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Introduction A “cease and desist” communication — commonly a cease and desist letter (CDL) — is a pre‑litigation instrument used to demand that a person or entity stop an alleged wrongful activity and to warn of legal consequences if the conduct continues. In India, CDLs are a routine, powerful tool across intellectual property (trademark, copyright,…

Introduction A cash credit (CC) facility is the archetypal working-capital product of Indian banks and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs). It is a revolving short-term credit line against securities (typically hypothecation of inventories and receivables, sometimes supported by mortgage and guarantees) that allows a borrower to draw, repay and redraw up to a sanctioned limit. Though…

Introduction Capitation fee — loosely described as any extra money, donation or payment exacted by an educational institution as a condition for admission — is one of the most persistent faults in India’s education sector. It sits at the intersection of fundamental rights (to establish and administer educational institutions and to education), consumer protection, criminal…

Introduction Capital gains lie at the intersection of transactional practice, tax litigation and transactional structuring. For practitioners in India, “capital gains” is not merely a dry arithmetic difference between sale and purchase price — it is a statutory construct with detailed rules on what counts as a capital asset, what constitutes transfer, how gains are…

Introduction “Brothel” is a legal and practical fulcrum in Indian criminal and administrative law: it is the locus where consensual sex work, coercion, trafficking, exploitation and public order concerns frequently intersect. For practitioners, the label “brothel” determines which criminal provisions, rescue procedures, evidentiary approaches and remedial/rehabilitative mechanisms are available. Getting the legal characterization right —…

Introduction A “broker” is a pervasive and commercially critical intermediary in Indian commerce — operating in real estate, insurance, securities, commodities, shipping, and many other markets. At its core a broker negotiates, brings parties together, and facilitates transactions; but in practice the label “broker” covers a range of legal states: independent finder, agent, commission agent,…

Breach of Contract Introduction Breach of contract is the central trigger for civil enforcement in commercial and private law. It converts a bundle of private commitments into justiciable rights and remedies — damages, restitution, equitable relief — and dictates the procedures lawyers must adopt from pleading to execution. For Indian practitioners, mastery of breach law…

Introduction Booth capturing is a distinctly electoral malady: the forcible appropriation of a polling station so that votes are cast by persons other than the bona fide electors. In India, booth capturing undermines both the integrity of an individual vote and the legitimacy of the entire electoral outcome. For practitioners, the term is not merely…

Introduction Bonus occupies a central place in Indian labour law as a statutory entitlement designed to share industrial prosperity with employees. Far from being a mere discretionary “reward for good performance,” bonus under Indian law is a carefully regulated, often litigated entitlement that affects payroll budgeting, labour relations, tax treatment and corporate compliance. For counsel…

Introduction Bodily injury is a foundational concept in criminal and medico-legal practice in India. It is the factual predicate that separates petty altercations from serious criminal liability, determines the quantum of charge and punishment, and drives medical, forensic and investigative processes. For criminal practitioners and judicial officers, precise characterisation of an injury—whether it is “hurt”…

Introduction “Biographic information” is commonly used imprecisely in practice to refer to both identification data (name, address, DOB) and biometric or biological identifiers (photograph, fingerprint, iris scan, facial image, etc.). In contemporary Indian litigation and regulatory practice, the latter category — what most statutes and courts call “biometric information” — has assumed singular importance because…

Bill Introduction A “Bill” is the fundamental instrument by which legislative policy becomes law in India. It is a proposal for a new statutory enactment or for altering an existing statute. For practitioners, mastery of the lifecycle of a Bill — from drafting and introduction to passage and assent — is essential: defects in subject-matter…

Introduction Bigamy — the act of entering into a second (or subsequent) marriage while a legally valid earlier marriage subsists — is a compact concept with wide-ranging criminal, civil and personal-law consequences in India. For litigators and counsellors it sits at the intersection of criminal law (public wrong), matrimonial law (civil status and reliefs) and…

Introduction “Beyond reasonable doubt” is the cornerstone standard of proof in criminal adjudication. It animates the presumption of innocence and determines whether the State may lawfully deprive a person of liberty or life. In Indian criminal jurisprudence this standard is not a technical metric; it is a working rule of evidence and criminal procedure that…

Introduction Bestiality — broadly described as sexual intercourse or sexual acts between a human and a non‑human animal — sits at the intersection of criminal law, animal welfare law and evidentiary science. In the Indian legal landscape it is treated not merely as a sexual offence but as cruelty to animals and a public‑order concern….

Bench Introduction A “bench” denotes the number and constitution of judges hearing a matter. In India, bench composition is not a neutral administrative fact: it shapes admissibility, precedential weight, the procedure for raising substantial questions of law, and—frequently—the ultimate outcome. Understanding how benches are constituted, when a larger bench is required, and how to secure…

Introduction A Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account (BSBDA) is the regulatory vehicle through which Indian banks deliver “no‑frills” deposit banking to the financially excluded: zero or very low balance accounts that permit basic deposit, withdrawal and receipt of credits through electronic channels. For practitioners, BSBDA is a recurring feature in litigation and grievance redressal—ranging from…

Introduction Baptism is a sacramental rite of initiation into the Christian faith. Legally in India it is not a statutory concept; rather it is an ecclesiastical ceremony whose legal relevance arises where the ritual intersects state law — principally through issues of religious freedom, conversion, personal law, evidence and the welfare of minors. For practitioners,…

Introduction Bailable offence is a foundational procedural concept in Indian criminal law: it determines whether an accused has a statutory right to immediate release on furnishing bail. For practitioners it is not merely a label in a schedule — it governs arrest practice, magistrates’ duties, detention risk, and quick remedies for unlawful custody. Mastery of…

Introduction Bail bond is the ordinary, yet decisive, instrument by which the criminal justice system balances two competing values: the personal liberty of an accused and the duty of the State to secure that the accused appears for trial. In India, a “bail bond” commonly refers to (a) the recognizance (personal bond) the accused executes…

Bail Introduction Bail is the procedural device by which an accused person arrested or detained is conditionally released from custody pending investigation or trial. In India bail sits at the intersection of personal liberty guaranteed by Article 21 of the Constitution and the State’s interest in effective criminal investigation and trial. For practitioners, mastery of…

Introduction “Authorized insurer” is a deceptively simple phrase with outsized practical significance in Indian practice. At its core it denotes an entity legally entitled to transact insurance business in India — principally, general insurance business — and includes government insurance funds that are statutorily empowered to underwrite risks. For practitioners, the label determines the validity…

Introduction The Attorney General of India (AG) is the chief legal advisor to the Union Government and the principal law officer who represents the Union of India in litigation. Although a constitutional office, it is as much a practice-oriented post as a constitutional one: the AG supplies legal advice at the highest level of government,…

Introduction Attest — in its legal sense — is the act of witnessing and authenticating a document or a fact by signature or oral declaration so as to provide prima facie proof of the genuineness of the document or the occurrence testified to. In Indian practice, attestation operates at the intersection of substantive requirements (e.g.,…

Introduction “Assessment Year” (AY) is a deceptively simple phrase that governs the temporal architecture of income‑tax administration in India. It fixes the year in which the income of a taxpayer (earned in the immediately preceding “previous year”) is assessed, returns are filed, notices issued, appeals prosecuted and tax liabilities crystallised. For practitioners, accurate identification and…

Introduction The Assessing Officer (AO) is the central operational actor in the administration of direct taxation in India. Far more than a formal designation, the AO is the statutory officer who conducts inquiries, frames assessments, levies tax, initiates reassessment proceedings, imposes certain penalties and passes orders that directly determine a taxpayer’s liability. Mastery of the…

Introduction “Assessee” is the foundational identity in Indian direct tax law: the person on whom the Income-tax Act, 1961 (the Act) confers rights and obligations to be assessed, to file returns, to pay tax, and to be proceeded against in assessment, reassessment and recovery proceedings. Accurate identification of the assessee — and of categories such…

Introduction An arrest memo — frequently called an “arrest cum seizure memo” in practice — is the contemporaneous document drawn up by the police at the moment of arrest. It records the identity of the arrested person, the time, date and place of arrest, the reason for arrest, the identity of the arresting officer(s), and…

Introduction The Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) is the specialised statutory forum for the adjudication of disputes and complaints concerning members of the Indian Armed Forces. It is the principal forum for appeals from courts‑martial and for original applications on service and pension matters affecting Army, Navy and Air Force personnel. For practitioners handling military clients…

Introduction Arbitration is a private, party-driven method of dispute resolution by which parties agree to submit their disputes to one or more impartial third parties (arbitrators) for a final and binding decision (the award). In India, arbitration has moved from being an optional private mechanism to a central pillar of commercial dispute resolution policy —…

Introduction The phrase “Appellate Authority” is central to the machinery of transparency under the Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act). In RTI parlance it primarily refers to the officer or body that entertains appeals against decisions (or non-decisions) of Public Information Officers (PIOs). Proper use of the appellate route—first appeal within the public authority…

Introduction Appeal is the principal corrective mechanism in the Indian adjudicatory architecture: it enables scrutiny, correction and, where necessary, reversal of judicial decisions rendered by inferior courts and tribunals. Practically, appeal is not merely a right to re-argue; it is a disciplined process governed by substantive and procedural thresholds which determine when and how a…

Introduction Anticipatory bail is a procedural device of immense practical importance in Indian criminal law. It enables a person who reasonably apprehends arrest on account of accusation in a non‑bailable offence to obtain an order of protection in advance, so that if arrested he/she is released on bail rather than remanded to custody. Properly invoked,…

Introduction “Annul” in family-law practice denotes a judicial declaration that a marriage is a nullity — that it never validly came into legal existence (ab initio) or, in some cases, that it is defeasible and may be set aside. Annulment differs fundamentally from divorce: a decree of divorce severs a valid marriage, whereas an annulment…

Introduction Ancestral property (commonly called coparcenary property under Mitakshara law) is one of the most litigated and strategically significant concepts in Indian family and succession law. For practitioners, the term determines not only the quantum of a client’s proprietary interest but also the remedies available — partition, injunctions against alienation, accounting, and claims for maintenance…