Understanding Laws Class 8 Worksheet Civics Chapter 4

Q.1. Describe the controversial law and unpopular law with the help of an example.

Sometimes a law can be constitutionally valid and hence legal, but it can continue to be unpopular and unacceptable to people because they feel that the intention behind it is unfair and harmful.
For example, various municipal laws on the use of space within municipal limits often make hawking and street vending illegal. No one will dispute the necessity for some rules to keep the public space open so that people can walk on the pavements easily. However, one also cannot deny that hawkers and vendors provide essential services cheaply and efficiently to the millions living in a large city. This is their means of livelihood. Hence, if the law favours one group and disregards the other it will be controversial and lead to conflict.

Q.2. Mention the ways in which the Indians played an important role in the evolution of rule of law during colonial period.

There were several ways in which Indians played a major role in the evolution of the rule of law during the colonial period.
(i) Indian nationalists began protesting and criticising this arbitrary use of authority by the British. They also began fighting for greater equality and wanted to change the idea of law from a set of rules that they were forced to obey, to law as including ideas of justice.
(ii) By the end of the nineteenth century, the Indian legal profession also began emerging and demanded respect in colonial courts. They began to use law to defend the legal rights of Indians.
(iii)  Indian judges also began to play a greater role in making decisions.

Q.3. Explain the Domestic Violence.

Domestic violence refers to the injury or harm or threat of injury or harm caused by an adult male, usually the husband, against his wife. Injury may be caused by physically beating up the woman or by emotionally abusing her. Abuse of the woman can also include verbal, sexual and economic abuse. The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005 extends the understanding of the term ‘domestic’ to include all women who ‘live or have lived together in a shared household’ with the male member who is perpetrating the violence.

Q.4. Elaborate the arguments given by the historians against the British rule of law in India.
OR
State two reasons why historians refute the claim that the British introduced the rule of law in India.

It is often believed that it was the British colonialists who introduced the rule of law in India. Historians have disputed this claim on several grounds, two of which include: first that colonial law was arbitrary, and second that the Indian nationalists played a prominent role in the development of the legal sphere in British India. One example of the arbitrariness that continued to exist as part of British law is the Sedition Act of 1870.

Q.5. Describe the ‘Rule of Law’.

Rule of law means that all laws apply equally to all citizens of the country and no one can be above the law. Neither a government official, nor a wealthy person nor even the President of the country is above the law. Any crime or violation of law has a specific punishment as well as a process through which the guilt of the person has to be established.

Q.6. Write a short note on Rowlatt Act.

Rowlatt Act allowed the British government to imprison people without due trial. Indian nationalists including Mahatma Gandhi were vehement in their opposition to the Rowlatt bills. Despite the large number of protests, the Rowlatt Act came into effect on 10 March 1919.

Q.7. State one reason why you think the Sedition Act of 1870 was arbitrary?

This law was arbitrary because people were arrested for a variety of reasons that were seldom clarified beforehand as well as because those arrested were often kept in jail without a trial.

Q.8. Mention the year of Jallianwala Bagh massacre. Who gave the order to shoot the protestors?

The Jallianwala Bagh massacre, also known as the Amritsar massacre, took place on 13 April 1919. General Dyer gave the order to shoot the protestors.

Q.9. What was Sedition Act of 1870?

According to this Act, any person protesting or criticising the British government could be arrested without due trial.

Q.10. Write in your own words what you understand by the term the ‘rule of law’. In your response include a fictitious or real example of a violation of the rule of law.

What the rule of law means is that all laws apply equally to all citizens of the country and no one can be above the law. Neither a government official, nor a wealthy person nor even the President of the country is above the law.
For example: Most politicians and businessmen today own property and wealth worth crores but they do not even file tax returns on the same. The assets they declare are probably not even half of what they originally own. However, an ordinary income tax official cannot dare to question them for fear of losing his job, because the former have “power” and “contact” that this official does not possess.

Q.11. Re-read the storyboard on how a new law on domestic violence got passed. Describe in your own words the different ways in which women’s groups worked to make this happen.

Women’s groups worked hard and tirelessly towards the passing of the new law on domestic violence in India. They used different forums like public protests, hearings, meetings with other organizations, press conferences and petitions to the government to introduce a new reformed bill on domestic violence to include demands like monetary relief and protection against being evicted from the shared household. Earlier, domestic violence only entailed “injury or harm or threat of injury or harm” by an adult male against a woman. The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005 extended to include physical, economic, sexual, verbal and emotional abuse.

Q.12. Write in your own words what you understand by the following sentence on page 44-45: They also began fighting for greater equality and wanted to change the idea of law from a set of rules that they were forced to obey, to law as including ideas of justice.

This line refers to the protests of Indian nationalists against arbitrary use of authority by the British. By the end of the nineteenth century, the Indian legal profession also began emerging and demanded respect in colonial courts. They began to use law to defend the legal rights of Indians. Indian judges also began to play a greater role in making decisions. Therefore, there were several ways in which Indians played a major role in the evolution of the rule of law during the colonial period.

Q.13. Describe the ways in which the citizens can express their views in relation to laws made in the Parliament.

Citizens can express their views in relation to laws made in the Parliament in the following ways:
(i)  by holding public meetings,
(ii) by writing about it in newspapers,
(iii) by reporting to TV news channels etc.

Q.14. How was the system of law during ancient times in India?

In ancient India, there were innumerable and often overlapping local laws. Different communities enjoyed different degrees of autonomy in administering these laws among their own. In some cases, the punishment that two persons received for the same crime varied depending on their caste backgrounds, with lower castes being more harshly penalised.

Q.15. Mention some of the common laws that govern us.

Some of the common laws that govern us are:
(i) Specific age of marriage
(ii) The age at which a person can vote
(iii) The laws dealing with buying and selling of property