Custodial Trial Versus Statutory Approval

We all are familiar with the term “Custodial Trial”. Most of the Criminal Courts used to receive petitions from the investigating officers along with the Charge-sheets to hold custodial trial of accused persons. In simple language the term “Custodial Trial” denotes concluding the trial of a particular case keeping the accused in the custody. In broader sense Custody of an accused can be divided in two parts, police custody and judicial custody. Generally an accused is remanded to police...

Examining OCD Under Labour Law

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a mental health condition where a person experience repeated unwanted thoughts or fears and feels compelled to perform certain actions again and again to reduce anxiety. OCD can be challenging in the workplace because it is often an invisible condition. Employees with OCD may appear to be functioning normally while struggling with intrusive thoughts, anxiety, and compulsive behaviours. Many people with OCD can manage their condition and work effectively....

Regulating App Based Taxi Services

The growing reliance on app-based mobility services such as Uber led the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (“the Ministry”) to amend the Motor Vehicles Aggregator Guidelines. Most drivers on app-based mobility services are engaged as independent contractors rather than employees, while the platform operates as an intermediary connecting passengers with the drivers. As a result, drivers often fall outside the statutory protections available to employees and are often treated as falling...

Settlement Without Closure: Section 138 As Leverage In Commercial Lease Defaults

In commercial leasing, a settlement rarely brings genuine closure. A tenant may clear outstanding rent, vacate the premises, and sign a compromise deed, yet the landlord's Section 138 complaint may continue unless it is compounded or otherwise terminated by the court. Conversely, a landlord issuing a cheque to refund a security deposit may face criminal proceedings if that cheque bounces. The reason is a built-in structural asymmetry: under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881,...

Your God, Not Your Oath: Kerala High Court's Reality Check on Creative Oath-Taking

It is a hackneyed phrase that the 'Constitution is the supreme law of the land'. Despite this phrase's universal acceptance and popular appeal, certain elected representatives occasionally tend to forget the significance of the statement. This forgetfulness was apparent when twenty councilors of the Bharatiya Janata Party elected to the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation swore their oath in the most unconventional way possible. Instead of pledging their allegiance to the Constitution of India in the...

Scope Of Challenge To An Order Under Section 175(3) BNSS

Section 175(3) of the Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS) which corresponds to section 154(3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPC), empowers the magistrate to direct the police to register and investigate an incident of a cognizable offence when police fail to do so. The provision is a crucial safeguard for the victims in situations where police officers, under the influence, selectively or otherwise, disregard registering an FIR despite disclosure of a cognizable offence....

Algorithmic Masquerade: Personality Rights And Deceptive Horizon Of AI Safe Harbor

The rapid rise of generative artificial intelligence (AI) has created a major challenge for India's digital liability laws. Instead of simply hosting user data, generative AI systems actively recreate human identity. This shift disrupts the core assumptions of Section 79 of the The Information Technology Act, 2000, which protects online platforms from being held liable for user-generated content.[1] While the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code)...

2026 FCRA Amendments: Where Regulation Ends And Restriction Begins

I have sat with enough small trusts and societies to know the file before I know the people. A thick folder of bank letters, audit reports, board resolutions, and returns filed year after year, and under it a quiet worry each time a renewal comes due. The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Rules, 2026, notified by the Ministry of Home Affairs on 22 June 2026, add several pages to that folder. At first sight this is one more round of compliance. Read with some care, it is a larger...

SARFAESI-IBC Deadlock: A System At War With Itself

The Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002 (SARFAESI Act) and Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC) have had an uneasy interface since the initiation of IBC in India and has recently come into sharp focus. The recent judgements of Bombay High Court including Arrow Business Development Consultants Pvt. Ltd. v. Union Bank of India & Ors have exposed a critical gap in the statutory framework. This inconsistency allows insolvency...

From Post To Platform: Section 69A After Telegram Order

The holding that an entire platform can be switched off is defensible on the statute's text. What the judgment does not supply is a limiting principle. On 19 June 2026, the Delhi High Court dismissed Telegram's challenge to the temporary block imposed on the platform ahead of the NEET-UG re-examination. Most of the attention has understandably gone to the block itself: a widely used messaging service with more than 150 million Indian users, made unavailable across India, even if only for a few...

Beyond Modicum Of Creativity: Human Agency And Future Of Copyright Authorship

The existence of the idea-expression dichotomy under copyright is a prerequisite for linking the other core concept of originality. It is not merely a technical requirement but a tool to balance the creators' incentive with the right of the public to access information. It could be said that protectability of an idea could be achieved if it is expressed and fixed in a certain form having originality. The word 'originality' requires creativity, not 'just' an output of certain prompt but...

AI And IPR : Rethinking Ownership And Innovation

The concept of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing the process of knowledge creation and innovation. In such areas as art, music, writing articles, and conducting scientific research, machines have shown themselves to be highly adept at producing output which resembles human creativity. Though such progress provides great prospects for future economic development, it creates many issues related to IPR, including ownership and authorship of AI products.The creation of intellectual...