Law

The India Forum's articles on law that have been published since 2019.

Is Fair Use the Knight in Shining Armour?

Over-reliance on the defence of fair use/dealing might not be warranted when there are other internal checks and balances within India’s copyright law. Blind faith in fair use has the unfortunate…
▶24-Jun-2025
Bharathwaj Ramakrishnan

Rights in the Aadhaar Machine

A recent judgement of the Supreme Court engages with the consequences of failures in digital public infrastructures that deny rightful entitlements.
▶17-Jun-2025
John Simte

ANI vs YouTubers: The 'Fair Use' Defence

Indian law does allows for fair use of copyrighted material. But it’s not as simple as the amount of material used.
▶10-Jun-2025
Vineet Bhalla

Challenge of Balancing Privacy and Transparency

With the right to privacy guaranteed in India, the state cannot force public disclosure of personal data. Access must be justified on the ground of legitimate interests, empowering bureaucrats to…
▶28-May-2025
Prashant Reddy T

How Police Misused the Law to Arrest Ashoka University Professor

Ali Khan Mahmudabad’s social media posts do not meet the standards or even definitions of the stringent provisions invoked against him.
▶20-May-2025
Vineet Bhalla

Amendments to Restrict Creating New Waqfs

The new waqf law is worrying because it grants unchecked administrative power without any clear standards for fair action. It applies unevenly across religions and provides a potentially biased…
▶11-May-2025
M. R. Shamshad

The Illegality and Inhumanity of Women in Pre-trial Detention: Gulfisha's Poems

Gulifisha’s continued imprisonment without trial and her poetry on the injustice of pre-trial detention showcase the masculinist carceral culture of the Indian State.
▶04-May-2025
Pratiksha Baxi

Uttarakhand Uniform Civil Code: Excessive Bureaucracy, Few Rights

The Uttarakhand law may violate privacy and religious freedoms by imposing controls on marriage, live-ins, and divorce – measures that can disproportionately burden women and inter-faith couples.…
▶29-Apr-2025
Aarti Mundkur

Government’s Presumptive Claim on Waqf Properties

The Waqf (Amendment) Act of 2025 has been challenged on constitutional grounds. In the first of a series of articles examining important issues raised by the amendment, a discussion here on the…
▶24-Apr-2025
M. R. Shamshad

What Can We Expect of International Law?

International law, rather than dictate state actions, persuades states to develop publicly defensible legal and moral positions, and in the process, generates accountability.
▶23-Apr-2025
Raag Yadava