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.

Show Hint

Be cautious in election campaigns, as invoking divine threats or promises to influence voters constitutes illegal interference.
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

Step 1: Understanding the Principle:
Inducing or attempting to induce a voter to vote a certain way by warning of divine displeasure is treated as interference with the free exercise of the right to vote, which is an offence.

Step 2: Applying the Principle to the Facts:
X told voters that not voting for her would bring a curse and that God would not like them, invoking divine consequences to steer their vote. This conduct matches the principle's description of the offence directly.

Step 3: Evaluating the Other Options:
Calling it a personal belief, protected speech, or non-compulsory does not change what the statement does to voters; the principle is triggered by the attempt to induce through fear of divine displeasure, regardless of how it is phrased or whether it actually works.

Step 4: Final Answer:
X has committed an offence, since her statement fits the exact conduct the principle prohibits.
Was this answer helpful?
0
Show Solution

Approach Solution -2

Major premise: inducing or attempting to induce a voter to vote a particular way by invoking divine displeasure is an offence against the free exercise of the right to vote. Minor premise: X told voters that not voting for her would bring a curse and God's disapproval. Testing the conclusions:

  1. X has committed an offence: This follows directly, since the minor premise is a textbook instance of the conduct the major premise describes.
  2. No offence, since she only narrated her feelings: This conclusion would need the major premise to exempt statements framed as personal belief, which it does not; the rule looks at the inducement itself, not its framing.
  3. No offence, due to free speech: This conclusion would need a free-speech exception written into the major premise, and none exists there; the principle treats this exact conduct as an offence regardless of that general freedom.
  4. No offence, since no one was compelled: This conclusion would need the major premise to require proven success in changing votes, but it only requires inducing or attempting to induce, which the minor premise already satisfies.

Only the first option is the conclusion the major premise yields once matched against X's actual statement in the minor premise.

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

Was this answer helpful?
0

Top Questions on General Knowledge

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