Articles

Neo-liberal agendas that dictate policy and lawmakers are fundamentally at odds with exploitative market forms that reinforce gender, class and caste hierarchies. Activities that are not purely economic, such as the domestic work industry, are especially incompatible with faith in free market forces, given the popular market-oriented notions that inform the valuation of forms of ‘productive’ work. Any attempt for the State to intervene, has to be more facilitative than regulatory. There needs to be a fundamental shift in the way these systems are viewed and such work valued. This paper is an attempt to introduce, into the Indian policy sphere, a discourse on the need to understand the peculiarities of domestic care work and propose that any legislative intervention needs to be contextual, with a different understanding of the ‘worker’ and the ‘workplace’.

Ever since it was established, the NUJS Law Review has sought to foster a culture of legal scholarship in India. In addition to being one of the few Indian law journals that publish on a quarterly basis, the Review has the distinction of being wholly student-run. Moreover, by publishing articles that deal with a wide variety of topics and accommodate diverse perspectives, the Review has attempted to contribute meaningfully towards academic discourse. In previous years, for instance, the Review has dealt with topics as varied as an analysis of the legal framework governing 3-D Printing to an assessment of the legality of anti-satellite missile testing measures. Further, in order to ensure that contentious legal issues are examined both thoroughly and exhaustively, the Review has encouraged the incorporation of interdisciplinary analysis and empirical research….

This article seeks to re-evaluate the Indian legal position relating to arbitrability of oppression, mismanagement and prejudice claims taking into account developments in the United Kingdom and Singapore. In order to accomplish this objective, the article examines the law relating to the subject in these jurisdictions and the principles governing the arbitrability of disputes. Thereafter, the article examines whether the principles rendering oppression, mismanagement and unfair prejudice claims per se arbitrable in the United Kingdom and Singapore can be adopted with suitable modifications under Indian law. The article also proposes certain legal tests that could be adopted by courts in India while adjudging arbitrability of oppression, mismanagement and prejudice claims.

Legal jurisdictions across the world promote the finality of arbitral awards by prohibiting any kind of substantive review of awards. Barring exceptional and enumerated circumstances, parties in arbitration get only one shot at arbitrating their disputes, the idiomatic ‘single bite at the apple’. However, such conceptions of arbitral finality have come under attack, as the tolerance for error in arbitration has decreased with increasing complexity and monetary stakes of the disputes involved. To this end, there has been a fervent advocacy for the usage of internal appeal mechanisms for ensuring substantive integrity of arbitral awards. Recognising the growing demand, multiple international jurisdictions and leading arbitration institutions have already begun offering sophisticated appeal procedures. The Supreme Court of India in its 2016 Centrotrade judgement paved the way for appellate procedures in Indian arbitration by upholding the legal validity of such arrangements. Noting the dearth of literature on the issue in the Indian context, through this paper, we present a comprehensive discussion on internal appeal mechanisms and their application in Indian arbitration. Whilst addressing both the normative and the practical criticisms that that have come to be associated with such procedures, we principally argue that internal appellate procedures will not only make the entire process of arbitration fairer, but also more autonomous. We also highlight and offer suggestions for amendments to deal with certain lacunae in the governing statute that may potentially complicate the application of appellate procedures in Indian arbitration. In addition, the paper also doubles up as a practice guide on internal appeal mechanisms as multiple sections offer detailed recommendations for drafting agreements on internal appeal procedures that are cost and time efficient, while simultaneously, are also capable of being tailored according to the specific needs of the parties.

The Carter’s Breach of Contract is an important addition to the existing literature on the issue. Considering that India draws heavily from Common law in the implementation of its contracts, this book is topical. The book, in its latest version, has taken into account all the developments in the field. The cases relied upon are primarily from England but there are notable references to the developments in Australia, New Zealand and the United States of America. Statues pertaining to Contract law from different jurisdictions are also referred to for better understanding of the readers. From an Indian perspective, there is also a passing reference to the Indian Contract Act, 1872.

The Preamble to the Constitution of India promises to all its citizens – social, economic and political justice. However, the judicial machinery configured to administer it has become the biggest hurdle in the dispensation of justice. This paper dwells into the desirability and the feasibility of adopting the idea of All India Judicial Services (‘AIJS’) to revitalise the lowest tier of judiciary, which is hopelessly plagued by humongous backlog and unmanageable vacancy. For a well-rounded perspective, the paper traces the evolution of AIJS as an idea and analyses the merit of contentions pitted against it. Questions relating to the structure of AIJS, the effect of such a metamorphosis on the role of High Courts, quality of judicial officers, and independence of judiciary are of immense contemporary relevance in India and form the central research theme of this paper.

In India, where its companies, including the listed ones, face a ‘Type 2’ agency problem of corporate governance, the honorary position of Chairman Emeritus created by a company has far greater potential to influence the company and its governance than hitherto understood. However, unfortunately and interestingly, there is no provision in India under corporate law or other related areas of law to formally regulate this post. This creates a legal lacuna, a loophole which is prone to be misused by the Chairman Emeritus or a company’s promoters or its controlling shareholders against the interests of its minority shareholders and/or other stakeholders. Further, in the absence of legal regulations with respect to the position of Chairman Emeritus, the existing provisions under corporate law may also turn ineffective in certain instances, in keeping a check on the aggravation of the Type 2 agency problems in Indian companies. This is because the berth of Chairman Emeritus, in absence of direct legal regulations governing this designation, may be used to allow the Chairman Emeritus and other persons/groups/entities in the company to do indirectly what they may not have done directly under law. Hence, we suggest that we should regulate the burgeoning post of Chairman Emeritus. Further, we touch upon the ways in which such regulations can be introduced.

The NUJS Law Review has sought to serve the purpose of endorsing analytical legal scholarship. As the Indian legal system witnesses periodic changes, through myriad statutory progressions and judicial innovations, the need for the simultaneous evolution of legal scholarship becomes pronounced. Noticeably, in recent times, contributions in legal literature have been playing a seminal role in aiding the development of legal positions in the Indian context. Our endeavour has been to constantly put forth original argumentation on issues of importance. Creative thought accompanied by intense interdisciplinary scrutiny have aided the efforts of our contributing authors to continuously put forth multifaceted works, highlighting the layered nature of legal issues requiring the attention of the discerning reader. This issue seeks to bring together in-depth research and diverse perspectives on key legal issues.

The process of liberalisation and globalisation necessitated intensive cooperation among different countries, regionns and economies. Regional blocks started emerging towards the end of the twentieth century, to facilitate cross-border trade and development. While most of these integrations are based on the geographical proximity, BRICS stands distinct by covering five States – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, which are located in different continents. BRICS integration is amongst those new economies that are fast growing and are having huge potentiality to take lead at the global level. Although much was expected from BRICS in the governance of global affairs, the success of it is subject to debate. Hence, a book to explore the status of BRICS in terms of different aspects of cooperation attains significance.

This paper maps the current landscape of the nature and scale of the use of digital media in India through relationship typologies between citizens, intermediaries and the State. These typologies help explain the gamut of functions, both private and public in nature, which the internet has enabled in India. The implications of these typologies are sought to be understood in the broader context of judicial developments vis-à-vis the right to privacy. This study is undertaken with the acknowledgement that the State’s emerging role in large scale data collection and identity verification through projects like ‘Aadhaar’ indicates that as we navigate the terrains of data privacy, the Indian State itself is not a disinterested regulator on the issue of privacy. The Supreme Court’s recent recognition of the right to privacy as a fundamental right under the Indian Constitution provides for an expanded terrain to develop taxonomy of privacy violations. This necessitates the adoption of a rigorous standard of review by referencing ideas of human dignity and democracy embedded within the conception of constitutional morality.