Category: Indian Law Basics

Introduction A “Medium Enterprise” is a statutory classification with outsized practical consequences across procurement, credit, incentives, dispute resolution and regulatory compliance in India. For practitioners advising industry clients or litigating commercial disputes, precise understanding of (a) how the term is defined at law, (b) which instrument controls classification at the relevant time, and (c) how…

Introduction Medicinal opium occupies a narrow but critically important niche in Indian law: it is at once a controlled substance subject to stringent criminal and regulatory oversight and an essential therapeutic agent for pain management and certain medicines. For practitioners dealing with criminal prosecutions, regulatory compliance, healthcare law or the manufacture and distribution of opioids,…

Introduction Mediation is an organised, voluntary and party‑centric dispute resolution process in which a neutral third person — the mediator — assists the parties to negotiate a mutually acceptable settlement. In India, mediation has moved from being an informal, peripheral mechanism to a mainstream tool for case management, decongestion of courts and commercial risk‑management. For…

Introduction The term “median strip” (often shortened to “median”) denotes the central reservation that separates opposing lanes of traffic on a divided carriageway. In practice this simple piece of road engineering has outsized legal importance: it is the physical and regulatory line that separates liability vectors in accidents, shapes the duty of care owed by…

Introduction Model Code of Conduct (MCC) is the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) administrative instrument containing behavioural norms for political parties, candidates and government functionaries during the election period. Though not a statute, the MCC is central to preserving the integrity, fairness and level playing field of Indian elections: it regulates use of official machinery,…

Introduction Maximum Retail Price (MRP) is a deceptively simple label with outsized legal and commercial consequences in India. It governs the price ceiling for sale of pre‑packaged goods to consumers: no retailer or distributor can lawfully charge a consumer more than the MRP printed on the package. Because MRP is a statutorily regulated declaration that…

Matriculation Certificate — A Practitioner’s Guide Introduction A matriculation certificate is the formal certificate issued by a recognised school board or authority on successful completion of Grade X (the 10th standard). In India it performs multiple institutional and evidentiary functions: it is an academic credential, a gateway for higher-secondary admissions, and — critically for lawyers…

Introduction Material defect (often used interchangeably with “latent defect” in practice) denotes a defect in immovable property that is within the seller’s knowledge but is not discoverable by the buyer on reasonable inspection. In the Indian context the concept has outsized practical importance because it sits at the intersection of contract law (misrepresentation/fraud), property-transfer doctrine…

Introduction A “manufactured drug” in Indian law is not merely an academic classification — it is a functional, prosecutorial and forensic category that drives charges, evidence-gathering, forensic requirements, sentencing ranges, and pre‑trial rights. Practitioners must treat the term as a hybrid concept: part statutory/technical (how the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (NDPS Act)…

Introduction The legal status of a “major” or “adult” — the point at which an individual acquires full legal capacity and responsibility — is a deceptively simple concept with far‑reaching practical consequences across contract, family, criminal, electoral and guardianship law. In India the age of majority is 18 years but the legal consequences of being…

Introduction “Maintenance” in the Indian legal lexicon has two distinct but inter‑related senses. In ordinary parlance it denotes upkeep of property or equipment. In the law of family and criminal procedure it denotes a legally enforceable obligation to provide financial support — usually periodic — to a dependent (spouse, child, parent or other specified person)….

Introduction Lorem Ipsum — commonly known outside the legal profession as “placeholder text” used in graphic design and typesetting — has, in contemporary legal practice, acquired a distinct and practical significance. In India’s contract-driven and document-centric dispute landscape, the inadvertent presence (or deliberate use) of placeholder text such as “Lorem ipsum” in contracts, deeds, forms,…

Introduction Lok Adalat is a statutory, institutionalised mode of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) designed to promote access to speedy, inexpensive and amicable settlement of disputes in India. Operating under the nationwide legal services machinery, Lok Adalats are a frontline mechanism to relieve congested courts, finalise disputes by consent and produce awards that are ordinarily final…

Introduction The Local Complaints Committee (LCC) is a statutory mechanism under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (“POSH Act”) designed to guarantee access to remedy for women who face sexual harassment at workplaces where an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) either does not exist or cannot act (for example,…

Introduction A lineal descendant — commonly described in practice as “issue” — denotes a person who is descended in a direct line from an ancestor: children, grandchildren, great‑grandchildren, and so on. In Indian practice the concept is ubiquitous: it governs succession and representation, determines tax and stamp exemptions, informs adoption and guardianship questions, and decides…

Introduction “Lineal ascendant” denotes those persons who stand in a direct upward bloodline to an individual — father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, great‑grandfather, great‑grandmother and so on. Though apparently simple, the concept has outsized importance across Indian law: succession and inheritance, taxation of gifts, maintenance and domestic relations, stamp and registration law, and evidentiary questions frequently…

Introduction Light motor vehicle (LMV) is a deceptively simple term with disproportionate practical importance across traffic regulation, criminal prosecutions arising from road accidents, insurance litigation, licensing disputes and regulatory compliance in India. Although lawyers and magistrates encounter “LMV” as shorthand in everyday practice, resolution of disputes often turns on a precise technical classification — typically…

Introduction Life‑saving drugs are pharmaceutical agents whose timely administration can prevent imminent death or grave, preventable deterioration of a patient’s condition. In India these medicines occupy a special legal and policy space because their availability, price, manufacture, stocking and distribution implicate constitutional rights (notably Article 21), public health policy, criminal law (when narcotics are involved),…

Introduction Life interest (commonly called a life estate or life tenancy) is a fundamental hybrid of property and succession/estate law: it confers on a person the right to possess and enjoy property for the duration of her life, but not the ownership in fee simple. In Indian practice life interest most often arises under wills,…

Introduction A license—shortly defined in Indian law as a limited permission to use another’s property—plays an outsized role in daily property practice: from hotel and guest-house relationships to stall permits in markets, from government permissions to occupy worksites to informal family arrangements for residential occupation. Although legally a “thin” right compared with a lease or…

Introduction Leq (equivalent continuous sound level) is the energy‑averaged sound level over a specified time interval. In India, Leq is the operative technical metric for measuring environmental noise, framing regulatory compliance, shaping noise impact assessment in environmental clearances, and furnishing expert evidence in nuisance and pollution litigation. For practitioners who litigate environmental matters, municipal nuisance…

Introduction A “legitimate child” is a foundational concept in family, succession and criminal law in India. Its legal status determines rights to maintenance, guardianship, inheritance, succession, legitimacy of birth certificates, and often the outcome of disputes over paternity and parentage. For practitioners, mastery of how Indian law defines, presumes and sometimes dispels legitimacy is indispensable…

Introduction The phrase “Least Restrictive Care Option” is central to contemporary Indian practice in mental health law, disability jurisprudence and child and custodial care. It encapsulates a rights-based, medical and constitutional imperative: treatment and care must meet the person’s clinical needs while curtailing their civil liberties and personal autonomy as little as possible. For practitioners,…

Introduction Lease is a core transactional and litigation concept in Indian property law: a contractual transfer of the right to possess and enjoy immovable property for a specified period in return for consideration (rent). Unlike sale, a lease does not transfer ownership; it creates a relationship of landlord and tenant governed by the Transfer of…

Introduction Karta is the functional and legal pivot of a Hindu Undivided Family (HUF). Traditionally understood as the senior-most male coparcener under Mitakshara law, the Karta manages family affairs, administers ancestral property, represents the HUF in litigation and tax matters, and contracts on its behalf. In modern practice, the role has evolved — statutory reforms…

Introduction Kabinama (also spelled Kabin-nama or Nikahnama in common usage) is the written contract executed between parties at the time of an Islamic marriage. It records the proposal and acceptance of nikah, the mahr (dower), and any express conditions agreed between the spouses. In practice it plays the role of a pre‑nuptial instrument under Muslim…

Introduction The Juvenile Justice Board/Authority (JJB) is the statutory forum tasked with dealing with Children in Conflict with Law (CCL) — persons who are alleged to have committed an offence and are under eighteen years of age on the date of the commission of the offence. The JJB is the fulcrum of India’s child‑centred criminal…

Introduction The term “juvenile” is central to criminal and child-welfare jurisprudence in India. It designates persons under 18 years of age and triggers an entirely different procedural and substantive regime — one that privileges care, rehabilitation and restoration over punitive retribution. For practitioners, understanding the legal status of a juvenile is the first, and often…

Introduction Jurisdiction is the foundational threshold issue in every judicial proceeding: it determines which forum can entertain a dispute, the limits of the forum’s power to adjudicate, and whether any judgment pronounced will be legally effective. In India — a federal polity with a layered judiciary, specialist tribunals, and multiple statutory fora — jurisdictional questions…

Introduction Judicial custody is the status in which an accused person is held in custody not by the police but under the control of prison authorities pursuant to a judicial remand order. It is a routine but decisive juncture in criminal litigation: the point at which liberty restrictions become formalised in the criminal process and…

Introduction A “Judicial Commissioner” in the Indian context is a judicial officer appointed on a non‑permanent or ad hoc basis to exercise judicial or quasi‑judicial functions. The label survives today largely as a functional description rather than a constitutionally entrenched office‑title: it denotes temporary or specially constituted judicial authority where permanent institutional arrangements (High Court/divisional…

Introduction “Judgement” is the judicial articulation of reasons that culminates in a court’s decree or order. It is the narrative and legal spine of every adjudication: it explains why a party wins or loses, identifies the factual findings, applies law to those facts, and produces the operative direction (decree or order). In Indian litigation, the…

Introduction Investigation is the engine-room of the criminal justice system. It is the process by which facts are gathered, leads are pursued, evidence is secured and tested, and factual matrices are constructed upon which prosecution or closure decisions rest. In India, the quality, legality and transparency of investigation determine whether the criminal justice machinery advances…

Internet Banking — A Practical Guide for Indian Practitioners Introduction Internet banking — the conduct of banking transactions over the Internet — is now a routine avenue for payments, fund transfers, account management and access to credit facilities. Its ubiquity has produced a parallel body of legal practice that sits at the intersection of banking…

Introduction The Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) is the statutory, internal adjudicatory mechanism mandated by the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (hereafter “POSH Act”). The ICC is the frontline institutional structure through which complaints of sexual harassment are received, investigated and remedial recommendations are made — and therefore it…