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Introduction The Local Complaints Committee (LCC) is a statutory mechanism under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (“POSH Act”) designed to guarantee access to remedy for women who face sexual harassment at workplaces where an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) either does not exist or cannot act (for example,…

Introduction A lineal descendant — commonly described in practice as “issue” — denotes a person who is descended in a direct line from an ancestor: children, grandchildren, great‑grandchildren, and so on. In Indian practice the concept is ubiquitous: it governs succession and representation, determines tax and stamp exemptions, informs adoption and guardianship questions, and decides…

Introduction “Lineal ascendant” denotes those persons who stand in a direct upward bloodline to an individual — father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, great‑grandfather, great‑grandmother and so on. Though apparently simple, the concept has outsized importance across Indian law: succession and inheritance, taxation of gifts, maintenance and domestic relations, stamp and registration law, and evidentiary questions frequently…

Introduction Light motor vehicle (LMV) is a deceptively simple term with disproportionate practical importance across traffic regulation, criminal prosecutions arising from road accidents, insurance litigation, licensing disputes and regulatory compliance in India. Although lawyers and magistrates encounter “LMV” as shorthand in everyday practice, resolution of disputes often turns on a precise technical classification — typically…

Introduction Life‑saving drugs are pharmaceutical agents whose timely administration can prevent imminent death or grave, preventable deterioration of a patient’s condition. In India these medicines occupy a special legal and policy space because their availability, price, manufacture, stocking and distribution implicate constitutional rights (notably Article 21), public health policy, criminal law (when narcotics are involved),…

Introduction Life interest (commonly called a life estate or life tenancy) is a fundamental hybrid of property and succession/estate law: it confers on a person the right to possess and enjoy property for the duration of her life, but not the ownership in fee simple. In Indian practice life interest most often arises under wills,…

Introduction A license—shortly defined in Indian law as a limited permission to use another’s property—plays an outsized role in daily property practice: from hotel and guest-house relationships to stall permits in markets, from government permissions to occupy worksites to informal family arrangements for residential occupation. Although legally a “thin” right compared with a lease or…

Introduction Leq (equivalent continuous sound level) is the energy‑averaged sound level over a specified time interval. In India, Leq is the operative technical metric for measuring environmental noise, framing regulatory compliance, shaping noise impact assessment in environmental clearances, and furnishing expert evidence in nuisance and pollution litigation. For practitioners who litigate environmental matters, municipal nuisance…

Introduction A “legitimate child” is a foundational concept in family, succession and criminal law in India. Its legal status determines rights to maintenance, guardianship, inheritance, succession, legitimacy of birth certificates, and often the outcome of disputes over paternity and parentage. For practitioners, mastery of how Indian law defines, presumes and sometimes dispels legitimacy is indispensable…

Introduction The phrase “Least Restrictive Care Option” is central to contemporary Indian practice in mental health law, disability jurisprudence and child and custodial care. It encapsulates a rights-based, medical and constitutional imperative: treatment and care must meet the person’s clinical needs while curtailing their civil liberties and personal autonomy as little as possible. For practitioners,…

Introduction Lease is a core transactional and litigation concept in Indian property law: a contractual transfer of the right to possess and enjoy immovable property for a specified period in return for consideration (rent). Unlike sale, a lease does not transfer ownership; it creates a relationship of landlord and tenant governed by the Transfer of…

Introduction Karta is the functional and legal pivot of a Hindu Undivided Family (HUF). Traditionally understood as the senior-most male coparcener under Mitakshara law, the Karta manages family affairs, administers ancestral property, represents the HUF in litigation and tax matters, and contracts on its behalf. In modern practice, the role has evolved — statutory reforms…

Introduction Kabinama (also spelled Kabin-nama or Nikahnama in common usage) is the written contract executed between parties at the time of an Islamic marriage. It records the proposal and acceptance of nikah, the mahr (dower), and any express conditions agreed between the spouses. In practice it plays the role of a pre‑nuptial instrument under Muslim…

Introduction The Juvenile Justice Board/Authority (JJB) is the statutory forum tasked with dealing with Children in Conflict with Law (CCL) — persons who are alleged to have committed an offence and are under eighteen years of age on the date of the commission of the offence. The JJB is the fulcrum of India’s child‑centred criminal…

Introduction The term “juvenile” is central to criminal and child-welfare jurisprudence in India. It designates persons under 18 years of age and triggers an entirely different procedural and substantive regime — one that privileges care, rehabilitation and restoration over punitive retribution. For practitioners, understanding the legal status of a juvenile is the first, and often…

Introduction Jurisdiction is the foundational threshold issue in every judicial proceeding: it determines which forum can entertain a dispute, the limits of the forum’s power to adjudicate, and whether any judgment pronounced will be legally effective. In India — a federal polity with a layered judiciary, specialist tribunals, and multiple statutory fora — jurisdictional questions…

Introduction Judicial custody is the status in which an accused person is held in custody not by the police but under the control of prison authorities pursuant to a judicial remand order. It is a routine but decisive juncture in criminal litigation: the point at which liberty restrictions become formalised in the criminal process and…

Introduction A “Judicial Commissioner” in the Indian context is a judicial officer appointed on a non‑permanent or ad hoc basis to exercise judicial or quasi‑judicial functions. The label survives today largely as a functional description rather than a constitutionally entrenched office‑title: it denotes temporary or specially constituted judicial authority where permanent institutional arrangements (High Court/divisional…

Introduction “Judgement” is the judicial articulation of reasons that culminates in a court’s decree or order. It is the narrative and legal spine of every adjudication: it explains why a party wins or loses, identifies the factual findings, applies law to those facts, and produces the operative direction (decree or order). In Indian litigation, the…

Introduction Investigation is the engine-room of the criminal justice system. It is the process by which facts are gathered, leads are pursued, evidence is secured and tested, and factual matrices are constructed upon which prosecution or closure decisions rest. In India, the quality, legality and transparency of investigation determine whether the criminal justice machinery advances…

Internet Banking — A Practical Guide for Indian Practitioners Introduction Internet banking — the conduct of banking transactions over the Internet — is now a routine avenue for payments, fund transfers, account management and access to credit facilities. Its ubiquity has produced a parallel body of legal practice that sits at the intersection of banking…

Introduction The Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) is the statutory, internal adjudicatory mechanism mandated by the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (hereafter “POSH Act”). The ICC is the frontline institutional structure through which complaints of sexual harassment are received, investigated and remedial recommendations are made — and therefore it…

Introduction Interim order denotes a provisional judicial direction issued while the main lis is pending; its object is to preserve the subject-matter, protect parties from irreparable prejudice, or maintain the status quo so that final adjudication is efficacious and meaningful. In Indian practice interim orders are the workhorse of litigation — from temporary injunctions in…

Introduction Intellectual Property (IP) encompasses the legal rights granted to creations of the human mind — inventions, literary and artistic works, designs, symbols, names, images, and other commercial identifiers. In India, IP is not an abstract academic concept: it is a core transactional and litigation field that shapes industry strategy, corporate valuations, technology transfer, competition,…

Introduction An “Inspection Memo” (also referred to in practice as an arrest/inspection memorandum or inspection note) is the contemporaneous record of the physical condition of a person when brought into custody. Though not defined by a single statutory provision, the inspection memo functions as a primary safeguard against custodial violence, an evidentiary document for both…

Introduction Insanity / Unsound mind is a legal, not merely a clinical, concept. In Indian law it operates at the intersection of criminal responsibility, civil capacity and guardianship, testamentary validity, contractual competence and procedural safeguards for accused persons. For practitioners, the phrase “unsoundness of mind” triggers discrete consequences: (a) a potential complete defence to criminal…

Introduction An “insanitary latrine” is not merely a matter of poor housekeeping; it is a public‑health and legal problem that engages municipal, criminal and constitutional law in India. For practitioners, recognising when a latrine becomes “insanitary” — i.e., one that requires manual removal of human excreta before putrefaction or which discharges into open drains/pits causing…

Introduction Inquiry is a deceptively simple word for a concept that sits at the junction of criminal procedure, administrative law and constitutional protection in India. In practice, “inquiry” denotes a range of fact‑finding processes — from a Magistrate’s sifting of a complaint to departmental probes into employee conduct and high‑level commissions of inquiry. Getting the…

Introduction An injunction is an equitable remedy — a court-ordered command to do or to refrain from doing a particular act — that preserves rights and prevents imminent or continuing injustice. In India, injunctions are a staple of civil litigation: they are used to protect possession, enforce contracts, prevent infringement of intellectual property, stop threatened…

Introduction Infanticide — the killing of a newborn or very young child — has no separate statutory label in Indian criminal law but occupies an important place in both criminal adjudication and medico-legal practice. In India it is prosecuted through general homicide provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and through specific offences dealing with…

Introduction The phrase “Indian Christian” has a modest statutory pedigree but disproportionate practical importance across Indian personal law, family law practice, succession disputes, custodial and guardianship matters, and religious rights litigation. Section 3 of the Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872 supplies the statutory definition; that definition determines whether several distinct legislative schemes and institutional practices…

Introduction “Imprisonment for life” is one of the most consequential sentencing options in the Indian criminal justice system. It operates at the intersection of substantive penal law, sentencing doctrine and executive clemency. For practitioners, a sentential order declaring “life imprisonment” shapes not only the offender’s liberty but also the contours of subsequent relief by courts…

Introduction Impound — the act of seizing and holding property under legal authority — is a routine instrument across criminal, regulatory and civil practice in India. From the traffic constable who impounds an unregistered vehicle to the customs officer detaining imported goods, impoundment affects fundamental client rights: possession, use, and commercial value of property. For…

Introduction Immovable property is the bedrock of many civil and commercial disputes in India. At its simplest, it denotes land and things that are permanently attached to the earth — parcels of land, houses, apartments, buildings, fixtures and rights associated with land. For practitioners, immovable property law is consequential across conveyancing, property litigation, execution proceedings,…

Introduction The label “illegitimate child” (more sensitively described in modern practice as a “child born out of wedlock” or “non‑marital child”) occupies an outsized place in Indian litigation because, while it no longer denotes moral condemnation in law, it continues to influence disputes on maintenance, custody, guardianship, parentage, identity, and succession. Practitioners must therefore understand…