Guidelines for Assignment of Information Technology Law

Semester – VI
Himachal Pradesh National Law University, Shimla

Important Dates (No extension would be given/ entertained)

Date of submission of interest 26 April 2020

Date of allotment of modules 27 April 2020

Submission of title and research objective 30 April 2020 | 1700 hrs.

Submission of assignment 23 May 2020 | 1700 hrs.

Presentation Dates 01 June 2020 – 08 June 2020

General guidelines for assignment –

Of Topics for the Assignment –
The examinee can choose any topic from the vast ambit of cyberspace for the purpose of
making an assignment subject to the following conditions –
1. The topic must be covered within the broad ambit of any of the four modules as
provided for in the syllabus of the IT Law uploaded on the University website.
2. The topic, if not chosen by the examinee of volition, must be within the ambit of the
module assigned to the examinee by the examiner.
Of the composition of team –
1. Both individual and group assignments are encouraged.
Provided, that the number of group members for the purpose of the group assignment
must not exceed two.
2. Modalities for submission of group assignment –
a. The group members shall submit the name of the topic along with the sub-topics
on which each member would be individually working.
b. Even if a group assignment is undertaken by any examinee, the two group
members shall submit separate documents for their assignments.
c. If a group assignment is undertaken for publication in a UGC recorgnised
journal, the members should be able to delineate their contribution to the
publication and accordingly submit separate documents w.r.t. the assignment.
Of the Assignment and its content –
1. Word limit – The Assignment submitted must not be less than 2500 words (excluding
footnotes, preliminaries, abstract, and other cosmetic components of the assignment)
and must not exceed 5000 words.
2. Font and styling for electronically created assignments –
Body
Font – Time New Roman – 12 pts.
Line spacing – 1.5
Heading
Font – Time New Roman – 12 pts.
Style – Bold and Underlined
Line spacing – 1.5
Sub-heading
Font – Time New Roman – 12 pts.
Style –Underlined
Line spacing – 1.5
Footnote
Font – Time New Roman – 10 pts.
Line spacing – 1
The document must not contain any borders.
3. For hand-written submissions –
The submission must be made in White A4 size-sheet written with blue or black pen.
The use of borders on the left-hand side in hand-written submissions is mandatory.
Use of multi-coloured pen or highlighter is strictly prohibited.
A legible scanned copy/ photograph of the hand-written assignment must be shared via
e-mail.
The examinee must retain the sheet for submitting the same to the examiner later.
Headings and sub-headings can be highlighted by simply underlining the same.
The rigours as to the foot-noting and referencing can be complied by putting the
relevant information into the brackets within the body of the assignment.
4. Content – The Assignment must contain the following, apart from other relevant
information that the examinee deems fit –
a. Introduction – should discuss the main arguments or core objective of the
research
b. Research method of the assignment
c. Critical evaluation/ analysis of the status quo or the law(s) and contemporary
examples
5. Footnoting – The Bluebook 20th edition of legal citation must be used.
6. Referencing – The use of authentic sources is promoted. The explanation below is for
illustration only and not exhaustive.
Authentic sources – Use of online library the access to which is provided for by the
University, other educational websites including those of national and international
organisations and Ministries (such as the RBI, CVC, NITI Ayog, Department of
Science and Technology, WTO, WB, IMF, UN, OECD, etc.), use of websites of
national and international think tanks, use of media houses including but not limited to
The Hindu, The Indian Express, BBC, The Guardian, The Washington Post, etc.
Use of commercial websites, blogs, and Wikepedia is not promoted.
Of the presentation –
1. Each examinee shall make a presentation of 10 minutes for the assignment submission.
2. The presentation must include –
a. The objective of the research or the research question(s).
b. The law(s) related to the assignment.
c. The landmark judgement(s) and judgement(s) referred to by the examinee in the
preparation of the assignment. New judgement(s) not discussed in the
assignment must not be discussed during the presentation.
d. The argument(s) put forth by the examinee and critical analysis of the legal
provisions/ the administrative mechanism.
e. Use of PPT during the presentation is optional.
f. No new information not included in the assignment would be discussed or
brought forth during the presentation.