MAH LLB 3 Year CET 1 April Shift 2 2026
Read the passage and answer the question.Vicarious Liability is a legal principle where one person is held liable for the tort committed by another. This typically occurs in a "Master-Servant" relationship. For the Master to be held liable, two conditions must be met: (1) There must be a formal master-servant relationship, and (2) The tortious act must be committed by the servant "in the course of employment."An act is considered within the "course of employment" if it is either a wrongful act authorised by the master, or a wrongful and unauthorised mode of doing some act authorised by the master. However, if a servant performs an act that is totally unconnected to their job (a "frolic of their own"), the master is not liable. Furthermore, an independent contractor is different from a servant; a master is generally not liable for the torts of an independent contractor because the master lacks the right to control how the work is done.A, a truck driver employed by B, was instructed to deliver goods to a warehouse. While driving, A took a short detour to buy a gift for his wife and hit a pedestrian. Is B liable?
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Answer: Option B — Yes, because the detour was a minor deviation and A was still on duty.
Detailed Solution
Test from the passage: B is liable if A (his servant) committed the tort in the course of employment, i.e. while doing authorised work, even in an unauthorised way.
A was still on his delivery run, driving B's goods; the short detour is only a slight departure from the authorised journey, not a separate 'frolic of his own'.
So the act stays within the course of employment and B is vicariously liable.
⚠ Common trap
(A) No, because buying a gift is not a part of A's job treats a minor detour as a frolic; a frolic needs a journey totally unconnected to the job, and A was mid-delivery.⚠ Common trap
(D) No, because A disobeyed instructions forgets that an unauthorised mode of doing an authorised act still makes the master liable.Quick tip
Small detour during the authorised job = still in course of employment; a wholly separate personal trip = frolic of his own.
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Ask a doubtMore Law of Torts Questions
View all ›- Q1.A school hires a private bus company to transport students. The bus driver, employed by the bus company, drives negligently and injures a student. Who is vicariously liable?
- Q2.X, a bank security guard, is strictly forbidden from handling cash. One day, to help a busy teller, X takes cash from a customer to deposit it but steals it instead. Is the bank liable?
- Q3.Which of the following is the most essential element to establish a Master-Servant relationship?
- Q4.In which scenario is the Master NOT liable for the Servant's act?
- Q5.Legal Principle: A person who enters another's property without permission commits trespass. Facts: R enters S's farmland without consent to take a shortcut. Question: Who is liable based on the principle?
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Law of Torts — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Law of Torts, a key topic in the Legal Aptitude section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
Law of Torts is part of the Legal Aptitude & Legal Reasoning section of MAH LAW CET (32 questions in the 5-year LLB paper, 24 in the 3-year paper). Topics: General defences, vicarious liability, strict and absolute liability, torts in relation to persons and nuisance. Practise Law CET-level MCQs with step-by-step explanations.