LAW OF EVIDENCE

END TERM EXAMINATION

Max Marks: 50

Instructions:
 The paper is divided into two parts.
 Part-A contains a long hypothetical question which as four sub questions. Any three
of the four questions have to be answered. Each question is for 10 marks.
 Part-B contains 3 theory questions out of which any two questions have two be
answered. All questions are of 10 marks.
 Total number of 5 questions have to be attempted. The word limit for each
question is 600 word.
 Adhere to all examination policies, including plagiarism policy.

Part-A
1. Strange family resided in a small town known as Maxville on the periphery of the National
Capital Region. Mr. Strange had a son, Odin, who was of marriageable age and hence Mr.
Strange was meeting families of prospectus brides. Mr. and Mrs. Strange decided upon Hera
as their future daughter-in-law but neither Odin nor Hera were involved in finalizing the
marriage. Odin was afraid of his parents and hence said yes to the marriage. Hera on the other
hand was in love with Zeus and wanted to elope. However, Zeus was never serious about
Hera and didn’t want to create any trouble in his life. Hence, Odin and Hera were married on
December 1, 2019 and moved into the first floor of Odin’s family house. Odin’s parents and
younger sister, Athena, who was 12 years old at that time, lived on the ground floor of the
same house. Hera tried to adjust to her new life, however, her heart was still set on Zeus.
Days passed and in March 2020 the town was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic and a lockdown
was imposed. The Strange house had strange rules! They started growing their own
vegetables and fruits in the backyard and the women of the house: Mrs. Strange, Athena and
Hera were made responsible for all the housework. The pressure of the lockdown life started
to get to Hera. In July of 2020 Hera called her mother on Zoom and said “I am very unhappy
after my marriage. These people treat me like a domestic worker. There is no love in this
marriage. I can’t bear to take this. I will kill myself if I don’t get to leave this horrible place”.
Hera’s mother explained that this is the way of the world and she should start accepting it.
The longer she fights with this situation the harder it will be for her.
Mr. Strange would tell Hera that if she wanted to be a good daughter in law she must not use
electronic equipment like the washing machine, dishwasher, microwave, mixer etc. while
completing the household chores. To avoid having to clean the whole house, Odin and Hera
had also shifted with Odin’s parents on the ground floor. However, by being pushed in such
proximity with her in-laws, Hera started facing mental and emotional difficulties. In October
2020, Hera found a job as a website designer and she was excited that she could work from
home. But Mr. Strange told her “The women of a good household take care of their home and
families first. If you have time on your hand, you and Odin should consider starting a family
and these stupid website designing jobs won’t help anyone.” Odin also told her to quit.
However, Hera kept on working and she made a good friend at work, Alexa, while working
online. She used to send WhatsApp messages to Alexa explaining her difficulties at home. In
January of 2021 Hera wrote to Alexa “The pressures at home are too much. No one talks
nicely to me and they always blame me for using electronic items to complete my tasks. They
make me wash all of the households’ clothes by hand. We still don’t have any domestic help
and my father-in-law has said that these responsibilities will now always be taken up by the
women of the house. I am so unhappy because of their treatment. I don’t think I will last
long.”
In March 2021 Odin found out that Hera was still working with the website design company
and he was very upset. He slapped her in front of Athena, who got very scared. Later, when
Hera was crying in her room Athena went to console her. Hera said “Your family has been
cruel to me. I loved Zeus and I should have married him. I will not be able to live with these
taunts and now being physically abused as well.” Athena was sad and felt sympathetic
towards Hera.
In May 2021 when the vaccinations for Covid-19 became available, all the family members
booked their slots. But no slot was booked for Hera (maybe to stop her from leaving the
house) and neither for Athena (as she was too young to get the vaccine). On May 5, 2021,
Mr. Strange, Mrs. Strange and Odin went to get their vaccine shot at a government public
health center at 8 AM and only came back at 2 PM in the afternoon. They took Athena as
well. When they returned entered the house they found that Hera had hung herself in the
drawing room by the fan and had died. The police were called.
The police suspected foul play and started investigation. In their investigation they felt like
Athena might be sympathetic towards the prosecution case against her family. The police
threatened Odin that if he didn’t submit himself to a narco analysis test, they will make sure
that Odin is implicated in Hera’s death. Odin was scared and agreed to submit to the test.
During the test Odin said “I didn’t like that crazy woman Hera. She disrespected my parents
by work. I slapped her hard one time. Stupid woman.”
The postmortem report disclosed that Hera died sometime around 7 AM to 11 AM on May 5,
2021. The entire Strange family, except Athena, were under suspicion. However, Mrs.
Strange remembered that there was a CCTV camera at the public health center and that will
prove their presence at the center till after the range in which Hera died.
Before filing the charge sheet against the Strange family (except Athena) the police have
come to consult you as you will be prosecuting the case. Each question is for 10 marks.
Please comment on any three questions as given below while explaining the concept and
discussing case law as necessary:
(a) Analyze the conflicting presumptions that may support the prosecution case and the
evidence that will be used to prove the components of the presumption. Based on your
analysis of the presumptions, what charge should be imposed on Odin and his parents.
(b) Discuss the admissibility of electronic evidence in this case. Can the accused also use
electronic evidence in their favor? If yes, would the accused have to fulfil the same
requirements as the prosecution while admitting electronic evidence?
(c) Comment on the admissibility and evidentiary value of the statement given in narco
analysis by Odin.
(d) Comment on the admissibility and evidentiary value of all (oral and documentary)
statements made by Hera in the story. What will be the evidence/who will be the correct
witness to prove the same and the value of the evidence or witnesses that will be
produced?
Part-B
Each question is for 10 marks. Attempt any two questions.
(a) Is a hierarchy between oral and documentary evidence and whether one can exclude
the other?
(b) What is State privilege? Is there any public policy reason to support this concept?
Discuss while commenting on the evolution of judicial interpretation regarding State
Privilege.
(c) “If the court is open enough and the layer persistent enough, anything can come under
Res Gestae”- comment on the viability of this statement and any difficulties that the
concept of Res Gestae may create by using both Indian and UK case laws.