Question:medium

Principle : Nothing is an offence if it is done in good faith for the purpose of preventing or avoiding greater harm or damage to person or property.
Facts : A jumps into a swimming pool to save a boy from drowning. While pulling the boy from water A was hit by C. A left the boy in the water and attacked C. The boy died in the water.
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
  • A has not committed the offence of killing the boy.
  • A has committed the offence of killing the boy.
  • The boy has committed the offence of suicide.
  • The boy has committed the offence of drowning.
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The Correct Option is A

Approach Solution - 1

Step 1: Understanding the Question:
We need to work out whether A can be held responsible for the boy's death after his rescue was interrupted by C.

Step 2: Key Formula or Approach:
Apply the principle that good faith acts done to prevent greater harm are not offences, and trace the sequence of events to see whose conduct actually caused the boy's death.

Step 3: Detailed Explanation:
A jumped into the pool specifically to pull the boy out and stop him drowning, a clear good faith act to prevent harm, which the principle protects. The chain breaks when C hits A. That blow is C's own wrongful act, and it is what forces A to stop the rescue and turn to deal with C. A never intended for the boy to die, and the direct cause of the interruption was C's conduct, not any choice A made.

Step 4: Final Answer:
Since A's rescue began in good faith and was cut off by C's intervening attack, A has not committed the offence of killing the boy.
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Approach Solution -2

Work through this by first eliminating the options that do not fit the idea of an offence at all, then deciding between what remains.

  1. The boy has committed the offence of suicide: Eliminate this first, nothing in the facts shows any intent by the boy to end his life, he was a person being rescued, not someone choosing to die.
  2. The boy has committed the offence of drowning: Eliminate this too, drowning is something that happened to the boy, it is not conduct capable of amounting to an offence in the first place.
  3. A has committed the offence of killing the boy: Between the two remaining options, this one requires that A's rescue attempt be treated as if he chose to abandon the boy, but he only stopped because C struck him, an event outside his control.
  4. A has not committed the offence of killing the boy: With the others eliminated, this is what remains, and it fits, A's rescue began in good faith and was cut off only by C's intervening attack.

Eliminating the two options that mischaracterize the boy's situation as an offence leaves the conclusion that traces the actual break in the rescue to C, not to A.

Therefore, the correct answer is A has not committed the offence of killing the boy.

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