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This article critically analyses the legal provisions on rape by deception in India. It begins by examining the strength of jurisprudence established by the courts in India for criminalising deceptive sex using doctrinal and theoretical methodologies. The article would then engage in an analysis of appellate judicial decisions in India on the said law. Thereafter, the article engages in a critical analysis of jurisprudence of the law on deceptive sex in the English jurisdiction in order to draw valuable lessons for the Indian jurisdiction. Then, the article would attempt to formulate a test for criminalising deceptive sex. Finally, the article will conclude by emphasising on the need to enact an offence independent of the existing rape law in India, that criminalises procuring sexual relations using deceptive means, based on the principle of fair labelling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Historical Studies (1818-0345) is the property of Association of Arab Universities and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Recognition and citizenship issues play pivotal roles in understanding the complex interaction between different forms of inequalities. Citizenship should be treated as a practice intimately linked with individuals' identities and rights, their sense of belonging and their actual nature of participation in the different spheres of their life. Exclusion is not just deprivation from the more tangible economic and social processes but also denying people their voice and their right to be unique. In this context, the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act concerning India's transgender community lies within the crucial junctures of identity politics and the country's legal and social structures. This work critically analyses the TG Act and raises few questions on the nature of recognition given to transgender individuals. Does a transgender person get citizenship that guarantees representation and equality? To what extent does the new Act do justice to the transgender community in living as a member of the society and not just as a product of 'othering'? The paper concludes that recognition is not just for citizenship and identity rights – it is the right to be different but equal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In view of the varied kinds of emerging wrongs/crimes the legal injury suffered by an individual, community or non-human due to environmental crime is referred to as Environmental Victimology. This study aims to find out the development of environmental victimology in India, which means through this study the institutional response pertaining to protection of victims of environmental crime in India would be traced out. The present study is an attempt to find how has the Indian legislature and judiciary perceived a person or community who has suffered a legal injury due to environmental crime i.e. whether they are considered as victim as defined under sec. 2w(a) of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 or a victim under specific environmental legislations or a person whose fundamental right has been infringed thereby providing a remedy under the Indian Constitution. Finding the answer to the above questions raised would help in in determining the scope of environmental victimology in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Constitution of India glorifies not only political sovereignty but also economic freedom. The dynamism of law is seen as a crucial factor in societal transformation. The constitution serves as the foundation for individual rights and provides mechanisms to protect fundamental rights. The principle of rule of law is essential for constitutionalism. In a federal structure, the constitution’s supremacy is a fundamental feature, and parliamentary affairs should not overshadow it. The judiciary plays the most pivotal role in interpreting legislative and executive actions, contributing to the essence of constitutionalism. Judicial dynamism has been instrumental in safeguarding the rights of citizens against arbitrary state actions. The essence of constitutionalism also supports social transformation through legislative modernization, contributing to societal development. Therefore, as noted in this paper, the concept of constitutionalism promotes a philanthropic constitutional essence aimed at establishing a welfare state as well as maintaining social equilibrium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since India has no established refugee regime, most developments in this sphere have arisen from judgments. However, the lack of relevant applicable law means that these developments are piecemeal and humanitarian at best, failing to make true advances in jurisprudence, and anti-refugee at worst. This article argues that through recourse to international law, these hurdles can be surmounted to ensure more robust protection to refugees. Further, it is argued that constitutional and international law obligations binding India mandate that the Indian judiciary refer to these international law instruments. Doing so would ensure significantly stronger protection for refugees and less deference to the executive's ad hoc stance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pandemics are associated with exponential mortality rates, creating heavy burdens on communities. The high death rates affect how societies traditionally conduct funerary practices as governments impose regulations on the preparation of bodies and the conduct of the funerals to stem the transmission of the virus. In societies associated with deeply entrenched customary funerary practices, such limitative measures attract defiance. The tensions between public health objectives and funerary traditions have played out in a number of societies resulting in litigation. At the core of the disputes is whether the right to manifest religion or belief can be upheld, and relatedly, whether the dead have rights to dignified burials irrespective of pandemics. During the COVID-19 pandemic, some courts had to grapple with these difficult questions. In this paper, I take a jurisprudential excursion on some disputes in Kenya, India and Sri Lanka to assess the adjudication of conflicts which arose from COVID-19 pandemic deaths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the Indian judiciary's attempt to regulate humor within the context of freedom to religion and speech in India. Topics include the context of the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition to ban the online dissemination of Santa Banta jokes or Sardarji jokes, a description of ethnic jokes and the Sikhs, the arguments raised in the PIL, a brief history of Santa and Banta jokes in India, and an overview of the constitutional jurisprudence regarding the freedoms at stake.

Copyright of International Annals of Criminology is the property of Cambridge University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista Catalana de Dret Ambiental is the property of Universitat Rovira I Virgili and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the human rights issue. This study has also examined issues with AI for business and its civil and criminal liability. This study has provided inputs to the policymakers and government authorities to overcome different challenges. Design/methodology/approach: This study has analysed different international and Indian laws on human rights issues and the impacts of these laws to protect the human rights of the individual, which could be under threat due to the advancement of AI technology. This study has used descriptive doctrinal legal research methods to examine and understand the insights of existing laws and regulations in India to protect human rights and how these laws could be further developed to protect human rights under the Indian jurisprudence, which is under threat due to rapid advancement of AI-related technology. Findings: The study provides a comprehensive insight on the influence of AI on human rights issues and the existing laws in India. The study also shows different policy initiatives by the Government of India to regulate AI. Research limitations/implications: The study highlights some of the key policy recommendations helpful to regulate AI. Moreover, this study provides inputs to the regulatory authorities and legal fraternity to draft a much-needed comprehensive policy to regulate AI in the context of the protection of human rights of the citizens. Originality/value: AI is constantly posing entangled challenges to human rights. There is no comprehensive study, which investigated the emergence of AI and its influence on human rights issues, especially from the Indian legal perspective. So there is a research gap. This study provides a unique insight of the emergence of AI applications and its influence on human rights issues and provides inputs to the policymaker to help them to draft an effective regulation on AI to protect the human rights of Indian citizens. Thus, this study is considered a unique study that adds value towards the overall literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The case of the Indian federalism as defined by various authors is sui generis and what needs to be seen is which kind of classification would suit the Indian legal system in theory as well as in practice. This article seeks to examine the federal experiment that India has undergone, over the past sixty years. The way in the Indian judiciary had interpreted the Constitution to declare India a federal nation with variations. However, this view of the apex court has lately undergone a change. Even though our constitution is said to be federal, but this overemphasis on the power of the federal government makes us incapable of dealing effectively with socioeconomic challenges and strengthening national unity. This particular research seeks to attain the following objectives: 1) Carry out an in depth study of the changing pattern of the federal division of power in India 2) To study the effectiveness and need for the federal division of power in the country 3) To bring out the inadequacies in the existing scheme of division of power and suggest measures to improve it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Medico-legal Institute have been in existence for centuries in several countries of the world. The importance of setting up of Medico-legal Institute in every state of countries, closely associated with medical colleges, for the systematic teaching of forensic medicine, training of specialists, for the investigation of Medico-legal problems, etc., has been stressed by all the leading medical jurists of the world.The Health Survey and Development Committee (The Bhore Committee) Government of India, 1946, in their report had recommended the starting of Central Medico-legal Institute. Later, Government of India, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare constituted a central Medico-legal Advisory Committee in year 1958, which gave its reportin 1964 and recommendedevery state for establishment of such Medico-legal Institute. The recommendation has been followed very lightly by establishing the Medico-legal Institute in few states only. Now aday due to advancement of technologies and public awareness, Medico-legal issues are increasing days by day. It is the demand of the time to take a solid step to solve these cases in legal and scientific ways. Initiatives of establishment of medico-legal institute in every state can be one of the firm milestones for the settlements of the maximum Medico-legal cases. As Government of India is in the process to establish All India Institute of Medical sciences (AIIMS), in every state in which lands, buildings and manpower has already been planned, so up-gradation of Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology of every AIIMS to the level of Medico-legal Institute will be an appropriate decision for reduction of monetary investment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India is a country of religious pluralism, and cultural diversity wherein religion is one of the important social institutions. Freedom of religion in India is guaranteed as a fundamental right which comprises 'freedom to freely profess, practice and propagate religion' within the Constitutional boundary. The Indian constitution fosters equality to all and has a broader interpretative connotation. Often, the judiciary is posed with the delicate task of settling the sensitive disputes relating to religion. The court's intervention into such practices may lead to a conflict of existing values backed by the religion or society with newly introduced values by the court. Recently, the Supreme Court in the Sabarimala Temple Entry case declared the practice of prohibiting women in their menstruating age from entering the temples as unconstitutional. The article substantiates that the case paves the way for ensuring equality for women in every sphere, including religion. It critically appraises the existing jurisprudence of religious freedom and argues the need to establish a much coherent jurisprudence based on constitutional principles. The article correlates moral, social, and religious intricacies in determining the constitutional validity of religious practices and tries to substantiate it based on developing jurisprudence of constitutional morality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this Article, I examine jurisprudence textbooks and related works written in British India in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Some of the jurisprudential works from India were not merely summaries of the leading English books, but were different from English works in three senses. First, the gap between English theories and Indian legal realities led some authors to question key English notions about the nature and development of law. Second, some of the works produced in India were more influenced by Continental and American legal theories than the equivalent English textbooks. Sometimes this was due to the fact that the authors of these works had some Continental training, and sometimes the non-English influence reflected a wider anticolonial nationalist move away from English culture. Finally, the influence of nationalism also led some Indian legal scholars to create a unique genre of jurisprudential works: Texts that used Western jurisprudential theories to describe the main features of Hindu (and, to a lesser extent, also Islamic) law. These unique aspects of colonial jurisprudential works illustrate a broader phenomenon: the fact that legal scholars in imperial peripheries such as India were not always simply passive receivers of ideas produced at the center of empires, but in some cases created works containing interesting jurisprudential insights. The notion that India was a "legal laboratory" in which legal scholars experimented with new ideas has already been discussed in the literature, largely based on examples taken from the fields of legislation (the codification of English law in nineteenth-century India) or forensic science. This Article explores the extent to which India was also a site of jurisprudential innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amendments to the constitution and the jurisprudence surrounding the constituent power of Parliament have traditionally dominated the field of Indian constitutional law and constitutionalism. Most debates in this field have been restricted to issues like the source of the amending power of Parliament, express, and implied limits on the power to amend, and so on. In an attempt to revert to the core principles of constituent power, this paper attempts to answer more basic but extremely compelling constitutional questions: to qualify as an amendment to the constitution, how exactly must an amendment affect the text of the constitution? If an amendment does not change the bare text of the constitution in any way, but merely affects the overall constitutional scheme, can it still be accorded the status of a constitutional amendment? Locating this issue in the extension of the compensation period under the GST regime in India, this paper seeks to provide an answer to these questions by using a practical setting. First, the source of parliamentary competence to bring about such an amendment is traced. By the use of constitutional theory and principles of statutory interpretation, is then demonstrated that such 'non-amending' provisions are undoubtedly an inherent part of the constitutional regime. Lastly, this paper proposes a model that covers both legislative powers of Parliament, that is, constituent power and ordinary law-making power. In the nature of a walk-through, this model explains the legislative process to be followed to bring about an extension of the compensation period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article looks at how jurisprudence has evolved in Indian courts on granting or refusing injunctions to patentees, especially when such patentees are not working/commercially using their patented product in India. The author also presents his views on the recent Eisai v. Dr Reddys case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this race the Indian legislature, fortunately, has not lagged far behind and has shown great concern for degradation of environment" and made specific legislative attempts to control different environmental pollution in particular. On the other hand, the second limb of the state, the executive, has been moving at a snail's pace or what Justice Krishna Iyer says, the bureaucratic machinery, which difunctionally, has passion for files, not for the people." Whereas, the judiciary is trying its best to balance the environment and development. In view of the degrading environment which poses a problem for the very survival of living things, the environmental law academics lately started paying attention to this underdeveloped field. Out of the three components of the state, the academics in India have generally confined their discussions to the approach of the legislature. The executive approach in environment has yet to attract serious attention of the law academics' writings. However, the judicial approach finds some place in the law writings. The present paper makes an attempt to take further the discussion on Indian judicial approach in the field of environment. Such academic exercise is all the more necessary in the present time because Indian judiciary since 1980 is taking special cognizance of the pollution explosion and there is a substantial increase in the case law in environment. Is not the time ripe to take stock of the direction of environmental legality in India? The present paper makes a humble attempt in this direction. It confines discussion to the cases of 1987 decided by the Supreme Court of India and the High Courts. This specific year has been selected because the graph of case law in environment from the year 1950 to 1990 shows its highest peak in 1987. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the Competition Commission of India's (CCI) decisional practice in cases of abuse of dominance in relation to big tech companies. The authors note that the CCI has adopted a cautious approach, and has on certain occasions expressed its reluctance in early intervention in a nascent sector. The article examines the need for the CCI to be driven by a fact-based approach in light of the jurisprudence from other mature regulators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: India's Mental Healthcare Act, 2017 (MHCA) greatly restricts the use of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in minors and bans unmodified ECT. Indian psychiatrists have raised concerns that these measures may deprive certain patients of life-saving treatment. This study describes the perspectives of Indian psychiatrists on how ECT is dealt with in the legislation. Methods: We conducted nine focus groups in three Indian states. We explored the positive and negative implications of the MHCA and discussed its implementation, especially in relation to ECT. Results: Many of the themes and concerns commonly discussed in relation to ECT in other jurisdictions are readily apparent among Indian psychiatrists, although perspectives on specific issues remain heterogeneous. The one area of near-universal agreement is Indian psychiatrists' affirmation of the effectiveness of ECT. We identified three main areas of current concern: the MHCA's ban on unmodified ECT, ECT in minors, and ECT in the acute phase. Two broad additional themes also emerged: resource limitations and the impact of nonmedical models of mental health. We identified a need for greater education about the MHCA among all stakeholders. Conclusion: Core concerns about ECT in India's new legislation relate, in part, to medical decisions apparently being taken out of the hands of psychiatrists and change being driven by theoretical perspectives that do not reflect "ground realities." Although the MHCA offers significant opportunities, failure to resource its ambitious changes will greatly limit the use of ECT in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article traces the evolution of taxpayer rights in direct taxes in India. From the first income tax statute introduced in British India to the most recent one, a broad analysis has been done of the enactments to comprehend the jurisprudence of taxpayer rights in India. The role of different administrative committees and the courts of law in establishing taxpayer rights has also been analysed. The scope of taxpayer rights in post-independence India has been probed, the colonial and post-colonial travails of the taxpayer have been outlined, and the contemporary redressals to taxpayer concerns up to the period of September 2019 have been examined in this article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Bhopal gas tragedy essentially marked the beginning of mass tort jurisprudence in India. When the US courts dismissed the consolidated lawsuit resulting out of the Bhopal disaster and returned it to India for judicial determination, the Indian legal system was confronted with one of the biggest challenges it had ever faced. The difficulty arising out of the unprecedented extent and intensity of the event was compounded by a lack of prior experience of the Indian legal system in dealing with mass tort cases. Bhopal brought out the inadequacy of the then-prevalent traditional common law of tort in dealing with the legal challenges posed by the case, thus, underscoring the need for modifying the existing tort law doctrine. The most significant modification introduced to the Indian tort law in the wake of Bhopal was the dissolution of public-private law divide through the invocation of the doctrine of parens patriae and the enunciation of the principle of absolute liability. The primary thesis of this paper is that the rationale and need underlying this dissolution of public-private law divide can be well understood in the light of critical social scientific studies on risk. As the concept of risk is inextricably linked with anthropogenic mass disasters, the critical epistemologies of risk provide strong empirical and normative foundations for the development of a distinct mass tort jurisprudence, much needed in today's post-modern 'risk society'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is good to take stock from time to time and to see how things stand in jurisprudence. So, what is the relationship of doctrine and theory with jurisprudence? Is private law theory apolitical while public law contains politics for the very many constitutional ends in the Global South? In India, legal theorist Chhatrapati Singh very originally asked if legal systems and normative systems were the same? Chhatrapati's enquiry was however a species of the classical approach to the law that promotes the law's purity. On the contrary, the postcolonial approaches account for the historical life as well as the political proclivities of the law. The private law theory often seen as impersonal and non-imperial comes under scrutiny in the postcolonial approaches. Duncan Kennedy and Roberto Unger notably problematized contract theory, while Upendra Baxi argued for mass tort as public law—contract and tort are both private law—to offer, if you will, a jurisprudence of the South. A southern jurisprudence essentially rejects an impersonal reading of the private law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intersectionality was developed by legal scholar Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw in the late 1980s to broaden legal and epistemological frameworks for peoples at the intersection of multiple oppressions, such as racism and sexism. The theory has since proliferated and grown across many international academic and public contexts. This article examines intersectionality in Crenshaw's original formulation to argue for theoretical and political insights when intersectionality is applied to the multiply minoritized position of Sikhs in the US and India. I argue for six theoretical formations that can illuminate what I term intersectional Sikhism: intragroup solidarity, intergroup alliances, postsecularism, untranslatability, precarity, and intellectual intersectionality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the Delhi High Court judgement (2009), reading down IPC 377 that criminalised homosexuality, the Indian judiciary has been at the forefront of invoking constitutional morality to uphold LGBTQIA+ rights. In contrast, the mainstream mental health systems have failed to uphold human rights and protect LGBTQIA+ people ethically, except for a few position statements. Though the Supreme Court directed the mental health fraternity to exercise utmost sensitivity to LGBTQIA+ issues, they have not risen to the occasion. The absence of gender affirmative guidelines and failure to put in place punitive action against those practising conversion therapies set apart Indian mental health systems, in stark contrast to international mental health associations. Here, we review landmark judgments and the actions of professional mental health bodies regarding LGBTQIA+ rights in India, from 2009 to 2022 - especially those regarding conversion therapies and the discriminatory medical curriculum - to examine the deepening crisis of public health ethics.

Can a tribunal deliver justice? By posing this rhetorical question this article attempts to contextualize the introduction of the tribunal system of adjudication in India. Some of these tribunals have been able to evolve into mechanisms that have overcome their birth infirmities. The Supreme Court has intervened and supported strengthening of these tribunals and their evolution into entities (if not fully but certainly) more independent of the executive. This article explores these questions through a case study of the National Green Tribunal (NGT)--specifically focusing on the subject of jurisdiction. NGT is the newest of the tribunals that have been established since the Constitutional amendment was passed allowing for them. The jurisdiction of the NGT, although statutorily limited, has evolved in the light of Supreme Court's jurisprudence on the powers of tribunals. Further, the nature of environmental disputes are such that the NGT has had to expansively interpret both procedural mechanisms, such as limitation periods for allowing more disputes to be brought to the bench, and by entering into substantive areas such as climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: The mental healthcare act 2017 represents a complete overhaul of Indian mental health legislation. Aims: The aim of this study was to establish the opinions of Indian psychiatrists regarding the new act. Settings: Mental health professionals in Bihar and Jharkhand were interviewed. Design: A focus group design was utilized. Materials and Methods: Key questions explored the positive and negative aspects of the act and the management of the transitional phase. All focus groups were recorded and transcribed. Analysis: Data were coded and analyzed using an inductive approach. Results: Many positive aspects of the new legislation were identified especially relating to rights, autonomy, and the decriminalization of suicide. However, psychiatrists have significant concerns that the new legislation may negatively impact patients and increase stigma. Psychiatrists held varying views on the proposed licensing and inspection of general hospital psychiatric units. Conclusions: Careful evaluation of the new legislation is needed as the concerns raised warrant ongoing monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At least in name, proportionality is a global doctrine. Indeed, though there are 4000+ miles between them, England and India share the concept in their administrative law. Nevertheless, there is increasing recognition that just because the word proportionality is used globally, that is not to say that it has a global meaning. Sharing this perspective, this article will compare Indian and English proportionality jurisprudence and demonstrate one way that the doctrine is materially different. Specifically, this relates to the relationship between proportionality and rationality review. Notably, Indian jurists conceptualize this relationship as a bifurcated one; they conceive the two doctrines as involving very different forms of judicial scrutiny. By contrast, in contemporary English jurisprudence, the relationship is increasingly a unified one, involving potentially similar forms of scrutiny. With these insights, the article will be of interest to comparative proportionality scholars and to Indian lawyers exploring the character of domestic proportionality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Psychoanalytic jurisprudence attempts to understand the images used by law to attract and capture the subject. In keeping with the larger psychoanalytic tradition, such theories tend to overemphasise the paternal principle. The image of law is said to be the image of the paterfamilias—the biological father, the sovereign, or God. In contrast to such theories, I would like to introduce the image of the mother and analyse its impact on the subject’s relation to law. For this purpose, I examine the history and use of the figure of Bharat Mata or Mother India and how it influences the Indian subject’s relation to law. When the subject is torn between his loyalties to the lawmaker–as–father and the nation–as–mother, who does he side with? Eschewing Greek myths and the Oedipus complex, I focus instead on Hindu mythology and the notion of an oedipal alliance to understand legal subjectivity in India. Lastly, I analyse a defining Indian political trial, the Gandhi murder trial, in which all these notions come to play and the accused justifies his decision to murder the father of the nation in the name of the motherland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Competition authorities and courts across the world have assessed issues at the interface between competition law and intellectual property rights. India is no longer a stranger to this debate and has witnessed the initiation of multiple proceedings involving the exercise of standard essential patents. Further, a long-pending jurisdictional conflict has now been resolved by a court decision, paving the way for the Indian competition authority and courts to concurrently examine the exercise of standard essential patents. While these developments represent a step in the evolution of antitrust jurisprudence in India, several foundational issues in relation to the competition enforcement against standard essential patents are yet to be decided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The starting point of this paper is a January 1977 judgment of the Indian Supreme Court, which applied the rule of reason to vertical restraints and anticipated many of the arguments of the Sylvania judgment. After summarizing the background of the Indian case, I set out the main points of similarity and difference between the two judgments, and finally assess the somewhat erratic influence of post- Sylvania antitrust thinking on Indian competition law and jurisprudence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To evaluate the epidemiological characteristics and outcomes of ocular injuries resulting from the use of firecrackers during the Diwali festival in all age groups.Materials and Methods: A single-center, retrospective, hospital-based case series presenting with ocular trauma consequent to fireworks usage in a tertiary eye care center in North India during the 5 days of Diwali festival from 2011 to 2015 was conducted.Results: A total of 53 eyes of 45 patients were included in the study, out of which the vast majority (39/87%) were males. The mean age was 20.55 years. Almost an equal number of bystanders (25/55.5%) were affected as compared to people handling the fireworks (20/44.44%). Five (9.43%) eyes had open-globe injury, whereas 48 (90.56%) eyes had closed-globe injury. Eighteen (33.96%) eyes underwent surgical intervention. Thirty-three (62.26%) eyes had final vision >20/200 with eight (15.09%) eyes being vision <3/60 in the affected eye.Conclusion: Firework-related ocular trauma can lead to serious visual impairment. Mandatory legislative laws pertaining to the manufacture, sale, and use of fireworks and creating public awareness can reduce the incidence of this preventable cause of blindness in the society. Initiating new policies for retailers involved in sale of these firecrackers can also bring in decrease of such morbidities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper intends to critically examine the juridical process by which members of the transgender community in India became the subjects of rights. This process reached its apotheosis in the passing of a landmark judgment, NALSA v. Union of India, by the Supreme Court of India that granted legal recognition to transgender citizens and affirmed their fundamental right to constitutional protections, guarantees, and entitlements. This jurisprudence, I argue here, relies upon a dialogic nexus between human rights and development advanced by the Court, one which allows for the deployment of an innovative doctrinal approach that interprets the civil and political rights envisaged in Part III of the Constitution of India harmoniously with the social and economic rights in Part IV. The Court's approach, it is further argued, is centered on the usage of international and comparative law as mechanisms for informing constitutional interpretation, as well as facilitating and enabling constitutional choice. In doing so, the Court harmonizes universal human rights standards with a deep national commitment to an inclusive society. This paper, therefore, uses this jurisprudence as a case study to problematize extant conceptual models for understanding how human rights law may be used as an instrument for development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The award of compensation against the State is an appropriate and effective remedy for redress of an established infringement of a fundamental right under Article 21 by a public servant. The quantum of compensation will, however, depend upon the facts and circumstances of each case.1 The Court on establishment of violation of fundamental rights, apart from calling upon the State Government to take punitive action and disciplinary proceedings against the officers/officials guilty of flagrant violation of fundamental rights, is also under an obligation to give compensation and relief under public law jurisdiction for the wrong done occasioned by breach of public duty by the State Government in failing to protect the fundamental rights of the citizens.2 Traditional sovereign functions are the making of laws, the administration of justice, the maintenance of order and repression of crime, carrying on of war, making of treaties and peace and other consequential functions.3 The demarcating line between sovereign and non-sovereign powers has largely disappeared. The author focuses on how the compensatory jurisprudence has evolved in India and slowly how the demarcation between the sovereign and non-sovereign functions has been removed in Indian jurisprudence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently Indian Supreme court is developing new horizon of jurisprudence on intellect, lot of conflict developed on various kinds of intellect, one of the debate is on pharmaceutical intellect, the basic conflict in this regards is on fruits of economic prosperity and its perpetual greed. We must honor the Decision of various courts on developing the issues, because developmental societies always set aside their conflict by their wisdom to make hassle free business. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trade secret is the need of today's globalised economy.At times developers/inventors does notwant to get the product/process patented, because of primary requirement of complete disclosure. Trade Secret is a one step solution to all such issues. Unfortunately, the concept of providing protection as trade secret has seen development in strong economies only. Through this paper authorswould like to explain the reasonwhy a trade secret should bemade a part of IP regime. Intellectual Property is that branch of law jurisprudence regarding which is still in its developing stage in India. Time and again, Indian judiciary, by looking out to various foreign legislations and judgments, has tried to fill in that gap. The article will cite examples from the cases as they have been decided by the Indian Courts, while relying on the development of law by courts in European Union or in USA. One bold step was taken by the parliament in this regard, that is, National Innovation Bill 2008, but Bill lapsed without being tabled only, forcing the protection of trade secrets by other available legislations only. The paper also tries to provide some suggestions to remove the ambiguity and make a way ahead in this regard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents "Gleanings from the Whirl" which provides present information on all aspects of international serials and electronic resource management such as networks and consortia library schools and continuing education library-orientated organizations. It cites the Award for Innovation in Publishing to Kudos given the Association of Learned & Professional Society Publishers (ALPSP) to any new development, product or service of significant value to scholarly communication.

This article discusses the role of India’s National Green Tribunal (NGT) which was established on 18 October 2010 as a dedicated environmental court under the National Green Tribunal Act 2010 and became fully operational with effect from 4 July 2011. The NGT was constituted as a multidisciplinary body with the necessary expertise for the effective and speedy disposal of cases relating to environmental protection, forest conservation and enforcement of legal rights relating to environment protection. The article brings out the jurisdiction, powers and functions of the tribunal for effecting environmental justice, the significant cases adjudicated by it in the four years of its existence, the principles applied, the accessibility and value addition to environmental jurisprudence through innovative application of law and the objectivity demonstrated by the tribunal in balancing the protection of the environment and sustainable development. The tribunal, with its specific mandate constitutes an important step in the access to justice on matters concerning the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the emerging jurisprudence on fair, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory (FRAND) licensing practices for standard-essential patents (SEP) of the Delhi High Court in India.

The well-known classification of legal procedure into "four feet" presents certain conceptual problems for the Indian legal tradition that various Smṛtikāras and commentators have attempted to resolve in different and sometimes contradictory ways. These difficulties arise because the four feet originally referred in Indian legal theory to four distinct, hierarchical legal domains rather than procedural means for reaching a verdict. The earliest attested discussion of the four feet, found in Kauṭilya's Arthaśāstra, indicates that early legal theorists understood the greater legal order as being comprised of four hierarchical domains and that these domains were ordered by the state as expressed in the original formulation of the four feet. Among the four legal domains, that of vyavahāra was developed by the state itself as a realm of public, transactional law meant to address disputes that could not be resolved in other legal forums. From this we can conclude that the origin of Indian jurisprudence lies with state efforts to formalize and enforce the laws of public transactions. The reinterpretation of the four feet by later jurists was motivated perhaps by resistance to one of the fundamental relationships expressed in the four feet, namely that royal authority possessed the greatest legal authority, independent of Brāhmaņical law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India has entered into bilateral investment treaties (BITs) with eightysix countries. Of these BITs, seventy-three have already come into force. Despite this massive BIT program, BITs in India did not attract much attention until foreign investors used BITs to slap India with investment treaty arbitration (ITA) notices. These foreign investors, ranging from telecommunication companies to hedge funds, have challenged a host of state measures like license cancellation by courts and retrospective taxes. The use of BITs to challenge actions of Indian courts has raised concerns in India regarding BITs encroachment of India's judicial sovereignty. These ITA notices against actions of the Indian judiciary have triggered a debate in India as to whether the IT A may be invoked against judicial actions (and omissions) at all. Ind ia 's top legal officer at the time of the claims stated that such notices were untenable. In this regard, this Article examines whether the investors can bring BIT claims against India for the actions of the Indian judiciary. The Article discusses the international law of attribution, India's limited IT A experience where judicial action or inaction has triggered BIT claims against India, and BIT jurisprudence on claims against states due to judiciary acts. The Article concludes by proposing how India could reduce the interface between BITs and the Indian judiciary given its sensitivities to BIT claims against judicial actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Upper House of the Indian Parliament has recently approved irretrievable breakdown of marriage as a ground for divorce under the Hindu and secular marriage laws. While the liberalization of divorce upholds individual choice, it has adverse consequences upon women in a society where marriage is the primary source of their economic security. This paper argues that the Bill does not adequately protect the economic interests of women upon divorce. It fails to recognize marriage as an economic partnership, but characterizes the wife as a 'dependant' of the husband, worthy of only discretionary 'compensation'. The paper consists of three parts. The first part relates the four decade long debate on no-fault divorce in India and compares it to the models in California and the UK. It is found out that the discourse underlying the debate is founded on two contradictory premises: first, that a marriage is a voluntary union of two equally autonomous individuals. This is opposed to social realities in India, where marriage is not a voluntary union, and the autonomy of wives is greatly curbed. Second, that the 'autonomous' wives are still punished for abdicating on 'wifely' duties within the home, and viewed as 'unequal dependents' whose independent economic contribution to the family is ignored. The debate also neglects the compelling empirical evidence from other jurisdictions, narrating the drastic fall in economic status of wives exacerbated by no-fault divorce. The second part narrates the gender-blind jurisprudence of the Supreme Court and High Courts which granted no-fault divorce without any legislative backing or any financial orders for the security of wives, thereby converting the debate on no-fault divorce to one solely on choice, and not on the security of wives. In the third part, the Marriage Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2013, which adopts the model of unrestrained judicial discretion to divide property between spouses, is specifically critiqued. It draws from the studies of Kirti Singh and Jaya Sagade to show that discretion in matrimonial litigation is normally exercised adverse to the interests of women. It concludes by stating that the interests of the Bill to uphold individual choice, and symbolically recognize marriage as a union of equals, would have been better served through a community of property regime, with equal division of marital property. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A speech delivered by Upendra Baxi, Emeritus Professor of Law, University of Warwick, Great Britain, as Annual Tony Blackshield Lecture delivered at Macquarie Law School, Macquarie University on October 21, 2014 is presented. It mentions that the speech was focused on Indian judicial experience in the context of comparative constitutional studies.

The Constitution of India contains provisions combining both the individual freedoms and social welfare. Individual freedoms are represented in Part III as Fundamental Rights (FR) and social welfare in Part IV as Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP). There have been curious developments as to their relationship or so to say the predominance of one over the other. The Supreme Court of India was initially reluctant to give any value to Directive Principles (DP) vis-à-vis FR. Compelled by such a situation, the Parliament brought successive amendments to further the goal of welfarism. This led to an unpleasant situation of virtual tussle between legislature and judiciary. Of late, the judiciary has woken up to the reality of socioeconomic justice and interpreted both, i.e., FR and DP as integrated ones. They constitute the negative and positive aspects of human rights, respectively. This development has helped in the growth of the ambit of FR and specifically Article 21. The integrative approach has enriched the growth of constitutional jurisprudence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]