Question:medium

Principle : Everyone shall be permitted to take advantage of his own wrong.
Facts : A legatee was heavily drunk and driving his car at a speed of 100 Km/per hour in a crowded market. All of a sudden his testator came on the road. There were other people on the road at that time. The car driven by legatee hit the testator and four other persons. All the five persons hit by the car died.
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
  • The legatee can take the benefit under the will
  • The legatee cannot take the benefit under the will
  • The legatee will be punished
  • The property of the testator will go to his heirs
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The Correct Option is A

Approach Solution - 1

Step 1: Understanding the Question:
We need to work out what happens to the legacy when the legatee's own wrongful conduct caused the testator's death, using only the principle as stated for this question.

Step 2: Key Formula or Approach:
Apply the given principle literally, everyone is permitted to take advantage of his own wrong, rather than substituting the more commonly known opposite rule from general knowledge.

Step 3: Detailed Explanation:
The legatee, driving drunk and far too fast through a crowded market, caused the accident that killed the testator along with four other people. That reckless driving is plainly his own wrong. The principle given for this question states that a person is permitted to take advantage of his own wrong, so his wrongful conduct does not disqualify him from the benefit the will gives him. The instructions for these questions require sticking to the stated principle even where the resulting conclusion feels unusual.

Step 4: Final Answer:
Applying the principle as stated, the legatee can take the benefit under the will.
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Approach Solution -2

Work through this by eliminating the option about punishment, then the one that assumes exclusion, before deciding between what remains.

  1. The legatee will be punished: Eliminate this first, the principle given for this question addresses only whether advantage may be taken of one's own wrong, not criminal punishment for that wrong.
  2. The property of the testator will go to his heirs: Eliminate this too, it assumes the legatee is shut out of the will, which is the opposite of what the stated principle says.
  3. The legatee cannot take the benefit under the will: Between the two remaining options, this one substitutes the more familiar rule against profiting from one's own wrong, but that is not the principle actually given here, and the instructions require sticking to the stated principle even where it feels unusual.
  4. The legatee can take the benefit under the will: Once the others are eliminated, this is what remains, and it follows directly from applying the stated principle literally.

Eliminating the punishment option and the exclusion option leaves the literal application of the principle as actually worded for this question.

Therefore, the correct answer is The legatee can take the benefit under the will.

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