Articles
De-Apotheosizing The Women's Reservation Bill Through The Lens Of Delimitation
President. Smt. Droupadi Murmu signed the Women's Reservation Bill 2023 (128th Amendment Bill) on 28 September, marking a landmark legislation to come into effect which would enable greater participation of women in policymaking and equitable governance. The 'Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam' reserves one-third of all seats in Lok Sabha, state legislative assemblies, and the Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi for women. Seats reserved for SCs and STs in the Lok...
A Critique Of Supreme Court's 'RK Arora' Judgment Giving ED 24 Hours To Furnish Written Reasons For Arrest
The Supreme Court's judgment in Pankaj Bansal v. Union of India, delivered on October 3, 2023, came at a time when there were widespread concerns regarding the sweeping powers of the Enforcement Directorate in arresting people. In that judgment, a two-judgment comprising Justices AS Bopanna and PV Sanjay Kumar held that the ED has to compulsorily furnish the grounds of arrest to the accused in writing and that the agency cannot arrest people by simply citing non-cooperation to the summons....
Where Privacy Takes A Detour: Navigating The Controversy Of Live Location Sharing
In early November, 2023 a prisoner in Jammu and Kashmir was released on bail after he was tagged with a Global Positioning System (“GPS”) tracking device monitoring his movements. The accused, facing charges under the Unlawful Activities(Prevention) Act, 1967 (“UAPA”), secured release from jail following a special National Investigation Agency (“NIA”) court's decision in Jammu. The Court, in agreement with the prosecution's request, directed law enforcement to install a GPS tracker[1] ...
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...