How to Write Answers in CA Inter Law for Full Marks

CA Inter Law answer writing comes down to three parts in a fixed order: the provision, its application to the facts, and the conclusion. Most students who fail Paper 2, Corporate and Other Laws, know the law. They lose marks because the answer retells the facts, skips the provision, or gives a conclusion with no reasoning. ICAI's own examiners' comments say so in almost those words, and I see the same thing in the Law copies I check.

The examiner is paid to find the provision in your answer. If it is not there, the conclusion alone is worth one mark, however right it is.

TL;DR

• Paper 2 is 100 marks: Company Law and LLP Law 70, Other Laws 30, with 30 marks of case-scenario MCQs and 70 descriptive.
• Every descriptive answer: provision in your own words, application to the facts, a one-line conclusion. In that order.
• Budget about 35 minutes for the 30 MCQ marks and 2 hours 10 minutes for the 70 descriptive marks.

What does the CA Inter Law paper look like in January 2027?

Paper 2 is written on Monday 4 January 2027, from 2 PM to 5 PM, as the second Group I paper under ICAI's announcement of 23 September 2026. The full group-wise schedule is in our CA Inter January 2027 exam dates post.

• Part I, Company Law and Limited Liability Partnership Law: 70 marks, twelve chapters of the Companies Act, 2013 plus the LLP Act, 2008.
• Part II, Other Laws: 30 marks. The General Clauses Act, 1897, interpretation of statutes, and the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999.
• Pattern: 30 marks of case-scenario MCQs and 70 marks of descriptive questions, three hours, no negative marking. ICAI's Intermediate weightage PDF confirms the 70:30 split between the parts.

Seventy marks of company law, thirty of other laws, and most descriptive questions set as facts about a company followed by "examine the validity".

What do ICAI examiners say goes wrong in Law answers?

ICAI publishes a summary of examiners' comments after each attempt; the latest Intermediate set on the listing page is November 2023, when the paper had the same name and company law core. From the Paper 2 section:

• On annual return: candidates "referred to the provisions relating to filing of annual return but failed to answer the quantum of penalty in case of default". The provision was there; the number was not.
• On a whole-time director holding office in more than one subsidiary: "most of the examinees have failed to provide the correct provisions under the General Clauses Act, 1897, read with the provisions of the Companies Act, 2013".
• On a question where the conclusion was right: "most of the examinees have not provided the correct provisions but succeeded in providing the correct conclusion". That is the one-mark answer.
• And the verdict on a contract law problem: "many examinees have provided a generic answer".

The examiner has a marking scheme with marks against the provision, marks against the application, and a mark or two against the conclusion. Our post on the ICAI marking scheme explains how that split is built.

Examiners report missing provisions, unquantified penalties and generic answers far more often than wrong law.

How should a Law answer be structured?

For a 4 to 6 mark practical question, four steps, written as short paragraphs:

1. Open with the provision: the Act, the section if you are sure, and the rule in plain words in two to four lines, including any time limit, penalty or threshold.
2. Apply it to the facts. Take the names and figures from the question and show which part of the rule they meet or fail. This is the paragraph most students skip.
3. Conclude in one line, in the words the question used: "the appointment is valid" or "the company must refund the deposit".
4. If the question has parts (i), (ii) and (iii), conclude each part separately. Examiners mark part by part.

A 4-mark answer needs about 12 to 15 lines and a 6-mark answer about 20. Longer answers cost time on the next question.

Provision, application, conclusion, each as its own paragraph, with every sub-part concluded on its own.

A worked answer: AGM on a public holiday

A November 2023 question, and a type that keeps coming back: a company calls its annual general meeting on a public holiday that is not a national holiday, at a place outside the state of its registered office. Is the meeting valid?

Provision

Under Section 96(2) of the Companies Act, 2013, every annual general meeting must be called during business hours, between 9 AM and 6 PM, on any day that is not a National Holiday, and must be held at the registered office or at some other place within the city, town or village in which the registered office is situated.

Application

The day chosen is a public holiday but not a National Holiday, so the first condition is met. The venue is outside the state of the registered office, so it cannot be within the same city, town or village, and the second condition fails.

Conclusion

The meeting can be held on that day, but not at that venue. The company must shift it to the registered office or a place within the same city, town or village.

Nine lines cover every mark in the scheme. A student who writes a page on what an AGM is, then says "hence it is valid", has written more and scored less.

Should you quote section numbers and case law?

Section numbers: yes, when you are certain. When you are not sure, write "under the Companies Act, 2013" and state the rule correctly. A wrong section next to a correct rule makes the examiner doubt the rest; a missing section costs nothing if the rule is right.

Case law: use it where the study material gives it, mainly in interpretation of statutes and the corporate veil chapters. One line with the case name and the principle is enough.

Penalties: always quantify. "Penalty applies" earns nothing. "The company and every officer in default are liable to a penalty of ₹10,000, and ₹100 for each day the failure continues, up to ₹2 lakh for the company and ₹50,000 for an officer" earns the mark. Amendments move these numbers; check them against ICAI's suggested answers.

Quote a section when sure, a case when the material gives one, and a penalty figure every time.

How do you manage time across 30 MCQ marks and 70 descriptive marks?

The MCQs are case-scenario based, so each scenario needs reading. Give the 30 marks about 35 minutes, straight after the 15-minute reading time. Then 70 marks in about 130 minutes, a little under two minutes a mark: 11 minutes for a 6-mark question, 7 for a 4-mark one. Move on when the time is up.

Before the exam, write at least two full three-hour Law papers by hand, MCQs included. Where to spend revision time is in our CA Inter chapter-wise weightage post.

Gradehunt's CA Inter test series gives you Law papers on the ICAI pattern, checked by ex-examiners within 48 hours, with the provision, application and conclusion marks shown separately so you can see which one you are dropping. The first paper is checked free, and mentorship plans are available.