Category: Indian Law Basics

Introduction EID Number / Enrolment ID denotes the acknowledgement number generated at the time an individual submits an Aadhaar enrolment/update form to the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). Though temporary, it plays an outsized role in contemporary Indian practice: from compliance with tax filing requirements and government welfare delivery to evidentiary use in litigation…

Introduction Effluents — liquid waste streams discharged from industries, sewage treatment plants, CETPs/ETPs, hospitals and other premises — are a central subject of environmental regulation and litigation in India. Control of effluents implicates public health, ecological balance, industrial compliance and municipal service delivery. For practitioners, “effluents” are not an abstract term: they are the measurable,…

Introduction Efficacy — in legal practice — denotes the capacity of a law, regulatory approval, remedy, order or piece of evidence to achieve its intended legal, regulatory or practical purpose. In India efficacy operates as both a substantive and procedural touchstone: courts and regulators assess whether a statute, administrative action, patent claim, drug approval, or…

Introduction Economic boycott—the deliberate refusal to enter into or continue commercial relations with a person because she or he belongs to a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe—is not a mere commercial dispute in India. When motivated by caste animus against an SC/ST person, such conduct is an offence under the special protective architecture created by…

Introduction Economic abuse has emerged as a central category of harm within the law of domestic violence in India. It is not merely an incident of money‑withholding; it is a pattern of conduct that deprives a person—most commonly a woman—of financial autonomy, access to assets (including stridhan), and the ability to meet basic needs. Recognising…

Introduction Ecgonine is an alkaloid derivative closely associated with the coca plant and is a primary chemical precursor/constituent in the biosynthesis and breakdown of cocaine. In forensic and prosecutorial practice it rarely appears as a term of pure chemistry alone: its legal significance flows from its relationship to cocaine and coca leaves and from its…

E‑Commerce Introduction E‑commerce is not merely commerce conducted over the internet; it is a distinct legal ecosystem where technology, commercial practice and regulatory overlays interact constantly. For Indian lawyers, e‑commerce cases typically raise issues across multiple branches — contract, tort (product liability), consumer law, information technology and data protection, taxation, foreign investment and competition law….

Introduction “Duty Officer” is a functional designation used across police stations, courts, prisons, hospitals and other public institutions. In the criminal justice context in India, the duty officer is the frontline public servant: the first official who receives information, records entries in the General Diary/FIR register, directs immediate action, and becomes the focal point for…

Introduction Dry deposition (commonly described in environmental science as the transfer of gaseous and particulate pollutants from the atmosphere to land or surfaces without precipitation) is a central mechanism by which airborne pollutants — notably SO2, NOx, ammonia and acidic particulates — produce localized and regional harm. In the Indian legal landscape dry deposition matters…

Drawer / Issuer of Cheque Introduction The drawer (or issuer) of a cheque is the person who signs and issues a cheque instructing his banker to pay a certain sum to the payee. While this appears a routine commercial act, issuing a cheque in India engages both civil and criminal law. The legal identity and…

Introduction A drawee is the person or entity upon whom a negotiable instrument is drawn and who is ordered to pay the amount specified. In the cheque context the drawee is ordinarily a banker (the bank/branch) on which the cheque is drawn. Correct identification and practical handling of the drawee are central to negotiable-instrument practice…

Introduction Dowry Prohibition Officers (DPOs) are statutory functionaries created to give teeth to the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 and related criminal provisions. They operate at the state level and act as the institutional interface between victims, the police, prosecutors and the civil machinery to prevent dowry practices, to register complaints under the Act and to…

Introduction Dowry — the transfer of money, goods or other valuable consideration in connection with marriage — occupies a prominent, often tragic, place in Indian law and social life. The phenomenon is outlawed, criminalised and subject to special evidentiary presumptions because of its deep link with domestic violence, harassment of married women and a disproportionate…

Introduction Dower (Mehr) occupies a central place in Muslim personal law as the contractual financial obligation of a husband to his wife at the time of marriage. Though often conflated with maintenance, Mehr is a distinct proprietary right of the wife — either immediately payable (mu’ajjal/prompt) or deferred (mu’akhar) — and is enforceable as a…

Introduction Domicile is a deceptively simple term — often paraphrased as a “permanent place of living” — but in practice it is one of the most potent and contested private-law concepts in India. It determines which personal laws apply, the forum for matrimonial and probate disputes, the law of succession, and sometimes fiscal and administrative…

Introduction Domestic violence, in contemporary Indian law, is not confined to physical assaults inside a house. It is a statutory construct that recognises a spectrum of conduct — physical, sexual, emotional, verbal and economic — that injures or endangers a woman in a domestic relationship. The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 (PWDVA)…

Introduction The Domestic Incident Report (DIR) is the frontline documentary instrument for operationalising the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 (PWDVA) in India. Prepared by a Protection Officer or an authorised service provider, the DIR records the aggrieved person’s complaint, the factual matrix of alleged incidents, immediate needs and the steps taken by…

Introduction Disturbed area is a short statutory phrase that has outsized consequences in Indian law. A declaration that a geographic area is “disturbed” triggers extraordinary executive and military powers, limits ordinary criminal accountability and alters the matrix of fundamental-rights protection for people living in that area. For practitioners working on human-rights litigation, criminal defence, public…

Introduction Dispersion — the atmospheric spreading, diluting and transport of pollutants by wind, turbulence and other meteorological processes — is the technical pivot on which most regulatory, remedial and adjudicatory responses to air pollution turn. In India, courts and regulators do not treat dispersion as an abstract scientific concept: it is the bridge between an…

Introduction “Disaster” is not merely a descriptive label in Indian law; it is a legal trigger that activates an entire regime of administrative powers, relief mechanisms, criminal and civil liability doctrines, and environmental-remediation remedies. Whether arising from an earthquake, flood, industrial chemical leak, structural collapse or large-scale fire, the classification of an event as a…

Introduction The phrase “disadvantaged groups” is a legal and policy fulcrum in Indian law where the State’s redistributive obligations, child-protection mechanisms and entitlement schemes intersect. In the context of children it determines access to welfare, education, protection and rehabilitative processes — and shapes admissibility, proof and relief in litigation. For practitioners who represent children, parents,…

Introduction Digital signature is a foundational construct of India’s digital-transaction architecture: it is the cryptographic attestation attached to an electronic record that links that record to the signatory, and is designed to guarantee integrity, authentication and non-repudiation. For transactional lawyers, litigators and compliance counsel, mastery of the legal, technical and evidentiary anatomy of digital signatures…

Introduction Diacetylmorphine — commonly known as heroin — is a semi‑synthetic opioid of acute legal, forensic and prosecutorial significance in India. Its high potential for addiction, ready diversion into illicit trade and severe public‑health consequences place it at the core of narcotics enforcement. For practitioners, diacetylmorphine cases are litigationally exacting: they raise issues of statutory…

Introduction Diacetylmorphine—commonly known as heroin—is a semi‑synthetic opioid of paramount legal significance in India. Though the term is pharmacological, its legal life is governed entirely by narcotics law: possession, manufacture, transport, sale or consumption of diacetylmorphine attracts some of the strictest criminal provisions under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (NDPS Act) and…

Introduction “Dependant” is a deceptively simple term with profound consequences across Indian civil and criminal practice. Whether in motor-accident litigation, workmen’s compensation, family maintenance proceedings or succession disputes, the legal recognition of someone as a “dependant” determines standing to sue, quantum of compensation, entitlement to maintenance and, often, the distributive outcome. For practitioners, the concept…

Introduction “Demographic information” — in its ordinary sense the basic identifiers of a person such as name, date of birth, gender, address and other non-biometric particulars — sits at the intersection of everyday litigation practice and the law of privacy and data protection. For Indian practitioners it is a deceptively simple concept: it is indispensable…

Introduction “Deficiency” is a foundational concept in consumer and service-law litigation in India. It captures the gamut of defects — in quality, nature or manner of performance — and reaches acts of negligence and deliberate non-disclosure by providers of goods and services. For litigators advising consumers, corporates defending claims, and judges deciding disputes, precision in…

Introduction “Defect” is a small word with large consequences in Indian law. In product, service and regulatory disputes the presence (or absence) of a defect determines jurisdiction, causes of action, evidentiary burdens, remedies and potential criminal liability. For practitioners, understanding “defect” is not an academic exercise: it is the hinge on which consumer claims, product‑liability…

Introduction Defamatory material — in the modern Indian practice context — is any published expression (spoken, written, visual or electronic) that tends to lower a person in the estimation of right‑thinking members of society or injures that person’s reputation. The doctrine is of immediate practical importance because India treats reputation as a protected interest both…

Introduction Decree is the central procedural instrument in civil litigation: it is the court’s formal and enforceable pronouncement that finally or preliminarily determines the rights of parties in respect of the subject-matter of a suit. For practitioners, the concept of “decree” is not merely definitional — it is the gateway to execution, appeal, review, settlement…

Introduction A Death Summary is a critical medical document prepared by a treating hospital or clinician at the time of a patient’s demise. More than a clinical formality, it is often a central piece of evidence in criminal investigations, civil claims (medical negligence, insurance, succession), administrative proceedings and regulatory scrutiny. For practitioners, the Death Summary…

Introduction Dearness allowance (DA) is a ubiquitous — yet technically administrative — component of public service remuneration and pensionary entitlements in India. Though colloquially described as an inflation‑adjustment payment, DA has real legal consequences: it affects take‑home pay, computation of other allowances, pension and gratuity calculations, parity disputes between categories of employees, and is often…

Introduction dB(A) — the A‑weighted decibel — is the lingua franca of noise regulation, litigation and compliance in India. It translates complex acoustic pressure levels into a single number reflecting human hearing sensitivity. For courts, regulators and municipal authorities, dB(A) is the metric by which statutory ambient noise standards are expressed, alleged nuisance is quantified,…

Introduction Damages — the monetary compensation awarded for loss or injury — is the principal remedial tool across Indian civil, contractual and public law. It is the mechanism by which courts seek to put an aggrieved party, as far as money can, into the position she would have occupied but for the wrongful act or…

Introduction Customer’s liability in the modern Indian legal landscape describes the circumstances in which a bank, payment service provider, merchant or other service-provider can shift loss arising from negligent, fraudulent or unauthorized transactions onto the customer. The issue sits at the intersection of contract law, tort/negligence, statutory consumer protection, cyber‑law and banking regulation. For litigators…