Question:medium

Principle: Inducing any animal to move or to change its motion and thereby intentionally causing fear of injury or annoyance to others by such act, is an offence of use of criminal force.
Facts: X incites his dog to chase and run after his neighbour Y, to teach Y to stay away from him. The act is done without neighbour‘ consent and against his will
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 no offence
  • X has committed no offence because no harm is caused to Y
  • X has committed no offence because he intention only to put fear in the mind of Y
  • X has committed an offence of use of criminal force
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The Correct Option is D

Approach Solution - 1

Look at what the principle actually requires, inducing an animal to move in a way that intentionally causes fear of injury or annoyance to someone else. It does not require that the animal actually catch or injure the victim, the fear caused by the chase itself is enough to satisfy the definition.

X set his dog on Y specifically to make Y run and to teach him a lesson, which is both an inducement of the animal's movement and an intentional attempt to frighten Y, done without Y's consent and against his will. Every one of those elements, the inducement, the intention to cause fear, and the lack of consent, lines up with the wording of the principle.

Arguments that no offence occurred because Y was not physically harmed, or because X only meant to scare him rather than injure him, actually work against X rather than for him, since causing fear through this method is exactly what the principle is targeting, not just physical injury.

So the correct answer is X has committed an offence of use of criminal force.

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Approach Solution -2

Asking what the principle would need to say for each option to hold clarifies the answer.

  1. X has committed no offence: This would require the facts to show no inducement of the animal or no intention to frighten Y, but both are present, X incited the dog specifically to make Y run.
  2. X has committed no offence because no harm is caused to Y: This would require the principle to demand actual injury, but it is written around causing fear of injury or annoyance, which the chase itself already accomplishes regardless of whether Y was physically hurt.
  3. X has committed no offence because he intention only to put fear in the mind of Y: This would require intending fear to be treated as a defence, but the principle lists that intention as the very element it punishes, not something that excuses the act.
  4. X has committed an offence of use of criminal force: No additional fact is needed, X already incited the dog, intended to frighten Y, and did so without consent and against his will, matching the principle exactly.

Since the required elements, inducement and intended fear, are already present and none of the other three options' assumed conditions actually exist in the rule, the option finding an offence is the one that fits.

Therefore, the correct answer is X has committed an offence of use of criminal force.

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Top Questions on Law of Torts

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