In this Blog Post, Charvi Arora, a student of University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun, tells us how a the valuation of a startup is done and further enlightens as to how a startup is established.

Valuation of a Startup

To start with, let’s look at the basic definition of a Startup. So, a Startup is a newly established business looking forward to getting itself placed in the market and continuing further in motion.

It is quite easy for an artist as compared to a person belonging to a science background to value the startup because it is believed that valuing a startup is mainly in the domain of an artist. It is necessary that we put a value on our startup investments to generate liquidity. Since valuation of a pre-revenue company is often one of the first points of contention that must be negotiated with investors and entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs want the value to be as high as possible and investors want a value low enough for them to own a reasonable portion of the company for the amount they invest. Potential investors and entrepreneurs prefer to use several methods to value a startup because no single method is useful every time. Multiple methods also help in the negotiation process because an average can be determined from among them and it rather becomes less time consuming.

The biggest determinant of a startup’s value are the market forces of the industry and the sector it falls in, which include the balance (or imbalance) between demand and supply of money, and size of recent exits, the willingness for an investor to pay a premium to get into a deal, and the level of desperation of the entrepreneur looking for money.

Big startups in India as of today are Myntra, Jabong, Freshdesk, Zomato, Olacabs, Book My Show, Oyo Rooms, Snapdeal, Bigbasket, Paytm, Dropbox, Instagram, etc. which have gained a huge amount of popularity and are still growing at a very fast pace. Startup companies have short operational histories and little historical financial data. Usually in a business, the valuation specialists typically use historical financial data to extrapolate the future value of a business. Recently, the government officially launched the ‘Startup India’ programme which was first mentioned by the Prime Minister on the 15^th of August, last year.

According to a report given by The Hindu, the plan comes at a time when the startup ecosystem in the country is witnessing an exponential growth. As per NASSCOM’s “Startup-India: Momentous Rise of Indian Startup Ecosystem” report, India ranks third globally with over 4200 startups.The government has shown their interest to support the startup ecosystem and Startup India is expected to take it ahead with the introduction of key policy reforms. According to Nilotpal Chakravarti, AVP of Internet and Mobile Association of India, “Over the last one year, the government has been steadily building a conducive atmosphere for encouraging start-ups in India. Initiatives like Digital India and Make in India are the biggest enablers providing a boost to startups.”

We should know what our business is actually worth, i.e., if it’s worth being is higher than we are thinking or if it is overvalued by us. To decide this, certain steps are to be taken into consideration and they are:

Depends upon the market

It depends upon the investors; whatever they’re telling is what the startup is worth. If we think that our startup is worth more, and we are unable to raise a certain amount of money, we have to accept the valuation that the investors have given it.

 If we raise money from our relatives and friends rather than professional investors, it’s possible that our company has been overvalued or undervalued (more likely, overvalued). Therefore, if we have persuaded our rich uncle to purchase shares in our business at Rs.20/share, it doesn’t mean that the investors will also pay that amount to buy that share even if our business is growing at a good rate.

When do we tell the market what is our worth?

This case is very rare in a startup as they don’t have a history of financial performance on which the investors can valuate it. Therefore, it’s always up to an entrepreneur to develop a strong procedure for valuing the company at a higher level based on other comparables.

Startups require a more creative methodology that considers, among other factors:

• Quality of management
• Value of comparable companies
• Industry prospects
• Stage of development
• Value of company IP
• Working capital requirements

The basic Stages behind a Startup

Stage 1

1. Inspire:

• This is the stage where the entrepreneurs get inspired from an idea and want to establish a startup. They try to initiate it and follow certain ideas that have inspired them. The startup media typically provides centralized local startup listings and news.
• It also includes inspirational events which welcome the people into their community and inspire those with ideas to launch a company. Some examples are Startup Weekend, University Events, and Inspirational Meetups.

2. Educate:

• In this stage, an entrepreneur learns and gets himself more acquainted with the field in which he is going to establish a startup and collects all the necessary information which is required.
• These events serve to educate rather than inspire. Training and feedback with a certain idea in hand, bootcamps help in aspiring entrepreneurs build more.

3. Validate:

• When in the last stage, in order to execute the startup, the entrepreneur validates the new business and brings it into comparison with the already set up businesses.
• Team formation for startups is the key. It should only include resources that specifically facilitate networking.

Stage 2

In this stage, entrepreneurs establish and formalize the company, develop their product, get feedback from customers, and prepare for the next step.

1. Start:

• It includes resources to help entrepreneurs set up the legal and financial frameworks for their companies, like local law firms and banks that specialize in addressing the unique challenges of startups.
• Co-working and flexible workspaces can provide a good breeding ground for new companies.

2. Develop:

• As a company begins to grow, they often need resources to help them set up their infrastructure (accounting, HR, recruitment, production, etc). This section can include accountants, software development houses, and more.
• PreSeed funding is a big milestone for most startup teams.This includes Startup Weekend Next and workshops.

3. Launch:

• The next step in the equation for most ecosystems is a local accelerator, like TechStars, Seedcamp.
• Whether a company goes through an accelerator or not, they often need a way to present their company to a large number of investors in order to gain a large seed investment.

Stage 3

Here, a startup proves their utility, receives recognition and scales up. This usually requires funding and other resources to drive growth.

1. Recognition:

• Many ecosystems have ways to connect professional investors with founders, like events, groups, and association.
• The major media can play a role in the startup ecosystem as well, by providing exposure for companies to mainstream audiences.

2. Funding:

• These investors focus on the seed-stage. These investors typically participate in the funding stage and beyond, such as institutional venture funds.

3. Growth:

• With capital in hand, a company will often need to invest in infrastructure to grow. This includes expenditures like office space, HR, business insurance, and more.
• In many cases, capital-rich companies will also look for new areas of growth such as new product lines or international markets. Consultants, corporate accelerators and growth accelerators can typically help provide assistance in local markets.

The value of your startup depends on the investor; if he’s willing to pay more for your company depends on the following factors:

The startup is in a flourishing sector:

 Investors that come late into a sector may also be willing to pay more as one sees in public stock markets of later entrants into a hot stock.

If the management team comprises of professionals from all fields:

A good team gives investors good faith that the team can execute further and grow wisely in the market.

The product to be introduced is a functioning product:

It becomes easy for the market to adapt the new product in a lesser time and certainly for the investors to invest in it.

Negatives that could lead to decline of a Startup

• It is in a sector that has shown poor performance.
• It is started in a sector which is highly commoditized, with little margins to be made.
• It is in a sector with a too many competitors and little differentiation between them.
• The management team has no record and the professionals are missing from its team.
• The capital budgeting is really acute.

If we set up a survey to ask people what is the basic drawback, of a startup not being a success is ‘Lack of capital’. However, in our experience working in nearly 100 markets across the globe, ‘lack of capital’ is nowhere near being the biggest hindrance to startup community growth.

Consider the following sequence of events, which are considered to be very helpful:

1. New capital is required to grow a local startup ecosystem, either by the government or by foreign investors. This money needs to be allocated fairly quickly.
2.  As a result, these organizations start :

• Creating exclusive relationships with others in the ecosystem
• Vertically integrate (ex. co-working spaces that used to partner with accelerators now create their own accelerators).

3. Almost overnight, a once collaborative ecosystem becomes overly competitive and fragmented.

Startup Ecosystem

Taking in consideration the ‘The Startup Ecosystem’ (a startup ecosystem is formed by people, startups in their various stages and various types of organizations in a location, interacting as a system to create new startup companies), they are controlled by both external and internal factors. External factors like financial climate, big market disruptions and big companies transitions control the overall structure of an ecosystem. Start-up ecosystems being dynamic entities, they are initially in formation stages and once established are subject to periodic disturbances, passing afterwards to the recovering process from some of those past disturbances and then flourishing like a fully established business in the near future.

Start-up ecosystems in similar environments but located in different parts of the world can end up doing things differently simply because they have a different entrepreneurial culture. The introduction of non-native people knowledge and skills can also cause substantial shifts in the ecosystem functions. In addition, resources like skills, time and money are also essential components of a start-up ecosystem. The resources that flow through ecosystems are obtained primarily from the people and organizations that are an active part of those startup ecosystems. Interactions in the form of events and meetings between organizations and different people play a key role in the movement of resources through the system helping to create new potential startups or strengthening the already existing ones and hence influencing the quantity of startups build. Failures of start-ups release people with improved skills and time for either establishing a new start-up or joining an already existing one.

Startup ecosystems are generally defined by the network of interactions among people, organizations and their environment. They can come in many types but are usually better known as startup ecosystems of specific cities or online communities ( it is often said that due to social networks, the entire globe is just one big network of startup ecosystems).

To conclude, the only strategy to be adopted by the Startup entrepreneurs should be “Go big or go home”.

Raise as much money as possible at the highest possible valuation, spend all the money fast to grow as fast as possible. If it works you get a much higher valuation in the next round, so high in fact that your seed round can pay for itself. If a slower-growing startup will experience 55% dilution, the faster growing startup will only be diluted 30%. So you saved yourself the 25% that you spent in the seed round. Basically, you got free money and free investor advice.

The post Startup Valuation – How Is It Done? appeared first on iPleaders.

In this blog post, Charvi Arora, a student of University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun gives you an overview about the poor standard of food being served in the Indian Railways and the initiatives that have been taken by the Railway Department to improve the same.

The problem faced by almost all of us while traveling in the Indian Railways is the poor quality of food served. So, if the food served to you in the train is smelly or stale, don’t worry everyone is sailing in the same boat.

The quality of food served while traveling for a long distance is a major issue that is yet to be resolved by the Indian government. In some trains, the packed food items are expired and kept in unhygienic conditions and are considered sub-standard. While in some trains, the food has been pre-cooked 4-5 days ago and this makes it all the more stale and smelly. This problem is faced all over the nation, especially in the sleeper class section of the train where the environment is very unhygienic. The problem has not been looked into even after several complaints have been made to the Railway department. The condition of kitchen is extremely unhygienic and the cooks are not of the expected standard. The kitchen is poorly ventilated and the vegetables brought from the market are rotten.

All the helplines or the toll free numbers either do not work or are already dead. But the railways are still under the misconception that the availability of food is a problem while the actual menace is its quality. They were however unsatisfied about maintenance of bathrooms.

Some examples

Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) were fined for Rs. 1 lakh because a cockroach was found in the food in the Kolkata Rajdhani Express. There have been many instances in the past for which the Railways have been fined.

Railways have imposed heavy fines totaling Rs. 11.50 lakh on nine caterers including IRCTC for serving ‘bad quality’ food in trains.[1]

The Tourism Industry has a major drawback in the field of Railways as the tourists remain unsatisfied due to the poor quality food served to them. Railway catering has always been an insignia for poor quality. There is a plethora of poor feedbacks against the standard of food and beverages supplied to the passengers and the tourists traveling in the train. It lowers the reputation of the nation as less people would prefer travelling by the Railways. The actual standard is not maintained as the food inspectors’ visit these trains rarely and therefore no action is taken and nobody takes the responsibility to manage it. The quality of the food offered in the trains and on the platform can’t be guaranteed to be hygienic at all.Even after all the progress in restoring and improving the conditions of food stored in the pantry, there have been many complaints.

Reasons for poor quality of food

• Catering services are usually outsourced; quality check has not been done regularly.
• Contracts are usually taken by small time vendors who want to earn more money than serve quality food during contract period.
• No background checks are done while choosing vendors.
• There is no sense of responsibility as they focus on earning more profits than serving their duties.
• Visitor entry is allowed via pantry to different coaches who actually bring in more dirt then revenue.
• Inadequate facilities to preserve large quantity of food.
• Majority of the passengers are not fully satisfied about the cleanliness of coaches.

Passengers are unsatisfied about the maintenance of bathrooms. However they are satisfied about the behavior of railway employees. Passengers are also not fully satisfied with pantry car employees’ services. Railway must improve the quality of food served by pantry coach to passengers and instruct pantry staff to be courteous and responsive towards passengers.Some of the food items were adulterated by the chefs before serving the passengers in the train.

Solutions to be implemented by the Railway authorities

Strict quality checks should be done before selecting food vendors and contracts should be given to big and established vendors who would provide good quality and service. High penalty should be imposed on defaulting or non performing contractors. Standard dispensing machines should be installed for items like milk, cornflakes, coffee, tea, pre made snacks, etc. Passengers should be able to pre-order from a fixed menu decided by the Railway department. Menu cards should be displayed in the coaches of each train and they should not be priced too high. Food contractor’s name and contact number along with the concerned IRCTC supervisor’s name and contact number should be displayed in each bogie of the train. The serving boys should necessarily wear a clean uniform with identity cards. Pantry boys should be trained on maintaining hygiene and cleanliness. CCTV cameras should be installed in the pantry cars. The waiters should be provided with trolleys in the same way as done in the airplanes. The unauthorized vendors should not be allowed to enter the platforms. Regular quality checks of the pantry should be done by senior officials. An effective online or mobile based citizen feedback mechanism should be set up so that passenger feedback is sent immediately after the service is provided. Citizens should be able to rate Food and Service via their feedback.  Railway officers must take action on any complaint within specified period of time. Pantry coach should be redesigned with modern facilities and amenities. IRCTC should consider consulting with a Food Technological Research Institute for comprehensive advice on food quality, food safety and nutrition.[2]

The Present Scenario

Now the Indian officials’ have given the passengers the assurance that good and hygienic food would be served to the people. As said by the Indian officials, they have tied-up with Foodpanda which has been another big step towards the development of Indian Railways. The solution to this big menace has been strictly implemented by the employees. IRCTC officials have promised to provide the best quality services in little time and the quality of the food would be far better than what was served earlier. The Indian Railways caterers have also tied up with major food joints like KFC, Dominos, etc. Haldiram has also shown great interest in collaborating with the Railway caterers.

According to the ministry, it is also a part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s initiative of Swachh Bharat campaign to provide better service to passengers traveling in trains. Railway services have improved its system by managing on-board catering services in the local trains as well.It has also introduced station-based catering on 45 major stations all over the nation for the traveling passengers and their reach has expanded over time. They have also tried to manage the concept of e-catering through various sellers but this will develop in the future at a tremendous rate. Now the passengers can book tickets and manage the food served to them according to their choices online for the delivery of food while traveling. Indian Railway passengers can now feel satisfied with the food served in the train.

Conclusion

“The feedback service is in line with the emphasis given by Rail Minister Suresh Prabhu on the best connects between railway administration and railway users,” the railway ministry said in a statement.

 In my opinion, the food contractors should be instructed to have their place of cooking made pest free & certificates should be obtained for doing periodical pest control measures. Another most important thing sold by the pantry car is water. There is no quality control at all. Focus on this area to avoid water borne disease is a major requirement. IRCTC should be entrusted with the job of collecting the feedback, which should be done through a speedy mechanism. Under this system, passengers must be contacted randomly on their mobile phones to gather their feedback about the facilities provided by the Railways regarding all aspects such as cleanliness of the train and the respective station, quality of catering, punctuality of trains, etc.

On an average 60-70 calls per day, per train are being made and efforts are on to make approximately one lakh successful calls per day to passengers of mail/ express trains, the ministry added. The service is being initially being tested on a few trains. I hope after these initiatives taken by the Railways Authority of India, the condition of the railways improves as a whole.

[1]http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/irctc-among-nine-caterers-fined-by-railways-for-bad-food-606669

[2]http://www.complaintboard.in/complaints-reviews/irctc-catering-services-l188255.html0o

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In this blog post, Maanas Tumuluri, a student of Amity University, Noida, explains the crime of homicide, and its various aspects.

Human beings had killed even before history started being recorded for us to see. Today, killing another person is one of the gravest offenses known, with the exception of sedition and treason. The crime is known as homicide i.e., the killing of another human. Culpable homicide and murder are two terms commonly used to define this crime. The differences between these two terms are small but important to the legal system while dispensing justice to the victims of these grave crimes. Homicides can also be justified homicides. As with any other crime, murder is a crime against a person as well as the society as a whole. It disturbs the peace and might cause panic and hysteria amongst the public, especially when a serial killer is thought to be at loose.

The simplest way to put the differences between culpable homicide and murder is that all crimes of murder are within the scope of culpable homicide, but not all culpable homicides amount to murder. Murder is the more serious of the two offences and carries a lengthier sentence in almost all countries.

Section 299 of the Indian Penal Code

This section defines culpable homicide as ‘whoever causes death by doing an act with the intention of causing death, or with the intention of causing such bodily injury as is likely to cause death, or with the knowledge that he is likely by such act to cause death, commits the offence of culpable homicide.’

Section 300 of the Indian Penal Code

This section defines murder as ‘culpable homicide is murder, if it satisfies any or all of these following conditions:-

1. The act by which the death is caused is done with the intention of causing death, or
2. If it is done with the intention of causing such bodily injury as the offender knows to be likely to cause the death of the person to whom the harm is caused. or-
3. If it is done with the intention of causing bodily injury to any person and the bodily injury intended to be inflicted is sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause death, or-
4. If the person committing the act knows that it is so imminently dangerous that it must, in all probability, cause death, or such bodily injury as is likely to cause death, and commits such act without any excuse for incurring the risk of causing death or such injury as aforesaid.’

The differences are subtle. In Culpable homicide, there is a definite Mens rea, a malicious intention to kill the victim, and the victim dies, but the person committing the homicide cannot be certain of death, but he/she hopes for it. It is complex to prove this in court, and judgments may run askew depending on the subjectivity of the case.

In Murder, however, there is again, a definite Mens Rea, a malicious intention to kill the victim, and the victim dies, but the person committing the homicide is certain of death, and may even go out of his way to ensure it. (Example: – “A” goes to “B” with the intention of severely scaring & hurting him; In the ensuing scuffle, “A” punches “B” in the abdomen and “B” dies as a result. “A” could not have been certain that “B” would die; this is chargeable under Culpable Homicide, not amounting to murder. However, if “A” had gone to “B’s” house, and forced “B” to consume poison or cyanide, “A” has gone to extreme and thorough measures to ensure “B’s” death, and the crime is chargeable under the crime of Murder.)

Murders usually involve more premeditated action than culpable homicides, and some culpable Homicides may not be completely intentional (Example: – In Salman Khan’s drunk driving case, he had no intention to kill, however, he was undertaking an activity he knew would be dangerous to himself and everyone else around him when he made the decision to drive while under the influence of alcohol. He was charged with causing death by a rash and negligent act – not amounting to murder.) A defendant may argue that he/she took precautions not to kill the victim, but merely injure or hurt, if faced with a charge of murder, to reduce the charge to that of culpable homicide, which carries a lower sentence.

The United States has a good system of classification for murder. Aggravated or highly brutal murders are treated as first-degree murders (With a punishment of life in prison or death), while “normal” murders are charged as second-degree murder (a sentence of up to life in prison). They also refer to culpable homicide as manslaughter, and involuntary manslaughter may be committed when a person has no intent to kill, but his/her actions were a danger to everyone around, and death occurs (Example: – Waving a loaded gun, and accidentally firing a bullet.) (Involuntary manslaughter carries a sentence of up to eight years). Voluntary manslaughter or third-degree murder is a murder done in the heat of the moment; with no premeditation or planning (They carry a punishment of up to fifteen years).

Homicide can also be justified. Most countries allow for self defense, although some countries place higher restrictions on their citizens, to prevent misuse of this privilege. The United States has a “castle doctrine”. The castle doctrine states that a person may use force, up to deadly force, to defend themselves against any intruder, if they are in a place they are legally entitled to be, and are protected from prosecution for such acts. This is most commonly seen when potential housebreakers or thieves are killed by the homeowners. India has a similar law but stipulates that a person may only use force proportional to the force being used against him, and only in situations where there is a fear of grievous injury or death.

Sections 96-106 all deal with the right of private defense awarded to people in India.  It is far more limited than the rights of self defense given to people in the United States, but with good reason. India has a much higher rate of unreported crimes and a lower rate of convictions. As such, it would be easier for a murderer to claim the act was in self defense, and get away with the crime. However, since they now have to prove apprehension of death, it provides a barrier against misuse. Unfortunately, the opposite is also true. Due to the harsh limitations placed, people who genuinely commit acts in self defense often have to face harsher consequences.

In Indian law, culpable homicide involves the killing of a person regardless of intention. The level of intent is the element that differentiates it from murder. The question of fact is whether the accused knew the victim would die, or if death was uncertain. Murder carries a sentence of life in prison or death, depending on the ruthlessness, if the criminal is a repeat offender, or other factors, at the discretion of the judge.

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In this blog post, Charvi Arora, a student of the University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun writes about the situation of Muslim women in India and the various rights that are available to them.

The concept of equality has been never followed in the Muslim Law. It is always that the Muslim women are prejudiced against the Muslim Men. There are disparities that exist between the rights guaranteed to them by the Constitution of India and what the society gives them. Muslims are not a homogenous entity as the people mostly undervalue a woman. Although in India, the status of women is not that high as that of men, but the status of Muslim women is even worse. However there has been a clear distinction between the rights of a man and woman in the Quran; Purdah, the concept of distribution of property, marriage laws where polygamy exists takes away all the equality from a woman.

In India, the legal status of Muslim women in the society is a topic of controversy and debate. It is a complex issue that involves not only gender bias, but also issues of religious freedom, minority rights etc. thus highlighting the difference in personals laws. Personal law, which is based on religious laws, has been altered by the state authorities and precedents set by the judiciary in governing family relations. Personal law is the only law in India that applies to individuals on the basis of their religious identity.

There is an organization which governs the rights of a Muslim woman in India i.e.,  the All India Muslim Woman’s Personal Law Board (AIMWPLB), constituted in 2005 which adopted strategies for the protection and continued applicability of Muslim personal law in India focusing on major issues of women like marriage, divorce and other legal rights.

The Muslim law governs two schools of law and they are the Sunni school of law and the Shia school of law. In every part of Muslim law, there is a distinction among the two schools with their respective concepts. Muslim women face discrimination in many legal areas:

Marriage (Nikah)

Under Muslim Law, marriage is a form of a contract. In this law, the concept of cruelty is not limited. The cruelty provision in the personal law is to be interpreted in such a way that women are as tender as glasses and husband is the best man who can be kind to his wife. It is also mentioned under Muslim law that cruel nature is a disqualification for eligibility to marry. It is based on an offer and acceptance between the man and the woman.

Divorce

An act in 1939 was put up, the Dissolution of Muslim Marriage Act. It laid down nine grounds on which a Muslim woman could seek divorce in the court. Muslim law then allowed a man to divorce his wife at will but a wife did not have the right either to give divorce or seek one. The only way out for them was to convert to another religion to annul their marriage.

After that, the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986 protects the rights of a divorced Muslim woman and supports her living. This is a landmark legislation brought out by the parliament of India in 1986. In section 3(1) of this Act[1], it is stated that a fair amount of provision and maintenance should be granted to the Muslim women who has been divorced within the Iddat period by her former husband and whereas the court, in the case of Danial Latifi v. Union of India[2] held that this reasonable maintenance is to be provided to her until she remarries and is not limited to only the Iddat period.

Generally both parties to marriage have the option of divorce but the husband’s right is much greater than that of wife. Divorce may take place with mutual consent. But wife cannot divorce herself from her husband without his consent. Husband can immediately marry on divorce but wife cannot unless the Iddat period expires.

In the case Shah Bano v. Imran Khan[3], the Supreme Court held that if a Muslim divorced woman is unable to maintain herself after she gets divorced, so she can claim maintain maintenance from her former husband and the same can be claimed under section 125 of Criminal Code Procedure.

Inheritance

The general rules in Muslim Law of inheritance are:

Customary Principles of Succession:

• The nearest male agnate or agnates succeeded to the entire estate of the deceased
• Females and cognates were excluded
• Descendants were preferred to ascendants and ascendants to collaterals
• When the agnates were equally distant to the deceased, the estate was divided per capita.

Islamic Principles of Succession:

• The husband or wife can also be included.
• The females as well as cognates are included.
• Parents and ascendants are given a right to inherit even when there are male descendants
• As a general rule , the share of female is one half of the corresponding male relation’s share

Even while inheriting the property of the deceased, women are not benefited at all. Earlier females were not included in the principles of inheritance. But the new Islamic Principles of inheritance include females but the share of the females is always the half to that of the male’s share.

A  Muslim woman is entitled to inherit property only as a daughter, widow, grandmother, mother, or son’s daughter. A widow is entitled to one-fourth share of her husband’s property when there are no children and one-eighth of the share when they have issues. A daughter gets half the share of what her brother gets. If she has no brother, she is entitled to a share of half of the property. A mother will get one-third share of her son’s property when there are no children and one-sixth when there are children.The maternal grandmother will get one-sixth the share of the total property, only if there is no mother or grandfather. The paternal grandmother gets a share only if there is no father or grandfather.

Dower (Mahr)

Mahr or dower is a sum that becomes payable by the husband to the wife on marriage, between the parties or by operation of law in Muslim law. It is not practically possible for a wife to demand her dower ant maintain cordial relations with her husband for a long period of time. Though non- payment of mahr can be a ground of divorce, but in this law, marriage is not placed at a sacred level in comparison to other laws. Yet, most of the wives do not get Mahr due to ignorance.

Some general situations faced by Muslim women:

• There has also been a system of Purdah in Muslim law where the Pardanashin women are not allowed to go outside the house and are supposed to cover their full body including their face.
• The main prejudice against women in the society is on the issue that a Muslim woman can’t marry a non-Muslim whereas a Muslim man can.
• Earlier the husband also had the right to dissolve the marriage by uttering the word ‘talaq’ thrice without stating the reasons for the same and even in the absence of his wife.
• Women only have certain generic rights to divorce their husbands.

Conclusion

The present situation of Muslim women in India has barely improved and reached a better standard that before. However it has now enabled women to seek divorce on the grounds of cruelty, without having the fear of losing a substantial part to the inheritance of her husband’s property. Earlier, during the time when customary laws prevailed, women didn’t have the right to divorce her husband on the ground of cruelty but now she can do so. Dissolution of Muslim Marriage Act has proved to be a boon for all Muslim women. The Muslim women, meanwhile, continue to suffer because of polygamy, oral unilateral divorce, low Mahr amounts, lack of maintenance and other evils which plague Muslim society.  Now, it has become the duty of the State to take more responsibility in protecting the rights of the Muslim women who are to be treated as equal citizens and are also entitled to all the benefits which the women of other faiths inherit by right.

Basically, lack of education has been a major drawback in the personal laws, Muslim women have always been told to stay at home. Almost 80% of the Muslim population is face problems such as Purdah, polygamy, illiteracy etc. The continuing Muslim personal laws have been gender biased and have violated major fundamental rights provided to women under the Constitution of India which promise equality to every individual. Such laws go against secularism and national integration.

[1]Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986

[2](2001) 7 SCC 740

[3]2010(1) GLR 223

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Ritunjay Gupta is an Associate with J. Sagar Associates, Delhi and is currently looking after corporate commercial litigation. Prior to this, he has interned with prestigious law firms like Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan, Khaitan & Co., Saikrishna & Associates, Bharucha & Partners, Tatva Legal, etc. He has completed his LL.B from Campus Law Centre, Faculty of Law, University of Delhi.  Apart from his law career, he is passionate about social causes and makes it a point to volunteer with NGOs whenever he can spare some time from his busy schedule. In the past, he has volunteered with Manav Ashray, a not-for-profit organization for terminally ill patients and Isha Foundation, an international not-for-profit organization.

He completed the NUJS Diploma in Entrepreneurship Administration and Business Laws in 2014. He had a very fulfilling experience with the course and has many good things to share about it.  So we decided to share it with you all as a success story. Over to Ritunjay:

I joined the NUJS diploma in Entrepreneurship Administration and Business Laws while I was in the final year of my law school. I got to know about the course from a few of my friends who had already enrolled for the course. On further research, I found that NUJS diploma in Entrepreneurship Administration and Business Laws has the best course curriculum compared to similar courses available in the market.

The course syllabus covered a wide range of subjects and focussed more on the practical aspects of the law. Webinars by industry experts were the highlight of the course structure; it gave practical insights into complex subjects in an easy-to-comprehend and interactive manner.

The Delhi University law curriculum is broad based and not particularly focussed on Corporate Laws, whereas most of my internships were in Corporate Law. In order to acquire a strong foundation in Corporate Law, I searched for a suitable course to enhance my knowledge. The NUJS diploma course fit the bill.

My expectations from the course were fulfilled and it gave me an edge over others. It provided me additional confidence in dealing with my assignments in my current job.

All the course modules were well designed but I personally found the module on drafting to be very practical and beneficial.

I have mentioned this diploma in my CV and my Linkedin profile. I am certain that it has helped to highlight my suitability for the job I hold.

I am happy to recommend this course to all prospective law students. I have already suggested it to some of them and have received good reviews.

Here’s wishing iPleaders and NUJS all success!

The post Ritunjay Gupta; Associate at a top Law firm in Delhi, on why he enrolled for an online diploma from NUJS and how it is helping his career appeared first on iPleaders.

In this blog post, Maanas Tumuluri, a student of Amity University, Noida, highlights the essentials of a crime, elucidates on the importance of Mens rea and Actus Reus in the commission of a crime.

A crime is a moral wrong, committed against the society as a whole. It disturbs the peace, and some crimes may cause widespread panic and disruption of normal activities in a community (Example: – the shooting in Orlando, Florida). The burden of prosecution of a crime falls on the State, and the burden of proof falls on the prosecution. The State acts to protect the victims of the crime and to prevent the offender from committing more crimes and acts to provide justice to the victims. The State also takes measures to punish the offender and most countries have reformation programs in prison in an attempt to steer the offenders towards becoming law-abiding, dutiful citizens. An animal cannot commit a crime; hence, an essential of any crime is that it must be committed by a human being. However, crimes can be committed against animals and are punishable by law.

Mens rea and Actus Reus are two essentials of any crime and are the principles used in most common law countries. Mens rea is the ‘guilty mind’ or guilty intention to commit a crime, with the intention of causing hurt to another person, animal, or with the express intention of disturbing the peace. Actus Reus, however, is the “guilty act”, which is a necessity in proving that a criminal act was committed. When dealing with any crime, there are certain principles that need to be followed, and the accused is given the benefit of the doubt. The onus is on the prosecution to prove his/her guilt, beyond a reasonable doubt. The goal of the defense is to provide the judge or jury with a reasonable doubt since the principles of justice dictate that a person cannot be convicted if the charge on which he/she is accused cannot be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

Mens Rea

Mens rea is an essential part of deciding whether an act is culpable or not. Mens rea displays specific intent by the accused for the commission of the crime for which he is charged. The accused must be proven to have knowingly committed the crime, and had full knowledge of their actions and must have malafide intent towards the victim. Mens rea is also used in some civil suits, requiring the defendant to have been aware of the repercussions of their actions for a civil liability to arise, but usually, the Actus Reus takes precedence in cases of civil liability.

Further, an Act may be voluntary or involuntary, and the guilt is determined by the facts of the case. If a person drives while he’s drunk and involuntarily causes harm to others, he is still guilty as it was a voluntary choice on his part to consume alcohol before driving, even though the crime itself was unintentional. However, if an otherwise healthy person suffers a heart attack while driving and involuntarily causes harm to others, he are not liable and is not guilty of the crime.

Actus Reus

Actus Reus is the physical aspect of a crime. The accused needs to have done something or omitted to do something, resulting in injury to the plaintiff, or the victim in civil cases. Without a guilty act, there can be no crime and no suit for damages can arise. An act alone does not make a crime, however, and both the intention of the person and the act itself, if such act is prohibited, combine to form the crime. In certain cases, circumstances of the case are also taken into consideration, and are often used to either conclusively prove guilt, or can be used to prove reasonable doubt of intention. (Example: – carrying a knife into someone’s house with the express intention of committing the act of murder, or driving a car on a foggy night and accidentally striking someone attempting to unsafely cross the road.)

Actus Reus can also be the omission of an act, by omitting to do something that the accused knows he is bound by duty or law to do (example: – a mother intentionally omits to feed her female child, leading to the child’s death.) The mother can legally be charged with causing death by negligence, and may also be charged with murder, if her intentions of murdering her infant can be proven in court.

Minors

In Indian law, children below the age of seven are judged as guiltless, and cannot be held guilty for any offence. Children below the age of eighteen cannot be tried as adults and can only be sentenced to a maximum of three years.

Ignorantia juris non excusat

In certain cases, an illegal act may have been committed, but by mistake of fact, the accused may be excused. [Example: – If a person drives in the wrong direction in a one way lane without knowing that it is a one way (no sign boards) and causes an accident, he will not be criminally liable, and may or may not be liable in a civil court.] Ignorantia facti excusat is the legal principal used which means ignorance of fact is an excuse. Mistakes of Law are not excused, however. If a person sells an illicit substance, without the knowledge that the possession or sale of that substance is illegal, he is still completely liable for the crime. Ignorantia juris non excusat is the legal principle used in such cases, and it means, ignorance of fact of law is no excuse.

Some crimes do not necessarily require a malafide intention towards one particular person, and cases involving criminal negligence are a prime example of this. If a person leaves behind dangerous items that he is legally responsible for, like a firearm, he may be charged with criminal negligence if a crime is committed. (Example: – If a person leaves his shotgun loaded in his driveway, and a criminal uses it to commit a crime, the owner of the firearm may be guilty of criminal negligence for failing to properly secure the weapon. Such criminal negligence is culpable, and may carry a prison term.

Strict liability

Some cases have a strict liability clause, wherein Mens rea does not matter. Cases involving statutory rape and sale of alcohol or tobacco to minors are prime examples of this. It does not matter if the accused believed that his actions were legal, he will be guilty for the crime. In such cases, Actus Reus alone is sufficient to establish guilt, and to obtain a conviction from a competent court of law.

Some crimes require a deeper level of Mens Rea, like theft. Crimes like theft involve the specific intention to deprive the rightful owner of the full use the stolen good and enjoyment of his personal property with no intention of returning the said goods to their rightful owner. However, in cases of theft, the object does not necessarily have to be removed from the victim’s immovable property (Example: – A person steals a diamond ring belonging to ‘A’ and hides it in a flower vase, in ‘A’’s house with the intention of retrieving the ring later and with no intention of returning it to ‘A’. The moment the ring is taken from the location where ‘A’ left it, theft has been committed, and the thief can be prosecuted.) Cyber crime is simpler since theft of digital data cannot be accidental, and theft of identity, data and confidential information is done with malicious intent to harm the reputation of the victim or to get wrongful gain from the use of someone else’s property or resources.

4 essential elements of a crime

In conclusion, the four essential elements of a crime are:- (1) the crime must be committed by a person, (2) there must be hurt or injury caused to another, (3) there must exist an Actus Reus, (4) there must be a Mens rea to commit the crime, with certain exceptions.

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In this Blog post, Abhiraj Thakur, a student of NALSAR University of Law analyses the language policy of India as incorporated in the Official Languages Act of 1963. He further highlights a few shortcomings of the policy.

With a population of over one billion speaking more than a thousand varied languages, India certainly is one of the largest multilingual nations in the world. With their origins in Indo-Aryan, Dravidian, Austro-Asian and Tibeto-Burman language families,[1] the plethora of languages spoken here represent perfectly India’s vast and diverse history. Indian leaders, while making the Constitution planned it thus that Hindi, with the Devanagari script, would be the most prominent language and would promote regional communication and unify the numerous cultures of India. Today, however, English and Hindi both share the same status as official languages.

The write up is a brief analysis of the Official Languages Act of 1963. The objective is to address certain questions about the language policy of India; first, the selection of various languages as ‘official languages’ and second, the prevalence of said languages in the Indian education policy. Finally, the importance of the Official Languages Act, 1963, and the tri-language formula about the Indian language policy is highlighted.

Overview

The Constitution, adopted in 1950, necessitated that English and Hindi be utilized for conducting the Union’s official business for a time of fifteen years [s. 343(2) and 343(3)]. After that time, Hindi should turn into the sole official dialect of the Union. It demonstrated difficult to supplant English with Hindi, in any case, in light of substantive restriction from the southern states, where Dravidian dialects were talked. They felt that the central government was attempting to force the entire nation to use Hindi, including the south, and chose to keep using English, which they thought was more “adequate” on the grounds that, much unlike Hindi, it was not connected with any specific ethnic culture.[2]

The Parliament, in 1963, passed the Official Languages Act, which lawfully settled Hindi and English as the dialects utilized as a part of Congress, while leaving states and domains to pick their own formal languages. In 1976, the Act was changed to formulate the Official Languages Rules, which, too, were revised in 1987.[3]

 Summary of the Act

Section 3 of the Official Languages Act negates the 15-year-old lapsed period for the utilization of English. Subsection 3 allows the utilization of both dialects, Hindi and English, in resolutions, general requests, rules, warnings, authoritative or different reports or press discharges issued or made by the central government or by a service, division, office or company claimed or controlled by the central government. Subsection 5 of Section 3 states that until the legislatures of the states that haven’t adopted the English language as the official one pass a resolution for stopping the use of English for the purposes laid down by the Act, the provisions will continue to remain in force.

Section 5 of the states that the Hindi rendition of government acts will be viewed as definitive over the version in English. The Official Languages Act in this way seems to energize the utilization of Hindi over English. Section 6 of the Act unequivocally states that when a language other than Hindi is prescribed by any state assembly for the passed Acts, an identical interpretation in Hindi along with an English interpretation shall be published, and the Hindi version shall be the definitive one.

Under Section 7 of the Official Languages Act, the Governor of a State (except for Jammu and Kashmir) with the past assent of the President, may approve the utilization of Hindi or the official dialect of the State, notwithstanding English for the reasons of any judgment, declaration or request passed or made by the High Court for that State and for any judgment, announcement or request passed or made by in that dialect (other than English).

Themes

The Three Language Formula

The three language formula is a policy that was formulated by the Education Ministry of the Indian government in the 1968 National Policy Resolution.[4] It provides that in all government schools across India, there shall be three languages to be taught: English, as a mandate; Hindi, too, is compulsory, both in Hindi-speaking states and non-Hindi-speaking states; and finally, the third language is the local language of the region where the school is located.

The three language formula has taken multiple forms in India on the basis of states and their own official and local languages.[5] While Hindi and English remain common to all, they change from first language to second and third languages depending on that particular state’s government. For example, while West Bengal’s local dialect Bengali is the closest to Hindi as compared to Malayali or Tamil, the government chose not to teach Hindi at all, as they considered Bengali a much more culturally rich language. In Kerala, however, the learning of Hindi as a language was made compulsory despite the drastic difference between it and the local language.

The basic purpose of the three-language formula was, apart from the overt objective of making widespread the awareness of Hindi and English as national languages, the obscure objective of increasing multilingualism in children across the country. Multilingualism, as has been scientifically proven, not only broadens a child’s horizons but also is conducive to them becoming more creative and more socially tolerant.

Language policy in India

When we talk about the language policy of India, the first thing to be mentioned is the difference between the national language and the official language of a country.  While national language refers to the language that is most widely used in cultural, political and in social realms, the official language refers to the language that is used for all of the government’s operations. The official language is pragmatic, wherein the national language is merely symbolic.

Hindi, as it is used today, is thought of as a national language due to its being the only language in use that is not state or region-specific. However, according to the Constitution of India, Hindi is only the official language of India.

Apart from these two partially “official” languages, India’s census records hold that there are 112 languages that are prevalent all over the country. Yet, only 22 of them are a part of the Eighth Schedule, which means that only twenty-four out of a total of a hundred and fourteen dialects are recognised as national languages. Though these 22 languages originate from all the different language families, there are still a number of languages like Bhili which are spoken by the most number of people in India barring Hindi which ought to be included in the list. The only likely reason for Bhili, among other such dialects, to be excluded is political intervention.

Education policy and the language policy

The Indian education system is multilingual in its character every sense of the word. Primary schools in Mumbai run in nine different languages, and those in Karnataka and West Bengal run in eight and fourteen languages respectively.[6] Most states, as was the goal of the education policy makers at the time of Independence, have their aim as developing and strengthening the multilingual characters of the system.

However, there are multiple problems in the implementation of the three-language system. The formula does not refer to either the mother tongue or the home dialect of a student, which are both imperative to the cognitive development of a child. Also, many states have implemented the formula only partially, choosing to take up only two languages as opposed to three, mostly consisting of English and Hindi. The existence of classical languages such as Sanskrit is scarce in most Hindi-speaking states.[7] Though the Eighth Schedule was expanded to include more languages, the educational system regarding languages has remained almost the same.

To conclude we can say the language policy in India is mainly dependent on the Official Language Act, 1963. The Kothari Commission formulated the language policies with the objective of unifying the country’s diverse cultures and dialects via a common ‘official’ language, which, at that point, was Hindi. However, due to failings of the three-language formula and also in the education policy of India in relation to languages, the original aim has morphed into having both English and Hindi as quasi-official languages. From the resistance by numerous states in implementing the said policies to shortcomings in the actual policy, the solution found by the Language Commission was a sort of temporary and remedial measure (allowing the usage of English for ten years) that has been continually extended and used instead of finding a more infallible and constant policy to suit today’s needs and objectives.

Footnotes:

[1] Dravidian languages”. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 10 December 2014.

[2] “There’s no national language in India: Gujarat High Court”. The Times of India. Retrieved 5 May 2014.

[3] Sisir Kumar; A History of Indian Literature, 500-1399: From Courtly to the Popular, pp.140-141, Sahitya Akademi, 2005, New Delhi.

[4] “Indian Education Commission 1964-66”. PB Works. 2015. Retrieved June 20, 2015.

[5] Introduction to Education Commissions 1964-66″. Krishna Kanta Handiqui State Open University. 2015. Retrieved June 18, 2015.

[6] “Board of Higher Secondary Education”. Board of Higher Secondary Education. 2015. Retrieved June 21, 2015.

[7] “National Policy on Education 1968” (PDF). Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India. 2015. Retrieved June 21, 2015.

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In this blog post, Abhiraj Thakur, a student of NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad writes about how the right of maintenance of Muslim women  has evolved over the course of time and what are the recent developments in it. He also writes about the harmonious interpretation of secular laws like section 125 CrPC along with gender discriminatory personal laws by courts for the protection of women from oppression.

Indian society has perpetually been the site of a deadlock between gender equality and religious traditions. Religious traditions gain dominance over gender equality and consequently, the mitigation of injustice faced by a particular gender, usually women, gets marginalized for upholding majoritarian religious views.[1] An effective way to resist such marginalization is implementing progressive universal norms that supersede class, religion, and gender differences and uniformly apply to all. Only with such application can laws have positive outcomes regarding gender equality.

One such progressive law is Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure that is a uniformly applicable provision which provides civil remedies to enforce the fundamental obligation of a person to maintain his wife, children or parents so long as they are unable to do so. Ordinarily, the rights and duties under this section have an overriding effect over personal laws.[2] However, earlier this was subject to the exception of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986 which is a self- contained statute that codifies the obligations of a Muslim husband and other relatives towards a Muslim woman and provides remedies for enforcing the rights of the woman.[3] This Act enshrines the Muslim law principle that a husband’s liability to pay maintenance to his divorced wife extends only till the Iddat period. Further, Section 125 can have no application to a Muslim woman unless both the husband and wife consent to be subject to it under Section 5 of the Act. The law has developed through judicial opinion, and it is now believed that there is no inconsistency between the Act and the Code.[4]

But now the judicial position has been cleared by the case of Shamim Bano v Ashraf Khan. The case is one such milestone as it interprets Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure to be universally applicable to women regardless of personal laws’ dicta on the matter. Taking the lead from the popular Shah Bano case, the Supreme Court of India held that Section 125 would apply to Muslim women, and they would be entitled to maintenance irrespective of Mahomedan law’s views on the matter.

It has been held that Muslim women are entitled to maintenance through Section 125 of the Code before the divorce and after divorce; they can claim maintenance through the provisions of the Act.[5] The Article explores the build-up of jurisprudence for the protection of rights of Muslim women.

The Shah Bano judgment and aftermath

The first case where this conflict of opinion first came to light was the historic judgment of Mohd. Ahmed Khan v. Shah Bano Begum and Ors.[6] In this judgment, a sixty-two-year-old Muslim woman was divorced by her husband by exercising his right to incontestable ‘talaq’. A constitutional bench of the Supreme Court held that a divorced Muslim woman is entitled to maintenance under Section 125 of the Code. The court relied on religious texts of Mahomedan law and Quranic interpretations to reach this conclusion and also stated that the husband cannot escape his liability to pay maintenance by payment of mahr or maintenance during Iddat period.

The orthodox Muslim community launched protests and agitations against this judgment as they saw it as interference in their personal law.[7] The Government, thus, caved in under pressure and unanimously passed the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986 which took precedence over the uniformly applicable Criminal Procedure. According to this Act, Muslim women had the right to maintenance from their husbands only for the Iddat period after which the burden of maintenance was transferred to her relatives or the District Waqf Board. Thus, the right to appeal under Section 125 was largely restricted to Muslim women and the law, which should have championed for women’s rights, became anti- secular[8] and anti- feminist due to the influence of politics and orthodoxy.[9]

This is the law on maintenance for divorced Muslim women at present. However, courts have tried to interpret widely the provisions of the Code and the Act to provide relief to Muslim women. Previously, the Supreme Court has relied on such harmonious construction, and it is pertinent to analyze these judgments to get a holistic understanding of the status quo on maintenance.

Need for harmonious interpretation of statutes

One of the most notable cases after the Shah Bano judgment is Danial Latifi and Anr. v. Union of India[10] where Shah Bano’s lawyer herself challenged the constitutional validity of the Act. In this judgment, the Supreme Court attempted to dispel the confusion of conflicting judgments that had arisen in the aftermath of Shah Bano. The Constitution Bench came to a compromise where it upheld the validity of the Act but decided that the provision for maintenance would be applicable equally to the Muslim community.[11] The Bench liberally interpreted Sections 3 and 4 of the Act and stated that a divorced Muslim woman is entitled to reasonable and sufficient provision for livelihood along with maintenance, and thus, the husband is duty bound to provide this within the Iddat period (as stated by the Act). However, it held that this maintenance is not limited to the Iddat period, and a Muslim woman is also entitled to maintenance for her entire life or until she remarries.[12] The court interpreted the Act to mean that the limitation in the Act was not on the nature or duration of maintenance but rather on the period within which such maintenance or provision had to be made. Thus, the Supreme Court tried to capture the spirit of Section 125 of the Code and secularly apply it to Muslim women. It iterated the need for uniformly applicable laws to prevent such instances of discrimination and unjust deprivation in the future.

However, one shortcoming in Daniel Latifi was that the court failed to realize the inaccessibility of Section 125 for Muslim women. While Section 125 proclaims to be uniformly applicable, the consent of both the wife as well as the husband is required to invoke it. Pragmatically speaking, the husband would not consent to be subjected to Section 125 of the Code when he can enjoy lesser liability under the Act. If a divorced Muslim woman is unable to maintain herself once the Iddat period is over, she cannot claim maintenance from her former husband and has to depend on her relatives or the State Waqf Board. Thus, in most cases, women are unable to invoke Section 125 of the Code, and this provision remains secular only in name.

Position settled after Shamim Bano case

In the Shamim Bano case, the Supreme Court has combined the interpretations espoused in Shah Bano and Danial Latifi and correctly held that Shamim Bano is entitled not only to Mahr, ornaments, and maintenance under Section 3 of the Act but also to maintenance for the post- Iddat period as the same has not been provided in the order granting mahr. Thus, the Supreme Court made a commendable effort to bring Muslim women on par with other communities. Additionally, the Bench sustained her application under Section 125 of the Code despite the fact that her husband, Ashraf Khan had not consented to the same. The court realized that if the application under Section 125 were dismissed, Shamim Bano would be remediless as the Magistrate’s order only ensured Mahr and did not give her any maintenance. Thus, foreseeing this situation as a travesty of justice, the court reasoned that Section 125’s parameters should be applied.

Thus the verdicts like Shamim Ara has improvised on Shah Bano and given legitimacy to the secular character of Section 125; this secular character has been helpful in protecting Muslim women from oppression at the hands of Male orthodoxy. However, the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act continues to be an obstruction to these efforts. Thus, it is necessary to clearly demarcate the extent of this Act by reserving it only for providing fair and reasonable Mahr and maintenance during the Iddat period. The cases like these have helped in reducing the monopoly of female discriminatory laws in matters of Marriage and much more.

For maintenance during the post-Iddat period, the legislature shall assume this duty to give Muslim women the uncompromising, secular right to file an application under Section 125 of the Code. Therefore, the legislature must amend the Act to restrict its application only for obtaining Mahr and to delete Section 5 which makes it mandatory to obtain the husband’s consent for obtaining maintenance under Section 125 of the Code. Such a result would work harmoniously as it takes into account religious differences but also gives primary importance to the welfare of divorced women.

Footnotes:

[1] Siobhan Mullally, “Feminism and Multicultural Dilemmas in India: Revisiting the Shah Bano Case”, 24 (4) OJLP 671 (2004).

[2] Umar Hayat Khan v. Mahboobunisa, 1976 CrLJ 395 (Kant).

[3] J. Y. V. Chandrachud, V. R. Manohar, The Code of Criminal Procedure 253 (Wadhwa, Nagpur, 18^th Enlarged Ed., 2006).

[4] Shaikh Babbu v. Sayeda Marat Begum, 1999 CrLJ 4822 (Box).

[5] Abdul Rashid v. Farida, 1994 CrLJ 2336 (MP).

[6] (1985) 2 SCC 556.

[7] A.M., “The Shah Bano Legacy”, The Hindu, Aug. 10, 2003, available at: http://www.thehindu.com/2003/08/10/stories/2003081000221500.htm

[8] Rajashri Dasgupta, “Historic Judgment and After”, 22 (17) EPW 748- 749 (1987).

[9] Supra, n.1.

[10] (2001) 7 SCC 740.

[11] Feminism and multicultural p.673

[12] (2001) 7 SCC 740.

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In this blog post, Shubham Khunteta, a student of National Law University, Odisha, Cuttack writes about the speculative nature of crude oil prices and also discusses the laws regulating crude oil exploration, distribution and prices in India.

This morning, prompted by increasing concerns about terrorism, oil prices reached a record high as the cost of a barrel of crude is a whopping $44.34.  Wow, it seems shocking that a product of finite supply gets more expensive the more we use it.  Now the terror alert means higher oil prices, which oddly enough means higher profits for oil companies giving them more money to give to politicians whose policies may favor the oil companies such as raising the terror alert level.  As Simba once told us: “It’s the circle of life.”  – Jon Stewart

Introduction

Oil is considered to be one of the most essential commodities[1] around the world, especially in India due to its varied and excessive usage in the form of gasoline, kerosene, LPG, petrol and diesel, polythene etc.

Its importance can be gauged from the fact that spike in prices of some of the sources of refined crude oil like petrol and diesel can have a cascading impact on the lives of common men having low per-capita income and limited resources, who to a large extent depend on it to earn their livelihood by direct and indirect means in order to satiate all their needs. Crude oil and its conversion into various forms help the economy to smoothen and boost its pace and enliven the diverse lives in various forms.

India’s Policy on Crude Oil[2]

India conceptualized the New Exploration and Licensing Policy (NELP), during 1997-1998 and implemented it in the year 1999. This policy was brought into effect to explore the area of crude oil with the enhancement of participation amongst the private sector, public sector and foreign companies. Initially, after the liberalization process of 1991, India had opened up its core sector of hydrocarbons to such participation, which was not the case before as initially it was explored by big public sector companies only, like ONGC and Oil India Ltd. (OIL).

This participation was allowed to have-

• More risk capital to conjure it up for exploration activity;
• More capital Investment;
• Technological equipment and expertise of private sector and foreign companies;
• Reduce dependence on import of oil and resultant improve in cash flows and foreign reserves;
• Fast exploration related activities etc.

India has dedicated specific laws like The Petroleum Act, 1934[3] to regulate petroleum products and for exploration of crude oil, government prepared National Exploration and Licensing Policy. Apart from the dedicated laws, there are general laws like The Essentials Commodities Act[4] or rules and regulations by the dedicated ministry or the Nodal authorities like The Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH). The DGH usually deals with the regulations that govern market factors like price determination, rules for Oil Marketing Companies, etc, whereas exploration and production is overseen by the Ministry for Oil and Natural Gas. Oil and Gas sector is divided into 3 sectors and related laws in it are[5]–

• The upstream sector[6], also known as the exploration and production sector, deals with search, recovery and production of crude oil and natural gas-

-The relevant legislations are as follows: Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Act, 1948 for the basic regulation of oilfields and the development of mineral resources. It regulates the licensing and the leasing of petroleum and gas blocks by the Union Government. Petroleum and Natural Gas Rules, 1959 provides for matters such as, where and by whom applications for mining leases may be made, the terms upon which such licenses are granted, the maximum area and time frame for leases, etc.

• The midstream sector is related to processing, storing, marketing and transporting of commodities like crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids.

-The Petroleum Act regulates imports into India, transfers within, storage, production, refining and blending of petroleum.

-There are also various regulations which are framed by the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons. Under the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board Act, 2006 (PNG Act), there is a Regulatory Board established under Sec. 3(2) which is authorized to regulate the midstream sector and to promote fair trade and competition amongst oil and gas companies

• The downstream sector includes oil distribution, oil refineries, petrochemical plants, retail outlets and natural gas distribution companies, etc. The relevant legislations are as follows:

-Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board Act, 2006 (PNG Act) to regulate the downstream sector activities like refining and distribution etc.

-Oil Industry (Development) Act, 1974 to make easy way for increased self-reliance in petroleum and natural gas through various measures such as providing financial assistance to the organizations engaged in development programs of the oil industry.

Administered Price Mechanism as a Means of Government Control

Oil prices in India are also to be seen from the perspective of interference by the government or free market prices. Initially, government interference was by way of Administered Price Mechanism (APM)[7], which was later struck down by the New Exploration and licensing policy, keeping in view the growing pressing needs of the sector like investment and profitability, which was earlier affected by APM wherein the Government regulated the price of products which was not compatible with and proportional to the market prices but was less of what wasthe trading price of crude related products in the market, which in turn affected the government finances and profitability of oil management companies. As a result, revenues needed for exploration related activities were stuck as companies were not able to generate risk capital.

APM products were generally essential commodities in demand, whose prices were set low by the Government at a time when their prices were high according to the market forces. APM regulated commodities are petrol and diesel, which are always in high demand. Prices of non-APM commodities are not in very high demand and priority by the government thereby not resulting in cost subsidies.

During the APM regime, the Government had to shelve out huge subsidies to offset high prices of essential commodities on consumer. However, after riddance from the APM, the Government deregulated the prices of petrol and diesel in a regulated manner[8].This was done with the view to generate investors’ interest in the oil sector. This indeed helped the government to inculcate interest of the investors and explorers. The OMCs found their books showing profits due to the charging of high prices from the customer by way of increase in taxes by the government at the time of plummeting oil prices so as to compensate for the shortfall in revenues by generation of cash.

This regulated deregulation is also leveraged by the government at present, i.e., the time of global fallout in prices, by selling petrol, at a price more than the cost incurred for exploration and refining with added taxes at high rates. The Central government, to increase its revenues and help the Oil Management Companies (OMCs) to recoup their profits which were earlier lost due to the provided subsidies, only marginally reduced the prices for the customers even when the oil prices plunged to around 30-40 dollars from the previous high prices of 120-130 dollars per barrel. This assisted the government to reduce its subsidy bill on oil imports and to help the OMCs by allowing it to sell it to the customers at marginally reduced market prices.

Determination of price components, break-up and divisions of the Petrol and the Diesel[9]

Here is a step by step breakup of the pricing formula for petrol:

Fuel Prices Component Break Up[10]
« Raw Crude Oil Cost – 55%
« Refining Cost – 6%
« Transportation, Freight, Dealer Commission etc – 7.5 – 8%
« Taxes – Excise, VAT, Cess, etc. – 30 – 32%

****April 2013.

For Instance in 2013, petrol break-up in Delhi was-

1. Calculating Crude Oil Cost – Petrol
   Raw Crude Oil in Indian Currency: Rs. 37.5
2. Calculating Cost of Processing
   Now, Crude Oil is Processed in Refineries – Approximate Cost is 10 – 12% of Crude Oil Cost = Rs. 4
   Add Transportation, Freight, Packing = Rs. 3
   Gross Cost After Refining Crude Oil= 44.5
3. Calculating Final Price of Fuel
   Commission to Petrol Pump Owner = Rs. 1.5 to Rs. 2
   Excise Duty – Rs. 9.5 – Rs. 10
   VAT on Gross Price Including Excise * (@ 20%) – Rs. 11.2
   Final Price of Fuel- 67.2

* VAT – Rates of VAT varies on state on state. 20% VAT on Petroleum (Petrol) Products in Delhi. While Goa has just .1% VAT making it the lowest Petrol Prices in India. Some State Government even has 23% on Petrol and also additional cess of up to 3% on Fuel Prices.

Factors affecting the prices of crude oil in 2016, period when prices are at an all-time low of $ 20-30 per barrel[11]

• Demand and supply[1]

-Increase in supply of crude oil due to newly found reserves of shale oil in US has escalated the production to an all-time high. OPEC (Organization of petroleum exporting countries) members, fearing the ending of their monopoly, and under pressure from Saudi-Arabia (one member of OPEC) are relentlessly producing oil to counter the production of US, which is driving prices extremely low.

-Decrease in demand in demand-driven countries like China and due to continuous development and use of renewable sources of energy

-Terrorists attacks on pipelines of crude oil reducing supply and resulting in increase in prices

• Sentiment

-Sentiments also affect prices as the market reacts to it. For instance, if there is a rumor surrounding that demand is going to increase, then this can lead to increase in prices and vice-versa.

• Rules and Regulation of specific countries

-As can be seen from the recent decision of Oil Producing and Exporting Countries (OPEC) members, led by the Saudi Arabia, to not reduce the supply of oil even after the increase in supply due to shale oil production in the US, resulting in supply glut and unprecedented low oil prices. After such decision by OPEC members and due to their high dependence on revenues from oil, it forced the US producers of oil to reduce the production as they were getting into losses due to persistent decision of OPEC to not reduce supply.

Conclusion

To conclude, it can thus be said that crude oil and its various forms are a major source of economic growth of any country and countries having such reserves can reduce their import bill on such oil to a  large extent if the demand is lesser than the supply of it in that country. In India, due to the crunch of such reserves, 70% of total imports is related to crude oil. As we know, the demand of crude oil is inelastic because even with the increase in prices there is not a proportionate decrease in demand. There can be an increase in demand in such circumstances under certain conditions.

So, at last, it can’t be said that the use of crude oil is expected to decline or vanish in the near future as it is a commodity that serves as an engine and backbone of all economies. Even if we see the development of alternate sources of energy, the investment in it remains high in certain countries, which may not allow considering their financial constraints, to switch to sources like renewable sources, etc.

Footnotes:

[1]Retrieved from:  http://www.manupatrafast.in/ba/dispbotC.aspx?nActCompID=28030&iActID=873

[2]Sakshi Parashar, Legal aspects of oil and gas sector Accessed: Manupatra (http://www.manupatrafast.com/articles)

[3]See, Petroleum Act, 1934

[4]See, Essential Commodities Act, 1955

[5] Retrieved from:  http://www.manupatrafast.com/articles/PopOpenArticle.aspx?ID=3b9928f3-1807-4916-b783-33b3c38992db&txtsearch=Subject:%20Oil%20And%20Gas

[6]http://www.psgdover.com/en/oil-and-gas/oil-gas-market-overview/oil-gas-upstream

[7]http://www.business-standard.com/article/specials/administered-price-mechanism-in-oil-sector-bane-or-boon-197052001002_1.html

[8]http://www.livemint.com/Politics/PQPRrimJveaUgDBlHs8QJP/The-crude-logic-of-regulated-deregulation.html

[9] https://www.quora.com/Commodities-Markets-How-are-the-petrol-prices-decided-in-India

[10] VM Entov, Mathematics of Enhanced Oil Recovery, Ed. 2004

[11]http://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Top-Five-Factors-Affecting-Oil-Prices-In-2015.html

[12]http://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/072515/top-factors-reports-affect-price-oil.asp

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In this blog post, Dhiren Sehgal, a recent graduate of Jindal Global Law School and currently a student of the Diploma in Entrepreneurship Administration and Business Laws course by National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS), Kolkata and iPleaders, analyzes the legal and conceptual aspects of Anti-Dumping Laws with respect to India. 

Introduction

As per the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), a multilateral agreement regulating international trade and commerce, which lays down the guidelines and principles to be followed by the member states to the agreement. In 1995, the World Trade Organization replaced the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and had about 162 signatories as member nation states as of November 2015.

These principles are to be adhered to when it comes to imposing of anti-dumping duties and safeguard measures. This general agreement on tariffs and trade guidelines and principles have been incorporated into the national legislation of the member countries of the world trade organization.

Now, dumping takes place when a product is sold at a relatively lower price by an exporter when compared to the exporter’s domestic market. However, the practice of dumping isn’t illegal or anti-competitive on the face of it, as the prices set by producers to sell do vary in different markets depending on the situations involving different demand and supply conditions. This sort of practice can be deemed anti-competitive or illegal when the discriminatory pricing leads to causing substantial or material injury or damage to the domestic market where the goods are being imported. In cases where a substantial or a material injury to the domestic market can be foreseen or has in actuality caused the injury then the concerned authority can initiate its investigative procedures and eventually impose anti-dumping duties.

An example of this would be, the Anti-dumping Duty imposed by the Indian government in order to protect the domestic iron and steel industries of India, the government has imposed an Anti-dumping Duty for six months on steel pipes, tubes and other imports from the country. The Anti-dumping Duty is reported to be between $961.33 – $1,610.67.

The application was moved to the directorate general for Anti-dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD) for the imposition by Indian Seamless Metal Tubes Ltd. And Maharashtra Seamless.

Legal Framework (India)  

The established legal framework for dumping activities has been laid down under the Customs Tariff Act, 1975. This act was amended in the year 1995 to incorporate the principles and guidelines established in the GATT, in the local laws of the nation. This amendment led to the inclusion of certain anti-dumping rules involving identifying, assessing and collecting the appropriate anti-dumping duty on dumped articles into the country and also for the determination of the injury caused to the domestic market. The customs tariff rules framed in 1995 form the basis for investigative procedures for anti-dumping activities and for levying anti-dumping duties on dumped articles. These laws have been incorporated in furtherance to Article VI of the GATT, 1994.

Section 9A of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 amended in 1995 talks about instances in which the central government of India may impose antidumping duty after inquiring and determining the export price and the normal/original value of the article and the margin of dumping on cases to case basis. The central government of India under this section makes rules pertaining to identifying the articles to be held liable for any dumping duty and also shall provide for the manner for determination of the export price, margin if dumping and the normal value of the article in contention.

Section 9b of the Act talks about the Central Government of India levying dumping duty or any additional duty only in cases of a material or substantial damage to the domestic market. Material damage can be analyzed by the concerned authority in two ways by analyzing the effect of the volume of dumped articles imported into the country, which includes analyzing the influx of dumped imports in comparison with the production and consumption in India and how this import is going to affect the domestic market of India. Then comes the analysis of the effect of dumped imports on the prices of ‘like articles’ in the Indian market, this analysis includes analyzing the extent to which dumping is causing a decrease in prices in the Indian market or if in a way is preventing price increase which would’ve been possible otherwise. An example of when a material damage is considered would be China’s dumping of steel products in India as it caused material and substantial retardation of the domestic industry of India. 

Section 9c of the Act revolves around appealing against the order of determination of dumping in relation to import of any article shall be directed to the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal constituted under section 129 of the Customs Act, 1962. An appeal shall be accompanied by a fee of fifteen thousand rupees, and an appeal has to be filed within ninety days of the date of the order. An appeal may be entertained after the expiry of the 90-day period if it can be proved that the appellant was obstructed by sufficient cause from filing the appeal in time.

The Ministry of Commerce is the deemed authority for investigations and recommendations, and the imposition and collection of the amount of duty to be paid will be headed by the Ministry of Finance respectively.

How do You Determine Dumping?

It occurs when the export price of any article which is being imported to India is less than the normal/original value of the article in the exporting nation.

What is Normal Value?

It is the price at which any article or good are sold, under ordinary trade circumstances, in the domestic market of the exporter’s territory or country. The act provides us with two methods for determining the normal value of any product, which are –

• By comparing the export price to some other appropriate country. In this case, an appropriate country could be any country the goods are being exported to simultaneously by the exporter. For example, in the dumping case of China, China was exporting/dumping steel products in India and to the United Kingdom simultaneously. In this case, the United Kingdom would be the other appropriate country to tally the export prices with.
• By taking the production cost in the country of origin and adding adequate costs of selling for profit purposes.

What Is an Export Price and How Do You Construct One in the Absence of an Export Price?

The price of the goods being imported into India paid for the articles imported by the first buyer in India is the export price of the article.

In cases where the export price is impossible to determine or isn’t reliable because of some agreement between the exporter and the importer, then in this scenario, the export price is evaluated on the basis of the price at which the imported article is resold to a buyer. In cases where the article isn’t resold in a similar condition as it was imported in, then the export price will be determined on a reasonable and logical basis.

What is Margin of Dumping?

It refers to the difference between the normal value of the product in the country it is being exported from and the export price of the product. This margin of dumping is normally calculated on the basis of comparing the average normal value with the average of prices of export transactions; another way is comparing the normal value and the export price on a transaction to transaction basis.

There are multiple factors affecting this comparison of the normal value and the export price, the prices of export value and the normal value of the goods have to be put on the same pedestal and then compared which is normally at the ex-factory stage. Factors such as the physical aspects, levels of trade, the quantity being traded, taxation regimes and the terms of sale, in way that affects price comparison of the normal value and the export price.

The cause of action when it comes to anti-dumping can only arise if there’s a market for the articles being dumped into India, there has to be an Indian industry producing ‘like article’ when being put into comparison with the article being dumped.

Material Injury to the Domestic Industry

To have a cause of action against the alleged dumping of articles into India, one of the key requisites that need to be established is ‘material industry to the domestic industry.’ The injury can’t be based or anticipated on threats, statements, and allegations. There has to be concrete evidence supporting and proving material or substantial injury. This material injury can be analyzed by the concerned authority in two ways by analyzing the effect of the volume of dumped articles imported into the country, which includes analyzing the influx of dumped imports in comparison with the production and consumption in India and how this import is going to affect the domestic market of India.

Then comes the analysis of the effect of dumped imports on the prices of ‘like articles’ in the Indian market, this analysis includes analyzing the extent to which dumping is causing a decrease in prices in the Indian market or if in a way is preventing price increase which would’ve been possible otherwise.

Competency to File an Application

On receiving a written application from the domestic industry players, a dumping investigation can be initiated. However, a valid application has two prerequisite conditions which are to be fulfilled-

• The domestic market producers filing the application should be holding at least 25% of the total production of the said article in the Indian domestic industry.
• The domestic producers in express support of the application must account for more than 50% of the total production capacity of the said product by those supporting and those opposing the application for investigation.

What Constitutes a Domestic Industry?

Includes the totality of Indian producers of the ‘like article’ in question, or it can be deemed as those producers who are collectively producing a major chunk of the total output being produced in India. Importers of the like articles or those in relation to the exporters and importers of the like article are not deemed a part of the domestic industry.

Relief Recourses for the Aggrieved Industry

• Anti-dumping Duties: it is a protectionist measure in the form of duty or tariff that is imposed by the domestic governments on foreign imports, to protect the domestic industry in question. This can be imposed on ad valorem basis which basically means ‘to the value.’
• Lesser Duty: according to the GATT guidelines, duties more than the margin of dumping can’t be imposed. According to the Indian laws, the designated authority has to restrict the duty to the lower out of the dumping margin and the injury margin. The injury margin is basically the difference between the fair selling price of the domestic industry and the landed cost of the product in contention.

In cases where any exporter’s margin of dumping is below 2% of the export price, will be excluded from the anti-dumping duties, even when the injury and the causal link has been known. Also, the investigations against the exporter country shall be terminated in cases where the dumped imports are less than 3% of the total imports, provided that the sum of imports from all those countries, who are individually accountable for less than 3% of the total imports, should not be more than 7% cumulatively. This is known as the De Minimis margins.

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In this blog post, Pramit Bhattacharya, a student of Damodaram Sanjivayya National Law University, writes about agricultural income and its tax treatment in India. The blog post highlights what conditions are necessary to be fulfilled while considering an income as an agricultural income and which source of income is considered as agricultural income. The blog post also touches upon the concept of taxation regarding the sale of agricultural land.

Under the Income Tax Act, 1961, income earned through agricultural activities is exempted from taxation. The reason for this exemption is that the Constitution has given the authority to the State Legislature to make laws with respect to taxes on agricultural income. However, while computing tax on non-agricultural income; agricultural income is also taken into consideration. Income from agricultural operations is exempted under Section 10 (1) of the Income Tax Act, 1961. Agricultural Income is defined under Section 2 (1A) of the Act.

What is Agricultural Income?

Under Sec 2(1A) of the Income Tax Act, agricultural income means-

• Any land which is situated in India and is used for the purpose of agriculture.
• Any income derived from such land by the way of doing agriculture on that land.
• Any income which is derived from such land including processing of the agricultural produce raised or received as rent in kind or any process which has been used by the cultivator or received as rent in kind so as to render the produce fit for market or sale.
• Any land which is owned and occupied by the assessee from which the assessee derives any income receives any rent or derives any revenue when the land is employed in agricultural activities. The building should be on the agricultural land or should be in the vicinity of the land. The building should also be used by the assessee as an out-house, dwelling house or a store-house.

Considering the above conditions, income generated through a farmhouse will be considered as agricultural income. Income derived from seeds and sapling grown in a nursery is also considered as agricultural income.[1]

Conditions for income to be considered as agricultural income

1. The existence of land, i.e. there should be a land.
2. The land should be used for Agricultural Purposes – agricultural operations or purposes means effort induced to grow crop out of the land in use. Both rent and revenue derived from such land are exempted from taxation. Though such agricultural land may attract some land revenue taxes or be subjected to local rates. There should be a direct link between the incomes derived from the land used for agricultural purposes. For example, rent received by a landlord for a piece of land used for agricultural activities is exempted from tax.
3. Cultivation of the Land is a must – some level of cultivation on the land is necessary for it to be considered to be used for agricultural purposes. Agriculture includes in its purview production of fruits, grains, tea plantations, commercial crops, grasslands, and groves. But the usage of land for dairy farming, rearing of livestock, poultry farming wouldn’t make the land count as an agricultural land.
4. Ownership of Property is not Necessary – It is essential that the assessee who receives any rent or revenue from the land has some vested interest to be eligible for tax-free income, but it is not necessary that the person who is carrying out agricultural activities is the owner of the land. For example, a tenant of the land who uses it for agricultural purposes will enjoy exemption from tax. Also, in some cases, carrying out some further processes on the agricultural produce is necessary to make it fit as a marketable commodity or for sale. The sale proceeds of such products are also considered agricultural income.

Exceptions

1. If the product is sold without carrying out any agricultural or processing activity, then the income derived from such sale wouldn’t be considered agricultural income.
2. In a case when extensive processing is done with the product which changes the nature of the product entirely, the whole of the operation wouldn’t be considered as agricultural income. For example, canning of fruits. In such cases the income generated will have to be divided into two parts, one which will be agricultural income and the other part will be some other income, as in canning of fruits, it’ll be considered as business income.
3. If trees are cut and sold as timber, it’ll not be considered as agricultural income. This is because there was no active agricultural process like soil treatment and cultivation.[2]

Certain Incomes which are treated as Agricultural Income

1. Rent received from agricultural land.
2. Income from sale of “replanted” trees.
3. Income from growing creepers and flowers.
4. Income from sale of seeds.
5. When a firm is engaged in agricultural activities and theassessee has a share of profit in it.
6. If any interest is received on capital from a firm engaged in agricultural activities.

Incomes which are not treated as Agricultural Income

1. Income from bee hiving.
2. Income from poultry farming.
3. Income from sale of trees which are grown spontaneously.
4. Income generated from dairy farming.
5. Purchasing standing crop which has not been subjected to any processing.
6. Dividend paid by a company which is engaged in agricultural activities.
7. Income from cheese and butter making.
8. Income from Plantation companies. [Many plantation companies these days come out with schemes which offer tax-free income to the investors. The schemes are of various types. Some investors are given leasehold rights to the land, some are given rent, and some are given rights to the trees on the land. If the scheme gives leasehold rights to the investor, then the income he would receive will be considered as rent or revenue. If there are no leasehold or ownership rights, the income received will be considered either as interest or non-agricultural income which will attract tax.]

Tax on Sale of Agricultural Land

Before the year 1970, if any profit was earned by selling or transfer of agricultural property, it was considered to be generated from agricultural land and hence such proceeds were exempted from taxation. The Courts also supported this proposition. But through a retrospective amendment, this position was changed from April 1970. After the amendment, a land was considered an agricultural land if it was not situated in an area which came under the jurisdiction of a municipality or a cantonment board, and the population of that area was not more than 10,000 or more according to the last census count which has been published before the first day of the previous year in which the sale of land has taken place. Also, the land is not situated less than eight kilometers from the local limits of any municipality or a cantonment board.

Any land which qualifies the above-mentioned test is not to be considered as a part of the capital assets, and there can be no capital gains on the sale of such land. Any agricultural land which does not satisfy the above test will be considered a capital asset and proceeds from the sale of such land will be considered as a capital asset and will be subject to capital gains tax, subject to some conditions provided under Section 54B of the Income Tax Act.

Section 54B states that if any capital gain accrues on the sale or transfer of agricultural land, then it is not to chargeas taxable income in certain cases.[5]

1. The assessee should be a Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) or an individual.
2. The asset may be a long term asset or short term asset, but it should have been used for agricultural purposes.
3. The land should have been used by the assessee or his parents for at least two years immediately preceding the date on which the transfer or the sale of the land took place.
4. The assessee should purchase a new piece of land for agricultural purposes within two years from the sale of the former agricultural land.
5. The whole amount which he gained by the sale of the former piece of land should be utilized to buy the new property.
6. The new asset which has been purchased shouldn’t be sold within the period of three years from the date of acquiring it. If the new asset is sold, the cost of the new asset will be reduced by the amount of capital gain which the assessee claimed under Sec 54B for the purposes of computing capital gains.
7. If the amount of capital gains secured from the sale of the previous asset is not utilized by the assessee for the purchase of new asset before furnishing the tax returns, he may deposit the said amount in Capital Gains Account Scheme with any of the specified banks.

How Agricultural Income is taxed after amendment by Finance (No. 2) Act, 2014?

Agricultural income will be considered while computing the income tax of a person if the following conditions are satisfied-

1. Net income from agricultural exceeds Rs. 5, 000 for the previous year, and
2. Total income, including agricultural income, exceeds the basic exemption limit.

This method is used to levy tax on agricultural income in an indirect way. This concept is also known as the partial integration of taxes.

There is a lot of scope for taxing income which accrues from activities which are non-agricultural in nature. In many cases, agriculturalists do not have any taxable income. This is due to the fact that when the money from agricultural income is divided among the family members, it falls within the exemption limit in any case. However, many middlemen like distributors, wholesellers, retailers, etc. earn substantial income and claim exemption in the name of agricultural income. These earnings and profits are technically taxable, but due to the loopholes, they are not taxed. If intensive efforts are made by the Tax Department to recover tax from them the need for widening the tax base, to include these people will be eliminated

Footnotes:

[1]http://taxguru.in/income-tax/income-tax-treatment-taxability-of-agricultural-income.html

[2]T. Padma, Dr., “Principle of Law of Taxation”, ALT Publication, 10^th Edition

[3]https://indiantaxguide.wordpress.com/2009/05/08/agricultural-income/

[4] Ibid.

[5]http://www.lawctopus.com/academike/agricultural-income/#_edn8

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In this blog post, Pramit Bhattacharya, a student of Damodaram Sanjivayya National Law University analyses the Commercial Courts Act, 2016. The post highlights some essential features of the Act and also looks into the procedural changes which have been made to make the Act more efficient.

The pace at which disputes are resolved in the court indicate the efficiency of the judicial system and such speedy dispute resolution positively impacts the growth and the development of the country. At present, our judicial system is not fully efficient, and the slow pace of our justice delivery system is very evident. If anyone wants to enforce any of his rights, it takes years for the court to reach a decision. Matters get adjourned regularly. All these delays can take a toll on the litigant, not only physically and emotionally but financially as well.

Keeping this in mind, the legislature has enacted The Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of the High Court Act, 2016, to remedy the issue of judicial delays. This Act seeks to reduce the amount of delay in cases of commercial dispute at least, if not all kind of disputes. Going by the status of the judiciary, even a small step is welcome.

A Summary of the Act

• The Act authorizes setting up of specialized courts or divisions of courts. The role of these specialized courts or divisional courts would be to hear commercial disputes where the stakes are at least Rs 1 crore or more. These courts will comprise of judges who have expertise in the field of commercial law.
• The scope of applicability of this Act is very wide. This Act will cover all the disputes relating to commercial matters like the sale of goods and services, corporate agreements (such as shareholder, partnership, joint venture agreement), all matters relating to commercial property, and all intellectual property matters, under its purview.
• This Act also applies to arbitration application and appeals.
• The Act also introduces some procedural innovations through which it seeks to speed up the hearing of the disputes.

The provisions of the Act are being put into effect step by step. For instance, from 1^st June 2016, cases in the Bombay High Court are to be filed in accordance with the new system. The pending matters which falls within the purview of the Act will be transferred to the specialized commercial division of the High Court on 18^th June 2016

Key features of the Act

Commercial Disputes

The Act only applies to commercial disputes, but efforts have been made to cover a wide range of disputes within the scope of ‘commercial activities’. The definition widely covers disputes arising from transactions of merchants, bankers, financiers and traders such as those relating to a sale of goods and services, export or import of goods and services, disputes relating to mercantile documents, construction and infrastructure contracts, etc. The definition also includes dispute arising out of agreements of licensing, franchising, management, distribution, joint venture, investment, etc. the Acts also includes under its purview those commercial disputes which are arising with the government or any particular government agency.

Constitution of specialized courts and divisions

The Act states that a Commercial Division in High Courts which have original civil jurisdiction (such as the High Courts of Delhi, Bombay, Madras, Calcutta and Himachal Pradesh) should be set up to dispose of the matters as quickly as possible. The Commercial Divisions will also have ordinary original civil jurisdiction, which means that litigants will be able to file their cases in the specialized division at the first instance.  The Act also states that in all the other districts over which the High Court does not have original civil jurisdiction, establishing the Commercial Courts is the responsibility of the respective State Governments. All the commercial disputes which falls under the purview of the Act, and which are valued at Rs 1 Crore and above will be heard by the newly constitutes specialized courts, or specialized division, as applicable. The Commercial Appellate Division set up in the High Court will hear the appeals. The judges will be those people who have expertise in the field of commercial matters.

• Pending Matters – If an existing commercial dispute involves the value of Rs 1 crore or more, it’ll be transferred to the new system, unless final judgment is reserved in the matter. If there are any case pending in the High Court, they’ll be transferred to the Commercial Bench of that High Court. Where commercial matters are pending in any other civil court, such matters will be transferred to the commercial courts which have a corresponding jurisdiction.
• Arbitration application and appeals – The arbitration application and appeals in such disputes will also be taken up by the specialized courts. Moreover, the pending arbitration applications and appeals are also to be transferred to the specialized courts.
• No Overlap with tribunals – There are a few matters which does not fall under the jurisdiction of the civil court, but falls under the jurisdiction of specialized tribunals such as the Company Law Board or the Debt Recovery Tribunal. The matters which fall under the jurisdiction of some specialized tribunal will not be transferred to the commercial courts even if the value of the dispute is Rs1 crore or more. This will avoid any conflict of jurisdiction between the Commercial Courts and the Tribunals.

Procedural changes

The Act has also brought about some new procedural changes regarding the hearing of the matters in the case of a dispute.

• Strict deadlines – The rules relating to the deadlines have been made more stringent by the Act. The Act provides for strict deadlines for conduct of case, filing of written statements, filing of documents, filing of written statements, etc. if any party fails to comply with the deadlines provided by the Act, they have to face serious consequences as the penalties are harsh such as forfeiture of right to make a filing or the right to rely on a document. A deadline of judges is also imposed through this Act. The Act states that the judgment should be pronounced within 90 days from the conclusion of the final arguments.
• Innovative procedure – Several new procedures have also been adopted by the Act to make the process of hearing of the disputes faster. The Act states that following the procedure which is practiced in other countries, the Commercial Courts and Commercial Divisions will hold a case management hearing before going into the detailed hearing. Case management can be defined as a preliminary hearing in which the Court hear out the parties and frame the issues on which the hearing will proceed. The Court can also decide the dates on which various steps involved in the matter will be taken up, such as filing of evidence, examination and cross-examination of witnesses and the date of hearing the arguments of the party. The time limits for agreements may also be fixed by the Court during case management. One more procedural change which has been brought about by the Act is that the parties to the case are required to file their written arguments in advance of the oral hearing. This is to be done so that each party gets the time to prepare for the counter-arguments.
• Costs – The Act has also provided some detailed guidelines with respect to the factors which the Court has to consider when giving the direction about costs, that whether one party should bear all or some of the cost of the other party, such as fees, expenses incurred in hiring lawyers, expenses in relation to witnesses, etc. the Act also states that in the regular course, the unsuccessful party will have to bear the cost of the successful party. The Act has also authorized the Court to impose costs on the parties depending on their conduct during the case. While imposing any such costs on the parties the Court should consider that whether a party has wasted the time of the Court, or refused to settle the matter by giving unreasonable expenses, or failed to comply with any direction which the Court gave during case management. The Court has also been given the authority to impose any amount of exemplary cost. It is very evident that the Act has taken a tougher stand with respect to costs. It is because the Act seeks to dispose of the matters quickly, and does not want the parties to prolong the matters unnecessarily. A party is less likely to seek adjournment if the party has to bear not only its own cost but also those of the other parties.

Limited Appeals

The Act provides a window of 60 days within which the parties can file an appeal against the order of the Court. Appeals would be filed before the Commercial Appellate Division of the appropriate high Court. The Act also states that the Appellate Division shall strive to dispose of the appeal within six months. The Act also states that the parties can appeal only against specified types of interim orders passed by the Commercial Courts and Divisions.

Concluding Remarks

The Act seems to be a piece of legislation which seeks to reduce the amount of delay in high stake commercial matters. However, the Act has been criticized because new resources aren’t used to create the Commercial Divisional Courts (in High Courts, the Commercial Division is merely to be designated out of the sitting judges in the High Court), and this could lead to further delays in matters which do not fall under the ambit of the Act. All things said, it remains to be seen how the Act works. The efficiency of any Act depends on how the related parties conduct themselves. So, only time will tell whether the Act will be able to fulfill the objectives or not, with which it was introduced.

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In this blog post, Pramit Bhattacharya, a student of Damodaram Sanjivayya National Law University writes about the anti- terrorist legislations in India and how they try to counter the issue of terrorism. A few major anti-terrorist legislation have been touched upon in a concise manner. The blog post also highlights the need for having such laws and how such laws violate human rights.

The legitimate and modern states have been under constant threat due to the activities of terrorist groups. The uniqueness of terrorism lies in the continuous changes that terrorists make in their mode operations and the multitude of methods they use in carrying out their activities. Terrorist activities have become brutal at the turn of the century, with terrorist organizations also having access to the technological advancements.

India has been particularly vulnerable to such terrorist activities. Before proceeding further, let us go through a list of the major terrorist activities which shocked the country.

• 2001- Attack on the Parliament
• March 2003- Bomb goes off in a train in Mulund
• October 2005- Delhi Bombing
• 2005- Ram Janmbhoomi attack in Ayodhya
• 26^th-29^th November 2008- Terrorist attacks on Bombay.
• The very recent attack on Pathankot Airbase on January 1, 2016

These are but very few cases of terror attacks in India. This list of attacks is long and list of causalities, longer. The Supreme Court, in the case of Kartar Singh v State of Punjab,[1] opined that the country is slowly falling into the grasp of rising terrorist violence and is caught in the deadly jaws of disruptive activities. Traditionally, terrorism was thought of as a threatening and coercive activity adopted to force a nation into fulfilling the political demands of the terrorist group. But the rise of modern terrorism is a very complex issue which deals not only with the fulfilment of political demands but is also tied to diverse ideological goals. The amount of violence and ambition of the practitioners in modern terrorist activities is alarming. Let us now look at the legislation India had or presently has to tackle terrorism.

Anti-terrorism laws in India

Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967

This Act was instituted to curb those activities that questioned the territorial integrity of the nation. The ambit of the Act was strictly limited to the challenges which threatened the territorial integrity of the country, and when the Bill was debated in the Parliament, it was decided that through narrowing down the ambit of the Act, the right to association would remain unaffected. The Act has been drafted holistically as such and is completely within the purview of the central list in the 7th Schedule of the Constitution.

Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, 1987

Commonly known as the TADA, this Act came into force in November 1987. This Act was more punitive and stringent than the UAPA and was designed to prevent terrorist operations in the country. When the TADA was introduced, many questions were raised about its constitutionality, but the Supreme Court held that when such laws are made, it is assumed that those who are entrusted with the statutory powers given by law will act in good faith. The TADA became non-functional in the year 1995.

The Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act, 1999 (MCOCA)

Although this is a state Act, this should also be considered as one of the significant anti-terrorist legislation in the legislative history of India. The MCOCA was introduced in April 1999 and it was introduced especially to deal with the underworld gangs and organized crime syndicates in all of Maharashtra.[2] The MCOCA has been very successful in the state of Maharashtra and conviction rate has been as high as 78%. The definition of a terrorist act is far more stretchable in MCOCA than under POTA. MCOCA mentions organized crime and includes `promotion of insurgency’ as a terrorist act.[3]

Prevention of Terrorist Activities Act, 2002

The POTA Act can be said to be the Indian Version of the U.S Patriot Act. The POTA was nothing new but only a different version of the TADA with some superfluous changes. When cross-border terrorism intensified, it was felt by the legislature that a special law needs to be created to deal with these acts and POTA was introduced. POTA gives a clear definition of terrorists and terrorist activities. In the case of PUCL v UOI,[4] the constitutional validity of this Act was also challenged. The POTA also faced widespread opposition throughout the country and especially with human rights organizations. It was believed that the Act blatantly violated fundamental rights of people provided for under the Constitution. The supporters of the Act, however, welcomed the legislation on the ground that it had been an effective measure in making sure that speedy trial took place for those who were accused of indulging in or abetting terrorism. The Supreme Court also gave their decision in favor of the Act saying that the Parliament had the ample authority under entry 97 of the list I of 7^th Schedule and also under Article 248 to legislate the Act. Moreover, the view of the Apex Court was that having the Act was a policy decision and the Courts shouldn’t interfere in policy decisions.

Even though there was controversy regarding the constitutionality of the Act, it should be noted that there were several safeguards provided in the Act itself which prevented the abuse of power and violation of human rights. Some of the safeguards are-

1. No Court could take cognizance of any offence under this Act without the prior sanction of the State or the Central Government.
2. No officer, at a rank lower than that of Deputy Superintendent was allowed to investigate any offence under this Act.
3. Confessions made by any person not below the rank of Superintendent of Police were admissible as evidence, provided such person was produced before a magistrate within 48 hours along with the confessional statement.
4. The Act also specified punishment for any officer who exercised powers with a malicious intentions.
5. The Act also provided for compensation to any person who was maliciously charged under the Act.

The POTA was repealed in the year 2004, and was replaced by a new Act. There were several consequences of repealing the POTA and several questions also cropped up. The first among many was that since a law which especially dealt with terrorist activities had been repealed, what would be the future apparatus to deal with such activities. Special provisions were also dropped which restricted release on bail, and also allowed for longer police custody of the accused. The concept of strict liability of the accused was also dropped off after the repeal of POTA.

Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act, 2004

The amended Act although does not define the word terrorist but it defines terrorist activities. The word terrorist is to be interpreted in relation to the activity a person is carrying out. Terrorist Act is defined in Section 15 of the Act. The definition of a terrorist act was not provided in the 1967 Act. In this regard, the law has been widened. The former law only spoke about unlawful activities.

When an association is unlawful, the Central Government has to give a declaration of it citing the reasons for the declaration. The association will then have to provide a show cause that why it shouldn’t be declared unlawful. Under the amended Act also, the court has to take the permission of the Central or the state government to take cognizance for any offense falling under this Act. Confessions in front of a police officer are no longer admissible as evidence. Evidence collected through interception of oral, telephonic and wireless communication is made admissible under Sec 47 of the Act.

Need for Acts like UAPA and POTA

Various question has been raised on this amended Act also by many people under the pretext of the Constitutional rights. All these people must also keep in mind the fact that the constitution also talks about reasonable restrictions which can be placed even upon the liberty of people. In view of increasing terrorist activities, it is necessary that our country needs some strong laws in this area. The other thing the critics must keep in mind that there are safeguards also provided to prevent the misuse of power and violation of human rights, which are very similar to the previous Act. Those who are against these kinds of legislation must remember that these are enacted to safeguard the country as a whole and not a particular section of the society.

The POTA was repealed with a political motive to cash in on the vote banks. The fact should be given due consideration that if investigative forces and security forces are not given any legal powers de facto, then the human rights violations would be much more. There cannot be a contradictory situation in these type of vital matters. If one does not want to confer powers on the authority, out of human rights concerns, one also cannot sustain a situation where no actual powers are given but still wants the system to deliver.

The fault does not lie with the legislature but with the system where implementation is never done efficiently. The matter at hand cannot be restricted to a narrowed down area. Legitimate powers are needed to be given because the situation is extraordinary. If the terrorist activities are allowed to increase in the name of improper legislation, there will be several threats which will reveal themselves with respect to the security of the nation. Learning from the experiences of past terror activities which shook the nation, people who are against such legislation should reconsider their stand and accept the fact that these laws are needed to uphold the unity, sovereignty and integrity of the country. Today, terrorism does not remain only a cross-border or “militant issue. Today terrorism has reached the heart of India with major attacks at cities like Mumbai and Delhi. Preventive detention laws without any safeguard whatsoever against their misuse were required in the Seventies and Eighties when the time was relatively peaceful. Those kinds of laws are not required now. Having such laws, even with safeguards against the misuse, is to give up to a sickening streak of one-sidedness.

Footnotes:

[1] [1994] 3 SCC 569

[2]Surat Singh (2006), Law Relating to Prevention of Terrorism, New Delhi.

[3]http://www.legalservicesindia.com/article/article/anti&-8208-terrorism-laws-in-india-382-1.html

[4] (2004) 9 SCC 580

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In this blog post, Pramit Bhattacharya, a student of Damodaram Sanjivayya National Law University writes about the concept of license. This post discusses the types of license and the modes of obtaining such licenses. The difference between license, lease and easement is also explained in the post.

The term license is very common in today’s world. Even a layman knows the term and to him, a license signifies a transaction of some sort between some specific parties. But the legal and jural meanings are rarely considered. Earlier license was considered as the landlord’s consent to the licensee to use his land, where the licensee could use the land without trespass. In modern times, a license can be considered as validation by the licensor to the licensee to carry out activities on his property, which without entering the property of the owner would be considered illegal.[1]

License under Indian Law

Under the Indian Law, a license is governed by the Indian Easement Act, 1882.[2] Section 52 of the Act defines license as a permission by one person to the other or a group of people to carry out any activity on the property of the grantor, which without such permission from the grantor would be considered unlawful. Interpreting section 52, it can be said that when a person is given the right to use a particular property for certain use, while the possession and control of the property are with the owner, the person will be considered as the licensee. A license can be granted to only a definite number of people, as a license is a personal right given to the licensee. Section 56 of the Easement Act also states that a license cannot be transferred by a licensee or the right under the license be exercise by his servants or agents. In the judicial pronouncement of Associated Hotels of India Ltd. v RN Kapoor,[3] the Apex Court gave a definition of a license. The Court stated that when a document only gives the right to use a certain property in a certain way, it’ll be considered as a license. The licensee is entitled to use the premises only in a specific manner. Without the permission, his activities would be considered unlawful. The essential features of a license can be thus summarized as-

• A license does not create an interest in the property. It acts only as permission which created a personal right with regards to the property.
• A license authorizes certain acts on the property which would be otherwise unlawful.
• A license cannot be assigned or transferred to some third party.

Types of License

License are generally of two types-

• Bare license
• License coupled with a grant.

 Bare License

A bare license can be defined as a personal consent which is granted without any consideration. A bare license can be revoked at any time. A bare license acts as a defense to the act of trespass. If a person is allowed to enter a property for some particular purpose, but on entering the property does something else, it’ll be considered as an act of trespass. When one party grants another party to carry on some activities on the land without changing the nature of the land, it is a bare license.

License coupled with grants

A license coupled with grant or interest means that the permission is given to carry on activities in the property or premises of the other for the purpose of earning some profit and exploit the interest given in the land. For instance, the government gives license to contractors to enter a forested area to collect timber. A license coupled with a grant is assignable, and it also cannot be revoked at any time. The parties must give each other some reasonable time before the permission is revoked.

Granting of license and Implied & Express license

Under the Indian law, the provisions governing the granting of a license are section 53 and section 54 of the Easement Act. Section 53 talks about the question of who may grant a license. Section 54 states that a license may be granted in an express or implied manner.

Section 53 of the Act states that any person can grant a license who in a particular situation can transfer his interest in the property which is affected by the license. In simpler words a person cannot grant license rights if he does not have sufficient legal interest in the property. The power to grant a license co-exists with the power of transferring of interest. Section 53 also states that a person can grant a license to the extent he can transfer his interest in the property. Interpreting this part, it can be said that if a person is not the owner of property, but he has some interest in that property, even he can grant a license to the extent of his interest. Therefore, even a co-tenant or a mortgagee can grant a license to a third party. A tenant can also grant a license, but this right is limited only to the extent of his interest in the property, i.e. the tenancy rights. A tenant cannot transfer the interest which goes beyond the term of the lease.

 Section 54 of the Indian Easement Act states that a grant of license may be express or implied. It depends on the conduct of the grantor. Many times it so happens that the owner of a property creates an agreement for easement, but it may turn out to be an implied license. Thus, the owner of a property should take proper care to differentiate between the permission he is giving, because due to his behavior the opposite party may get a license even though a formal agreement was never created. But in such a case, the co-tenant or mortgagee should be in the sole possession and enjoyment of the property.

Implied License

A license may be an implied license due to the conduct of the owner of property, who may allow some other person to carry on activities on his property. For instance, a shopkeeper allows a customer to enter the shop and enter into a transaction with him. An implied license may also rise due to the reasonable belief of the licensee that the licensor has consented to certain acts on his property.

Express License

In the case of express license, some direct authorization is given to the licensee to carry on activities on the property. Express license are more specific than implied license, as in the case of express license specific terms and conditions are mentioned.

Difference between license and lease

The concept of lease is governed by the Transfer of Property Act, 1882.[5] Section 105 of the Act defines what is meant by a lease. According to the provision lease means a transfer of the right to enjoy the property, for a fixed time and in lieu of some consideration or price. The person who transfers the rights is known as the lessor and the person to whom the rights are transferred is known as the lessee. The question which arises here is that what the difference between a lease and a license is? In simple words, it can be said that the difference lies in the intention of the parties, and the fact that whether any exclusive possession has been given or not. In the case of Section 52 of the Easement Act, no exclusive possession is given to the opposite party. Therefore, if exclusive possession is missing, it cannot be a lease and will be considered as a license. The difference between the two can be summarized in the following points-

• In the case of a lease, the right to enjoyment is transferred, i.e. exclusive possessory rights. In the case of a license, a mere permission is granted without any transfer in interest or rights.
• A lease can be both heritable and transferable. But on the other hand, a license is neither heritable not transferable.
• In the case of a lease, the parties are entitled to any accession or improvement made to the property. In the case of a license, no such entitlement is there.
• In the case of a contract of lease, the lessee has the right to protect the possession in his own name. In the case of a license, the licensee does not have the right to defend the possession in his own name as no proprietary rights are transferred.

Difference between license and easement

An easement is similar to a license, but easement is a bit trickier. In a case of easement also there is a consent or permission of the owner of the property. But here the easement holder gets some interest in the property. For instance, if X grants permission to his neighbor Y to plant flowers on a patch of land on his property during his lifetime it’ll be considered as an easement right.[6] So it can be said that where a license is just a personal right, an easement is a right pertaining to the property. Also, in the case of a license, the licensee gets only right in personam. But easement rights are rights in rem and can be enforced against the whole world.  An easement can be both positive and negative in character, but a license cannot be negative in character.

Footnotes:

[1]http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/license

[2]http://admis.hp.nic.in/himpol/Citizen/LawLib/c88.htm#s52

[3]AIR 1959 SC 1262

[4]http://www.legalservicesindia.com/article/article/difference-between-lease-and-licence-1765-1.html

[5]http://ecourts.gov.in/sites/default/files/TRANSFER%20OF%20PROPERTY%20ACT.pdf

[6]https://www.avvo.com/legal-guides/ugc/lease-license-easement-what

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In this blog post, Abhiraj Thakur, a student of NALSAR University of Law compares the laws that determine the rights of an unborn child in USA and India. The blog post further points out how, the US though being a common law country like India, has significantly different laws when it comes to rights of an unborn child.

The debate and the discourse has always been endless when it comes to the question of whether the law should let a mother choose what happens to her baby growing inside her or whether the law should provide protection to the baby recognizing him/her as a person (human being) to begin with. Where Radical Feminists and pro-choice activists argue for the concept that the ability and final decision on the matter of having a baby or not should rely on the mother and whoever she would want to include in the decision; conservatism, pro-life activists, etc. condemn the entire practice of abortion largely following the argument that such power cannot be given into the hands of anybody to decide who gets to live and who doesn’t, especially in the case of unborn children who for obvious reasons cannot advocate for themselves.

Rights of unborn child in the USA

The United States of America has paved quite the path for other countries to follow suit when it comes to ensuring that children, even the unborn ones are protected from harm and injury by law and have a legal recourse to any harm caused. They have made sure that where the fundamental rights given to citizens solely for the matter of their existence and being a citizen of the country protect them and let them live with dignity there are also laws that make sure that a person can be held liable for causing harm to a person who at the time of the injury isn’t born. The Unborn Victims of Violence Act, 2004 seeks to do just that.

The Act defines the term ‘unborn child’, which means a child in utero and the term ‘child in utero’ or ‘child, who is in utero’ means a member of the species homo sapiens at any state of development who is carried in the womb.[1] It defines that whoever engages in conduct that violates any of the provisions of law as listed in subsection (b) and hence causes death or bodily injury to a child who is unborn at the time, i.e. is in utero at the time the conduct takes place, is guilty of a separate offense under this section. [2] It also mentions that apart from as provided in the paragraph, punishment for those separate offenses is the same as the punishment provided under Federal Law for that conduct which results in injury or death to the unborn child’s mother. The act specifies that an offense under these sections does not require that the person causing the harm must be aware or have knowledge that the victim of the offense is pregnant or have intentions to cause death or injury to the unborn child.[3]

Rights of an Unborn Child in India

In India, despite there not being any legislation or statute that specifically defines the rights and the position of an unborn child under the law, several statutes[4]  Recognize and mention the unborn and defined it to be a legal person by fiction, but they too mention that an unborn acquires rights only after being born. Thus, the state can and is required to interfere in abortion matters only after the unborn child has attained the stage of viability. To protect the right of a human being falls under the right to life and hence has to be protected.

When it comes to the topic of abortion laws in India, they fall under Section 312 to 316 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860[5] And the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 2002. The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act lists out the number of provisions guiding the process and the ability of how and when women can get their unborn aborted if need be. The law laid down makes it very clear that despite the woman’s choice, the abortion had to be signed on and agreed to by a Registered Medical Practitioner up till 12 weeks of pregnancy and between 12-20 weeks of pregnancy to Registered Medical Practitioners have to agree to do an abortion. Also, the act specifies the reasons upon which abortions can be carried out and on whom. The inherent flaw in this act is that it refuses to acknowledge the existence of a large section of population who don’t fall under the purview of the provisions mentioned yet might be in need of abortions, also it takes away the right of choice and privacy that should be given to every to be mother as the act says that terminations of pregnancies should be carried solely on medical reasons and nothing else.

Some Major Differences

1. One of the stark differences between the tort laws regarding rights and protection of unborn children as followed in the United States of America and as under the common law in India is that where the law in the USA has been trying to achieve a balance between providing protection to the unborn against injury and harm and make sure that the right to life, liberty, and privacy of the mother is upheld the law under common law is quite a far distance away from those objectives.
2. Under the law in United States of America, the acts passed by them make it very clear that any person causing harm to an unborn or causing any injury or death is liable to be punished irrespective of the fact whether he/she knew that his/her act might cause such an injury to an unborn. On the other hand, under common law protection of unborn victims is considered of prime importance and isn’t particularly ignored but there is no statute or legislation that specifically defines the kind of offenses the unborn are protected against and the respites available to them. The law India still heavily lie on precedent and leave it to the court’s discretion to take a decision on the consequences of any harm/injury caused to an unborn or the rights available to them.
3. The law in India does not recognize an unborn as a legal personality and hence claims and rights too can be associated with the birth and not before. The laws in the USA on the other hand are evolving enough that as was said by Justice Tom Parker, “an unborn child has an inalienable right to life from its earliest stages of development”[6].
4. Despite having strict laws protecting the unborn from any harm or injury that could happen, the laws in the USA protect the privacy and choice of mothers to just the same extent. The law and the courts keep in account that no person who is authorized by the consent of the mother or by the law will be prosecuted for carrying out an abortion, they also keep in mind that a priority also has to be given to the mother and her decision which the state cannot intervene in. The laws India on the other hand, despite providing the provisions to carry out abortions restrict the act to just medical needs and do not give space to put in the factor of choice of the mothers.

Conclusion

Thus, it becomes evident that the tort law in the USA is quite evolved and citizen-friendly than the tort laws under Common law countries such as India. Though still not perfect, the laws regarding the rights and the protection of unborn children in the USA strive to strike a balance between protecting the unborn and his rights as a human being and upholding the rights and choices of the mother, they recognize the fact that there can be numerous reasons why someone would want an abortion apart from medical reasons and they assent to it, which is not the case in India.

In India, though the laws recognize the existence of an unborn as a legal person, they don’t grant rights until the birth of the child and the state can interfere only after the unborn attains viability but the problem that remains is that the law refrains from being clear on the idea of how the law will protect the unborn and what is the duty owed to him/her.  The UK too follows a suit similar to India where even though they recognize that the state owes a duty to the unborn, what duties are owed and how will they be carried out is far too ambiguous, which is inherently problematic.

The laws under Common law need to be reviewed to recognize the existence of other scenarios where fundamental rights such as Right to Life are not being protected by law per se and other interpretations of it. It cannot be said that the laws in the USA are perfect by far, but it also cannot be denied that they don’t provide better protection by law for the mother as well as the unborn.

Footnotes:

[1] Unborn Victims of Violence Act, 2004; § 1841, (d)

[2] Unborn Victims of Violence Act, 2004; § 1841. (a)(1)

[3] Unborn Victims of Violence Act, 2004; § 1841. (2)(B) (i), (ii)

[4] S.13 of TP Act 1882 deals with the transfer of property for the benefit of unborn which defines Where, on a transfer of property, an interest therein is created for the benefit of a person not in existence at the date of the transfer, subject to a prior interest created by the same transfer, the interest created for the benefit of such person shall not take effect unless it extends to the whole of the remaining interest of the transferor in the property

[5] Indian Penal Code, 1860

[6] Sarah Janie Hicks v. the State of Alabama, CC-09-268, CR-09-0642

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In this blog post, Abhiraj Thakur, a student of NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad writes about the rights available to the mentally challenged people in India under the current framework of laws. The post further elaborates on how these laws are implemented and what are the reforms that need to be brought about.

Humans have asserted themselves to be the most intelligent species to have ever walked on planet earth. The human brain is such that until today medical science has not been able to explain it in entirety. For instance, we still don’t know how memories are stored. It is because of this brain that humans have made significant discoveries and lived the best life for themselves, but sometimes there occurs a disorder in it which we colloquially refer to as madness or insanity.

What is Mental Illness? Who is mentally ill?

The American Psychiatric Association (APA) defines insanity as a ‘psychological pattern or syndrome marked by distress and disability.[1]‘ Mental illness is considered to be characterized by the inability of a person to carry out the daily chores of his/her life. The Indian Mental Health Act, 1987 defines mentally ill person as ‘a person who needs treatment for mental disorder.[2]‘

As we see by the definitions ‘mental illness’, the most drastic consequence seems to be that it disables a person to function as a normal human being. These people need treatment which should consist of care and love, but most often they are ill-treated by the larger society. They are considered as unproductive and useless, often thrown out of their houses. Most countries of the world today run Asylums and other healthcare facilities for these people where they are treated but in these facilities as well, they are ill-treated and often not provided with the basic necessities. It thus becomes important for us to know what are the rights available to mentally challenged people in India.

Framework of Laws

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and Mental Capacity Act of 2005 in USA and UK respectively are considered comprehensive legislations recognising rights of mentally challenged in their respective countries. In the case of India, we still lack a comprehensive code. The rights of mentally disabled in India are derived from a vast framework of different laws, these are:

Constitutional Rights

Mentally and physically challenged people can avail all the fundamental rights guaranteed to an ordinary citizen by the Constitution of India. No statute bars them from enjoying these rights. However for mentally challenged the most important constitutional rights are:

Right against discrimination: By Article 15(2) of Constitution of India any citizen, including mentally challenged people, can’t be denied access to public goods. Also, they need to be provided equal opportunities to prosper in life.

Right to Health: Article 21 gives the right to life and personal liberty. Right to health flows directly from right to life and the same has been laid down by the supreme court in many cases.

Disability rights under International Laws

In 1971 the ‘Declaration on Rights of Mentally Retarded Persons’ was adopted by the UN general assembly. The declaration was the first active attempt to grant disability rights to the mentally ill people. The declaration among other things laid down certain guidelines to be adopted by mentally ill people. Some of these were:

• Recognition of mentally ill people as a separate category of physically challenged individuals and providing them certain safeguards accordingly.
• The member nations shall ensure the economic security of mentally ill by devising suitable programs so that they can earn their living.
• Special care shall be taken for these people in any social planning by the state.

The 1996 convention by the WHO on Mental Health Care law

It laid down ten basic principles that every member nation needs to adopt for the betterment of mentally challenged people. It was recommended that a large number of asylums with best healthcare facilities need to be opened in the developing countries. The nations were told to make changes in the internal laws to provide specialized treatment to mentally challenged. There was felt a need to increase awareness among the general people about the plight of mentally challenged. However, the most remarkable recommendation was that all the nations of the world were told to review their laws on mental health and make necessary changes so as to shape them in the best interests of the mentally challenged people. Special categories and reservations were recommended to be made in jobs for these people and that every state shall recognize the disability rights of mentally ill persons. India being a signatory nation to both the schemes needs to act accordingly in the best interests of the mentally challenged people in the country.

Human Rights under international Laws

In 1992, The general assembly adopted the Declaration of Hawaii. For many years it was observed that many patients in mental asylums were subject to gross human rights violations at the hands of authorities. In many countries the asylums were is dismal conditions where in some cases even food and water was not available. Apart from this, the patients lacked privacy, there were no facilities for recreation and leisure activities, the patients were made to do hard labor at times. In fact, there has been no attempt to ‘treat the mentally ill’. The Hawaii declaration laid down that an environment of love and care ought to be maintained in asylums. The seclusion and restraint that is practiced in treating these people need to as minimum as possible. The declaration was the first international treaty that recognized human rights of mentally challenged people.

Rights under Local Laws

The Indian Mental Health Act, 1987

Under this Act, a mentally disabled person has the right to treatment and care in a psychiatric hospital. There are established special asylums for mentally challenged people under the age of 16 by this act. The cost of the treatment in asylums needs to be undertaken by respective state governments unless the relatives of the patient bear it. This Act also provides certain legal safeguards to the mentally challenged. A mentally challenged person has the right to avail legal aid on the order of the court if the court finds that he/she has no means to get aid.

The Persons with Disabilities (Equal opportunities, protection of rights and full participation) Act 1995

The need to provide equal opportunities and enhance participation of mentally challenged in the society was the first time realized through this act. Few landmark steps were taken in this regard were:

• Establishment of special schools for the education of mentally disabled children.
• Mentally disabled children were given the right to free education till the age of 18 under this Act.
• 3% employment reservation for disabled (Including mentally disabled) in government jobs was approved.

Judicial Pronouncements

The Indian judiciary has adopted a sympathetic approach towards mentally disabled people. Time and again judiciary has taken cognizance of infringement of rights of these people and provided them an adequate legal remedy.

In the case of Chandan Kumar v State of West Bengal[3], the judiciary condemned the mismanagement of mental asylums by state governments. In the mental hospital of Mankaundi in hoogly district West Bengal, the patients were kept chained with iron ropes and were physically tortured and denied food and water. This was all done in the name of treatment. The Supreme Court ordered the cessation of this inhuman practice, held the state liable and recommended reforms of mental health asylums all over the country. Now no patient in these asylums can be held chained; it is a punishable offense. In Legal Aid Committee v State of MP[4], the Supreme Court highlighted the need to have stricter enforcement of laws made for the betterment of mentally ill. If any government servant now complies with the behavior necessary for the betterment of mentally ill, he will be to be held liable.

Some current issues faced mentally disabled in India

Lack of Asylums

India, though being a signatory to various conventions and treaties, still requires an adequate number of mental health care asylums in the country. Ideally, there should be one asylum in every district.

Poor infrastructure

Most of the functioning asylums in the country are below standard. Lack of facilities in addition to staff and doctors exacerbates the situation of mentally challenged.

Lack of awareness

For any right to deliver on substantive goals there needs to be awareness of it. A majority of the country is today unaware of the rights of mentally challenged.

Current laws

Most of the current laws in the country induce incompetency in the mentally challenged people. They can’t enter into a contract, nor can validly marry. These things need to be reformed.

Lack of any comprehensive legislation

Lack of legislation granting rights to mentally disabled is another major issue to be tackled. The legislature should take an initiative in this regard.

Mentally disabled people are as much the part of the society as anyone else. Despite the existence of laws and precedents granting certain rights to them, there is felt a need for reform in this regard. This issue is not a politically charged one and so has not gained the attention it deserved. Moreover just by putting blame on regime won’t work, After all, it is us who have to come forward and help these people to get their rights.

Footnotes:

[1] Stein, Dan J Phillips, K.A Bolton, D Fulford, K.W.M Sadler, J.Z Kendler, K.S (November 2010). “What is a Mental/Psychiatric Disorder? From DSM-IV to DSM-V”. Psychological Medicine (London: Cambridge University Press

[2] Chapter 1 part 2 Definitions, Indian Mental Health Act 1987.

[3] (1995) 4 SCC 505

[4] (1994) 5 SCC 27

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Imagine working on upcoming areas in the online education space.

Imagine how it would be to make high-value educational products accessible to the country’s future lawyers and business leaders.  

Imagine how it would be to work at one of India’s most successful online education startups which have made a dent in the online education industry and collaborated successfully with universities and industry bodies.

How it would be for your career?

We are a startup in the online education domain, working on projects of our own as well as in collaboration with top universities and government bodies for the last 4 years. At iPleaders, we work on transforming what training one can give to budding lawyers, law students, entrepreneurs, government officials and others who want to understand the law and use it to their advantage. We are working on access to justice for the last few years, and have made some real headway. Things that were impossible 4 years back, are very much reality now. That’s how we work – away from the spotlights, cracking on the real problems and taking on things others think are impossible to change. You can read about us more on our website: http://ipleaders.in. Our blogs have the widest reach in India amongst all legal issue-based blogs, enabling access to more than 1 lakh individuals to legal developments that impact their lives.  Our courses like these http://startup.nujs.edu and http://sexualharassment.nujs.edu have been widely acclaimed in media and elsewhere. We are service providers to some of the top brand names like Samsung, Feedback Infrastructure, Agrocorp, JCB and other listed companies for compliance training. We are also in the process of creating breakthrough technologies in the domain of access of justice that will change the face of legal industry in India in the coming years. We need highly capable and ambitious people to make this happen. Now here is a position very essential right now to achieve the success of our dreams.

Designation –  Sales associate and Marketing Associate

Experience – At least 2-3 PQE sales in  education industry.

Essential Skills

•        Comfort and ease with numbers
•         Ease and interest in working with new technology and tools (you don’t need any coding knowledge for these)  
•         Must have ability to record, track, interpret and present data in a simple and effective way with action points for leadership
•         Must be willing to develop ‘listening’ skills

Roles and Responsibilities

•       Coordinate with marketing team and maintain analytics of leads and conversions
•        Familiar with CRM (e.g. Zoho, Leadsquared), email-marketing tools (e.g. Mailchimp), Exotel
•        Landing page optimization for visitors to easily discover value proposition in the site and engage with the marketing and sales funnel  
•        Email funnel creation, monitoring and optimization  
•        Calling qualified leads to engage them in the sales funnel and making follow-ups
•        Collaborate with sales leadership to implement training process
•        Ability to work in a team as well as individual
•        Manage and track day to day performance of all sales team members and deliver reviews and reports

(We are willing to train interested candidates in the above responsibilities.)

This position is not for those who are not interested in getting familiar with numbers or resistant to using online technological tools.    

Opportunities–

• Great work life balance with fixed timings.
• High growth startup with open, fun and friendly environment
• Opportunity for personal development and in making a contribution in the lives of others
• Opportunity to work with latest technological tools
• Opportunity for developing leadership and creating a team  
• Learn about new opportunities and market functioning in online education industry

Salary range: 3.6 – 4 Lakh per annum depending on qualification and experience. We will provide high quality training and comfortable, homely and no-frills work environment. If you are interested in joining a rapidly growing startup, be part of the legal education and technology revolution in India, and make a difference, then this is the right opportunity.

If you are interested for the position email with your CV to rithi@ipleaders.in with the subject line “Job Application for Sales Associate”

The post iPleaders is looking for Sales and Marketing Associates appeared first on iPleaders.

We are a startup in the online education domain, working on projects of our own as well as in collaboration with top universities and government bodies for the last 4 years. At iPleaders, we work on transforming what training one can give to budding lawyers, law students, entrepreneurs, government officials and others who want to understand the law and use it to their advantage. We are working on access to justice for the last few years, and have made some real headway. Things that were impossible 4 years back, are very much reality now. That’s how we work – away from the spotlights, cracking on the real problems and taking on things others think are impossible to change. You can read about us more on our website: http://ipleaders.in. Our blogs have the widest reach in India amongst all legal issue-based blogs, enabling access to more than 1 lakh individuals to legal developments that impact their lives.  Our courses like these http://startup.nujs.edu and http://sexualharassment.nujs.edu have been widely acclaimed in media and elsewhere. We are service providers to some of the top brand names like Samsung, Feedback Infrastructure, Agrocorp, JCB and other listed companies for compliance training. We are also in the process of creating breakthrough technologies in the domain of access of justice that will change the face of legal industry in India in the coming years. We need highly capable and ambitious people to make this happen. Now here is a position very essential right now to achieve the success of our dreams.

Designation – Public Relations and Content Marketing Manager

Experience – At least 1-3 years’ experience in public relations, journalism, corporate communications or in building online presence.

(Note: This is not a social media marketing position).  

Essential Skills

•         Effective writing skills. You should be able to write emails, press releases and other communication in simple and effective English.
•         Research – You should be able to identify popular websites and content marketing ideas and topics that will be of interest for readers of different websites, in connection with our education products
•         Excellent communication skills and coordination with other team members.

Roles and Responsibilities

• Online research and networking skills – You will be required to identify online media and popular websites for different categories of readers. You will need to connect with and build relationships with people who author content there.  You should also be able to get in touch with them through social media (Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.) and share content prepared by us with them.    
• Push out content related to our courses and products with our own media and friendly blogs pertaining to different kinds of developments in connection with our initiatives (press conference, course launches, webinars, workshops, seminars, etc.)

Opportunities-

•       Great work life balance with fixed timings.
•       High growth startup with open, fun friendly environment
•       Opportunity to continuously make a difference in live of others
•      Opportunity to conduct research
•      Opportunity to build great network with legal experts
•     Opportunity to continuously train and develop yourself in research, networking, counseling and making a difference

Salary range: 3.6 – 4 Lakh per annum depending on qualification and experience. We will provide high quality training and comfortable, homely and no-frills work environment. If you are interested in joining a rapidly growing startup, be part of the legal education and technology revolution in India, and make a difference, then this is the right opportunity.

If you are interested, email with your CV to rithi@ipleaders.in with the subject line Public Relation and Content Marketing Manager.

The post iPleaders is looking for Public Relations and Content Marketing Manager appeared first on iPleaders.

This article about why aspiring lawyers should read John Grisham novels has been written by Srishti Aishwarya and was originally published in A First Taste of Law. We brought it back for you from the archives.

I recently completed reading John Grisham’s latest novel – The Confession. Over the past few years, I have read all of Grisham’s novels and have never ceased to be fascinated by his highly engaging works. His latest novel, The Confession is about a dying murderer’s last minute confession in an effort to save the innocent convict from being given the death penalty. I for one have got most of my general legal knowledge about the basic concepts of law from Grisham novels. While preparing for CLAT, I did not know the difference between a plaintiff and an accused or the significance of wills and codicils until I read Grisham novels. Here are the reasons as to why Grisham’s novels are a must-read for anyone wanting to know how the American legal system functions.

1. Information as to the basic concepts of law: Grisham novels will give you information about the basic concepts of law and legal procedure. Grisham explains concepts like the subpoena, ‘mass tort’, the difference between bail and parole and procedural details like a selection of juries, functions of various Courts etc. in a lucid and simple language.
2. The relation between law and politics: In some of his books, Grisham succinctly describes the politics in America’s judiciary and the politicians use and misuse of the law. For example; in his bestseller The Chamber, he beautifully makes us aware of the use and misuse of pardons given to death penalty convicts by U.S. State governors depending on the governor’s political ideology.
3. Corporate lifestyle and corporate espionage: In his novels The Firm, The Client and the Partner; Grisham has brought to fore the corporate lifestyle of big law firm lawyers and the unethical and often illegal tactics resorted to by law firms to please their clients and make profits.
4. Describes various disciplines of law: Over the last two decades, Grisham has written various novels ranging from corporate law espionage and civil litigation; to murder and death penalty cases; class action suits; environmental law violations and property law disputes. Thus, the reader will get all necessary and important happenings in the legal industry.
5. Social and political issues: Even when Grisham tries to fictionalize and make legal issues more entertaining; he nonetheless tries to highlight the key social and political issues confronting The USA. In one of his books, he makes a strong argument for squatters rights; in another bestseller, The Chamber he weighs the arguments for and against the death penalty. His work of non-fiction; The Innocent Man deals with prisoner rights; wrongful convictions and the use and abuse of death sentence by various states of America.
6. Fast-paced and entertaining: The beauty of Grisham novels is that they are fast-paced, entertaining and easy to understand. You would want to keep on reading his wise cracks and would marvel at his ability to delve into important points of law without being monotonous. His portrayal of young protagonists and masala-movie style stories will keep you engaged.
7. Courtroom dramas: Grisham has this great ability to depict highly engaging Court-room duels with numerous procedural details (such as selection of juries; filing of various petitions etc.)
8. Exposes the corruption in America’s establishments: In his books The Brethren, The Appeal and The Broker; Grisham gives insights as to the behind-the-scene corruption, favoritism, dogmatism and power games of America’s politicians, lawmakers, judges, and lawyers.

To all students preparing for CLAT: If you haven’t read any Grisham novel; please start right away and enrich your Legal GK.

The post 8 Reasons Why Reading John Grisham Novels Is Important For Lawyers and Law Students appeared first on iPleaders.

We are a startup in the online education domain, working on projects of our own as well as in collaboration with top universities and government bodies for the last 4 years. At iPleaders, we work on transforming what training one can give to budding lawyers, law students, entrepreneurs, government officials and others who want to understand the law and use it to their advantage. We are working on access to justice for the last few years, and have made some real headway. Things that were impossible 4 years back, are very much reality now. That’s how we work – away from the spotlights, cracking on the real problems and taking on things others think are impossible to change. You can read about us more on our website: http://ipleaders.in. Our blogs have the widest reach in India amongst all legal issue-based blogs, enabling access to more than 1 lakh individuals to legal developments that impact their lives.  Our courses like these http://startup.nujs.edu and http://sexualharassment.nujs.edu have been widely acclaimed in media and elsewhere. We are service providers to some of the top brand names like Samsung, Feedback Infrastructure, Agrocorp, JCB and other listed companies for compliance training. We are also in the process of creating breakthrough technologies in the domain of access of justice that will change the face of legal industry in India in the coming years. We need highly capable and ambitious people to make this happen. Now here is a position very essential right now to achieve the success of our dreams.

Designation – Research Associate & Course Administrator

Experience – At least 2-3 PQE in the Litigation, Law Firms, LPOs, Academia

Essential Skills

•         Must be able to write and communicate clearly with accurate English grammar
•         Must be willing to work in a challenging fast-paced work culture

Roles and Responsibilities

•       Identify the important areas of research in connection with business law and other courses conducted by the organization
•       Develop and expand our network of industry experts
•       Work with industry experts to obtain content that captures their expertise in an effective way for learners
•    Encourage experts to create content for http://lawsikho.com
•  Curate content prepared by industry experts

•    Must ensure learners have a comfortable, friendly and delightful user experience
•   Manage academic calendar, coordinate examinations and responsible for overall administration of courses post enrolment of students
• Preparation of process documents and implementation for course administration

Opportunities

•       Great work life balance with fixed timings.
•       High growth startup with open, fun friendly environment
•      Opportunity to continuously make a difference in live of others
•      Opportunity to conduct research
•      Opportunity to build great network with legal experts
•     Opportunity to continuously train and develop yourself in research, networking, counseling and making a difference

Salary range: 3.6 – 4 Lakh per annum depending on qualification and experience. We will provide high quality training and comfortable, homely and no-frills work environment. If you are interested in joining a rapidly growing startup, be part of the legal education and technology revolution in India, and make a difference, then this is the right opportunity.

If you are interested, send your CV to amartya@ipleaders.in with the subject line “Research Associate &  Course Administrator”.

The post iPleaders is looking for a Research Associate and Course Administrator appeared first on iPleaders.