Category: Indian Law Basics

Introduction Supported accommodation describes a spectrum of living arrangements in which a person who possesses or occupies a dwelling but requires external assistance to live independently receives paid or funded support services from an agency or caregiver who does not permanently reside with them. In the Indian context, supported accommodation bridges social welfare, disability law,…

Introduction A “superannuation fund” in the Indian corporate and employment context is the mechanism by which an employer accumulates and holds monies to provide retirement benefits (pension, lump‑sum retirement payments, or deferred annuities) for its employees. Though colloquially used interchangeably with “pension fund” or “retirement fund”, in practice a superannuation fund in India is typically…

Introduction Summons case is a central procedural category under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPC). It governs the simpler, quicker mode of prosecution for less serious offences — those not attracting imprisonment beyond two years — and shapes the scope and manner in which an accused is informed, examined and convicted. For practitioners, understanding…

Introduction Summons is a deceptively simple procedural instrument — an order of a court directing a person to appear before it on a specified date. In practice, however, summonses are gateway events: they commence a litigant’s formal engagement with the criminal or civil justice system, determine whether an accused will be tried in person or…

Introduction Summary trial is a procedural device in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPC) designed to expedite disposal of comparatively minor criminal offences. It compresses formalities of a regular trial so that trivial matters are adjudicated swiftly, reducing backlog and sparing court time for more serious crimes. For practitioners, mastery of summary trial law…

Introduction Subordinate courts are the working backbone of the Indian judicial system. They are the courts below the High Courts that decide the vast majority of civil and criminal disputes: district courts, sessions courts, magistrate courts, civil judges (senior and junior), munsif courts, family courts and other courts constituted under state laws. For practitioners, an…

Introduction Sub-let (or subletting) is the act by which a tenant of immovable property grants possession — in whole or in part — to a third party for a term less than the tenant’s own leasehold term. In practice, sub-letting sits at the intersection of contract, property and statutory landlord–tenant regulation. For landlords, unauthorised sub-letting…

Introduction Streedhan — literally, “woman’s wealth” — is a central concept in Indian family law. It denotes gifts and property received by a woman at or about the time of marriage (and, in broader usage, gifts received by her thereafter), which she alone owns and controls. The distinction between streedhan and dowry is legally consequential:…

Introduction The State Wakf Board is the principal statutory agency at the state level entrusted with protecting, administering and regulating wakf (waqf) properties — permanent Muslim endowments for religious, pious or charitable purposes. For litigators, estate lawyers, public law practitioners and revenue officers, the Board is frequently the first and most important institutional respondent or…

Introduction Spurious goods—counterfeits, imitations and unauthorised look‑alikes of branded products—are a perennial problem in Indian markets. They harm consumers (safety, health and deception), infringe intellectual property rights, dilute brand goodwill, distort competition and deprive the exchequer of legitimate revenue. For practitioners, “spurious goods” is not a single legal category but a fact complex that attracts…

Introduction Spouse — the ordinary-language meaning is simple: husband or wife. In Indian law, however, the concept of “spouse” carries disproportionate legal consequence. It determines criminal liability (who can be accused of cruelty or dowry offences), evidentiary privileges, entitlement to maintenance, remedies under domestic-violence law, succession rights, and the availability of certain civil remedies (divorce,…

Introduction Spot fine is a loosely‑defined administrative practice by which an executive authority — most commonly the police, traffic wardens or municipal inspectors — demands and accepts immediate payment of a monetary penalty at the scene of an alleged minor offence, in lieu of instituting formal criminal or quasi‑criminal proceedings. Although the phrase “spot fine”…

Introduction “Specified category schools” is a technical, statutory label used in Indian education law to denominate certain government-created or government‑linked schools that are treated differently from ordinary state/municipal/government‑aided and private schools for the purposes of various regulatory obligations. Typical examples are Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs), Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNVs), and Sainik Schools. The label matters because…

Introduction The term “Special Public Prosecutor” (SPP) occupies a tactical and often high‑visibility role in Indian criminal adjudication. Courts routinely require—or parties request—the appointment of an SPP in matters that are complex, politically sensitive, involve multiple accused, are before a special court (e.g., under NDPS, PMLA, Prevention of Corruption Act), or where the State’s regular…

Introduction Special Leave Petition (SLP) is the gateway to the Supreme Court of India under Article 136 of the Constitution. It permits the Supreme Court, in its extraordinary and supervisory jurisdiction, to grant leave to appeal against any judgment, decree, determination, sentence or order in any cause or matter passed by any court or tribunal…

Introduction The Special Juvenile Police Unit (SJPU) is the police response specifically tailored to children — both children in need of care and protection and children in conflict with law. As the frontline agency that first interfaces with child victims, witnesses and accused, the SJPU is the fulcrum for delivering child-friendly justice, safeguarding procedural safeguards…

Introduction A “Special Educator” occupies a central place in India’s evolving statutory and judicial ecosystem for disability and inclusive education. Far from being merely a classroom role, the special educator is a regulated rehabilitation professional, a bridge between medical/therapeutic interventions and pedagogic practice, and often the key to enforcing statutory entitlements of children with disabilities…

Introduction The Solicitor General of India occupies a pivotal place in the interface between the Union government and the courts. Though commonly described in shorthand as the “deputy” to the Attorney General, the office of the Solicitor General is distinct in character: an instrument of the executive for conducting litigation and advising the government in…

Introduction Solicitation is a deceptively simple word that assumes several legal hues in Indian practice. At its core it denotes the act of asking for or attempting to obtain something from another person. In law, however, the term is context-sensitive: it appears in criminal statutes addressing prostitution and public obscenity, in professional-regulatory rules that govern…

Introduction “Solemnize” in the law of marriage denotes the formal performance of a marriage ceremony so as to bring a marital relationship into legal existence. In Indian practice, solemnization may occur under personal laws (Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Parsi) or under a civil statute (Special Marriage Act, 1954), and the manner of solemnization directly affects proof,…

Introduction Sodomy — a term of common-law origin used to describe anal or oral sexual intercourse — occupies a fraught space in Indian criminal jurisprudence. There is no statutory definition of “sodomy” in Indian law; its regulation and penal consequences have been constructed through the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Protection of Children from Sexual…

Introduction Social boycott denotes the organised exclusion of a person or group from normal social intercourse — denial of access to community institutions, public worship, water sources, trade, social events, or economic participation — with the objective of isolating, intimidating or punishing them. In India, where caste and community relations shape everyday life, social boycott…

Introduction “Small enterprise” is a legal and policy label with outsized practical importance: it determines eligibility for preferential procurement, credit and interest-rate concessions, exemption from certain taxes and compliance relaxations, and remedies under the delayed‑payments regime. Historically, the label was tied to a narrow numeric test — investment in plant and machinery — but since…

Introduction Signature identification — the process of proving, comparing and authenticating a person’s signature — is an everyday litigational exercise in Indian courts. It dictates the fate of contracts, transfers, admissions, wills, cheques, and numerous documentary disputes. For practitioners, the term spans three distinct domains: (a) classical proof of handwriting and signatures under the Indian…

Introduction Sheltered accommodation is a practical, rights-based housing and support option for persons with mental illness who can largely manage day-to-day affairs independently but require intermittent assistance with personal care, medication adherence, financial matters, social integration and crisis support. In the Indian context, sheltered accommodation sits at the intersection of mental health law, disability rights,…

Introduction A “shelter home” is not a merely descriptive social-welfare phrase in Indian law — it is an institutional form through which the State and civil society exercise, discharge and sometimes abdicate statutory obligations towards children who are vulnerable, abused, trafficked, missing, or otherwise in need of care and protection. For judges, counsel and administrative…

Introduction “Shared household” is a deceptively simple statutory phrase that lies at the heart of most proceedings under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 (PWDVA). It determines whether an aggrieved woman can claim the crucial remedy of a right to residence and related protective reliefs against dispossession, and it frames the scope…

Introduction Sexual orientation denotes a pattern of emotional, romantic and/or sexual attraction to persons of the same sex, opposite sex, both sexes, or to none. In the Indian legal landscape sexual orientation has moved from being treated as a matter of moral opprobrium to a constitutional right-claim implicated in privacy, dignity, equality and personal liberty….

Introduction Sexual abuse is a legally and socially loaded concept: it encompasses a spectrum of non‑consensual sexual conduct — from unwanted touching and insulting gestures to forced sexual intercourse and the use of sexualised material to humiliate or control. In India, sexual abuse is simultaneously a criminal wrong, a recognised form of domestic violence, a…

Introduction Sex selection — the use of any procedure, technique, test or provision of anything to ensure or increase the probability that an embryo, foetus or child will be of a particular sex — is one of the most legally and socially charged concepts in contemporary Indian law. It sits at the intersection of medical…

Introduction Settlement — broadly, an agreement by which parties resolve an existing or imminent dispute — is one of the most consequential devices in Indian dispute-resolution practice. It appears across civil, criminal, family, commercial and arbitral fora and intersects contract law, procedure and public policy. For practitioners, understanding how settlements are created, recorded, enforced and…

Introduction A “service voter” occupies a niche but strategically important position in the Indian electoral system: a person who, by reason of employment in the armed forces, specified central paramilitary forces, certain government posts outside India, or as the spouse of such a person, is unable to be present at her or his ordinary place…

Introduction Service rules are the skeleton on which employment relationships in both the public and organised private sectors in India are built. They prescribe classification, recruitment, conduct, discipline, promotion, leave, suspension, termination, retirement, pension and appeal mechanisms for employees. For public servants they are the mechanism through which the State regulates exercise of disciplinary power…

Introduction Service provider is a technical but consequential term in statutes that govern state support for women in distress — most notably the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 (PWDVA). In practice, “service providers” are the frontline non‑state and state agencies (shelter homes, counselling centres, legal aid clinics, medical facilities, NGOs) that receive,…

Introduction Self-acquired property — broadly, property acquired by an individual out of his or her personal earnings, gifts inter vivos, purchases, or testamentary dispositions — is one of the elemental categories of property in Indian private law. Its classification has immediate consequences in disputes over succession, partition, matrimonial claims (maintenance, domestic violence relief, matrimonial relief…