CLAT PG Syllabus 2026: 14 Law Subjects, Subject Wise Topics and PDF Download

Preamble — nature and significance; Features of the Indian Constitution; Constitutionalism and Rule of Law; Basic Structure Doctrine (Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala, 1973); Doctrine of Implied Limitations

Definition of State (Art. 12); Judicial Review (Art. 13); Right to Equality (Arts. 14–18) — reasonable classification, proportionality; Right to Freedom (Arts. 19–22) — speech, movement, profession; Protection against Arrest and Detention (Arts. 20–22); Right against Exploitation (Arts. 23–24); Right to Freedom of Religion (Arts. 25–28); Cultural and Educational Rights (Arts. 29–30); Right to Constitutional Remedies (Art. 32); Important cases: Maneka Gandhi, A.K. Gopalan, Vishaka, Indra Sawhney, Puttaswamy (Right to Privacy), Navtej Singh Johar

Nature and enforceability of DPSPs; Conflict between Fundamental Rights and DPSPs — Articles 31B and 31C; Ninth Schedule; Fundamental Duties (Art. 51A); Relationship between FRs, DPSPs, and Fundamental Duties

Parliament — composition, powers, and privileges; Money Bills vs. Financial Bills; President — election, powers, immunities, veto powers; Council of Ministers; Governor — discretionary powers; Collective Responsibility; Centre-State Relations (Arts. 245–263); Seventh Schedule — Union List, State List, Concurrent List; Emergency Provisions (Arts. 352, 356, 360)

Supreme Court — original, appellate, and advisory jurisdiction; High Courts — powers and writs; Doctrine of Separation of Powers; Judicial Independence — collegium system, NJAC (99th Amendment struck down in Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record); Important constitutional amendments: 1st, 24th, 25th, 42nd, 44th, 73rd, 74th, 86th, 99th, 101st (GST), 103rd (EWS reservation)

Definition and scope of Jurisprudence; Natural Law School — Aquinas, Finnis, Lon Fuller; Positivism — Austin (Command Theory, Sovereign), Kelsen (Pure Theory, Grundnorm, Hierarchy of Norms), Hart (primary and secondary rules, rule of recognition); Historical School — Savigny (Volksgeist), Maine; Sociological School — Pound (Social Engineering), Duguit; Realist School — American Realism (Holmes, Frank), Scandinavian Realism (Hägerström); Functions and purpose of law

Rights and Duties — Hohfeldian analysis (claim-right, liberty, power, immunity and their correlatives); Legal Personality — natural and artificial persons, corporate personality (Salomon v. Salomon), unincorporated associations; Ownership — types (corporeal, incorporeal, vested, contingent), modes of acquisition; Possession — animus and corpus, possessory remedies; Liability — civil and criminal, strict, absolute, vicarious; Obligation; Property; Sanction; Sovereignty — Austin’s theory

Rawls — Theory of Justice (original position, veil of ignorance, difference principle); Dworkin — Rights as Trumps, Law as Integrity, Hercules Judge; Critical Legal Studies; Feminist Jurisprudence; Law and Economics (Coase theorem, efficiency); Hart-Fuller Debate; Hart-Devlin Debate on morality and law; Justice — procedural vs. substantive

Grounds of review: Illegality, Irrationality (Wednesbury unreasonableness), Procedural Impropriety; Proportionality as a ground of review; Doctrine of Legitimate Expectation; Judicial review vs. Appeal; Scope and limits of review; Writs — Certiorari, Mandamus, Prohibition, Quo Warranto, Habeas Corpus; Standing (locus standi) — PIL development in India

Offer and Acceptance; Consideration — types, past consideration, adequacy; Capacity to Contract — minor’s agreement, persons of unsound mind; Free Consent — coercion, undue influence, fraud, misrepresentation, mistake; Legality of Object and Consideration; Void and Voidable Contracts; Wagering Agreements; Quasi-Contracts (ss. 68–72 ICA); Performance and Discharge; Breach and Remedies; Specific Relief Act 1963 (specific performance, injunctions, declaration); Sale of Goods Act 1930; Indemnity, Guarantee, Bailment, Pledge, Agency

Negligence — duty of care, breach, causation, damage (Donoghue v Stevenson; Caparo three-stage test); Vicarious Liability — master-servant, independent contractor; Nuisance — public and private; Defamation — libel and slander, defences (justification, fair comment, privilege); Trespass to person and property; Strict Liability (Rylands v Fletcher — escape of dangerous thing, non-natural use); Absolute Liability (M.C. Mehta — Indian expansion, no exceptions); Contributory Negligence; Volenti non fit injuria; Act of God; Injurious Falsehood; Malicious Prosecution

General Exceptions — mistake of fact and law, necessity, intoxication, consent, private defence (extent and limits); Common Intention (s. 3(5) BNS, formerly s. 34 IPC); Abetment; Criminal Conspiracy; Attempt; Organised Crime and Terrorist Acts (new BNS provisions without IPC parallel); Offences Against Human Body — murder, culpable homicide (distinction), hurt, grievous hurt, assault, kidnapping, abduction, rape, unnatural offences; Offences Against Property — theft, robbery, dacoity, extortion, cheating, criminal breach of trust, criminal misappropriation; Offences Against Women and Children

FIR — registration, zero FIR, e-FIR; Cognizance of offences; Arrest — with and without warrant; Bail — bailable, non-bailable, anticipatory, default bail; Charge-framing; Classification of offences — cognizable and non-cognizable; Trial procedure — summons case, warrant case, sessions trial; Investigation; Plea Bargaining; Compounding of offences; Mandatory 180-day trial timeline (new BNSS provision)

Hindu Marriage Act 1955 — conditions for valid marriage, void and voidable marriages, restitution of conjugal rights, judicial separation, divorce (fault, breakdown, and mutual consent grounds); Hindu Succession Act 1956 as amended by 2005 Amendment — daughters as coparceners with equal birth rights, Class I heirs, per stirpes distribution; Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act 1956; Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act 1956; Mitakshara and Dayabhaga schools — Coparcenary, Joint Hindu Family, Karta’s powers and liabilities

General Principles of Transfer — who can transfer, what property is transferable; Sale — rights and liabilities of buyer and seller before and after completion; Mortgage — types: simple, usufructuary, English mortgage, mortgage by deposit of title deeds, anomalous mortgage; Charge; Lease — creation, rights of lessor and lessee, determination; Exchange; Gift — essentials, onerous gift, revocation; Actionable Claims; Doctrine of Part Performance (s. 53A); Doctrine of Lis Pendens (s. 52); Doctrine of Election (s. 35); Rule against Perpetuity (s. 14); Easements under Easements Act 1882

Companies Act 2013 — types of companies (public, private, one-person, government); Incorporation and Certificate of Commencement; Memorandum and Articles of Association; Doctrine of Ultra Vires; Doctrine of Indoor Management (Turquand’s Rule); Share Capital and Debentures; Directors — appointment, powers, duties, disqualification, KMPs; Board meetings and shareholders’ meetings; Oppression and Mismanagement (ss. 241–244); Winding Up — voluntary and compulsory; SEBI Act and corporate governance; NCLT jurisdiction

Sources of International Law (ICJ Statute Art. 38) — treaties, custom, general principles, judicial decisions, writings; Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties 1969 — formation, reservations, invalidity, termination; State Recognition — constitutive vs. declaratory theories; State Succession; Diplomatic Immunity (Vienna Convention 1961); Law of the Sea — UNCLOS zones; International Human Rights Law; UN Charter — purposes, principles, Security Council Resolutions; ICJ — contentious jurisdiction and advisory opinions; WTO and GATT; Nationality; Extradition; Asylum

Copyright Act 1957 — original works, authorship, assignment, fair dealing exceptions, infringement, moral rights; Patents Act 1970 — patentability criteria (novelty, inventive step, industrial application), non-patentable inventions (s. 3), compulsory licensing, TRIPS compliance; Trade Marks Act 1999 — registration, well-known marks, infringement vs. passing off; Industrial Designs Act 2000; Geographical Indications of Goods Act 1999; TRIPS Agreement — minimum standards, enforcement obligations

Constitutional provisions — Art. 48A (State duty to protect environment), Art. 51A(g) (citizen’s fundamental duty); Environment Protection Act 1986 — powers of Central Government; Water Act 1974; Air Act 1981; Forest Conservation Act 1980; Wildlife Protection Act 1972; National Green Tribunal Act 2010 — jurisdiction and appellate powers; Polluter Pays Principle; Precautionary Principle; Sustainable Development; Public Trust Doctrine; Rio Declaration 1992; Important cases: M.C. Mehta series, Vellore Citizens Welfare Forum, T.N. Godavarman

Industrial Disputes Act 1947 — authorities (labour court, tribunal), strike and lockout (rights and restrictions), lay-off, retrenchment, closure; Trade Unions Act 1926 — registration, rights, immunities from civil and criminal liability; Factories Act 1948 — health, safety, welfare provisions; Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act 1970; Maternity Benefit Act 1961 (as amended 2017 — 26-week leave); Minimum Wages Act 1948; Workmen’s Compensation Act 1923; Four New Labour Codes (2019–2020) — Code on Wages, Code on Industrial Relations, Code on Social Security, Code on Occupational Safety

Constitutional basis of taxation — Art. 265 (no tax without authority of law), Art. 246A (GST); Income Tax Act 1961 — residential status, five heads of income (salaries, house property, business/profession, capital gains, other sources), deductions, assessment; Goods and Services Tax — dual GST model, CGST, SGST, IGST, exempt supplies, input tax credit; Tax Planning vs Tax Avoidance vs Tax Evasion; CBDT and CBIC; Transfer Pricing basics