Insta_Legal 2.

Rankers’ Study Material

Part of the most Comprehensive Classroom Training, Prep Content & Test Series across the Nation.
From the producers of A.I.R. 2, 3 and 5 in CLAT 2019.

MOST IMPORTANT TOPICS FOR LEGAL REASONING AND THEIR LUCID EXPLANATIONS
IMPORTANCE OF INSTA_LEGAL 2.0

 We have prepared a list of around 150 topics (90 of these were shared with you earlier). There is a good possibility
that the passages in the upcoming CLAT will be around these topics. So to boost your preparation, we have
prepared a summary of each topic and will be sharing with you on our telegram channel.

 Insta_Legal 2.0 will contain the summary of not just 90 topics that we have shared earlier but also many new topics
which we have added recently.

 Those of you who have already gone through the Insta_Legal before should not skip Insta_Legal 2.0. owing to the
relevance Insta_Legal 2.0 Holds, reading it multiple times before your exam will help you in understanding the
passage with much more clarity and efficiency.

Happy Reading 

RETRIBUTIVE AND RESTORATIVE JUSTICE

1. Restorative justice is an approach to justice in which one of the responses to a crime is to organize a meeting
between the victim and the offender, sometimes with representatives of the wider community.
The goal is for them to share their experience of what happened, to discuss who was harmed by the crime
and how, and to create a consensus for what the offender can do to repair the harm from the offense.
This may include a payment of money given from the offender to the victim, apologies and other amends,
and other actions to compensate those affected and to prevent the offender from causing future harm.
A restorative justice program aims to get offenders to take responsibility for their actions, to understand the
harm they have caused, to give them an opportunity to redeem themselves and to discourage them from
causing further harm. For victims, its goal is to give them an active role in the process and to reduce feelings
of anxiety and powerlessness.
Restorative justice is founded on an alternative theory to the traditional methods of justice, which often focus
on retribution. However, restorative justice programs can complement traditional methods.
Restorative justice requires a form of meeting between the offender and the victim. A 2013 Cochrane review
stressed the need for the offender to meet the victim face-to-face.[44] In addition, the meeting may include
people representing the wider community. The different ways are through Victim-offender dialogue, Family
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 group conferencing, Restorative conferences, Circles of Support and Accountability and Sentencing
circles.

2. Retributive justice is a theory of punishment that when an offender breaks the law, justice requires that he or
she suffer in return. It also requires that the response to a crime is proportional to the offence.
Prevention of future crimes (deterrence) or rehabilitation of the offender are other purposes of punishment.
Retribution is different from revenge because retributive justice is directed only at wrongs, has inherent limits,
is not personal and involves no pleasure at the suffering of others and employs procedural standards.
One purpose of official retribution is to channel the retributive sentiments of the public into the political and
legal systems. The intent is to deter people from resorting to lynchings, blood feuds, and other ugly forms of
vigilante self-help.
Another purpose is to promote societal solidarity through participation in the act of punishing, under the theory
that "the society that slays together stays together."
The punishment is as per the principle of Proportionality which requires that the level of punishment be
related to the severity of the offending behaviour. However, this does not mean that the punishment has to
be equivalent to the crime.
A retributive system must punish severe crimes more harshly than minor crimes, but retributivists differ about
how harsh or soft the system should be overall. The crime's level of severity can be determined in multiple
ways. Severity can be determined by the amount of harm, unfair advantage or the moral imbalance that the
crime caused.

RIGHT TO MAINTENANCE- ISSUES AND CHALLENGES

1. Maintenance is a term mostly associated with the financial support that a woman can claim from her husband
after divorce. However, the word has a much wider connotation since maintenance can be claimed, not just by a
married or divorced woman, but also by the children and parents of a married man.
2. Legal provisions concerning the order for maintenance of wives and children come under section 125 of the Code
of Criminal Procedure, 1973. As per Section 125(l) (a) of the Code ,if any person having adequate resources
neglects or refuses to maintain his wife who’s unable to maintain herself, then a Magistrate of the first class upon
proof, can order such person to make a fixed monthly allowance for the maintenance of his ex-wife.
3. According to Section 125(1) of the Code, the following persons are entitled to claim maintenance under convinced
circumstances:
Wife – The maintenance allowance cannot be granted to every wife who is neglected by husband or whose
husband has refused to maintain her. It can only be granted to a wife who is unable to maintain herself and
not, to the one who is maintaining herself with some difficulty. Maintenance means appropriate food, clothing
and lodging. By the phrase ‘unable to maintain herself’, it is not meant that she should be absolute destitute
and should be on the street, should beg and be in tattered clothes. The inability of the wife to maintain herself
is a condition precedent to the maintainability of her application for maintenance.
Child - The word ‘Child’ is not defined in the Code. It means a male or female person who has not reached
full age, i.e., 18 years as prescribed by the Indian Majority Act, 1875 and who is incompetent to enter into any
contract or to enforce any claim under the law.
Father or Mother - If any person having adequate resources neglects or refuses to maintain his father or
mother who are unable to maintain himself or herself then a Magistrate of the first class can order such a
person to make a monthly allowance to them as their maintenance. The amount payable could be fixed by
the Magistrate as he thinks fitting and it has to me paid from time to time as directed by him.
3. During the pendency of the proceedings regarding the monthly allowance for the maintenance under Section
125(1) of the Code, the Magistrate can order such a person to make a monthly allowance for the interim
maintenance to his wife, child or father or mother.

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4. Essential conditions for granting maintenance:
Sufficient means to maintain - The person who has to make the claimed maintenance must have adequate
means to maintain the person or persons claiming maintenance.The expression ‘means’ used here, does not
signify only the visible means like real property or definite employment but refers to the earning capacity of
the person.
Neglect or refusal to maintain - The person from whom maintenance is claimed must have neglected or
refused to maintain the person or persons entitled to claim maintenance. Neglect refers to the default or
omission in the absence of a demand whereas ‘refuse’ refers to the failure to maintain or a denial of obligation
to maintain after demand. A neglect or refusal to maintain might have happened by words or by conduct.
Whereas it is the obligation of the claimant to prove the neglect or refusal by the person to make the
maintenance.
Wife claiming maintenance must be unable to maintain herself- The Code is designed to prevent
vagrancy and thus the requirement to pay maintenance would be applicable only in respect of persons who
are unable to maintain themselves. Therefore, the inability of the wife to maintain herself is a condition
precedent to the maintainability of her application for maintenance. Maintenance here means appropriate
food, clothing and lodging.

RIGHTS OF ACCUSED IN INDIAN LEGAL SYSTEM

1. As Indian constitution is wedded to Democracy and Rule of Law, the concept of free and fair trial is a constitutional
commitment for which the cardinal principle of Criminal Law revolves around the Natural Justice wherein, even
the accused or guilty person is treated with a human treatment. The law of the land requires the prosecution to
stand at its own legs and to prove the guilt of the accused beyond the shadow of a reasonable doubt.
2. Our constitution is based on fundamental that "Let Hundreds Go Unpunished, But Never Punish An Innocent
Person" Right to get a fair representation in a criminal procedure is a facet of Right to Equality (Article 14). Article
20 says that "no person shall be convicted of any offence except for violation of a law in force at the time of the
commission of the act charged as an offence, nor be subjected to a penalty greater than that which might have
been inflicted under the law in force at the time of the commission of the offence.
3. Some important rights of the accused persons under Criminal law are:
4. Presumption of Innocence: In Blackstone’s famous words, "it is better that ten guilty persons escape than that
one innocent suffer". The essence of criminal trial lies in that the accused is to be presume innocent until a charge
is proved against him without any reasonable doubt.
5. Right To Know The Grounds of Arrest: As per Section 50(1) of Cr.P.C., where a person arrested without
warrant is entitled to know the full particulars of offence for which he is being arrested and where a person is
arrested with warrant, he must be notified the particulars of such warrant, or even show such warrant if needed.
Sec. 75 of Cr.P.C.
6. Right to have Bail: Any person who is arrested without a warrant and is accused of a bailable offence has to be
informed by the police officer that he is entitled to be released on bail on payment of the surety amount.
7. Right to Be Taken before a Magistrate without Delay: Irrespective of the fact, that whether the arrest was
made with or without a warrant, the person who is making such arrest has to bring the arrested person before a
judicial officer without any unnecessary delay. By Sec 56 and 76 of the code, an accused has to be produced
before a magistrate within the 24 hrs.
8. Right to free, fair and speedy trial: As justice delayed is justice denied, the concept of speedy and expeditious
trial was introduced by which the accused person is given fair and impartial justice quickly.
9. Right to Consult a Legal Practitioner: This has been enshrined as a fundamental right in Article 22(1) of the
Constitution of India, which cannot be denied in any case. Section 50(3) of the Code also lays down that the
person against whom proceedings are initiated has a right to be defended by a pleader of his choice.

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10. Right of Free Legal Aid: A duty is imposed on all magistrates and courts to inform the indigent accused of his
right to get free legal aid.It is clear that unless refused, failure to provide free legal aid to an indigent accused
would vitiate the trial entailing setting aside of the conviction and sentence.
11. Right to Be Examined by a Medical Practitioner: Section 54 of Cr.P.C. enumerates this right. If requested by
the arrested person so to do direct the examination of the body of such person by a registered medical practitioner
unless the Magistrate considers that the request is made for the purpose of vexation or delay or for defeating the
ends of justice.
12. Right to Appeal: The rights of arrested persons include the right to file an appeal against his conviction in a
higher court.
13. Right to Humane Treatment in Prison: The accused has a right to have all his human rights when in prison and
be subjected to humane treatment by the prison authorities.

RIGHTS OF LGBTQ COMMUNITY

1. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in India may face legal and social difficulties not
experienced by non-LGBT persons. The country has repealed its colonial-era laws that directly discriminated
against gay sex and transgender identification, but many legal protections have not been provided for including
anti-discrimination laws and same-sex marriage.
2. Since 2014, transgender people in India have been allowed to change their gender without sex reassignment
surgery, and have a constitutional right to register themselves under a third gender.
Additionally, some states protect hijras, a traditional third gender population in South Asia, through housing
programmes, and offer welfare benefits, pension schemes, free surgeries in government hospitals, as well
as other programmes designed to assist them. There are approximately 4.8 million transgender people in
India.
3. In 2018, the Supreme Court of India decriminalised homosexuality by declaring Section 377 of the Indian Penal
Code unconstitutional in respect of consensual homosexual sex between adults.
Homosexuality was never illegal or a criminal offence in ancient Indian and traditional codes but was
criminalised by the British during their rule in India.
4. Despite recent political movements in favour of LGBT rights, there remains a significant amount of homophobia
present among the Indian populace, with around half of Indians objecting to same-sex relationships according to
a recent opinion poll. Acceptance of the LGBT community is highest among Hindu respondents. Over the past
decade, LGBT people in India have increasingly gained tolerance and acceptance, especially in large cities.
Nonetheless, most LGBT people in India remain closeted, fearing discrimination from their families, who might
see homosexuality as shameful.
5. Hijras were legally granted voting rights as a third sex in 1994. Due to alleged legal ambiguity of the procedure,
Indian transgender individuals have difficulties accessing safe medical facilities for surgery. On 15 April 2014,
the Supreme Court of India declared transgender people a socially and economically backward class entitled to
reservations in education and jobs, and also directed union and state governments to frame welfare schemes for
them.
6. The states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala were the first Indian states to introduce a transgender welfare policy.
According to the policy, transgender people can access free sex reassignment surgery (SRS) in government
hospitals (only for male-to-female), free housing, various citizenship documents, admission in government
colleges with full scholarship for higher studies, alternative sources of livelihood through formation of self-help
groups (for savings) and initiating income-generation programmes (IGP).
7. The state of West Bengal set up a transgender welfare board in 2015 to coordinate all policy decisions and
development work pertaining to the transgender population in the state. The board, however, has been labelled
an "all-around failure" by several transgender activists. Supposed to meet once every month with representatives
from numerous state government departments, the board has only met five times as of July 2017.

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 TRADEMARK LAW IN INDIA

1. A trademark or trade mark is one of the elements of Intellectual Property Right and is represented by the symbol
TM or ® mark is a distinctive sign or indicator of some kind which is used by an individual, business organization or
other legal entity to identify uniquely the source of its products and/or services to consumers, and to distinguish its
products or services from those of other entities.
2. A trademark is a type of intellectual property, and typically a name, word, phrase, logo, symbol, design, image, or
a combination of these elements. There is also a range of non-conventional trademarks comprising marks which
do not fall into these standard categories.
3. The term trademark is also used informally to refer to any distinguishing attribute by which an individual is readily
identified, such as the well-known characteristics of celebrities. When a trademark is used in relation to services
rather than products, it may sometimes be called a service mark, particularly in the United States.
4. The owner of a registered trademark may commence legal proceedings for trademark infringement to prevent
unauthorized use of that trademark. However, registration is not required.
5. The owner of a common law trademark may also file suit, but an unregistered mark may be protectable only within
the geographical area within which it has been used or in geographical areas into which it may be reasonably
expected to expand.
6. Two types of remedies are available to the owner of a trademark for unauthorized use of his or her mark or its
imitation by a third party. These remedies are: an action for infringement’ in case of a registered trademark; and an
action for passing off’ in the case of an unregistered trademark.
7. The Indian law of trademarks is enshrined the new Trade Marks Act, 1999 came into force with effect from
September 15, 2003.
8. The old Trade and Merchandise Marks Act, 1958 was repealed at the same time. The new Trademarks Act of 1999
is in line with the WTO recommendations and is in conformity with the TRIPS Agreement to which India is a
signatory.
9. India has declared certain countries as convention countries, which afford to citizens of India similar privileges as
granted to its own citizens.
10. A person or company from a convention country, may within six months of making an application in the home
country, apply for registration of the trademark in India. If such a trademark is accepted for registration, such foreign
national will be deemed to have registered his or her trademark in India, from the same date on which he or she
made application in the home country.
11. Registration of trademarks is one of the important protections that businesses should avail in India. Many foreign
and domestic Applicants have been able to successfully register their marks in India. Indian courts have upheld
many of those registrations and granted favorable decisions to rights holders.

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