Category: Blog

Artificial Intelligence and the Law: A Future We Must Shape Wisely

Bipasa Majhi (Student of 6th Semester)

Artificial Intelligence is that advancement of the Information Technology, which has developed the machines to work and also think like the human beings. Basically, with the help of this development of Artificial Intelligence the workload of the homo sapiens involving cognitive labour has decreased to a greater extent. Also, in the current scenario the Artificial Intelligence has changed how the people are living their ordinary lives, almost transforming the same into an extra-ordinary one.

Although, our country does not have any such legal provisions which are directly related to the usage of the Artificial Intelligence, however, one certain legal provision of the existing Indian Law, i.e., the Information Technology Act, 2000 mainly Section 43A plays a significant role in governing the various facets of the Artificial Intelligence. Along with the Legislature, the Indian Judiciary is also facing various longstanding challenges, such as, case backlogs, language barriers, etc., which are also pointing towards the urgent need for the digital modernization. Hence, the Indian Parliament is trying actively in drafting and enforcing a specific law, namely, Digital India Act, 2023 (proposed), which can be of greater help in near future especially for shaping the rules and norms related to the Artificial Intelligence.

The advancement in the technology often introduces multiple complex legal complications. For example, the companies those have evolved and are also responsible for the Artificial Intelligence systems, are potentially using various copyrighted works for training their own models developed using the Artificial Intelligence or within their contents which are being generated by the Artificial Intelligence and all these practices are illegal as it is committing the infringement of the copyright. Now, the question relating to legal responsibility of those companies is still remaining un-identified, due to the lack of proper laws.

Here, except for the European Union and European nations that work on the rules of the Artificial Intelligence, India shows no sustained progress since creating their National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence. The contemporary situation calls for immediate perpetration of laws which can efficiently handle the systems of Artificial Intelligence and its functional conditions.

Internet service providers must also work with the development of newer technologies to produce systems that can distinguish between acceptable and un-acceptable behaviours within a specific context. The tools of live Artificial Intelligence need to help the legal experts in performing their duties so that they can gain new technical capacities that would enhance the well beings of the societal entities.

Successful development of the Artificial Intelligence demands mortal-centered regulations which must not defend rights and shall also motivate progress. The advancement of the ultra-modern society requires law and technology to cover the moral values in all their stages. Such systems of the Artificial Intelligence in the legal sphere ameliorate justice systems through prophetic algorithms, as well as smart contract evaluation tools, to enhance both functional speed and availability in legal processes.

The Complexities of Section 498A of Indian Penal Code 1860: A Discrimination against Men

Sk Tanvir Nabi (Student of 6th Semester)

Marriage is one of the divine social institutions in the society. Although in last few decades, it has undergone monumental changes. Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code, is to protect women from cruelty and dowry harassment by husband and in-laws. This provision aimed to safeguard the rights and dignity of women. But in many instances, it has been alleged that women file false or exaggerated complaints during matrimonial disputes as a weapon rather than a shield.

Women are misusing this provision with specific reason such as prior relationship, adultery, domination, custody and fraudulent marriage.  Moreover, the gender-specific nature of section 498A violates the principle of equality before the law. It provides no remedy to men or their families who may suffer emotional or physical abuse for the convenience of the women. This misuse can be prevented by amendment of this provision, grievous punishment for false accusations, in-depth investigations, and vigilance of the Judiciary.

In the landmark case of Sushil Kumar Sharma v. Union of India, 2005, the Supreme Court observed that Section 498A has been increasingly used as a tool to harass husband & their families.

It is essential to protect women from genuine harassment during marital consistency but it is also important to prevent the law from being used as a tool for revenge or harassment. Thus reforming the process and implementation of 498A is crucial to achieve the gender neutral provision and fairness of justice.

The Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025 – A major transformative shift in immigration process in India

Atanu Halder (Student of 6th Semester)

The Immigration and Foreigner’s Act, 2025 provides the unified legal structure to deal with immigration. This Act replaces the laws of the colonial era such as the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920, the Registration and Foreigners, Act, 1939, and the Foreigners Act, 1946 along with the Immigration (Carriers’ Liability) Act, 2000, to prevent the out-dated jargons.  By repealing the out-dated legislations, this Act addresses the regulatory structure with centralised executive discretion.

Key Features of the Act:

• The immigration will be supervised by the Commissioner of Bureau, appointed by central government, to discharge the functions like issuance of visas and regulation of entry into India and regulate.
• Passports along with visas are mandatory in case of foreigners to regulate entry or exit from India.
• The Foreigners must report to the Foreigners Registration office on their arrival.
• All the undocumented carriers shall be confiscated and fines upto 5 lakhs.
• The Act provides arrest without warrant by not below the rank of head constable.
• The Act provides for penalization for undocumented foreigners, upto 5 years imprisonment or 5 lakh rupees fine or both.
• Educational institution, hospitals shall provide information’s related to foreigners to the registration officer.

Loopholes of the Act:

• No legal distinction among refugees, statelessness, seekers. The Act lacks recognition of statelessness.
• Risk of prolonged adjudicatory procedure to prove citizenship as a burden of proof relies on the accused.
• Incorporation of vague terms like ‘threat to sovereignty’ or ‘risk of national security’.
• Limited judicial intervention.
• Solely depends upon executive discretion.

Suggestions:

• Incorporation of a clear definition of recognition of statelessness.
• The burden of proof shall lie on the State and the standard of evidence shall be in compliance with the provisions of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 to deal with admissibility or non-admissibility of the evidence.
• Incorporation of definite time frame within which the adjudicatory procedure shall be exhausted.
• Too much adjudicatory powers are concentrated on the Central Government which needs to be checked.

Cruelty against Animals in India

Sk Riyaj Ahmed

Every living thing on earth has a right to live, but sometimes we become cruel towards animals. Animals have been traditionally considered sacred in Indian culture.¹ The symbolic significance of animals in ancient India is a vehicle of god and deities.² Ashok the Great was Indian emperor of the Maurya Dynasty forbidding slaughter of animals in 225 BC.³ Mahatma Gandhi once rightly said, “The greatness of a nation is judged by the way it treats its animals”.

But in today’s competitive world, no heed is paid to basic morals and ethos and in a rat-race to earn more and easy money, animals become the targets. Recently a nationwide outrage was triggered after a pregnant elephant in Kerala died as a consequence of consuming a fruit-land that was stuffed with explosive. It has been referred to as a ‘premeditated murder’ by some, but for many, it is just a general practice to protect their fields against wild animals, especially boars.

But this is not the first time animals have been treated with cruelty in India; just a day before the Kerala incident, the jaw of Nandini – a pregnant cow – was severely injured after being fed dough stuffed with firecrackers in Jhandutta area of Bilaspur district, Himachal Pradesh.⁴ In April this year, another female elephant had died in a similar fashion at Pathanapuram forest range area under Punalur division in Kollam district, Kerala.⁵

Every day, animals are mistreated, slaughtered and killed with such instances of inhumanity. Intending to curb the menace of cruelty against animals, various laws have been enacted by the Central Government, but the main laws concerning prevention of animal cruelty are the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act, 1960 and wildlife Protection Act, 1972. Also to kill or maim any animal including stray animals is a cognizable offence under Section 428 and 429 of the Indian Penal Code.

Article 51- A (g) of the Constitution of India clearly outlines the fundamental duty of every citizen to have compassion for all living creatures, but since our duties are not legally enforceable, the citizens do not feel their responsibility towards anything but themselves.

The Supreme Court of India pronounced a landmark judgment in ‘Animal Welfare Board of India vs. A. Nagaraja & Ors’ ⁶ banned the use of bulls and bullocks in “entertainment activities” such as Jallikattu, which is traditionally held during the Pongal period because the event is not for the well-being of the animal and causes the unnecessary pain and suffering. This practice also violated many of the provisions of the PCA Act.

India has always been a country, a land that has worshiped animals for centuries, where animals have been considered to be incarnations of God. But lately, India is coming across as a nation whose citizens are self-absorbed, who are complacent and no longer can differentiate between legal and illegal actions, let alone the concept of morality. This judgement holds that animals too possess a right to live with dignity, and, therefore, enjoy a right to life under Article 21 of the constitution also includes right to live in a society free of animal cruelty.

Indian Judiciary has offered a ray of hope in the area of animal protection, the courts have one hand, toppled the government’s activities to cut the area of wild life sanctuary or use such are against the interest of the wild life, and on the other hand protected animals from human cruelties. In order to implement the PCA and its Rules, there is also a need to make sure that the State Animal Welfare Board runs properly, because in many states there is no such board and where there is one, it hasn’t met for years, there is also a need to make sure that the State Animal Welfare Board runs properly, because in many states there is no such board and where there is one, it hasn’t met for years. Government may create special Forums/ Animal Welfare Courts to address such issue. In my opinion to prevent such alarming rise of such instance of barbaric animal cruelty and inhuman exploitation, there needs to be a change in the mindsets of people, who rather than mistreating animals, start respecting them..

The author is 5years 8th semester student of B.A.LL.B. at Sureswar Dutta Law College.

¹-Dr. Gajanan T Hivale, ‘ANIMALS IN INDIAN ENGLISH POETRY,’ P- 19,Pub- Lulu Publication, Hillsborough, USA,2019.
²-Ibid.
³-Laura Riley and William Riley ‘Nature’s Strongholds: The World’s Great Wildlife Reserves,’ P-203, Pub- Princeton University Press, New Jersey UK, 2005
⁴-Gaurav Bisht,’ Now, pregnant cow’s jaw blown off by explosive-laden wheat-flour ball in Himachal’s Jhandutta’, HindustanTimes, dt- 6th June 2020.
⁵-Editorial, ‘Kerala: Residents blame negligence for eight-year-old jumbo’s death,’ The Times Of India, dt- 5th June 2020.
⁶-(2014) 7 SCC 547