General Exceptions Questions and Answers

Answer: C

The passage is the text of Section 80 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, on accident in doing a lawful act: nothing is an offence which is done by accident or misfortune, without any criminal intention or knowledge, in the doing of a lawful act in a lawful manner by lawful means and with proper care and caution.

Sections 85 and 87 are general exceptions in other categories, intoxication against his will and an act not intended and not known to be likely to cause death or grievous hurt, done by consent, respectively, and Section 88 deals with an act not intended to cause death, done by consent in good faith for a person's benefit. None of them is the accident exception.

Answer: A

The McNaughten rule is embodied in Section 84 of the Indian Penal Code.

The rule comes from Daniel M'Naghten's case of 1843 in England: a person is not responsible for an act if, at the time, owing to unsoundness of mind, he did not know the nature of the act or that it was wrong. Section 84 IPC enacts the same test: nothing is an offence which is done by a person who, by reason of unsoundness of mind, is incapable of knowing the nature of the act, or that it is wrong or contrary to law.

Sections 85 and 86 deal with intoxication (involuntary and voluntary), and Section 87 with acts done by consent not intended to cause death or grievous hurt.

Answer: D

The motive should be either (A) or (B): the prevention of harm to person or to property.

Section 81 of the Indian Penal Code (act likely to cause harm, but done without criminal intent, and to prevent other harm) protects an act done in good faith 'for the purpose of preventing or avoiding other harm to person or property'. The section uses 'or', so it is enough that the purpose was to prevent harm to a person or to prevent harm to property.

Requiring both together would narrow the section beyond its words, and either one alone is only one of the two purposes it allows.