LexQuest Foundation

Cyber Law: An Overview

By Sagarika Chandel, KIIT School of Law, Bhubaneswar.

“The modern thief can steal more with a computer than with a gun. Tomorrow’s terrorist may be able to do more damage with a keyboard than a bomb”. -National Research Council, USA “Computers at Risk” (1991)

Internet in India has been ever growing at a fast pace giving rise to opportunities to people in every field- be it education, business, sports or entertainment. Cyber space is now becoming the most preferred environment of the world with an enormous growth rate as the population on the internet doubles roughly every 100 days1. Cyber law being a generic term signifies all the legal and regulatory aspects of the internet and the World Wide Web2. Cyber law, also known as Internet law signifies everything related to computer, internet, network, software, emails, data storage devices (such as hard disks, USBs) and even electronic devices such as mobile phones, ATM machines etc. Anything that concerns or emanates from the legal aspects or issues concerning the activities of ‘netizens’3 in the cyberspace comes within the ambit of cyber law4. (more…)

By LexQuest Foundation, ago

The Consumer Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2011 and ‘Make in India’ Vision

By Sanya Darakhshan Kishwar, Central University of Bihar, Gaya.

A consumer is one who makes the flow of business smooth if he is satisfied to the fullest, but if a consumer has grievances, it is the duty of the government to look after the same. Lately the Modi Government has been striving hard to work for the betterment of the consumers and make them the stronger party. With the existing laws, the consumer is no less than a puppet in the hands of the manufacturer. Let us analyse how.

Mr. A buys a packet of chips from XYZ Kirana Store. When he opens the packet, he finds the chips to be stale. Can Mr. A bring a suit of action against the shopkeeper or file a complaint against the manufacturing unit for providing under-quality goods?

These questions find an answer in the provisions of The Consumer Protection Act, 1986 which has been amended in 2002 and the latest buzz about it in the Consumer Affairs Department is the Consumer Protection Amendment Bill, 2011. (more…)

By LexQuest Foundation, ago

The Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2014

By Sudipta Bhowmick, KIIT School Of Law, Bhubaneswar.

The new Companies Act, 2013 has been operationalized for only nine months, yet a new Companies Amendment Bill, 2014 has been passed by the Lower House on 17th December, 2014 to ‘ease the doing of business’. After the Companies Act, 1956, it took 57 years to replace the old one with new. Therefore, it has come as a great relief for corporates, auditors, shareholders who addressed their concerns regarding prolonged procedures, reporting of fraud etc. and saw them as amendments in this Bill. (more…)

By LexQuest Foundation, ago

National Laws on Free Speech and the Internet

By Sanya Darakhshan Kishwar, Central University of Bihar, Gaya.

“Give me the liberty to know, to utter and to argue

freely according to conscience, above all liberties”

— John Milton

But stop and think a while is it all to give full freedom of speech and expression to a person or citizen. Is it correct in its literal, metaphorical, political or democratic sense to release a citizen of all the bounds of laws and set him free to exercise his speech in the arena of amphitheater? To asses this we have to first know what actually FREE SPEECH is… (more…)

By LexQuest Foundation, ago

Should Astrology based TV Shows be Banned?

By Ahona Chakrabarty, KIIT School Of Law, Bhubaneswar.

Astrology is based on the belief that astronomical phenomenon are related and affects or controls phenomenon of the human world. Various civilizations have developed several systems for predicting terrestrial events from celestial observations. In the West, astrology most often consists of a system of horoscopes purporting to explain aspects of a person’s personality and predict future events in their life based on the positions of the sun, moon, and other celestial objects at the time of their birth. The majority of professional astrologers rely on such systems. (more…)

By LexQuest Foundation, ago

Protectionism instead of Facilitation, Indian Stand at WTO: How far justified?

By Sudipta Bhowmik, KIIT School Of Law, Bhubaneswar.

Behind the extremely technical debate within the WTO, what is at stake above all are models of agricultural development.[1] -Dr. Bruno Losch 

“Trade can be a powerful force for growth and poverty reduction. Countries that have increased the share of trade in their GDP have grown faster and reduced poverty more rapidly”[2]–Nicholas Stern

INTRODUCTION

The establishment of World Trade Organization (WTO) is a drift towards globalization of world economy. Except agriculture, WTO advances its wing to every sector. Controversies and misconceptions are entangled with the issues of agriculture subsidy and trade facilitation, while developed countries like USA and EU have championed the cause of ‘free-trade’, on the other hand, developing countries like India have adhered to agricultural subsidies. India’s stand at Bali approved it again how agriculture subsidy is a burning issue for a developing country and it cannot be set aside as ‘evil’ at the cost of trade facilitation. Before WTO, eight trade negotiations were materialized by General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs(GATT) and in those rounds, developed countries steered the directions of trade and developing countries were ignored.[3] But, now the developing countries are demanding for revision of the agriculture policies taken by developed countries. (more…)

By LexQuest Foundation, ago

Piercing of Corporate Veil

By Palak Pathak.

Piercing the corporate veil describes a legal decision to treat the rights or duties of a corporation as the rights or liabilities of its shareholders or directors. Usually a corporation is treated as a separate legal person, who is solely responsible for the debts it incurs and the sole beneficiary of the credit it is owed. Common law countries usually uphold this principle of separate personhood, but in exceptional situations may “pierce” or “lift” the corporate veil. (more…)

By LexQuest Foundation, ago

Criminal Defamation: Need for a paradigm shift

By Anjali Rawat, RMLNLU, Lucknow.

Defamation generally can be defined as publication of a statement which lowers or deteriorates the reputation of an individual in the eyes of the society which results in bad treatment of that individual by the members of society in ways such as avoiding or shunning. Defamation is of two types- libel i.e. by publication on paper or something which makes it permanent, and slander i.e. by words or gesture. (more…)

By LexQuest Foundation, ago

Women in Rural India: Prospects and Challenges

By Deepali Bagla, Pravin Gandhi College of Law, Mumbai.

India is a country of villages as the majority of its population lives in villages and far-flung remote areas. The interesting aspect is that every region of the country though connected with the cities now; however, still possesses its own peculiar traditional ethos. Also most of the rural communities are still devoid of modern facilities like education, electricity, proper drinking water, health care, ample transportation, etc. But the lack of education in many of the rural belts of India is proving fatal and acting as the breeding ground for social vices, evils and paving the way to anti-social/national activities. (more…)

By LexQuest Foundation, ago

SEBI steals a march on Sahara

By Swatilekha Chakraborty, Symbiosis Law School,Pune.

Remarkable role of SEBI in the SEBI Sahara legal dispute

The role of SEBI as an investor protection agency is truly a remarkable. The jurisdiction granted to it under Sec. 55A of the Companies Act and Sec. 11 of the SEBI Act had been contended by Sahara, and was negated by the Securities Appellant Tribunal (hereinafter called SAT). Aggrieved by the judgement of granting jurisdiction to SEBI, Sahara filed appeals, under Section 15Z of the SEBI Act. The question before the Apex Court was whether SEBI could exercise its jurisdiction under Section 55A of the Companies Act administering Sections 11(1), 11(4), 11A(1)(b) and 11B of SEBI Act. Further, violation of mandatorily getting listed under Sec. 73 of the Companies Act was brought to the notice of the Apex Court and how Sahara had not complied with the DIP Guidelines. Open violation of Sec. 67(3) was seen in the Information Memorandum and the Red Herring Prospectus which was issued by Sahara to the public. The role of SEBI in bringing Sahara to justice has been a magnanimous one. (more…)

By LexQuest Foundation, ago