Category: Indian Law Basics

Introduction Private proceedings (in camera proceedings) are judicial hearings or parts of hearings conducted in the absence of the public and press. They are the procedural mechanism by which courts reconcile two foundational but sometimes competing principles of Indian law: the openness of courts (the doctrine of open justice) and protection of individual privacy, dignity…

Introduction The term “previous year” is fundamental to the Indian income‑tax regime: it fixes the accounting period for computing income and determines the window in which income is to be assessed and taxed in the ensuing assessment year. Proper identification of the previous year is often the first issue that arises in tax litigation and…

Introduction A “Presiding Officer” is a pivotal functionary across Indian adjudicatory and quasi‑administrative processes — most prominently in elections, tribunals and statutory adjudicatory forums. The term denotes the official charged with control of the proceedings within a defined forum (a polling station, chamber, tribunal hearing room etc.), with responsibility for ensuring legality, orderly procedure and…

Introduction Prescription is the central legal and clinical instrument that translates a treating clinician’s judgment into lawful access to medicines. In India, a “prescription” is not merely a clinical memorandum; it is a statutory and regulatory trigger that determines (i) whether a medicine may be dispensed, (ii) record-keeping obligations of the seller, and (iii) civil/criminal…

Introduction Presbycusis — commonly described in clinical practice as age-related sensorineural hearing loss — is a progressive, typically bilateral and symmetric diminution of auditory acuity that predominantly affects high frequencies. Although it is a medical diagnosis, presbycusis has immediate and recurring legal consequences in India: disability certification, entitlement to state benefits and reasonable accommodation, assessment…

Introduction Prepared opium is a short phrase with disproportionate forensic, investigative and sentencing consequences in Indian narcotics law. Practitioners who handle NDPS trials, seizure matters and licensing disputes must treat “prepared opium” not as a lexical curiosity but as a distinct legal species of narcotic whose classification determines charge framing, custody procedures, lab testing protocols,…

Introduction Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPIs) are foundational to India’s digital payments architecture. They convert stored monetary value into a medium for purchasing goods and services, enabling everything from closed-loop corporate gift cards to open-loop mobile wallets linked to debit/credit networks. For practitioners, PPIs are not an abstract concept: they trigger a mosaic of regulatory, contractual,…

Introduction Precipitation — the falling of atmospheric water in the form of rain, snow, hail or sleet — is a meteorological fact. In the Indian legal landscape, however, it is rarely a mere scientific observation: heavy or untimely precipitation is the trigger for disputes across contract, insurance, public law, tort, land‑use regulation and disaster relief….

Introduction The precautionary principle is a central doctrine of contemporary environmental governance in India. It authorises preventive action in the face of scientific uncertainty where there exists a threat of serious or irreversible environmental harm. For Indian practitioners, the principle is not an abstract guideline: it is a frequently-invoked tool in public interest litigation, applications…

Introduction Pre-natal diagnostic procedures occupy a pivotal place in contemporary medical practice and criminal/civil regulation in India. The regulation serves two co‑terminous aims: (i) enabling legitimate medical diagnosis of genetic and congenital abnormalities in the foetus and (ii) preventing and penalising misuse of prenatal techniques for sex selection and female foeticide. For litigators, medical-legal advisors…

Introduction Power of Attorney (POA) is a commonplace instrument in Indian private and commercial practice: it empowers one person (the agent/attorney or “attorney‑in‑fact”) to act on behalf of another (the principal) in legal, financial, administrative and transactional matters. Though conceptually simple, POAs raise recurring issues in property transfers, banking, litigation, corporate governance, succession, taxation and…

Introduction “Poverty line” is a deceptively simple administrative benchmark with outsized legal consequences in India. It is the monetary threshold used by governments and agencies to classify households as poor and thereby determine eligibility for a wide range of statutory and policy entitlements — subsidised food, welfare schemes, reservations in poverty‑targeted programmes, and inclusion in…

Introduction Poppy straw is a deceptively simple botanical term that carries disproportionate legal consequences in India. It is the harvested, non-seed parts of the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) that are processed — cut, dried, crushed or powdered — and which supply opiate alkaloids (morphine, codeine, thebaine) for both legitimate pharmaceutical use and illegal trade. Because…

Introduction Polygamy — the custom or practice of a person having more than one spouse at the same time — occupies an outsized place in Indian private law because it sits at the intersection of criminal law, personal law, constitutional freedoms and family remedies. For litigators and family lawyers the question is seldom theoretical: is…

Introduction Pollution dilution describes the physical process by which pollutants discharged into air or water are mixed with a larger volume of the ambient medium, reducing pollutant concentration at a given point. In environmental law and regulation, the concept is frequently invoked by industry and regulators when assessing compliance with emission/discharge limits, assimilative capacity of…

Introduction The “Polluter Pays” principle is a cornerstone of contemporary environmental law in India. At its essence, it holds that the person or entity whose activities cause pollution or environmental degradation must bear the cost of remedying the harm and preventing further damage. Far from being merely theoretical, it is an operative rule used by…

Introduction Polling station (commonly called polling booth) is the physical locus where electors assigned to a polling area exercise the franchise on the day of poll. It is the single most sensitive node in the electoral chain: the integrity of an election is frequently won or lost at the polling station. For practitioners, mastery over…

Introduction Police Diary (often called the “case diary” or “station diary/roznamcha” depending on local practice) is the principal contemporaneous record of police investigation. Kept by the investigating officer (IO) and by the station at large, it records time-stamped events, visits, steps taken, statements received, seizures, searches and other investigative acts. In Indian criminal practice the…

Introduction Police custody is the immediate physical custody of an accused by the police for the purposes of investigation and interrogation. In the Indian criminal process it is the most sensitive phase: it is where coercive investigative tools meet the fundamental rights of the citizen. For practitioners, mastery of the law on police custody is…

Introduction The Police Control Room (PCR) is the nerve-centre of everyday policing — the public’s first point of contact for emergencies (historically via “100”, now integrated in many places with “112”/ERSS), the node that receives information, mobilises resources, and logs operational acts such as dispatches and arrests. For practitioners, the PCR is more than an…

Introduction “Place of safety” is a technical and operational concept at the heart of the juvenile justice system in India. It marks the legal and practical boundary between criminal custody under adult law enforcement and the child‑centric, rehabilitative regime mandated for children alleged or found to be in conflict with the law. Proper application of…

Introduction Pillion rider — the person seated behind the driver on a two‑wheeler — is a deceptively simple factual category that carries multiple legal consequences in Indian practice. It determines traffic compliance obligations (helmets, seating, number of passengers), enforcement liability, insurance entitlement, and often plays a decisive evidentiary role in criminal investigations (identification, possession of…

Introduction Physical abuse — the deliberate infliction, threat or attempt to inflict bodily harm — is a core concept that crosses criminal, civil and family law domains in India. Although not a standalone statutory offence with a single definition, “physical abuse” is the factual matrix that gives rise to numerous offences and remedies: from criminal…

Introduction Photoshop (colloquially used to mean any digital image or video editing) is no longer merely a creative tool — it is a frequent object and instrument of litigation across criminal, civil, electoral and IP domains in India. Whether a photograph is “morphed” to defame a person, an image is edited to fabricate a document,…

Introduction Phenanthrene alkaloids — principally morphine, codeine and thebaine — are natural opiate alkaloids derived from the opium poppy. In law they are not discussed as a chemical taxonomy but as controlled substances with severe regulatory and criminal consequences. For Indian lawyers who handle criminal defence, prosecution, regulatory compliance, import/export or healthcare litigation, understanding how…

Introduction “Person with inter‑sex variations” denotes an individual born with biological sex characteristics — chromosomal patterns, gonads, sex hormones, or genital anatomy — that do not fit typical binary definitions of “male” or “female.” In the Indian legal landscape, recognition of intersex variations is critical because it intersects fundamental rights (equality, dignity, bodily autonomy), medical…

Introduction “Person with disability” is not merely a descriptive tag in Indian law; it is the legal threshold that activates a bundle of constitutional guarantees, statutory entitlements and procedural accommodations. Identification as a “person with disability” determines access to inclusive education, employment reservation, disability pensions, healthcare entitlements, reasonable accommodation and protection against discrimination. For litigators,…

Introduction Person of Indian Origin (PIO) historically described a class of foreign nationals with Indian lineage or past Indian citizenship. The concept has been central to India’s diasporic policy — balancing facilitation of ties with the Indian diaspora against the legal boundary between citizenship and foreign nationality. Although the separate “PIO card” scheme has been…

Introduction Persistent vegetative state (PVS) describes a clinical condition in which a person retains spontaneous autonomic functions (sleep–wake cycles, respiration, circulation) but lacks any detectable awareness of self or environment. In India this medical condition sits at the intersection of constitutional rights (notably Article 21), criminal liability (how withdrawal or withholding of life‑sustaining treatment is…

Introduction The terms “payee” and “holder of a cheque” are deceptively simple in everyday parlance but carry precise legal consequences under Indian law. Whether the transaction is pursued as a criminal complaint for dishonour under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 (the NI Act) or as a civil recovery action, the status of…

Introduction A patent is not merely a statutory right; in India it is a commercial and litigation-centred instrument that converts technical ingenuity into exclusive market power for a limited period. For counsel advising corporate clients, R&D teams, start-ups or universities, mastery of the substantive patent law, procedural pathways at the Patent Office, and the practical…

Introduction “Pandemic” is not merely a medical descriptor; in the Indian legal context it is a trigger for a cluster of statutory powers, individual rights claims and commercial consequences. Although no single domestic statute defines “pandemic” in precise epidemiological terms, the arrival of a pandemic activates public health statutes (primarily the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897),…

Introduction Oxygen saturation — commonly expressed as SpO2 (peripheral oxygen saturation) — is an objective physiological parameter that measures the percentage of haemoglobin binding sites occupied by oxygen. In clinical practice it is a frontline metric used to assess respiratory status and guide urgent lifesaving interventions (supplemental oxygen, NIV, intubation, transfer to ICU). In medico-legal…

Introduction An overdraft account is a ubiquitous banking facility: it permits a customer to withdraw funds beyond the available balance up to a sanctioned limit. In commercial practice in India overdrafts (OD) and cash‑credit (CC) facilities are essential working‑capital tools. But an overdraft is not merely a convenience — it is a continuing credit relationship…

Introduction Outraging modesty is a short statutory phrase with wide practical consequences. In Indian criminal law it denotes targeted physical contact, words or gestures directed at a woman that are sufficiently indecent or humiliating to offend her sense of decency. The concept appears across the Indian Penal Code and in the case-law and statutory architecture…