SNAPTEST

JURI
SPRUDENCE
BY:
SONALITRI
PATHI
I
UU19BAL060

Q.1.I magi neascenar i

owher et hreechil
dren,Anne,Bob,andCar l
a,are
fi
ghtingov eraf l
ute.Anneclaimsi tont heuti
li
tari
an-hedonist
icnoti
onthat
sheist he“ onlyonewhocanact uall
yplayit”Bobcl ai
msi toneconomi c
egali
tari
angr oundsbypoi nti
ngoutt hatheist heonlyonewho“ i
ssopoor
thathehasnot oysofhisown” .Car l
aclai
msi tonl i
ber
tari
anclaimsby
stat
ingt hat“shehadspentmont hsmaki ngthefluteonlyforitt
obet aken
awaybyt heot hertwochildren”.Basedont heseclaims,whoi sthemost
j
ustcandi datetowi nthefl
ute?
The story ofthe t
hree chi
ldr
en for
ms t
he basi
s ofAmar
tya Sen’
s
di
scussiononthecomplexi
tyofachi
evi
ngaj
ustst
ate.
SenrejectsRawls’sdeli
neationofaperf
ectl
yjustarrangementofmaj
or
pol
iti
calandsoci alinst
it
utionsinasociet
yandhedi sagr
eeswit
hthe
possi
bili
tyofcr
eatingthebluepri
ntsf
oraper
fectl
yjustsociet
y.

Q.I
ntheabove-
ment
ionedexampl
est
atey
ourvi
ewsonwhoshoul
dget
t
heent
it
lementdi
agnosi
ngandt
reat
ingt
hef
ixabl
einj
ust
icesi
nsoci
ety
ai
mingt
oreachagr
eement
sthatcanbewi
del
yaccept
edasnotunj
ust
.

Asperthepuzzlether
earethreeki
dsandafl
ute.Annesaysthefl
uteshouldbegivento
herbecausesheistheonlyonewhoknowshowt oplayit
.Bobsaysthefluteshouldbe
handedtohim asheissopoorhehasnot oy
st oplaywi
th.Carl
asaysthef l
utei
sher s.
becauseiti
sthefr
uitofherownlabour
.
AmartyaSenarguesthatwhogetsthefl
utedependsonyourphi
losophyofjust
ice.Bob,
thepoorest
,wi
llhavetheeconomicsupport
.Thef ol
l
owersofli
bert
ywi l
lchooseCar l
a.
Theuti
lit
ari
anpeoplewillar
gueforAnnebecauseshewillgett
hemaxi mum pl easur
e,
asshecanact
ual
l
ypl
ayt
hei
nst
rument
.
AsperRawl stheoryofjusti
cewhicht al
ksabout2pr i
nci
ples:pri
ncipleofequall
iber
ty&
pri
ncipl
eofequal i
ty.Hereastherei sonlyonef l
utesowecan' tpr ovideal
l3oft hem
wit
ht hesamef l
uteMov ingontot hesecondpr i
ncipl
ewhi chtalksaboutpr i
ncipl
eof
equali
ty,t
hebet t
er&mostef fect
iveout comewoul dbegi vi
ngthef l
utetoit
smaker .
Givi
ngtheflut
etoCar l
awoul dnotinfr
ingeanyone'
sright
.
Ithoughtthatther
eisnosuchpr obl
em ar i
sesi
fyouwilladdasimpl equesti
ontothis
example.Inst
eadofaskinghowtoallocatethef
lut
ebetweenthethreechil
dren,whynot
askfir
stunderwhi chr
ulesorhowwoul dthefl
utehav
ecomei nt
oexi st
ence?IfCarl
a.
knewshewoul dnotgetthefl
ute,shewouldnothavemadei t
.Therefor
e,j
ustaddat i
me
dimensiontothepuzzl
e,andther
e'snopuzzleatal
l.
"
Lookinguponthequest ionofgivingthefl
utetoBobashei st hepoorest,ionlywantt o
askonesi mplequest i
onaboutt hat,'
Whywoul dn'
tther ichestpersonsl i
keJef fbezos,
Bil
lgatesorevenMukeshAmbanigi v
ethei
rweal t
htot hepoorpeopl east housandsof
peoplearedail
ydy i
ngbecauseofhunger&mal nutr
it
ion?Woul dyout hi
nkt heywil
lever
givethei
rwealth?"Theanswert ot hi
squesti
oni snotr equiredtoapr udentmanwi th
generalunder
standing,it
'saclear&bi g'
NO'.Thenwhywoul dy ouexpectt hatt
hef l
ute
willbegiventobobonaccountt hatheispoor.Therei snotsuchpr ov i
sioninsociety
thatther
eshouldbeanequal it
yofeconomi ccapacityofpeopl eliv
ingthere..
Comi ngtothesit
uati
onofgi v i
ngthef lutet oAnneassheknowshow t oplayit
,one
mor equesti
onthatari
sesher eist hat'Supposewhoownani ndust
ry.So,Wouldyou
evergivet
heownershipoft hewholei ndustryt otheworkeroremployeeofthei
ndustr
y
asheknowshowt ooper at
emachi nesbet terthanyou?Wi l
lyouevergiveyoucartoa
dri
verashedr i
vesbetterthany ou?Wi l
ly ouev ergiv
ei t
?"Thisquesti
onalsodoesn'
t
needananswerasi t'
sacl ear'NO'.Therefor e,gi
vingthefl
utetoanneonlyonaccount
thatsheknowshowt oplayitisnotjusti
fied.
So,thereisnosuchpuzzl eher e,t
hef lut
ewi l
ldefi
nit
elybegiv
ent oCar l
aasshehas
madet heflute.Itdoesn'tevenmat terthatsheevenknowshowt oplayitornot.Also
theeconomi ccapacityisalsouselessher eassheisnotwil
li
ngtosellit
,shehasmade
theflut
eforherself.I
t'
sherpr opert
y,ituptoherwhatshedoeswi t
htheflute,
eit
herplay
i
t,breakitorthrewi t
,it
'suptoher.Hencet hefl
utebelongst
oher&i tshouldbedirectl
y
giv
ent oherinasi mple&st rai
ghtmanner .
2.“
Cust
om asasour
ceofl
aw i
sregar
dedast
hebasi
sofl
aw andt
he
f
oundi
ngst
oneofl
egalsy
stem”
.Consi
der
ingt
hest
atement
,expl
aint
he
i
mpor
tanceofcust
om assour
ceofl
aw,
itsessent
ial
sanddr
awbacks.

Cust
om ist
heoldestandi
mport
antsourceofl
aw.Theyexi
stasest
abli
shedusage,
they
ar
enothi
ngbutusageandhabi
ts.Cust
om meansunif
ormit
yofconductofpeopl
ewhich
i
sfol
lowedbyanypartofcommunit
yorwholecommunity.
Accor
dingt
oHol
l
and,
Cust
om meanst
hecour
seofconductt
hati
scommonl
yobser
ved.
Accordi
ngtokeeton,Custom ast othoserul
esofhumansact
ion,
establ
ishedbyusage
andregardedast obel egal
lybi ndingbyt hoset
owhom therul
esappl ywhichare
adoptedbythecourtandappliedbyt hesourceoft
hel
awbecausetheyaregeneral
l
yin
wholeorinpar
tfoll
owedbypol it
icalsoci
ety.
Accor
dingt
oAustin,
Cust
omsareastandar
dofdi r
ectthatt
hesov
erei
gnsuddenl
ysees
anddoesnotconf
ormtothel
awsetbythepol
i
ticalsuper
ior
.
Exampleofcustom-Theexampleofcustom i
sSaptapadi,
iti
smosti mportantinHindu
marri
agecer emony
.Saptapadimeanssev enstepsaftertyi
ngt hemangal sutr
a,the
newlywedded coupleheldtheground insevenstepsasasacr ed f
ir
ecal l
edt he
Sapt
apadi.Secti
on7oftheHinduMarr
iageAct1955dealswit
ht hesame.

Ki
ndsofCust
oms:
(
i)Cust
om wi t
houtsanct
ion:Such cust
omsar
enon-
mandat
oryi
n nat
ureand ar
e
f
oll
owedbecausether
eisapubl
icopi
nion.
(i
i
)Cust om wit
houtsanct
ion:Thesecust
omsareti
edtonatur
eandenf
orcedbyt
he
stat
e.Thiscust
om canbefurt
herdiv
idedi
ntot
wocat
egor
ies–

 Legalcustom :I
t’
scust
om whoseauthori
tyi
sabsol
ute.
Ithast
hef
orceofl
aw.I
t
i
sr ecogni
zedandenfor
cedbythecourt
.

 Conv ent
ionalcustom :Si
milarl
yaconv ent
ionalcustom i
scal l
ed“usage”.Iti
sa
setup,whoseaut hor
it
ydependsoni tsacknowl edgmentandor gani
zationin
agreementbet ween the assembli
es assembl ed by it
.I n basict erms,a
conventi
onalcustom isacont i
ngencyandt heconditi
onist hati
twillt
ieont he
parti
esonlyont heoccasi
ont hati
tisacceptedandconsolidatedbythem inthei
r
agreement .
Essent
ial
sofav
ali
dcust
om:

 Custom mustbeanci ent:Acustom cannotbecr eat

edinaday.Itshoul
dbea
l
ongl ast
ingone.Unl
ikeEngl
and,whereacust om hasexi
stedf
rom anci
entt
ime.
InIndiaLongusageorobservanceissuffi
cient
.Itmaybeconsideredasaval
id
custom i
fit
’sanci
entorimmemor i
al.
Caselaw:InGokulChandv.Prav
eenKumar,t
heSupremeCour
tdat
ed1189AD.
Deci
dedtomeasurethevali
dit
yofcust
om andcl
ear
lystat
edt
hati
tshoul
dbeof
anci
entandhi
stor
ical
peri
od.

 Custom mustbeconti
nuous,cer
tai
nandprecise:.
Thecust om musthavebeenin
useconti
nuousl
y,itscan’
tbreakbyanypart
icularcommuni tyf
orat i
meper i
od.
Iti
smustcont inuousprocessand itshouldnotbev agueori ndef
ini
te.It
s
exi
stencemustbeprovedbyclear,
unambi
guousev idence.
Caselaw:Hampt
onv .Honoi
twasrul
edthati
fasigni
fi
cantamountoft
imewas
notpr
acti
cedf
oracustom,i
twoul
dnotex
istasavali
dcustom.

 Reasonable – Ther
e mustbe a custom wi t
hinthe l
imi
ts ofreason t
o be
consider
edlegall
ybindi
ng.Theref
ore,i
fitcontr
adi
ctsthepri
nci
plesofjusti
ce,
equali
ty and good consci
ence,the cust
om wi l
lbe consider
ed unfair or
unreasonabl
e.
Casel
aw:Br oker
sco.V.Ol
ympi
aoil
l&Cokeco.,
Thecour tRecogni
zedcust
oms
as“r
easonableandl
egit
imat
eand,f
orexampl
e,sensi
ble,genuineandi
mparti
al
men

 Consi
stentwi
thmoral
it
yandpubli
cpolicy:Custom mustnotbei
nconsi
stentwi
th
moral
it
y,publ
i
corderandwi
thothercustomsi nsomeregion.
Caselaw:InBul
danov .Fasi
r,Acustom,wher
eawomanwasall
owedt
oremarr
y
againdur
ingherhusband’sl i
fet
ime,wasdeclar
ednul
landv
oidbythecour
t
becausei
twasagainstpubli
cpoli
cy.

 Conformit
ywi t
hSt at
utor
ylaw:Nocustom however,
oldorreasonabl
ecanstand
i
fiti
sconf l
ictwit
hast at
ueorlegi
slat
ionoranypartofi
t.Custom can’
tinf
ri
nge
thefundamentalri
ghtsofanyperson.Ifhedoesso,itwil
lbedeclar
ednulland
voi
dbyt hecourt.

 Custom musthavebeenobli
gatoryf
orce:Custom musthavebeenenjoyedasof
ri
ghtbecausewit
houtthi
sitcannotbesaidthati
texist
scompulsor
ypr essur
et o
confor
m.Customsmustbef ol
lowedopenlyandenjoyful
lywit
houttheneedf or
resour
cesoffor
ce.
Dr
awbacksofcust
om :

 I
tisqui
teout
dat
ed.

 I
tisnotwi
del
yaccept
ed.

 Somet
imesi
t'
snoti
ncoor
dinat
ionwi
thpr
esentl
aws.

 I
tismor
eofal
awi
nst
ateofnat
uret
hanl
awi
nast
ate.