Question:medium

Principle: Employer is liable for the injury caused to the employee in the course of his employment.
Facts: X organized a party and hired a caterer. During the party, generator set went out of order and he requested one employee of caterer i.e. Y to bring the mechanic on his vehicle and promised to pay 1000 for the same to Y. Y met with an accident while going to fetch the mechanic and he seeks compensation.
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 is liable as Y was working in the course of employment offered by X
  • X is not liable as Y is not his employee
  • X is liable because party was organized by him
  • Caterer is liable as Y is his employee
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The Correct Option is A

Approach Solution - 1

The principle ties liability to the course of employment, so the real question is not who Y normally works for, it is who Y was working for, and under whose direction, at the moment of the accident.

Ordinarily Y works for the caterer, but the facts show X stepping outside that arrangement, X personally asked Y to go fetch a mechanic and personally promised to pay Y 1000 for doing it. That direct instruction paired with a direct promise of payment is what creates an employment relationship for that specific task, separate from Y's regular job with the caterer, and it is X's errand, not a catering duty, that Y was carrying out when he got hurt.

Once the task and the relevant employer for that task are identified as X, the general facts that X organized the party or that Y is normally the caterer's employee stop being decisive, since neither one addresses who was actually directing Y and paying him at the moment the injury happened. That points liability at X specifically for this errand.

So the correct answer is X is liable as Y was working in the course of employment offered by X.

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Approach Solution -2

Asking what fact would need to be different for each option to hold makes clear why only one survives.

  1. X is liable as Y was working in the course of employment offered by X: No change is needed, X already directly instructed Y to fetch the mechanic and personally promised to pay him for it, which is enough on its own to create an employment relationship for that task.
  2. X is not liable as Y is not his employee: This would only hold if X had not given Y any direct instruction or promised payment, but he did both, so the fact this option depends on, no direct relationship for the errand, is missing.
  3. X is liable because party was organized by him: This would only be the operative reason if merely hosting the party created liability on its own, but the actual basis is the direct instruction and payment for the specific errand, a narrower and more specific fact than simply organizing the event.
  4. Caterer is liable as Y is his employee: This would only hold if Y had been performing a catering duty under the caterer's control at the time, but he was instead carrying out X's specific errand, under X's direction and for X's payment, when the accident happened.

Since X's direct instruction and promised payment already establish the relevant employment relationship for this errand, and the other three options rest on facts that are not actually present, X remains the party liable.

Therefore, the correct answer is X is liable as Y was working in the course of employment offered by X.

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