AIBE XXII Family Law, Contract and Torts Revision Map

Family law, Contract with Specific Relief, Property and Negotiable Instruments, and Torts together account for roughly 21 of the 100 questions in AIBE XXII (29 November 2026), going by the distribution reported by coaching sites: family law 8, contract and allied subjects 8, torts 5. The distribution can change, so check the official syllabus. Use this as a map to jog memory, then open the bare act for the exact wording.

Family law: Hindu law

• Hindu Marriage Act, 1955: Section 5 (conditions of a valid marriage), Section 7 (ceremonies), Section 9 (restitution of conjugal rights), Section 10 (judicial separation), Sections 11 and 12 (void and voidable marriages), Section 13 (divorce grounds), Section 13B (mutual consent, with the six to eighteen month window), Section 24 (maintenance pendente lite) and Section 25 (permanent alimony). Know Amardeep Singh v Harveen Kaur (2017) on waiving the cooling period.
• Hindu Succession Act, 1956: Section 6 (daughters as coparceners, Vineeta Sharma v Rakesh Sharma, 2020), Section 8 (devolution of a male’s property), Section 15 (devolution of a female’s property).
• Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956: conditions for a valid adoption, who may adopt and be adopted, and maintenance of wife, parents and children.
• Guardianship: Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956, and the general Guardians and Wards Act, 1890.

Family law: other personal laws

• Muslim law: Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937; Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1939; Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986 with Danial Latifi (2001); Shayara Bano (2017) on instant triple talaq; the 2019 Act on the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage). Know mehr, iddat and the types of divorce at a headline level.
• Christian and Parsi law: Indian Divorce Act, 1869 and the Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act, 1936, plus the Indian Succession Act, 1925 for intestate and testamentary succession.
• Secular laws: Special Marriage Act, 1954 (notice and thirty-day objection period); Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005; and maintenance under Section 144 BNSS (earlier Section 125 CrPC), where Mohd Ahmed Khan v Shah Bano (1985) is the classic case.

Contract and Specific Relief

• Formation: Section 2(a) proposal, 2(b) promise, 2(d) consideration, 2(g) void agreement, 2(h) contract, 2(i) voidable contract; Section 10 (essentials of a valid contract). Know Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Co on offers to the world, and Lalman Shukla v Gauri Dutt on communication.
• Capacity: Section 11; the minor’s agreement is void, Mohori Bibee v Dharmodas Ghose (1903).
• Free consent: coercion (Section 15), undue influence (16), fraud (17), misrepresentation (18), and mistake (20 to 22).
• Void agreements: Section 23 (unlawful object), Section 25 (without consideration), Section 27 (restraint of trade), Section 28 (restraint of legal proceedings), Section 56 (agreement to do impossible act; frustration, Satyabrata Ghose v Mugneeram Bangur, 1954).
• Remedies: Sections 73 and 74 (damages and stipulated sum), Hadley v Baxendale on remoteness. Know the difference between liquidated damages and a penalty.
• Special contracts: indemnity (Section 124), guarantee (Section 126), bailment and pledge (Sections 148 and 172) and agency (Section 182 onward).
• Specific Relief Act, 1963: check the post-2018 position that specific performance of a contract is a general rule subject to the exceptions in the Act, and review injunctions.

Property and Negotiable Instruments (the allied 8)

• Transfer of Property Act, 1882: Section 5 (transfer), Section 54 (sale, registered instrument for property of Rs 100 and upwards), Section 58 (mortgage and its kinds), Section 105 (lease), Section 122 (gift).
• NI Act, 1881: definitions of promissory note, bill of exchange and cheque, holder and holder in due course, and Sections 138 to 142 on dishonour (30 day notice, 15 day payment window, complaint within one month of cause of action).

Torts

• Negligence: duty, breach, damage; Donoghue v Stevenson; the Indian cases on medical negligence (check Jacob Mathew v State of Punjab for the criminal standard).
• Strict and absolute liability: Rylands v Fletcher (with its exceptions) and M.C. Mehta v Union of India (1987), where absolute liability applies without exceptions to hazardous enterprises.
• Nuisance, defamation and trespass: know the tests and defences. Defamation is also a criminal offence under the BNS.
• Vicarious liability: master and servant, and the state’s liability (State of Rajasthan v Vidyawati).
• Motor vehicles and consumer protection: read the Motor Vehicles Act provisions on compensation and the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 for definitions of consumer, deficiency in service and the three tier forum structure.

Common traps in these subjects

• Mixing void and voidable. A void agreement is not enforceable at all, while a voidable contract binds until set aside.
• Applying Rylands v Fletcher where the question describes a hazardous industry in India. Absolute liability is the Indian rule there.
• Choosing the old rule after an amendment. Check dates on the Specific Relief Act and the Hindu Succession Act changes.
• Confusing divorce grounds available to a husband, a wife or both. Read Section 13 and 13(2) closely.

How to revise with this map

Read each bullet once, close the book, say the section and case from memory, then open the act to check. Mark the misses in your log. Because the exam allows bare acts, your effort should go into knowing where a rule lives and what it says. If you want additional practice, the AIBE XXII complete pack contains a 300 question practice pack across the 19 subjects. The last 7 days plan tells you when to slot this map in.

Ten one-line questions to test yourself

1. Which section of the Hindu Marriage Act deals with mutual consent divorce?
2. What is the effect of a minor’s agreement under Indian law?
3. Which case established absolute liability?
4. Which section deals with liquidated damages and penalty?
5. What is the time limit to pay after a demand notice for a dishonoured cheque?
6. Which case recognised the doctrine of frustration in Indian contract law?
7. What did Vineeta Sharma decide about daughters?
8. Which section of the Transfer of Property Act defines sale?
9. Which case concerned instant triple talaq?
10. Which provision now governs maintenance of wives, children and parents in criminal procedure?

Answers: Section 13B; void; M.C. Mehta; Section 74; 15 days; Satyabrata Ghose; daughters are coparceners by birth; Section 54; Shayara Bano; Section 144 BNSS.