List of top Legal Studies Questions

The 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act 1976 introduced the concept of environmental protection in an explicit manner into the Constitution through introduction of Article 48-A and Article 51-A (g). In many judgments, the Supreme Court ruled that both the state and its residents have a fundamental duty to preserve and protect their natural resources. The recent judgment obliquely makes way for an enforceable right, and a potential obligation on the state unless the same is overturned by an Act of Parliament.
India is signatory of various international environmental conservation treaties under which India has the binding commitment to reduce carbon emission. During the COP 21. India signed Paris Agreement along with 196 countries, under which universally binding agreement was made to limit greenhouse gas emission to levels that would prevent global temperatures from increasing to more than 1.5 degree Celsius before the industrial revolution. India has committed to generating 50% of its energy through renewable resources and will generate 500 GW of energy from non-fossil fuels by 2030, reducing the carbon emission by 1 billion ton. Additionally, India has committed to achieve net zero carbon emission target by 2070.
Supreme Court's March 21, 2024 verdict builds on the bulwark of jurisprudence in place since 1986, and, through various other judgments, the Supreme Court has recognised the right to clean environment along with right to clean air, water and soil free from pollution which is absolutely necessary for the enjoyment of life. Any disturbance with these basic elements of environment would amount to violation of Article 21. It also establishes duty of the state to maintain ecological balance and hygienic environment. Although right to clean environment has existed; by recognizing the right against climate change it shall compel the states to prioritize environmental protection and sustainable development.
(Extracted, with edits and revision, from "Supreme Court of India bolts Right to Life with climate justice", The Economic Times, 06-05-2024)

The Supreme Court of India declared that the right to privacy is a fundamental right and that the right to informational privacy is part of this right. Subsequently, the Parliament of India enacted a new law relating to digital personal data protection. The law applies to Indian residents and businesses collecting the data of Indian residents. It also applies to non-citizens living in India whose data processing is "in connection with any activity related to the offering of goods or services" that happens outside India. The law allows personal data to be processed for any lawful purpose. If the personal data is sensitive, then additional safeguards are to be observed. The entity processing data can do so either by taking the concerned individual's consent or for "legitimate uses". which include situations where an individual has voluntarily provided personal data for a specified purpose. The law requires that an individual's consent must be "free, specific, informed, unconditional and unambiguous with a clear affirmative action" and for a specific purpose. The data collected has to be limited to that necessary for the specified purpose. A clear notice containing these details has to be provided to consumers, including the rights of the concerned individual and the grievance redressal mechanism. Individuals have the right to withdraw consent if consent is the ground on which data is being processed. The law also creates rights and obligations for individuals. These include the right to get a summary of all the collected data and to know the identities of all other entities/organisations with whom the personal data has been shared, along with a description of the data shared. Individuals also have the right to correction. completion, updating, and erasure of their data. Besides, they have a right to obtain redressal for their grievances and a right to nominate persons who will receive their data. [Excerpts from Anirudh Burman, "Understanding India's New Data Protection Law", CARNEGIE INDIA, October 03, 2023]

Geographical Indications (GIs) are a form of intellectual property that designates a product as originating from a specific geographic location, where a given quality. reputation, or other characteristic is essentially attributable to its geographic origin. GIs protect names that are used to identify products with specific qualities or characteristics due to their geographic origin. For example, 'Champagne' refers to sparkling wine produced in the Champagne region of France, and 'Darjeeling Tea' refers to tea grown in the Darjeeling region of India. The protection of GIs ensures that only products genuinely originating from a specific region are allowed to use the geographical name. This helps maintain the product's reputation and quality, prevents misuse or imitation, and supports local economies by promoting regional products. International agreements such as the TRIPS Agreement under the World Trade Organization (WTO) provide a framework for the protection of GIs globally.

Children come in contact with the criminal justice system either as victims or witnesses to a crime or as children in conflict with law (CICL). As CICL, they could be alleged of, accused or recognised as having broken the law by committing a crime. According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) Report 2021, India recorded a total number of 1,49,404 instances of crimes against children in 2021 a rise of over 16 per cent from the previous year. In terms of percentage, the top categories under crime against children were kidnapping and abduction, followed by cases registered under the POCSO Act. Further, the NCRB report revealed that of the total cases, 53,874 were registered under POCSO Sections. Sexual offences against children shows a steady ascent, with 47,221 such cases being recorded in 2020, and 47,335 cases in 2019. In 2019, as many as 32,269 cases were registered across the country, while the 2021 report registered a decline of 3.5 per cent recording 31,170 cases.
The Criminal Justice system of any country broadly refers to agencies of the government charged with enforcing law, adjudicating crime, and correcting criminal conduct. The main objective of the criminal justice system is 'deterrence', ie., to punish the 'transgressors and the criminals' and to maintain law and order in the society. Globally, children and young people are routinely exposed to various forms of violence if they are before the criminal justice system. They are at risk of physical and psychological abuse, sexual assault, and other harms, including inadequate educational opportunities, poor and outdated vocational training. They face several challenges including mental, emotional, and behavioural disorders. Children, who are victims of violence or exposed to violence during childhood, are more likely to have difficulty in school, abuse drugs or alcohol, act aggressively, suffer from depression or other mental health problems and engage in criminal behaviour as adults. 
[Extracted, with edits and revisions from "Child Rights in the Criminal Justice System: Need for Law Reform" written by Dr. Asha Bajpai published in the Journal of the National Human Rights Commission, India].

The Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024 that has provision for up to five years' imprisonment and a fine of up to 1 crore for malpractices and organized cheating in government recruitment exams was notified by the Union government and came into effect from June 21, 2024. The Bill had received assent from the President of India on the 13th February 2024. The Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024 mentions punishments for "leakage of question paper or answer key", "directly or indirectly assisting the candidate in any manner unauthorisedly in the public examination" and "tampering with the computer network or a computer resource or a computer system" as offences done by a person, group of persons or institutions. Besides these, "creation of fake website to cheat or for monetary gain", "conduct of fake examination, issuance of fake admit cards or offer letters to cheat or for monetary gain" and "manipulation in seating arrangements, allocation of dates and shifts for the candidates to facilitate adopting unfair means in examinations" are also among the offences punishable under the law.
"Any person or persons resorting to unfair means and offences under this Act shall be punished with imprisonment for a term not less than three years but which may extend to five years and with fine up to 10 lakh," said the Act. A service provider, engaged by the public examination authority for conduct of examinations, shall also be liable to be punished with imposition of a fine up to 1 crore "and proportionate cost of examination shall also be recovered" from it, according to the Act. Such service providers shall also be barred from being assigned with any responsibility for the conduct of any public examination for a period of four years.
 [Extracted, with edits and revisions from "Act that Punishes Organized Cheating in Government Exams Comes into Effect" published in The Hindu dated 22-06-2024]