India

Introduction The legal realm has typically been known for its reliance on manual procedures, paper-based records, and in-person court appearances. It was characterized by a combination of common law inherited from the British colonial era and traditional legal customs rooted in India’s diverse cultural and regional heritage. However, with the advent of digitalization, India’s legal practices and proceedings are transformed to enhance governance and service delivery. The Digital India Initiative, launched by the Government of India in 2015, has had a significant impact on various sectors including the legal industry. With this initiative, India has been at the forefront of leveraging technology to empower citizens and streamline administrative processes. The main aim of the Digital India Initiative is to digitize government services and infrastructure to improve connectivity, accessibility, and efficiency across the country. The Indian legal system is becoming more digitally savvy, but one major obstacle is that the help desks of courts lack digital experience. It is imperative to provide digital education to the help desks of courts because they are essential in accessing the benefits of virtual or online courts.  In various scenarios such as when hearing a matter in the Supreme Court and delivering lectures at colleges or universities, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud highlighted the importance and benefits of advanced technology in the legal field. Last year on July 03, the Supreme Court of India reopened after summer vacation with IT-enabled courtrooms. The piles of petitions towered on the judge’s desks and racks along the wall with volumes of previous…

Introduction to Legal Technology In today’s fast-paced and ever-changing world, technology and innovation have become integral to every facet of our lives, and the field of law is no exception. There is no doubt that the legal landscape is changing rapidly as we move into the 21st century. Gone are the days when the stereotypical image of a lawyer involved poring over tons of documents. The emergence of legal technology is revolutionizing this profession. Legal technology, also known as legal tech or law tech, plays a significant role in the Indian legal system. It encompasses the use of various technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning, Automation, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and Data Analytics, to improve the efficiency, accessibility, and effectiveness of legal services. Below are some of the key roles played by legal technology in Indian law: Case Management Legal research Contract Management Document Automation Online Dispute Resolution Access to Justice Legal Analytics E-Discovery E-Filing Benefits of Technology in Law The adoption of technology in law offers several benefits that positively impact the legal profession and the administration of justice. It has replaced traditional approaches with modern methods revolutionizing today’s legal landscape. Some of the benefits of Legal Technology include increased efficiency, improved collaboration, fast process, enhanced access to information, large data storage space, enhanced legal research, cost savings, easy access, increased transparency, data analytics, predictive insights, and improved case management. Technology automates repetitive and time-consuming tasks, such as document management, legal research, and scheduling, allowing legal professionals to work more efficiently. This leads to…

Resources: Joint Proposal Comparing 2018 SC Guidelines and Suggested Changes, submitted by ISCC and the Union of India. Miscellaneous Application No. 1699 of 2019 in Writ Petition (Civil) No. 215 of 2005Comparative Chart of the Existing Guidelines of the Supreme Court of India in Common Cause v Union of India (2018) 5 SCC 1 andSuggested Modifications developed jointly by the Applicant, the Indian society of Critical Care Medicine and the Respondent, the Unionof India.Download Right to Die Guidelines Day #1: Sr. Adv. Arvind Datar Argues Current Process is Cumbersome Today, a 5-Judge Constitution Bench led by Justice K.M. Joseph heard an application to modify the SC’s 2018 Judgment which recognised the right to die with dignity and provided guidelines for terminally ill patients to refuse further treatment. The 2018 Judgment also recognised the validity of ‘Advance Directives’, allowing individuals to provide instructions on how to proceed if they become terminally ill, unable to communicate their wishes and seek to refuse treatment. The Indian Society for Critical Care Medicine (ISCCM) filed a Miscellaneous Application in July 2019 claiming the SC’s guidelines were cumbersome and very few Advance Directives (ADs) were accepted and implemented Senior Advocate Arvind Datar, representing ISCCM, led the discussion with the Bench in today’s hearing. The 2018 Judgment requires a Judicial Magistrate to record that the AD was signed voluntarily. Sr. Adv. Datar claimed that this is the main reason behind the delays. The Bench then discussed when an AD should be allowed. The 2018 Judgment states that…

Epidemics often alter the course of history. In Delhi — where the Covid-19 graph is currently trending sharply upward — it was an epidemic that helped end the Mughal Empire, over 150 years ago. Cholera began to sweep across the country from Agra, in 1856. In the Mughal capital of Delhi, a weak and flailing Bahadur Shah Zafar — a puppet of the British by then — saw a leading figure of his royal household, Mirza Fatah-Ul-Mulk Shah Bahadur, die, allegedly from the disease. This death sparked a series of conspiracy theories, tales of palace intrigue, and rumours of a bloody fight for a crown and a title that would soon be extinct. The Cholera Epidemic of 1856 – The Beginning Cholera outbreaks were frequent in India in the 19th and 20th centuries. The British and the princely states fought hard to contain them but, often, their measures proved inadequate. A highly communicable and water-borne disease caused by the bacteria vibrio cholera, cholera had been endemic to Asia for a few centuries before it first assumed pandemic proportions. The first case of the first cholera pandemic broke out in Jessore in Bengal in 1817. The cause was traced to contaminated rice, and the epidemic spread to most of the Gangetic delta. Not only was the administration unable to stop its march, crowded living spaces, lack of sanitation and hygiene, and a tropical, humid climate encouraged the bacteria to breed and spread, leading to frequent outbreaks to in different regions of…

The Case That Shook India: Indira Gandhi vs Raj Narain There is no denying the fact that Indian courts have contributed more towards the development of law, doctrines and jurisprudence as compared to Pakistani courts in the past seven decades. The same is evident from the fact that most of the law books recommended by and for practitioners or law students in Pakistan are authored by Indians as well. It is unfortunate that Pakistan’s apex court, uptil the 90s, delivered some of the worst and most criticized decisions in the country, such as in the Molvi Tamizuddin Khan case, the Dosso case, the Bhutto case, and the Usif Patel case, wherein the regrettable doctrine of necessity had also been introduced irrationally. However, it is also important to point out that our judiciary has mostly remained influenced or suppressed either by the legislators or the junta to be able to make more valuable contributions to the development of jurisprudence. Let us have a look at a landmark judgment of the Indian constitutional courts delivered in Indira Gandhi v. Raj Narain reported as AIR 1975 SC 2299. The case was undoubtedly a watershed moment in the constitutional, legal and political history of India. Brief Facts Mrs. Gandhi was a candidate in the general elections from Rae Bareli, a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, and Raj Narain was the main opposition candidate she had been running against. In the election held on the 7th of March, 1972, Mrs. Gandhi won by a huge margin. Raj Narain, aggrieved of the election…