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Introduction Fasid (فاسد) — commonly translated as an “irregular” or “defective” marriage — is a key category in classical Muslim personal law. Unlike a sahih (valid) nikah, a fasid marriage contains a defect which makes it irregular but not necessarily void (batil). In the Indian legal context, where Muslim personal law governs matrimonial matters for…

Introduction A “family business” in India is not a discrete statutory category but a pervasive commercial reality: enterprises—ranging from small proprietorships and traditional shop-fronts to large, closely held private companies—where control, management and capital originate predominantly within a family. Such businesses sit at the confluence of company law, partnership law, succession law, tax law and…

Introduction The word “family” carries deep cultural resonance in India, but in law it is not a unitary concept — it is a contextual, statutory and jurisprudential construct. Different branches of law (personal law, criminal law, succession, maintenance, domestic violence, tax, insurance and procedural law) define and treat “family” differently for distinct legal consequences. For…

Introduction “Fake news” — the deliberate creation or propagation of false or misleading information presented as news — has moved from being a media buzzword to a recurring subject of litigation, regulatory action and criminal complaints in India. For practitioners, the term has no single statutory definition, yet it interfaces with criminal law, civil remedies…

Introduction Extortion is a core offence against property and public order under the Indian Penal Code. In practice it sits at the intersection of criminal intimidation, theft/robbery, and offences by public servants; its prosecution and defence raise distinct factual and evidentiary issues. For litigators, mastery of the precise ingredients (fear + dishonest inducement + delivery/consent)…

Introduction Externment is a prophylactic, non‑penal order that compels a person to stay away from a specified geographical area for a stipulated period. In practice it functions as an instrument of public order and preventive policing: rather than punishing past conduct, it seeks to preclude the possibility of future offences or public disorder by removing…

Introduction An “expressway with access control” is not merely an engineering classification; it is a legal regime that transforms the rights, liabilities and remedies of private landowners, users, public authorities and contractors where the roadway traverses the Indian landscape. Practically, an access‑controlled expressway is a high‑speed, limited‑access highway with regulated points of entry and exit,…

Introduction The term “executor” sits at the heart of succession practice. Practically, an executor is the person named in a testator’s will to carry out the directions contained in it: marshal assets, pay debts and liabilities, manage estate affairs, obtain probate (where required), and distribute the residue in accordance with the will. For practitioners, the…

Introduction Excise duty has been one of the central pillars of India’s indirect tax architecture for seven decades. Traditionally described simply as a tax on the manufacture or production of goods within the country, excise in practice governs a complex matrix of classification, valuation, timing (when the tax becomes leviable), compliance formalities and credit mechanisms….

Introduction “Establishment” is a deceptively simple word that drives the operation, coverage and enforcement of nearly every labour, social security and service statute in India. Whether a workplace is an “establishment” — and if so, what part(s) of a corporate or government organisation constitute that establishment — determines applicability of shop and establishment rules, standing…

Introduction Employees’ State Insurance (ESI) is India’s primary statutory social security scheme for workers in the organised and certain unorganised sectors. Administered by the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) under the Employees’ State Insurance Act, 1948, ESI provides a package of medical care and cash benefits to insured persons and their dependants on contingencies such…

Introduction “Equestrian” — in ordinary parlance, a person who rides horses — acquires distinct legal contours when situated within Indian law. From criminal prohibitions against cruelty to animals and civil liability for bodily injury, to sport regulation, international movement of horses, betting law at racecourses, and consumer claims against riding schools, the legal issues surrounding…

Introduction Endorsement — the use of a public figure’s persona (name, likeness, voice, image, or reputation) to promote a product or service — is a commercial fulcrum of modern Indian marketing. For lawyers advising brands, agencies or celebrities, the term is more than marketing jargon: it engages contract law, intellectual property, consumer protection, publicity/privacy rights,…

Introduction The term “employee” is foundational across Indian labour, social security, taxation and service jurisprudence. Whether a dispute is about termination, minimum wages, provident fund deductions, maternity benefits, gratuity, industrial action or tort/liability, the threshold question — is the claimant an “employee” of the respondent? — determines the forum, the applicable statutory regime and the…

Introduction Emission standards are the statutory and administrative limits placed on pollutants discharged into the atmosphere from stationary sources (factories, power plants, boilers, incinerators) and mobile sources (vehicles). In India these standards are a central regulatory tool for protecting public health, preserving ambient air quality, and steering industrial and transport policy. For practitioners, “emission standards”…

Introduction “Embryo” in medical parlance denotes the developing human organism from fertilisation up to the end of the eighth week (fifty‑six days). In Indian law the concept is at the intersection of criminal law (offences relating to causing miscarriage), reproductive and abortion law (access to termination and foetal‑abnormality jurisprudence), assisted reproductive technology (ART) regulation, and…

Introduction Elementary education—commonly expressed in lay terms as “Class I to Class VIII” or education for children aged six to fourteen—is a constitutional, statutory and administrative fault line in Indian public law. It is where fundamental rights, Directive Principles, welfare administration and private interests intersect. For practitioners, “elementary education” is not merely a classificatory label:…

Electronic Signature Introduction Electronic signatures (e-signatures) are the linchpin of digitisation in transactional, regulatory and litigation practice in India. They enable execution, authentication and exchange of documents without physical presence and underpin e-filing, e-tendering, e-governance and commercial contracting. For practitioners, understanding the legal status, evidentiary requirements and operational safeguards around electronic signatures is essential to…

Introduction Electronic Banking Transaction (commonly called e‑banking, internet banking, online banking or virtual banking) denotes any movement of funds, payment instruction, account access or related banking service effected by electronic means rather than by in‑person branch interaction. In India, electronic banking underpins retail payments, corporate treasury operations and the digital economy (UPI, NEFT, IMPS, card…

Introduction An electoral roll (commonly, the voter list) is the foundational repository of democratic participation: it records who is entitled to vote in a particular constituency and thereby determines who may exercise the franchise at parliamentary, assembly and local body elections. For litigators and election practitioners the electoral roll is not merely administrative paperwork —…

Introduction The term “elector” is elemental to India’s representative democratic structure. At its narrowest, an elector is simply a person entitled to vote in a particular constituency; at its practical limit, the identity, whereabouts and eligibility of electors determine the composition of electoral rolls, the outcome of elections, and the legitimacy of democratic government. For…

Introduction The election manifesto is a core instrument of electoral democracy in India: a public, written declaration by a political party (or candidate) setting out ideology, policy promises and programmes in the run‑up to an election. Practically, a manifesto shapes voter expectations, frames campaign narratives and functions as both a political contract with the electorate…

Introduction EID Number / Enrolment ID denotes the acknowledgement number generated at the time an individual submits an Aadhaar enrolment/update form to the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). Though temporary, it plays an outsized role in contemporary Indian practice: from compliance with tax filing requirements and government welfare delivery to evidentiary use in litigation…

Introduction Effluents — liquid waste streams discharged from industries, sewage treatment plants, CETPs/ETPs, hospitals and other premises — are a central subject of environmental regulation and litigation in India. Control of effluents implicates public health, ecological balance, industrial compliance and municipal service delivery. For practitioners, “effluents” are not an abstract term: they are the measurable,…

Introduction Efficacy — in legal practice — denotes the capacity of a law, regulatory approval, remedy, order or piece of evidence to achieve its intended legal, regulatory or practical purpose. In India efficacy operates as both a substantive and procedural touchstone: courts and regulators assess whether a statute, administrative action, patent claim, drug approval, or…

Introduction Economic boycott—the deliberate refusal to enter into or continue commercial relations with a person because she or he belongs to a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe—is not a mere commercial dispute in India. When motivated by caste animus against an SC/ST person, such conduct is an offence under the special protective architecture created by…

Introduction Economic abuse has emerged as a central category of harm within the law of domestic violence in India. It is not merely an incident of money‑withholding; it is a pattern of conduct that deprives a person—most commonly a woman—of financial autonomy, access to assets (including stridhan), and the ability to meet basic needs. Recognising…

Introduction Ecgonine is an alkaloid derivative closely associated with the coca plant and is a primary chemical precursor/constituent in the biosynthesis and breakdown of cocaine. In forensic and prosecutorial practice it rarely appears as a term of pure chemistry alone: its legal significance flows from its relationship to cocaine and coca leaves and from its…

E‑Commerce Introduction E‑commerce is not merely commerce conducted over the internet; it is a distinct legal ecosystem where technology, commercial practice and regulatory overlays interact constantly. For Indian lawyers, e‑commerce cases typically raise issues across multiple branches — contract, tort (product liability), consumer law, information technology and data protection, taxation, foreign investment and competition law….

Introduction “Duty Officer” is a functional designation used across police stations, courts, prisons, hospitals and other public institutions. In the criminal justice context in India, the duty officer is the frontline public servant: the first official who receives information, records entries in the General Diary/FIR register, directs immediate action, and becomes the focal point for…

Introduction Dry deposition (commonly described in environmental science as the transfer of gaseous and particulate pollutants from the atmosphere to land or surfaces without precipitation) is a central mechanism by which airborne pollutants — notably SO2, NOx, ammonia and acidic particulates — produce localized and regional harm. In the Indian legal landscape dry deposition matters…

Drawer / Issuer of Cheque Introduction The drawer (or issuer) of a cheque is the person who signs and issues a cheque instructing his banker to pay a certain sum to the payee. While this appears a routine commercial act, issuing a cheque in India engages both civil and criminal law. The legal identity and…

Introduction A drawee is the person or entity upon whom a negotiable instrument is drawn and who is ordered to pay the amount specified. In the cheque context the drawee is ordinarily a banker (the bank/branch) on which the cheque is drawn. Correct identification and practical handling of the drawee are central to negotiable-instrument practice…

Introduction Dowry Prohibition Officers (DPOs) are statutory functionaries created to give teeth to the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 and related criminal provisions. They operate at the state level and act as the institutional interface between victims, the police, prosecutors and the civil machinery to prevent dowry practices, to register complaints under the Act and to…

Introduction Dowry — the transfer of money, goods or other valuable consideration in connection with marriage — occupies a prominent, often tragic, place in Indian law and social life. The phenomenon is outlawed, criminalised and subject to special evidentiary presumptions because of its deep link with domestic violence, harassment of married women and a disproportionate…