A defining point of 2022 was Russia’s attack on Ukraine, a nation only 4% the size of its own. Russia invaded Ukraine to “demilitarise and de- Nazify” the nation just as the world was beginning to recover from the consequences of the andemic. Since then, the war has continued affecting the economics of nations around the world as they struggle with problems like inflation, bankruptcy, slowdown, unemployment, among others. Global macroeconomic factors, particularly in the tech sector, have been significantly impacted by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which has forced businesses, particularly in that sector, to implement dramatic cost-cutting measures, such as hiring fewer employees. News of worker reductions at major tech companies made headlines the past year.
In retaliation to Russia’s move, countries laid various economic and political sanctions on Russia and its businesses. However, being a close ally of the country, India abstained from voting against its suspension from the UN Human Rights Council. While India may be taking internal precautions, the sanctions will have a huge consequence on the long term economic and national security of the country.
The year began with India battling yet another wave of the fastpaced pandemic, this time in the form of the omicron variant. While India tackled the spread of the Covid-19 virus amongst its citizens, it cannot be denied that the government had let its guard down quite significantly. Stricter restrictions would have certainly made the situation better. One of the papers in the current issue argues that the pandemic had provided the perfect opportunity for the centre and the states to simultaneously. By over centralising its powers, the centre missed the chance of strengthening inter-governmental ties.
A key issue that not only India but the entire world has come to grip with is the ever-present issue of climate change. Extreme weather occurrences brought on by climate change were increasing. Nations incurred enormous losses as a result of increased climate change, from catastrophic heat waves in India to Europe’s worst famine in 500 years. In line with its promises made in Glasgow. Speaking on the pertinent issue of ineffective solid waste management in the country, an author analyses the scientific process of management through judicial pronouncements and data as well as provides suggestions for more effective management.
Another article examines the legal provisions related to the right to clean environment that draws an inseparable relation between climate change and human rights. Interestingly, the author studies the concept in the backdrop of the environmental protection legislation of Nepal.
Law is an instrument of bringing about change in a society. With more awareness and greater understanding, people’s opinions must be able to remove regressive and outdated laws. When the landmark case of Roe v. Wade was overturned by the US Supreme Court, feelings of despair and outrage emerged globally. By delivering a judgment that allowed unmarried pregnant women to terminate their pregnancy, the Supreme Court of India reinforced the right to personal autonomy of an individual.
On the other hand, the order of Hijab ban in Karnataka and the subsequent split decision of Supreme Court signifies non adherence to the constitutional values of freedom of religion and freedom of expression. One of the articles in the current edition emphasises on the importance of peoples’ movements engaging with the law.
In the area of constitutional rights, the edition also analyses the concept of DNA profiling which has posed serious challenges to the legal rights of a person such as Right to Privacy and Right against self-incrimination. It has been argued that the admissibility of the DNA evidence before the court is always dependent on its accurate and proper collection, preservation and documentation. It is only then the court can conclude that the evidence which has been put forward is reliable.
With the advent of Covid-19, there has been an ever increasing reliance on online shopping for products and services. The laws in India dealing with e-commerce are relatively new and do face some loopholes. The current edition also looks at the lacuna present in the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 in relation to the e-commerce market.
In relation to the rise of social media platforms, the edition also looks at the significant shifts in the dynamics between political leaders and their followers. The article aims to understand this process through examining the relationship between use of Twitter and popularity levels of Indian politicians.
Along with analysing implications of Covid on international relations, the present issue also examines India’s Northeast region as per conceptualisations of geopolitical imaginaries. It highlights two recent initiatives that reflect the conflict between two different kinds of spatial imaginaries which are The Act East Policy and Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019.
We hope the present volume generates the interest of the readers and takes forward the various debates in enriching academic discourse on issues of contemporary relevance.
- EDITORS
October 2022
GJLDP
Amita Punj
Abstract
This paper undertakes an exercise of mapping the vision of ‘law’ as embedded in the 20th century and 21st century law and development movements. While taking note of the critiques that emerged in response to the developments in this field over the last century, the paper reflects on the issues and challenges posed by these critiques to the field of ‘law and development’ in general. In the process of reflecting on the critique it further suggests an alternative vision of ‘law’ that not only takes the critique seriously but also reimagines the field.
Keywords: Law and Development movements, Human rights based approach to development
Biplab Debnath
Abstract
The paper analyses India’s Northeast region in terms of multiple conceptualisations of geopolitical imaginaries. The work begins with a general proposition that such configurations are fluid because of changing narratives of the spatial constructs as well as problematic due to the inherent contradictions and conflict between the spatial imaginaries. The paper then highlights two recent initiatives that reflect the conflict between two different kinds of spatial imaginaries – (a) The Act East Policy that conceptualises the region as an extended economic space inclusive enough even to incorporate the neighbouring countries of Bangladesh and Myanmar. (b) The reactions in the Northeast to the Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 that reflect a communitarian vision of a region that is an exclusive one based on ethnic lines. While exploring the two initiatives in the context of spatial imaginaries, the paper attempts to (a) Analyse India’s Act East Policy and the consequent visualisation of North East India as a zone of connectivity with India’s Eastern neighbours. (b) Analyse the Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 and its vigorous regional response. (c) Explore the scope of the coexistence of an extended economic space despite the antithetical aspect of exclusive ethnic space.
Keywords: Northeast India, Look East/Act East Policy, Citizenship Amendment Act, spatial configurations, regions, economic space, ethnic space, identity, Bangladesh, Southeast Asia.
Suresh V. Nadagoudar
Abstract
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere - Martin Luther King Jr.
Independence of judiciary is one of the important feature of the constitution of India. Neither legislature nor executive can enter into the shoes of judiciary. To deliver decisions impartially judges are very much responsible because they either directly or indirectly influence the society at large. In this context, it is feasible to state “justice delayed is equivalent to justice being denied,”. Judicial system must focus on adequate infrastructure, more number of appointment of judges, timely hearing to serve better to the people. Moreover, access to justice is essential goal of our nation which can been analysed from the preamble of constitution of India. It is the fundamental duty of the State to provide every person representation before Court irrespective of his knowledge or means. Hence, establishment of more number of Gram Nyayalaya will certainly reduce burden of the court and provides quick disposal of the cases to the litigants. The establishment of legal aid clinic in India now firmly entrenched in the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987.This paper investigates the causes for lack of effective access to justice in the country. The paper also discusses a few landmark judgements that have upheld the right to access to justice and emphasized on the need for free legal aid and the State’s undeniable obligation to provide all its citizens with the right to access to justice. Further, the Constitutional provisions, Legal Service Authorities to ensure access to justice is discussed with special emphasis on significance and immediate need for effective implementation of Gram Nyayalaya Act 2008.
Keywords: Constitution, Legal aid, Gram Nyayalaya, Access to Justice, Access to Court
Alok Kumar Yadav & Jivesh Jha
Abstract
The author, in this article, delves to study the legal provisions relating to right to clean and green environment guaranteed to citizens. Unequivocally, there is an inseparable nexus between climate change and human rights. The Constitution of Nepal hosts a plethora of fundamental rights that supplement and supplant right to clean and green environment to citizens. The Environment Protection Act, 2019, which is enacted to enforce right to clean environment, embodies environmental principles like sustainable development, Environment Impact Assessment (EIA), or Polluter Pays Principle (PPP) to foster purposive and progressive environmentalism. These green laws mandate that there should be developments but that development should be in closest possible harmony with environment, otherwise, there would be development at the cost of environment which would ultimately result total devastation. In this light, the author discusses the compliance mechanisms, rights of the Centre and Provinces and among other legal mandates (embodied under the Act, 2019) provisioned to control and abate the acts and omissions that tend to degrade the quality of environment.
Keywords: Environment, Law, Constitution, Environmental law, green democracy
Saira Gori & Sannidhi Buch
ABSTRACT
DNA profiling is not a new term for Indian Criminal Investigation, but certainly a direction-less one. DNA tests are admissible in Indian courts and over the time it has developed to a good level of accuracy. And it wasn’t until the early 1940s that DNA’s role in genetic inheritance was even begun to be researched and understood. The pattern of the compounds that constitute the DNA of an individual living being determines the development of that individual. With the exception of identical twins, no two individuals have the same DNA blueprint. DNA analysis, or DNA profiling, examines DNA found in physical evidence such as blood, hair, and semen, and determines whether it can be matched to DNA taken from specific individuals. The full potential for use of genetic markers in medicine and science is still being explored, but the utility of DNA identification in the criminal justice system is already undisputed. Since the first use of forensic DNA analysis to catch a rapist and murderer, the courts have acknowledged DNA testing unparalleled ability to both exonerate the wrongly convicted and to identify the guilty. It has the potential to significantly improve both the criminal justice system and police investigation practices. The introduction of DNA profiling has posed some serious challenges to the legal rights of an individual such as Right to Privacy and Right against self-incrimination which is why it’s been declined as evidence by the Courts sometimes. Also, the admissibility of the DNA evidence before the court always depends on its accurate and proper collection, preservation and documentation which can satisfy the court that the evidence which has been put in front it is reliable.
Keywords: DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid), DNA Fingerprinting, DNA profiling, analysis, evidence, Human leukocyte antigens (HLA), Recombinant DNA technology, Cloning, PCR, DNA microarray technology, Gene therapy.
Ashok R Patil & Akshay Yadav
Abstract
The advent of so-called digital era by rapid growth of technology across different spheres of life has brought a significant change in terms of market structure and its functionality where affordability and accessibility are something that consumer desired for. On one side the web based shopping by means of Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, Jabong etc., are providing the array of products at a door-step and on the other side various web-services provided Banks, Electricity Boards, Indian Railways, Cinema Halls etc., for instalments and bookings. In the present day scenario where the world is under the grapples of COVID-19 the importance of so called e-commerce is gaining its ground and has scaled new heights by reducing the physical barriers and maintain the social distancing. However, incessant flourishment of the digital era has led to a rampant increase in scams and frauds specifically by means of unfair trade practices, unfair contracts, misleading advertisements, etc., On the one hand there is need for an hour to adopt the new facet of digital marketing and on the other need to regulate these by striking the balance between profits and ethics of consumerism. The Government of India in order to break plethora of tactics played by e-commerce entity enacted Consumer Protection Act, 2019 which came into force partly on 20th and other party on 24 th July 2020 and Consumer Protection(E-Commerce) Rules, 2020 which came into force on 23 rd July 2020. This has laid a path breaking by bestowing better solutions to the consumers especially by empowering the Government to establish Central Consumer Protection Authority and broadening the scope of Consumer Commission. The paper also deals with the manifold advantages of new Act and identifying the key gaps specifically in connection with e-commerce market and suggestion by means of concluding remarks.
Keywords: Consumer Protection, E-Commerce, Regulatory Authorities, Data Privacy
Vatsala Mishra
Abstract:
Ignorance cannot resolve the issue but exacerbates it further. This paper endeavors to align the roles, in writing, played by the three pillars of our democracy that is Legislature, Judiciary and Executive in ensuring effective management of solid wastes. Being an interdisciplinary approach, ineffectiveness of existing legal provisions and adherence to unscientific norms are dealt at length. The ineffectiveness of Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 becomes traceable by indiscriminate storage and collection of wastes by waste generator and waste collector discussed intermittently throughout the paper, besides exhibiting their ignorance by inviting mismanagement at the stake of healthy environment and life. Even after several judicial pronouncements, the inadequate law and dead letters of existing rules failed in achieving objectives of the aforesaid Rules which weakens our claim over a sustainable country. This paper initiates to simplify the scientific process of management by underlining the remarks and observations made by the court accompanied with pressing concerns with available data, besides suggesting basic changes to be considered for efficient management.
Keywords: Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, Wadhera Case, Almitra Case, Ratlam Case, Ministry of Housing; Urban Affairs, integrated solid waste management, waste segregation, open drains.
Pankhuri Agrawal
Abstract
“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
The Indian Constitution allocates powers between the Centre and States. Both levels of government are empowered to legislate and execute the legislative fields of entries in Schedule VII. It establishes a relationship between the Centre and states and preserves the autonomy of states and the identity of India as a country. The Constitutional scheme sets the ground for sui generis federalism in India. The Covid-19 pandemic posed two tests to this intergovernmental relationship between the Centre and states: power and adversity. The paper shows that with the disparate financial status and health capacity of the Indian states, the ‘one size fits all’ attitude of the central government proved distressing and unhealthy. The Centre missed using its leadership as an anchor to supplement the states’ efforts on their state-specific level under the Epidemic Diseases Act 1897. The Centre assumed the role of an all-surpassing institution under the National Disaster Management Act of 2005, violating the constitutional provisions and principles of federalism. The over-centralisation during the pandemic has weakened the states’ finances and capacity by imposing country-wide lockdowns on the movement of people and vehicles and prohibiting the sale and manufacture of goods and provisioning services. The paper, therefore, concludes that the pandemic is a missed opportunity to strengthen the intergovernmental relationship in India.
Keywords: Centre-state relations, Intergovernmental relationship, Covid-19 pandemic, National Disaster Management Act, 2005, Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, Federalism, Lockdown, States’ finances, Disparity, Health, Schedule VII, Social security, Disaster, Epidemic, Revenue, Indian Constitution, Overcentralisation
Ritika Goenka & Ekta Mahajan
Abstract
With the evolution of digital media, the online presence has a significant role to play in today’s society. The rise of social media platforms has caused significant shifts in the dynamics between political leaders and their following. The present study seeks to understand this phenomenon through examining the relationship between usage of Twitter and popularity levels of politicians in India. The study is based on data collected from 124 official Twitter accounts belonging to Indian politicians across the spectrum. Through power regression & polynomial regression method, the impact of two variables- namely, number of years spent on Twitter, and the frequency of Twitter usage, upon the number of followers acquired by a politician has been analysed. Findings of the study indicate that there is a constructive and substantial relationship between Twitter usage and increase in popularity of a politician. Further, the number of years on Twitter and the frequency of tweets show a corresponding rise in the number of followers subsequently gained by a politician in India. The study also found the frequency of tweets influence the number of followers positively. This study is useful to understand the importance of social media platforms like Twitter in today’s political scenario and gaining popularity among masses.
Keywords: social media, Twitter, politics, popularity, India
Aditi Singh
Abstract:
The COVID-19 pandemic took the world by surprise. Nobody knew what was about to come. While the people suffered due to the highly infectious communicable disease, the countries felt a sudden urge and struggle for power. A number of factors, catered to its unconditional and among countries affected the International Relations prevailing in the world. This article aims to explore the social and legal implications of the pandemic not only individually among countries but also across international borders. Beginning as just a health crisis, the virus started affecting every sector of a prosperous living. Social, economic, political and even legal sectors were affected with the onset of COVID-19. Struggling to make their respective countries and populations survive, the pandemic also served to change the power structures of the world. International co-operation along with favoritism of nations evolved during this time. The article explores these changes that were caused in the hierarchy and the power structure. Existing international relations have been emphasized to portray the most powerful nation and how the tables turned soon after the onset of the pandemic. The first wave of COVID-19, made the changes in the world power structure evident. Beginning from the source of virus to the distribution of vaccines, countries have learnt to co-exist yet not co-operate. A timeline of these events has been established along with the reasons that led to the situation. The author has not constricted itself to the political relations, but also tried to touch upon the economic, social and legal perspectives of the pandemic. The article also touches upon the efforts of international organizations that contributed towards balancing the world power equation. By talking about the Sendai Treaty and the works of WHO, the author emphasizes as to how lack of implementation is responsible for the distress prevailing in the world. Further the advent of vaccination, and the issue of its distribution has been talked about in the article. Mentioning India’s contribution and prospectively predicting the future trends is also elaborated upon in the article. The paper concludes with suggestions and the changed international relations.
Keywords: International Relations, COVID-19, Sendai Treaty, legal and social sectors and suggestions.
Mrunal Patel & Anurag Kumar Srivastava
Abstract:
In this paper, we have surveyed the websites of 15 Administrative Training Institutes (ATIs) in India to find out whether their websites can assist in achieving the visions, missions, and goals of these institutes. To increase the efficiency of the websites of Administrative Training Institutes (ATIs), an increase in the capacity of secretariat employees to deliver effective governance, motivation, morale, and interpersonal interactions are necessary. Time management, stress management, Citizen’s court litigation, and grievances will be reduced since the personnel will be better equipped to manage their issues more efficiently. A training institute’s vision, mission, and goals may be significantly furthered by a well-designed and well-maintained website. In these organizations, there doesn’t appear to be a scarcity of resources or change agents to implement the necessary adjustments to their websites. However, to perform this function more effectively, the websites of India’s state Administrative Training Institutes (ATIs) need to be upgraded further. We have used a checklist of 30 questions divided into four dimensions: Accessibility, Information, Transaction & Transparency. Since 9 out of the 15 websites could not even cross 50% of our checklist, we also tried to ascertain whether lack of budget, web developers, or change agents in these Government institutes could be the factors restricting the upgradation of their websites.
Keywords: E-Governance, ICT, Transparency, Accountability, Web development, Government websites, ATI, Training Institutes
Arun Sharma and. Rakhi Singh Chouhan
Abstract:
Abstract In any kind of relationship, whether it be a personal one or a professional one, there is certain to be at least one argument at some point or another. Disagreements may be deconstructed into three distinct parts: the individuals involved, the approach that was used, and the core matter that is being discussed. Disagreements may be settled in a variety of ways, some of which include conflict resolution methods such as litigation or arbitration. These are only two of the many options available. We polled 500 mediators, all of whom were based in either the United States or India, and the results were split evenly between the two countries. The ages of the respondents ranged from as young as 21 to as old as 81, and many of them had more than 40 years of experience working in the field of mediation. Some of the respondents were also female. At this point in time, it would seem that India does not have a legal precedent that is suitable for the mediation procedure.
Keywords: Mediation, Out of Court settlement, ADR, ODR, Disagreements.
