Ayush Agrawal and Shriyaditya Shrivastava Mob lynching is a barbarous act of community “justice,” where an individual is lynched to death as a form of punishment for the alleged wrong, without the involvement of the legal machinery. Over the years, India has experienced rising cases of mob lynching. However, the same is not recognized as a separate offense under Indian Criminal law, leading to several deficiencies in the prosecution of the act. Several attempts have been undertaken toward the recognition of mob lynching as a separate offense. Amid this fervent debate, the criminalization of mo ..read more

Rahul Ranjan A 2022 judgment, Deepak Sethi v. State of Uttarakhand (‘Sethi’), seems to have gone unnoticed by many observers, but potentially opens up questions about the guidelines given in the case of Satender Antil v. Central Bureau of Investigation (‘Antil’) for Category A offences. The Sethi judgment of the Uttarakhand High Court categorically observed that according to the fifth guideline for Category A offences, the bail applications before the trial court “…could be decided without the accused being taken in physical custody by granting him an interim bail till the bail application its ..read more

Sankalp Srivastava Introduction This article is written broadly in the context of the documented categories of misuse of the Aadhaar regime to impose mandatory authentication by private players and the State.  For instance, private service providers continue to make Aadhaar mandatory for availing their services. In many cases, it goes unreported, but there are documented instances of this occurring. These instances are alarming, considering that heavily regulated private entities like banks have adopted this procedure.   Furthermore, there are examples of such instances having receiv ..read more

Vansh Singh and Niyati Trivedi Introduction In his keynote speech at the first session of the National Academy of Medical Sciences, the Chief Justice of India (CJI) emphasised the important connection between ‘Law and Medicine,’ particularly highlighting the widespread problem of quackery as a significant issue impacting the country. The Chief Justice of India (CJI) raised concern about the dominance of a profit-oriented culture in hospitals, which is overshadowing their dedication to serving society.  They emphasised the connection between the scarcity of healthcare services and the incr ..read more

Ishita Warghat Introduction In recent years, the intersection between Intellectual Property Rights (‘IPR’) and Arbitration has emerged as a significant legal terrain, raising complex questions about the arbitrability of IPR disputes. India, with its robust legal system, stands at the forefront of this evolving landscape. Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 talks about the non-arbitrable nature of the subject matter of the dispute or the grounds on which arbitral awards can be set aside. While IPR is touted to fall squarely within the four lines of this section, this articl ..read more

Madhumitha L. I. Introduction Section 31(7) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (‘1996 Act’) enunciates the Indian position on the award of interest in arbitrations. The Arbitration Act, 1940 (‘1940 Act’) was silent on the jurisdiction of the Arbitral Tribunal in awarding pre-reference and pendente lite interest as well as the restrictions, if any, on the exercise of such discretion vis-à-vis the ‘period’ for which interest could be granted. The 1996 Act, however, marked a significant departure on this aspect by dividing the periods of interest into pre-award (31(7)(a)) and post awar ..read more

Sashank Saravanan and Kanan Shivhare Introduction In the hallowed halls of the Indian Parliament, where debates shape the destiny of a nation, a recent controversy has ignited a fervent discourse on the powers vested in the legislative body to regulate the conduct of its members. The expulsion of Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra from the Lok Sabha has thrust the issue of parliamentary powers into the limelight, raising fundamental questions about the process, jurisdiction, and mandates involved in such consequential decisions. At the heart of the matter lies the authority of the House to met ..read more

Suyash Pandey The Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) in the Netherlands adopted the final policy on sustainability agreements– agreements between corporations that promote the development of the economy, the environment, society, and human rights. These agreements, inter alia, aim at lowering pollution, restricting the use of natural resources, protecting human rights, and assuring animal welfare. Broadly, these agreements are aimed at achieving Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) goals.  The policy, adopted in October this year, aims to explain the application of competitio ..read more

Siddhant Shinde The United Nations (UN) was established in 1945 in response to the Second World War with the objective of ‘prevention and removal of threats to peace’ and to ‘maintain international security’, by preventing war, protecting human rights and facilitating international cooperation. The 21st Century saw a broadening of the definition of ‘threats to international security’, including not only inter-state conflicts, but encompassing conflicts between states and non-state actors, government coups, refugee displacement etc., leading to the UN performing external functions, often masque ..read more

Shreya and Tanmay Pal I. Introduction “So the climate is changing faster than our efforts to address it.  The alarm bells keep ringing.  Our citizens keep marching.  We cannot pretend we do not hear them.  We have to answer the call.  We know what we have to do to avoid irreparable harm” – Barack Obama (UN Climate Change Summit) In the famous ‘Kingsnorth Trial’ in 2008, the United Kingdom Trial court for the first time recognised the defence of climate necessity and acquitted six climate change activists of causing criminal damage when they closed down a coal-fired pow ..read more