Question:medium

Principle : Decision of Court is Null and Void, if it is given by court which does not have jurisdiction over the subject matter.
Facts : A obtains decision from a court which did not have jurisdiction to deal with the subject matter.
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
  • Decision can be enforced because both the parties were present
  • Decision cannot be enforced because decision is null and void
  • Decision can be enforced because it is given a court
  • Decision can be enforced
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The Correct Option is B

Approach Solution - 1

The rule here has a single trigger: subject matter jurisdiction. If the court deciding a dispute did not have the power to hear that type of dispute in the first place, the principle labels whatever it decided as null and void, with no exceptions carved out for the presence of parties or the formal status of the body as a court.

On these facts, A got a decision from a court that admittedly lacked jurisdiction over the subject matter. That single fact is enough to trigger the principle, because the rule does not ask whether the parties attended, or whether the body was recognisably a court, it asks only whether subject matter jurisdiction existed.

A void decision carries no legal weight, so there is nothing left to enforce. Every option that tries to enforce the decision on some other basis, such as attendance or formal courthood, is answering a question the principle never asks.

So the correct answer is Decision cannot be enforced because decision is null and void.

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Approach Solution -2

Testing each option here by asking what would have had to be different for it to be true makes the answer clear.

  1. Decision can be enforced because both the parties were present: This would need subject matter jurisdiction to not be part of the rule at all, or the parties' presence to substitute for it, neither of which the principle allows, the principle is worded around subject matter power alone.
  2. Decision cannot be enforced because decision is null and void: No alteration is needed, the court already lacked jurisdiction over the subject matter on these facts, and that is exactly the condition the principle attaches to a void decision.
  3. Decision can be enforced because it is given a court: This would require the principle to treat any body formally called a court as sufficient regardless of jurisdiction, but the principle specifically singles out courts lacking subject matter jurisdiction as producing void decisions, so this option assumes away the very defect in the facts.
  4. Decision can be enforced: For this to hold, the court would have needed proper subject matter jurisdiction in the first place, which the facts expressly deny.

Only the option that requires no change to the facts, the one built on the decision being void, actually fits what is described.

Therefore, the correct answer is Decision cannot be enforced because decision is null and void.

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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
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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?
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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?
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