their different nature cannot be enforced in the law courts. Later on, however, the former were put under the head ‘Fundamental Rights’ as Part III and the later were put separately in Part IV of the Constitution under the heading ‘Directive Principles of State Policy’. The Articles included in Part IV of the Constitution (Articles 36 to 51) contain certain Directives which are the guidelines for the Government to lead the country. Article 37 provides that the ‘provisions contained in this part (i) shall not be enforceable by any Court, but the principles therein laid down are nevertheless (ii) fundamental in the governance of the country and it shall be the duty of the state to apply these principles in making laws. Article 51A imposes the fundamental duties on every citizen of India Since the duties are imposed upon the citizens and not upon the States, legislation is necessary for their implementation. Fundamental duties can’t be enforced by writs.

Read the following passage and answer the question 116-120 : 

The word ‘environment’ is derived from the French word ‘environner’, which means ‘to encircle’ or to surround. It is a combination of living and non-living things and their mutual interaction with each other which leads to an ecosystem. The term ‘pollution’ refers to unfavorable alteration to our surroundings, wholly or largely as a by- product of human’s action through direct and indirect effects of changes in energy pattern, chemical and physical construction and abundance of organisms. Industrialization, poverty, population, explosion, urbanization, over- exploitation of resources, etc., are some of the factors which have contributed to environmental deterioration. The most common air pollutants in urban areas include Sulphur dioxide, Nitrogen oxide, Carbon monoxide, etc. Apart from this, the gases discharged from refrigerators, air conditioners etc., are responsible for depletion of the Ozone layer. Deforestation, release of toxic substances on the land, throwing unhygienic waste on earth, dumping of garbage, biomedical waste etc., causes land pollution. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is the nodal agency of environmental protection in India. It coordinates the environmental policies and programmes. It was the Bhopal Gas Tragedy which necessitated the Government of India to enact a comprehensive environmental legislation, including rules relating to storing, handling and use of hazardous waste.