Attendance In Legal Education: A Debate Beyond Examinations

The recent debate around attendance in legal education has triggered strong reactions across campuses, social media, and legal circles. Unfortunately, much of the conversation has been driven by emotional stories and selective interpretations rather than a deeper understanding of what legal education is truly meant to achieve. In many cases, the conversation has become more about taking sides than actually understanding how professional legal education works.At a time when the quality of legal...

The Day A Man Drank Mud, And Nobody Blinked: Jharkhand In Summers

In Jharkhad's scorched villages, water has become a rumor and the heat won't let you forget itThere is a photograph that has been circulating on social media. A man, face pressed into cracked earth, drinking whatever little water has gathered in a hollow. It looks like a still from a disaster film. It isn't. It was taken in Jharkhand, specifically in the Palamu district, one of the most poor and drought-prone pockets of a drought-prone state during a heatwave that most of the country only...

From Deference To Scrutiny: Standard of Care, Informed Consent And Regulatory Classification Of Stem Cell Therapies

Indian medical law has long operated within a framework of judicial deference. For nearly seven decades, one test has defined the medical negligence standard across common law jurisdictions, articulated by McNair J. in Bolam v. Friern Hospital Management Committee [1957] 1 WLR 582, a doctor is not negligent if she acts in accordance with a practice accepted as proper by a responsible body of medical men skilled in that particular art. The logic was deferential by design. Courts were not medical...

Jharkhand RTI Row: Appointment Process Contravenes Section 15(6) And Dilutes Legislative Intent

On 29 January 2026, the State of Jharkhand informed the Jharkhand High Court that the State Information Commission, which has remained non-functional due to the non-appointment of its Chairperson and Members, would be made functional within four weeks. A Division Bench comprising Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad and Justice Arun Kumar Rai was hearing the matter.The process was delayed, and the final meeting of the selection committee was held on 25 March 2026. Section 15(3)[1] provide the...

From Intelligence To Empathy: Reimagining Role Of Emotional Intelligence (EQ) In Legal Profession

The legal profession has long been anchored in the primacy of intellect, logic, precedent, statutory interpretation and reasoning. From classrooms to courtrooms the emphasis has traditionally been on the relevance of Intelligence Quotient (IQ) i.e. the ability to analyse, argue and adjudicate. However, the lived realities within the legal profession increasingly reveal a silent yet an urgent need for Emotional Intelligence (EQ). There is a need to bring in a paradigm shift from a purely...

Evolving IP Or Judicial Overreach? India's Personality Rights Problem

The recent Delhi High Court interim order in Allu Arjun v. Frankly Retail Pvt. Ltd. raises important questions regarding use of IP law principles for protection of personality rights in the age of AI, deepfakes, cloned voices, and unauthorised merchandising.It is noteworthy that the present matter is only the latest in a continuing line of decisions where Indian High Courts have recognised and enforced personality rights in favour of well-known public figures. Similar protective relief has...

Kolkata Pride And Constitutional Crossroads: LGBTQ+ Rights Amid Legislative Silence And A Changing Political Landscape

The Kolkata Rainbow Pride Walk, the oldest of its kind in India, has steadily transformed from an assertion of visibility into a recurring constitutional moment. Its contemporary significance lies not merely in symbolic expression but in the way it exposes the structural incompleteness of LGBTQ+ rights within Indian constitutionalism. In the wake of judicial recognition of identity without corresponding legislative recognition of relationships, Pride in Kolkata must be understood as occupying a...

When Finality Fails: Res Judicata After Setting Aside Of Awards

Though the incorporation of the principle of res judicata in arbitration is well settled, its application becomes uncertain once an arbitral award is set aside under Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (hereinafter referred as 'the Arbitration Act'). The Supreme Court, in its various judgments, has laid down that once an issue is decided, it cannot be re-agitated across arbitral stages.2 However, the result of setting aside of an award remains unexplored as to whether it...

Sacrilege And The State: Three Constitutional Questions Punjab's Anti-Sacrilege Law Has Not Answered

Background “The scripture is the abode of the Supreme Being.” - Guru Arjan Dev Ji, Guru Granth Sahib Ji, Ang 1226 On 20th April 2026, the Punjab Legislative Assembly unanimously passed the JaagatJot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar (Amendment) Act, 2026, amending the foundational 2008 statute governing reverence, custody, and protection of the Guru Granth Sahib Ji. To Sikhs, the Guru Granth Sahib Ji is not merely a scripture it is the living, eternal eleventh Guru. Each physical...

Corporations In The Dock: Unraveling Criminal Liability

TODAY'S Society is increasingly faced with types of economic offences unknown to the nineteenth-century society in which criminal justice systems were shaped. In today's societies prosecutors have to deal with economic and environmental criminality previously not heard of. An important aspect of these trend corporations in white-collar criminality and the consequences punishment of this particular type of wrongdoing. As the bulk omic activity nowadays takes place through corporations, omic...

Rethinking Abortion Law: A Rights-Based Approach For Rape Survivors

In a significant intervention, the Supreme Court of India has urged the Union Government to reconsider the gestational limits under India's abortion law, particularly in cases involving rape survivors. The direction reflects judicial discomfort with a legal framework inhumane to rape survivors. The direction reflects judicial discomfort with a legal framework that is inhumane to rape survivors. However, the recent intervention is not merely about legislative amendment; it represents a step...

NLU Uttarakhand: A Long wait Continues

The National Law University of Uttarakhand Act, 2011 was passed with a vision to establish an NLU for the advancement of legal education in Uttarakhand. However, the inability of the Uttarakhand government to operationalize the National Law University even after more than a decade reflects a troubling lack of accountability and administrative effectiveness. This inordinate delay has not only denied aspiring law students access to quality legal education within the State but has also eroded...