Category: Indian Law Basics

Introduction Custom and usage are perennial sources of private law in India. They shape property rights, succession, family relationships, tenancy arrangements, and commercial practice in ways that statutes often do not fully capture. For practitioners, the law of custom is a double‑edged sword: it can vindicate long‑standing community expectations where statute is silent or ambiguous,…

Introduction Custody is a polyvalent legal concept in Indian law. It governs two distinct but equally consequential spheres: family law (the protective care, guardianship and day‑to‑day control of a person — usually a child) and criminal law (the state’s physical detention of an accused or suspect). For practitioners, mastery of both strands is indispensable: family…

Introduction The Current Account is the operational backbone of commercial banking in India. It is the bank account used predominantly by businesses, firms, professionals and high-frequency transactors for day-to-day receipts and payments. Legally and commercially it is characterised by (i) transactional frequency, (ii) usually no interest paid by the bank (unless contractually agreed), (iii) an…

Introduction Curfew — the executive imposition of a restriction on the movement of persons within a specified area and time — is one of the most intrusive tools available to the state in the maintenance of public order, public safety and public health. In India it has been deployed in contexts as varied as communal…

Introduction Crude cocaine is not an abstract chemical curiosity for Indian courts; it is an intermediary product in the illicit supply chain that triggers the full machinery of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) regime. Practitioners must understand what “crude cocaine” is technically, how it is treated under Indian law, the forensic and procedural…

Criminal Contempt Introduction Criminal contempt is a potent but often misunderstood weapon in the Indian judicial arsenal. It protects the integrity, authority and functioning of courts by punishing acts or publications that scandalize the judiciary, obstruct judicial proceedings, or otherwise impair the administration of justice. For litigators, media lawyers, in-house counsel and judges, an accurate…

Introduction Credit cards are ubiquitous instruments of modern commerce. Far from being mere plastic tokens of convenience, they sit at the intersection of contract law, banking regulation, consumer protection, cyber law and criminal law. For the practising lawyer in India—whether advising a bank, a merchant, or a consumer—credit-card disputes raise recurring practical problems: enforceability of…

Introduction Court-martial is the institutional mechanism by which offences committed by members of the Indian Armed Forces are investigated, tried and punished under service law. It is an autonomous system of military justice created to preserve discipline, efficiency and operational readiness of the armed forces while balancing fundamental rights and fair trial guarantees. For practitioners…

Introduction “Counsellors” under Indian law most often refer to the person(s) appointed or engaged by courts, Protection Officers or recognised service providers to attempt reconciliation, provide psycho‑social support, de‑escalate family violence, and assist courts in tailoring humane reliefs in domestic violence and family disputes. Though counselling is a key non‑adversarial tool in the Protection of…

Introduction Counseling — the organised provision of professional advice, psychological support and behavioural intervention — is an increasingly prominent remedial and procedural tool in Indian law. It functions at multiple nodes of the justice system: as an instrument of rehabilitation (juvenile, drug and mental-health cases), as a means of conflict-resolution (family law and civil mediation),…

Introduction Corrective Institution is an umbrella description used in litigation and policy to denote any state- or court-authorised place where persons are detained, sheltered, rehabilitated or re‑educated with an express or implicit corrective purpose. In the Indian context the term covers a spectrum — prisons and jails, remand and judicial custody facilities, “correctional” or “protective”…

Introduction “Cordon” refers to the tactical sealing or containment of a geographic area by police, paramilitary or armed forces to restrict movement into and out of that area. In India it is a routine tool of policing and internal security operations — used in counter‑insurgency, counter‑terror operations, riot control, searches for fugitives, protection of public…

Introduction A coparcener is a person who shares equally with others in the inheritance of an undivided estate or in the rights to it. The concept is central to Hindu succession law and the law of joint family property (Mitakshara coparcenary). Understanding who is a coparcener, what rights flow from that status, and how to…

Conviction Introduction A conviction is the formal judicial determination that an accused is guilty of an offence. In the Indian criminal justice system it is the pivot on which punishment, collateral consequences (disqualification, stigma, forfeiture) and appellate remedies turn. For practitioners, the concept of conviction is not merely definitional — it governs trial strategy (how…

Introduction Contempt of court is the legal mechanism by which courts enforce their authority, protect the integrity of judicial processes and ensure compliance with their orders. In India it occupies a singular position at the intersection of judicial power, individual liberty and freedom of speech. For litigators and judges alike, mastery of the doctrine is…

Introduction “Contempt” in the Indian legal sense is a technical doctrine wholly distinct from its everyday meaning of dislike or disrespect. It is a procedural and substantive tool by which the judiciary protects the integrity, authority and functioning of the courts and the administration of justice. For practitioners, contempt law sits at the intersection of…

Introduction Contact tracing — the systematic identification, listing and follow-up of persons who have been exposed to an infected person — is not merely an epidemiological tool. In India it sits at the intersection of public health policy, administrative power, criminal liability and individual constitutional rights. The practice—whether conducted by public health teams using interviews…

Introduction Consummation — commonly described in lay terms as the completion of a marriage by sexual intercourse — is a short word with outsized consequences in Indian matrimonial practice. Though often treated as a private, intimate act, its legal significance appears in annulment petitions, legitimacy questions, matrimonial reliefs and the evidentiary calculus of family disputes….

Introduction The term “Consumer Court” in India is shorthand for the quasi‑judicial fora constituted under the Consumer Protection Act to adjudicate disputes arising out of the sale of goods and provision of services. These fora — commonly described as District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions (District Commissions), State Commissions and the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission…

Introduction Consanguinity — the legal recognition of “blood relationship” — is not an archaism in Indian law. It is a live, determinative concept across matrimonial law, adoption, succession and administrative processes (for example, marriage-registration objections). For practitioners, an accurate appreciation of consanguinity (often litigated as “sapinda” relationship or as a “prohibited relationship”) is frequently decisive:…

Introduction A congenital disorder (often called a birth defect) is a medical condition present at or before birth that may have structural, functional, metabolic, or genetic causes. In Indian law, the term is more than medical nomenclature: it sits at the intersection of medical negligence, reproductive rights, public health regulation (notably prenatal diagnostic regulation), disability…

Introduction Conciliation is an institutionalised form of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) in which the parties, with the assistance of an impartial third person (the conciliator), seek a consensual settlement of their dispute. Unlike arbitration, conciliation does not culminate in a binding determination imposed by the third person; instead, it produces a negotiated settlement that the…

Introduction Conceptus — the legal-medical term denoting any product of conception at any stage of development from fertilisation until birth — is a small phrase with large legal consequences. It sits at the intersection of criminal law (offences against gestation), reproductive and health law (termination, consent, medical regulation), tort (iatrogenic injury to the fetus), family…

Introduction Compensation is the legal mechanism by which a person wronged by another is monetarily made whole (in whole or in part) for loss, injury or deprivation caused by the wrongful act, breach or omission of the other. In India, compensation operates across multiple branches — contract, tort, statutory regimes (motor accidents, labour, consumer law),…

Introduction “Communication device” in contemporary Indian law is not merely a dictionary phrase: it is the single most consequential locus where constitutional rights (privacy, speech, fair trial), criminal investigation, regulatory control and commercial litigation intersect. From a seized smartphone that contains the only record of a crime, to metadata held by telcos and intermediaries, to…

Introduction Communal violence — violence between or targeted at groups identified by religion, ethnicity, language or similar communal markers — is not merely a law-and-order phrase. It implicates criminal law, constitutional federalism (public order and police being state subjects), human rights, evidence law, criminal procedure and disaster management. For practitioners, communal violence cases are complex:…

Introduction Common intention is a foundational device in the criminal law of India that converts joint action into joint liability. Appearing in Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), it is the mechanism by which each participant in a jointly executed criminal act is treated, for purposes of guilt, as if he or she…

Introduction Commissioned officer is a technical and jurisprudentially significant term in Indian military and administrative law. In practice it denotes those members of the Indian Armed Forces who hold a commission — a formal instrument conferring authority, seniority and command — and who, in many contexts, correspond to the “Gazetted Officer” tier of the civil…

Introduction Cohabitation — commonly described as two persons living together in the same house — has acquired outsized legal significance in India over the last two decades. What began as a social phenomenon is now a recurring issue in family law, criminal law practice, public law (privacy/choice) and statutory domestic-violence litigation. For practitioners, the focal…

Cognizance Introduction “Cognizance” is a short word that marks a long procedural threshold in criminal justice: the moment a judicial forum accepts that sufficient material exists to treat an allegation as a matter for criminal adjudication. In Indian practice, the decision to take cognizance transforms private grievance or police information into formal court proceedings. For…

Introduction A “cognizable offence” is a foundational classification in Indian criminal procedure: it determines whether the police can initiate investigation and arrest without prior judicial permission. This dichotomy—cognizable versus non‑cognizable—shapes immediate policing response, the victim’s right to an FIR, an accused person’s exposure to police custody, and the tactical choices available to litigators. Mastery of…

Introduction Coercion is a central concept in Indian contract law because it strikes at the very foundation of contractual obligation — free consent. Contracts induced by coercion are not contracts in the true sense: the coerced party’s assent is vitiated and the law affords remedies short of enforcement. For practitioners the practical question is seldom…

Introduction A codicil is a testamentary instrument that supplements, explains, modifies or, to a limited extent, revokes parts of an earlier will. In Indian practice codicils are commonly used where a testator wishes to make a change to an existing will without executing a completely new testamentary instrument. For practitioners, understanding the formal requirements, the…

Introduction Coca leaf — the harvested leaf of plants of the Erythroxylum genus — occupies a small but legally sensitive place in Indian narcotics law. Though the leaf itself is not the same as the purified alkaloid cocaine, it is specifically regulated because it is the raw botanical source for ecgonine, cocaine and other derivatives….

Introduction Clinical trial — the controlled, systematic study of a new drug, device or intervention on human participants — sits at the intersection of science, regulation and patient rights. In India, clinical trials are closely regulated because they involve human subjects, potentially significant risks, commercial interests and public health consequences. For litigators, regulators, trial sponsors,…