Regulating Dark Patterns; A Step to Fortify Consumer Autonomy?

On 30th November, 2023, the Central Consumer Protection Authority (“CCPA”) notified guidelines for the prevention and regulation of dark patterns (“Guidelines”) fortifying consumers' interest. The growing reliance on e-commerce platforms surpassing traditional marketplaces urged the country's top consumer watchdog to establish guidelines protecting consumer interests online. An average consumer would have come across that red-blinking line saying, “hurry up! only few left” or...

Indian Tax Authorities Favoured: Supreme Court Rules On The 'Most Favoured Nation' Controversy

In a ground-breaking judgment in the case of Assessing Officer Circle (International Taxation) 2(2)(2) New Delhi v. Nestle SA, the Supreme Court of India (“SC”) has definitively addressed the contentious issues surrounding the Most Favoured Nation (“MFN”) clause in Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements (“DTAA”). Background of the Controversy A DTAA is an agreement between two or more countries designed to prevent the double taxation of income by establishing rules for...

Judicial Review Of Film Reviews

Recently, a film director filed a writ petition before the Kerala High Court to direct Union of India (Ministry of I&B), CBFC etc. to issue a “gag order” to ensure that social media influencers and film reviewing vloggers do not publish any reviews of his movie “Aromalinte Adyathe Pranayam” on social media for at least seven days from the date of release of the film. The main allegation of the petitioner is that movie reviewers deliberately degrade movies by giving negative reviews thereby...

Untangling The Mysteries Of AI-Generated Content And Copyright

The combination of human ingenuity and cutting-edge technology has given birth to a new frontier of innovation in the digital age: Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI has emerged as a transformational force in a variety of industries, pushing the limits of what is possible and challenging conventional assumptions of human inventiveness. Content production is one of the most exciting areas where AI's potential shines. AI can create art, music, literature, and journalism that rivals...

J.D. Inverarity – A Centennial Tribute

John Duncan Inverarity was one of the most eminent men of law. He was both an astute lawyer and a forceful advocate. There is no better and more comprehensive pen-picture of him than what is contained in P.B. Vachha’s Famous Judges, Lawyers and Cases of Bombay: Inverarity who practised in Bombay for 53 years from 1870 to 1923 was the greatest, ablest and most powerful advocate that ever practised in the Bombay High Court. This writing has drawn extensively from that work. This December 5 marks...

Our Delusional Denial Of Tailpipe Emissions

Delhi's air pollution spiked pre-Diwali unseasonaly to 50 times the WHO permissible limits. It remains there post Diwali 2023 as well. As much as there is tremendous urgency in addressing the issue of air pollution, the debate is predictably straying farthest away from the prime cause for it – viz. the complete absence of meaningful tail pipe emission norms in place in India. On 27 November 20223, the Indian Express reported a study conducted by IIT Kanpur, IIT Delhi and TERI which...

An Assessment Of Foreign Companies’ Right To Exclude The Jurisdiction Of Indian Courts For Disputes Against Indian Individuals And Entities

In an increasingly globalized world, Indian consumers have become used to benefitting from products and services offered by foreign companies. In fact, some of these have become an unavoidable part of the modern way of living. Be it using Amazon to find practically anything that you want to buy, or using YouTube to stream and share content, the services offered by these companies are increasingly gaining an important place in our lives. While agreeing to use the services offered by these...

Deceptive Marketing Practices: Exploring Legal Dimensions Of Surrogate Advertisements And Consumer Misleading

In India, surrogate advertising is predominantly employed in the tobacco and liquor sectors due to the prohibition of direct promotions for these products. To overcome this restriction, liquor and tobacco industries have devised surrogate ads as a strategic workaround. Rather than directly showcasing the banned items (alcohol or cigarettes), companies present them indirectly by integrating them into advertisements for different products under the same brand name. This approach ensures...

Sir Benegal Narsing Rau- An Anniversary Tribute

We celebrated Constitution Day on November 26. The role and contribution of B.N.Rau in the making of our Constitution is marvellous. The 70th anniversary of his passing is on November 30. It is only appropriate that we remember his life and work and salute his sacred memory.To pay tribute to B.N. Rau, “is to paint the lily, to gild refined gold and throw a perfume on the jasmine,” for so exemplary was the man in his personal and functional qualities and accomplishments.Sir Benegal Narsing Rau...

International Perspectives: Jurisdictional Considerations In Penalty Guidelines – US, EU, & UK

On 26th October 2023 the MCA released a notification[1] asking the CCI to issue penalty guidelines u/s 64 of the Competition Act, 2002, which gives it the authority to publish non-binding guidelines on the provisions of the Act. The Supreme Court in the Excel Crop Care Case[2] settled the law by incorporating the ‘Doctrine of Proportionality’ i.e. the penalties under the Competition Act could not be disproportionate and should not lead to shocking results. The Supreme Court in the...

The Need For A Comprehensive Blood Law For India: Thalassemia In Focus

In India, issues related to access and safety of blood have emerged time and again. This issue is particularly concerning in the case of repeat blood recipients like patients of blood transfusion dependent thalassemia major patients, who need frequent blood transfusions for survival[1]. The issue can be largely attributed to weak regulation governing blood transfusion services in India. The relevant statute does not lay down formal standards covering all aspects of blood transfusion (safe...

Technology And Human Rights

Justice Chandrakant V Bhadang, President, ITAT; Justice R.V Easwar, former judge Delhi High Court; Shri S K Tulsiyan, President, Kolkatta IT Bar Association; Smt. Smita Srivastava, Pr. CCIT, W.B. & Sikkim; Shri Raj Pal Yadav, Vice President, ITAT, Kolkata Zone; Dr. N K Chakraborty, Vice Chancellor, N.U.J.S., Kolkata; Shri J.P. Khaitan, Senior Advocate, Calcutta High Court, my dear friends of the bar, ladies and gentlemen. I am honoured to be asked to speak in the memory of a...