Question:medium

Principle: Anyone who induces or attempts to induce a voter to vote in a particular manner on the ground that the voter will face divine displeasure, shall be guilty of offence of interfering with free exercise of right to vote.
Facts: During election campaign period one candidate X told the voters that if they do not vote for her, voters will be cursed because the election candidate is the God‘s own child and those who do not vote for her, they will not be liked by God.
This question consists of legal principle(s) (hereinafter referred to as ‘principle‘) and facts. Such proposition may or may not be true in the real and legal sense, yet you have to conclusively assume them to be true for the purposes of this section. Principles have to be applied to the given facts to arrive at the most reasonable conclusion. Only one of the alternatives, i.e., (A), (B), (C), or (D) is the most reasonable conclusion. In other words, in answering the following questions, you must not rely on any principle except the principles that are given herein below for every question. Further you must not assume any facts other than those stated in the question. The objective of this section is to test your ability in legal aptitude, study of law, research aptitude and problem solving ability even if the ’most reasonable conclusion‘ arrived at may be absurd or unacceptable for any other reason.

Updated On: Jul 15, 2026
  • X has committed an offence
  • X has not committed an offence because she only narrated what she felt
  • X has not committed an offence because she has freedom of speech and expression
  • X has not committed an offence because she did not compel anyone to vote for her
Show Solution

The Correct Option is A

Approach Solution - 1

The principle is narrow and specific, it targets one particular method of influencing voters, invoking divine displeasure to induce or attempt to induce a vote. The question is simply whether X's statement fits that specific method, not whether her intentions were good or whether she has a general right to speak.

X told voters that not voting for her would bring a curse and that God would dislike them for it. That is a direct appeal to fear of divine displeasure aimed at shaping how people vote, which places it squarely inside the conduct the principle describes, an attempt to induce is enough, actual compulsion is not required.

None of the surrounding facts, that X phrased it as her own feeling, that she has freedom of speech generally, or that she did not physically force anyone, change what the statement actually does functionally: it uses the threat of divine displeasure to push votes in her direction. That functional match is what the principle cares about.

So the correct answer is X has committed an offence.

Was this answer helpful?
0
Show Solution

Approach Solution -2

Checking what fact would have to be different for each option to be correct narrows this down quickly.

  1. X has committed an offence: No change is needed, X already told voters they would face divine displeasure for not supporting her, which is exactly the conduct the principle addresses.
  2. X has not committed an offence because she only narrated what she felt: This would matter only if the principle exempted statements framed as personal belief, but it draws no such distinction, it looks at whether divine displeasure was invoked to influence votes, which happened regardless of framing.
  3. X has not committed an offence because she has freedom of speech and expression: This would require the specific election rule to yield to a general free speech right, but a targeted rule about induced votes through divine displeasure is not displaced by a general right, otherwise it would have no application at all.
  4. X has not committed an offence because she did not compel anyone to vote for her: This would only work if the principle required compulsion, but it covers attempts to induce as well, and threatening a curse is exactly that kind of attempt even without physical force.

Since the statement already meets the principle's test exactly as worded, and none of the three alternative conditions actually exist in the rule, the option finding an offence is the one that matches.

Therefore, the correct answer is X has committed an offence.

Was this answer helpful?
0

Top Questions on Fundamental Rights and Duties

Questions Asked in CLAT exam

Read the passage and answer the question.

Passage (extract): The work which Gandhiji had taken up was not only regarding the achievement of political freedom but also the establishment of a new social order based on truth and non-violence, unity and peace, equality and universal brotherhood and maximum freedom for all. A new order cannot be established without radically changing the mind and attitude of men towards property and, at some stage or the other, the 'haves' have to yield place to the 'have-nots'. We have seen, in our time, attempts to achieve a kind of egalitarian society and the picture of it after it was achieved. But this was done, by and large, through the use of physical force. It may even be that, like a gas kept confined within containers under great pressure, or water held back by a big dam, once the barrier breaks, the reaction will one day sweep back with a violence equal in extent and intensity to what was used to establish and maintain the outward egalitarian form. This enforced egalitarianism contains, in its bosom, the seed of its own destruction. If egalitarianism is to endure, it has to be based not on the possession of the maximum material goods by a few or by all but on voluntary, enlightened renunciation of those goods which cannot be shared by others or can be enjoyed only at the expense of others.

According to the passage, egalitarianism will not survive if
View Solution
Read the passage and answer the question.

Passage (extract): The work which Gandhiji had taken up was not only regarding the achievement of political freedom but also the establishment of a new social order based on truth and non-violence, unity and peace, equality and universal brotherhood and maximum freedom for all. This unfinished part of his experiment was perhaps even more difficult to achieve than the achievement of political freedom. In the political struggle, the fight was against a foreign power and all one could do was either join it or wish it success and give it his/her moral support. In establishing a social order on this pattern, there was a strong possibility of a conflict arising between diverse groups and classes of our own people.

According to the passage, which was the unfinished part of Gandhi's experiment?
View Solution
Read the passage and answer the question.

Passage (extract): In the political struggle, the fight was against a foreign power and all one could do was either join it or wish it success and give it his/her moral support. Experience shows that man values his possessions even more than his life because in the former he sees the means for perpetuation and survival of his descendants even after his body is reduced to ashes. We have seen, in our time, attempts to achieve a kind of egalitarian society and the picture of it after it was achieved. But this was done, by and large, through the use of physical force. This enforced egalitarianism contains, in its bosom, the seed of its own destruction. The root cause of class conflict is possessiveness or the acquisitive instinct.

Which of the following statements is 'not true' in the context of the passage?
View Solution