INTERNAL ASSIGNMENT ANSWERS

SUBJECT: BUSINESS LAW

ANS. 01
aa) INTRODUCTION:

Lien: A lien is a claim or legal right against assets that are typically used as collateral to satisfy a debt. A lien
could be established by a creditor or a legal judgement. A lien serves to guarantee an underlying obligation,
such as the repayment of a loan. If the underlying obligation is not satisfied, the creditor may be able to seize
the asset that is the subject of the lien. There are many types of liens that are used to secure assets.

Contract Act, 1872: The Indian Contract Act, 1872 prescribes the law relating to contracts in India and is the
key act regulating Indian contract law. The Act is based on the principles of English Common Law. It is
applicable to all the states of India. It determines the circumstances in which promises made by the parties to a
contract shall be legally binding. Under Section 2(h), the Indian Contract Act defines a contract as an agreement
which is enforceable by law.

Sale of Goods Act, 1930: The Indian Sale of Goods Act, 1930 is a mercantile law which came into existence on
1st July’1930, during the British Rule, borrowing heavily from the United Kingdom's Sale of Goods Act 1893. It
provides for the setting up of contracts where the seller transfers or agrees to transfer the title (ownership) in the
goods to the buyer for consideration. It is applicable all over India. Under the act, goods sold from owner to
buyer must be sold for a certain price and at a given period of time. The act was amended on 23rd
September’1963, and was renamed to the Sale of Goods Act, 1930. It is still in force in India, after being
amended in 1963.

bb) CONCEPT AND APPLICATION:

• Lien Under Contract Act, 1872:

Under Indian Contract Act, 1872, there are two kinds of lien, which are as follows:

(i) Particular Lien.

(ii) General Lien.

(i) Particular Lien: Section 170 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 which confers on the Bailee, the right of
particular lien. A particular lien gives the right to retain possession only of goods in respect of which the
changes or dues have arisen. The right of particular lien can be successfully claimed if, by the exercise of labor
or skill, there has been some improvement of the goods. The Right of Particular Lien can be claimed only in
respect of goods upon which labor or skill has been exercised by the Bailee.

Example of Particular Lien:

➢ “A” delivers a rough diamond to the jeweler “B”, to be cut and polished, which is accordingly done. “B”
is entitled to retain the stone, till “A” pays him for the services he has rendered.
 ➢ A delivers a watch to B, a shopkeeper, to repair his watch and which is to be done accordingly. B is
entitled to retain the watch till he is paid for the services that he has rendered.

(ii) General Lien: Section 171 of the Indian Contract Act,1872 confer on Bailee the right of General
Lien. General Lien is one which gives the right to possession until the whole balance of the amount is paid.
The right of General lien can be claimed in respect of any goods for any change due in respect of other goods.

Example of General Lien:

➢ The banker’s Lien is a General Lien and he can retain the goods for the satisfaction of a debt other than
the one for which the goods are pledged.

Difference between Particular Lien and General Lien:

Sr. No. Particular Lien General Lien

1) Section 170 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872
which confers on the Bailee, the right of
particular lien.
2) A particular lien gives the right to
retain possession only of goods in respect of
which the changes or dues have arisen.
3) The right of particular lien can be successfully
claimed if by the exercise of labor or skill,
there has been some improvement of the
goods.
4) The Right of Particular Lien can be claimed
only in respect of goods upon which labor or
skill has been exercised by the Bailee.
Section 171 of the Indian Contract Act,1872
confer on Bailee the right of General Lien.
General Lien is one which gives right
to possession until the whole balance of the
amount is paid.
It is not necessary in case of general Lien.
The right of General lien, can be claimed in
respect of any goods for any change due in
respect of other goods.

• Lien under Sale of Goods Act, 1930:

The Sale of Goods Act, 1930 grants certain rights to an unpaid seller in the case when the goods have already
been transferred to the buyer but the buyer fails to pay the price of the said goods to the seller. One such right is
the Right of Lien. It means the seller’s right to keep the certain property of the buyer until the buyer pays the
debt of the goods that were sold to him. The rights of the unpaid seller are explained in Sections 46, 47,
and 49 of this particular act.

The unpaid seller can exercise this right by retaining the goods of the buyer or by refusing to deliver the goods
of the buyer until the amount which is due to the buyer is paid to the seller. In the case of transfer of the
ownership the seller can still refuse the payment to the buyer until the amount due is paid by the buyer.

This contract of sale will not be void ab initio if the unpaid seller exercises this right against the goods bought
by the buyer. The right of lien is to retain the possession of goods. Therefore, it is necessary that the goods have
to be in possession of the seller even after the sale agreement. This right is not affected by the transfer of title to
the buyer. In fact, right of lien is a right which can be Section 47 of the aforementioned Act states the situations
in which this right can be exercised in case the amount due to buyer is not paid to the seller.

Example:
“A” sold certain goods to “B” for a price of INR 500/-, and allowed him to pat the price within 1 month. “B”
becomes insolvent during this period of credit. Therefore, in this case, “A”, the unpaid seller, can exercise his
right of lien.
cc) CONCLUSION:

Lien is one of the rights available to a person to retain possession of goods owned by another person until the
assertion of the person having the control is satisfied.

The Honorable Supreme Court explains the nature of the Right of Lien by stating that “Lien in its elementary
sense is a right of a person to retain the possession of goods until the demands of the possessor are satisfied.
Lien can be considered as a person of great value.

A lien can be subjected to a large number of risks, but despite risks liens actually continue to be of huge
assistance and support to operators. A well-drafted Lien clause can be considered to be of huge assistance and
support to the operators.
ANS. 02

aa) INTRODUCTION:

National Green Tribunal:

The National Green Tribunal, established in 2010, as per the National Green Tribunal Act, is a specialized
judicial body equipped with expertise solely for the purpose of adjudicating environmental cases in the country.

Recognizing that most environment cases involve multi-disciplinary issues which are better addressed in a
specialized forum, the Tribunal was setup as per recommendations of the Supreme Court, Law Commission and
India’s international law obligations to develop national laws on environment and implement them effectively.

The Tribunal is tasked with providing effective and expeditious remedy in cases relating to environmental
protection, conservation of forests and other natural resources and enforcement of any legal right relating to
environment. The Tribunal’s orders are binding and it has power to grant relief in the form of compensation and
damages to affected persons.

The Tribunal has a presence in five zones- North, Central, East, South and West. The Principal Bench is
situated in the North Zone, headquartered in Delhi.

The Central zone bench is situated in Bhopal, East zone in Kolkata, South zone in Chennai and West zone in
Pune.

The Tribunal is headed by the Chairperson who sits in the Principal Bench and has at least ten but not more than
twenty judicial members and at least ten but not more than twenty expert members.

bb) CONCEPT AND APPLICATION:

Judgments/ orders where the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has enforced rights or passed directions relating to
protection of environment:

AA) Ms. Betty C. Alvares vs. The State of Goa and Ors.:

Facts:
A criticism concerning unlawful creation inside the Coastal Regulation Zone of Candolim, Goa was raised by a
person of overseas nationality whose name was Betta Alvarez.

Before the case might be determined on deserves, the maintainability of the primary complainant turned into a
challenge.

Objections:
The first objection turned into that Betty Alvarez had no locus standi as she not an Indian citizen and for this
reason legally incompetent to report the petition under Article 21.

The second objection was that the problem was excluded by the law of limitation and has to be dismissed. The
case had been initiated in the High Court of Bombay Bench at Goa as a PIL. However, on Oct 23, 2012, it
turned into a writ petition turned and got transferred to the National Green Tribunal.
Judgment:
Regarding the primary and most important objection by the Respondents on this matter, the Tribunal disagreed
from taking the respondents’ side.

The Tribunal, boldly, phrased that even assuming that the Applicant – Betty Alvarez wasn’t a citizen of India,
the Application remains maintainable as she had filed numerous different writ petitions and contempt programs
earlier.

To reply to the problem about locus standi, the court said about Section 2(j) of the National Green Tribunal Act,
2010 – the very act via way of means of which the Tribunal has come into being.

Interpreting this section, the Tribunal observed that the word ‘man or woman’ merits to be construed in a wide
feel to encompass an individual, whether or not a countrywide or someone who isn’t always an Indian citizen.
The Court mentioned that going into the information of Betty’s nationality isn’t required.

BB) Almitra H. Patel & Ors. vs. Union of India and Ors.

Facts:
Decided much less than a year ago, this matter has been the single largest landmark case managing the
difficulty of strong waste control in India.

In this matter, Mrs. Almitra Patel and others had filed a PIL under Article 32 of the Constitution of India earlier
wherein the Petitioner sought the instant and pressing development concerning the practices which are currently
followed for the manner Municipal Solid Waste or rubbish is handled in India.

The Tribunal discovered that the importance of the dispute became huge due to the fact over a lakh of tonnes of
uncooked rubbish is dumped each day and there may be no right remedy of this uncooked rubbish that is
dumped simply out of doors the town limits on land, alongside highway, lakes, nalas, etc.

The whole society generated over 133760 MT of waste each day as of 2012-2013 and this has been growing
with time.

The Tribunal cited the requirement of conversion of this waste into a supply of electricity and gasoline for use
for society’s benefit, deliberating the Principles of Circular Economy.

Judgment:
The Tribunal after having evaluated each factor of this dispute issued over 25 directions.

The Tribunal directed each nation and UT to put in force the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, and put
together the plan in motion in phases within four weeks.

Further, the Tribunal directed the Central Government, state governments, local bodies, and all residents to
carry out their respective duties below the Rules with no delay.

Absolute segregation has been made obligatory in waste for strength vegetation and landfills need to be used for
depositing inert waste most effective and are a concern to bio-stabilization within 6 months.

The Tribunal ordered a prohibition on open burning of waste on lands, which includes landfills.
cc) CONCLUSION:

As we can see from the above judgments, the major work of NGT is to protect the environment. The need for
such unique environmental courts became highlighted through the Supreme Court of India in a chain of
judgments, the primary one being in 1986 in the Oleum Gas Leak case, and with the aid of using the Law
Commission of India in its 186th document in 2003.

The Court thought that environmental instances raised issues, which required technical information and
knowledge, rapid disposal, and non-stop monitoring, and consequently, those instances must be determined
with the aid of using unique courts with important knowledge and technical assistance.

The goal of the NGT Act is to offer powerful and expeditious disposal of instances referring to the safety of the
environment. Even though the Act was brought on 2 June 2010, the primary listening of the Tribunal was held
in May 2011. The Tribunal suffered from serious ‘teething troubles’.

Despite being a frame constituted with the aid of using an Act of Parliament, the Supreme Court needed to
interfere to make sure important administrative preparations had been made with the aid of using diverse
branches of the government for the Tribunal to become functional.
ANS. 03

ANS. 03. A
The term ‘Harassment’ is a form of discrimination. It includes any unwanted physical or verbal behavior that
offends or humiliates you. It covers a wide range of behaviors of an offensive nature. It is commonly
understood as behavior that demeans, humiliates or embarrasses a person, and it is characteristically identified
by its unlikelihood in terms of social and moral reasonableness. Such behavior affects the physical and mental
well-being of a person.

In the legal sense, these are behaviors that appear to be disturbing, upsetting or threatening. They evolve from
discriminatory grounds and have an effect of nullifying or impairing a person from taking benefits of their
rights. When these behaviors become repetitive, they can also be construed as bullying in common parlance.

The continuity of repetitiveness and the distressing, alarming or threatening nature may distinguish it from a
mere insult or admonishment.

Harassment can take many forms and some of the most common types of harassment are:
• Mental Harassment;
• Physical Harassment;
• Discriminatory Harassment;
• Sexual Harassment;
• Harassment based on race, gender or religion;
• Emotional or Psychological Harassment;
• Cyberbullying or Online Harassment.

Below mentioned are few Indian laws which deal with various forms of Harassment:

1. The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.
This was the first legislation enacted to protect the women from being sexually harassed at the workplace. The
legislation has defined the term sexual harassment under section 2 and gives an inclusive definition stating
that sexual harassment includes any one or more of the following unwelcome acts or behavior (whether directly
or by implication) namely:
 physical contact and advances; or
 a demand or request for a sexual favor; or
 making sexually colored remarks; or
 showing pornography; or
 any other unwelcome physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct of sexual nature;
The law mandates certain practices which workplaces ought to follow to prevent sexual harassment and
mechanisms which need to be created for redressal of complaints.

2. Indian Penal Code, 1860.

The term “Mental Harassment” has not been specifically defined under the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC),
however, harassment can be interpreted in terms of cruelty or torture. The relevant sections are as follows:
A. Section 294: Obscene acts and songs:
Whoever, to the annoyance of others
* does any obscene act in any public place, or
* sings, recites or utters any obscene song, ballad or words, in or near any public place, shall be punished with
imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three months, or with fine, or with both.
B. Section 354: Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty. -
Whoever assaults or uses criminal force to any woman, intending to outrage or knowing it to be likely that he
will thereby outrage her modesty, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which
may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both.

C. Section 354A: Sexual harassment and punishment for sexual harassment.

1. A man committing any of the following acts- *physical contact and advances involving unwelcome and
explicit sexual overtures; or *a demand or request for sexual favors; or *showing pornography against the will
of a woman; or *making sexually colored remarks,
shall be guilty of the offence of sexual harassment.
2. Any man who commits the offence specified in clause (i) or clause (ii) or clause (iii) of sub-section (1) shall
be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both.
3. Any man who commits the offence specified in clause (iv) of sub-section (1) shall be punished with
imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both.

D. Section 509: Word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman. —Whoever, intending to insult
the modesty of any woman, utters any word, makes any sound or gesture, or exhibits any object, intending that
such word or sound shall be heard, or that such gesture or object shall be seen, by such woman, or intrudes upon
the privacy of such woman, shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to one
year, or with fine, or with both.

Basis the above-mentioned laws, it can be said that the facts and actions described in the question, constitute
harassment towards Jane Doe at her work place.
ANS. 03. B

In order to report and deal with this harassment, in general, Jane Doe should proceed as mentioned below:

1. Don't Ignore the Harassment.

If one believes that he/she is the victim of harassment in the workplace, don't ignore the problem. Studies show
that individuals who harass other people at work, do not stop simply because their victim does nothing. Ignoring
such behavior may actually make the harasser escalate his or her behavior.

2. Make it Clear to the Harasser that the Conduct is Unwelcome.

An essential element of a harassment claim is that the conduct must be “unwelcome.” Harassers sometimes
argue that their victims welcomed, invited or enjoyed their words and actions. Although it can feel
uncomfortable or even frightening to object, one must tell the harasser in clear and unequivocal terms to stop
the behavior. There is no special way to do this or magic words to use; but one must make it clear that the
behavior is unwelcome.

3. Not All Offensive Behavior is Harassment Under the Law.

What constitutes unlawful harassment is determined under various statutes and hundreds of court cases
interpreting those statutes. These criteria evolve through statutory amendments and new court opinions. Not all
offensive behavior is unlawful harassment. Whether certain offensive behavior constitutes harassment is
considered on a case-by-case basis considering the totality of the circumstances. It’s especially hard to know
where to draw the line when one is experiencing behavior in the workplace that one finds obnoxious,
disgusting, or frightening.

4. Keep Careful Notes on What Happened.

Keep any notes, memos, letters, gifts, or other tangible evidence from the harasser and its best to keep those
items in a safe place that is not controlled by the employer. Keep a diary or notes of any incidents or other
information that may be relevant to one’s concerns about harassment. But be careful how and where to record
the evidences. One should be aware that their communications using company equipment are not confidential
and can be used against them.

5. Report the Conduct.

Reporting harassment may feel threatening and disruptive, but a report is important for several reasons. It gives
the employer an opportunity to correct the problem, i.e. make the harassment stop; and if the conduct does not
abate, one has proof that his/ her employer knows about the problem. Once the employer is on notice of the
harassment, it should investigate and, if warranted, take prompt remedial action to address the problem. But, if
one does not inform the employer about the harassment, it might argue that it did not know about the problem
and therefore is not responsible for the conduct of the harasser.

6. Consult the Employee Manuals or Policies.

Consult any employee manuals or policies that have been distributed or posted by the employer. Most
established employers have specific harassment policies that spell out to whom you should go to complain. If
so, follow that policy. If the person to whom you are supposed to report is the harasser, bypass that person and
go to his or her supervisor or to Human Resources.
7. Remember:

Anything told to Human Resources may be revealed to others in the Company. Human resources personnel may
present themselves as one’s advocate or friend. But keep in mind that they work for and are loyal to the
company. Don't assume that anything one tells them is going to be kept confidential.

8. Don't Quit the Job.

Harassment is against the law. One does not have to endure a sexually hostile work environment; the employer
is legally required to make it stop. Don’t just quit to get away from the offensive environment. Quitting might
enable the employer to argue that you didn’t give it time to fix the problem; quitting could adversely affect
one’s ability to recover for lost income; and quitting might make it harder to collect unemployment benefits.

9. Retaliation is Illegal - and sometimes easier to Prove than the Actual Harassment.

Even if one can’t prove that unlawful harassment occurred, one might have a strong retaliation claim if he/ she
makes a reasonably good faith complaint of harassment and the employer then takes any “adverse action”
against he/ she or any action that would dissuade him/ her from filing a discrimination or harassment claim.

10. Keep Doing the Job Well.

One might have a valid harassment claim, but don’t use that as an excuse to stop doing the job well. Making a
complaint about harassment doesn’t give one a permission to stop doing the job to the best of the ability or
excuse one from the same standards they had to meet before the conduct started.

11. Get Legal Advice from Someone Who Knows About Sexual Harassment Law.

If you think you're being harassed, talk to a lawyer who's experienced in harassment cases. This is especially
important if you're considering quitting the job. Meeting with a lawyer does not mean that one is going to sue
the current or former employer. An employment lawyer can advise about what the law considers to be unlawful
harassment; counsel about how to handle the situation (i.e., making a proper complaint, trying to preserve your
job, gathering proof of the harassment, or dealing with the stress).