News Type: Event

Conversation on ‘Spies, Lies and Allies’ | NLS Alumna Kavitha Rao with NLS Faculty Dr. Vanya Vaidehi Bhargav

NLS alumna, author and journalist Kavitha Rao (NLS BA LLB ’94) spoke about her new book, ‘Spies, Lies and Allies,’ with Dr. Vanya Vaidehi Bhargav, Assistant Professor, Social Science, NLSIU. The event was held at Bangalore International Centre on April 2, 2025, at 6:30 pm.

About the book

Spies, Lies and Allies is a thrilling tale about two forgotten revolutionaries who led lives that defy belief. It takes the reader on a wild ride through Kolkata, Hyderabad, London, Paris, Berlin, Stockholm, Mexico City and Moscow. One was Virendranath Chattopadhyaya, the brother of Sarojini Naidu. The other was M.N. Roy, the founder of Indian communism.

Chatto and Roy met spies, dictators, femme fatales, assassins, revolutionaries and bomb-makers. They encountered Lala Lajpat Rai, Veer Savarkar, Vladimir Lenin, Sun Yat-Sen, Chiang Kai-shek, Joseph Stalin, Mohandas Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. They travelled in disguise and survived assassination attempts by the British secret service. They had tumultuous love affairs with suspected Communist spies. They flirted with anarchism, then became communists, and Roy would eventually end up founding his own philosophy: humanism. Chatto’s sister Sarojini would distance herself from his journey, and his friend Nehru would eventually follow the Gandhian path. Roy would be ignored in newly independent India. But if Chatto and Roy were failures, they were magnificent ones. They battled for their ideas, and their ideas lived on, even if the pair died mostly forgotten.

Watch the Video

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NLS Faculty Seminar | Religion, Culture, and Human Rights in India: With God as our Witness

In this week’s faculty seminar, Dr. Surabhi Shukla, Lecturer at the School of Law, University of Sheffield, and an alumna of the NLSIU (2011). Surabhi will be presenting her upcoming book titled “With God as our Witness.” The seminar will be held on April 2, 2025, at 4 pm, in the Ground Floor Conference Hall at NLSIU’s Training Centre.

Abstract

In secular, constitutional democracies, religion and culture are assumed to be of legal importance only for deciding the scope of religious and cultural freedom, maintaining communal harmony, and determining the scope of minority protection laws. However, across jurisdictions, courts have been influenced by religion and culture in determining other human rights as well. This phenomenon is especially observed in, but is not restricted to, gender and sexuality cases: abortion, sexual orientation and gender identity, marital rape, sex work, euthanasia, bar dancing, etc.

This book examines the limits of religious and cultural influence on fundamental rights questions under secular and liberal constitutions and proposes a judicial framework to determine the same. Using intensity sampling, I select the population of cases (31 in number) pertaining to the abovementioned themes. I then perform a systematic content analysis to extract religious and cultural claims and examine their various attributes. I find that, even though the law has mandated no role for them, such claims determine the outcome in 29% of the cases; 78.5% of those claims are judicially noticed, i.e., admitted without proof. This makes it imperative to investigate the institutional limits upon the judiciary when dealing with religious and cultural claims. The judicial framework that I propose has three pillars:

1. A theory of constitutional interpretation which discusses constitutional restrictions on the judge when considering religious and cultural arguments in fundamental rights cases;

2. A theory of judicial notice to determine when such claims can be admitted without proof; and

3. A theory of secularism and public reason which argues that once a religious or cultural claim has been admitted, it should be given weight in the final decision only if it matches defensible conceptions of constitutional values.

About the Author

Dr. Surabhi Shukla is Lecturer at the School of Law, University of Sheffield, and an alumna of the NLSIU (2011). Surabhi is also Deputy Director of Employability and Enrichment Activities (Legal Tech) at the University. Read her complete profile here.

Reflections from the Author

“The most controversial human rights issues of our time, like abortion and surrogacy, LGBTQ + rights, sex work, euthanasia, etc., all invite passionate religious and cultural debate posing a classic question of constitutional law — to what extent can religious and cultural views shape human rights in secular democracies? For example, can the religious and cultural sentiments of the general populace determine whether there is a right to abortion in a country? This is the question that I answer in my upcoming book ‘With God as our Witness.’ Having learnt how to read constitutional law at NLSIU, it was a special pleasure and privilege to debate this question with a room full of engaged colleagues and teachers turned colleagues. The feedback is extremely valuable in finalising this work in progress. Hoping to be back again when the book is published in 2026!”

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Music Showcase | NLS Music Society

The NLS Music Society is organinsing a ‘Showcase’ – their first official ensemble spanning genres, vocals and instruments. This event will feature a musical performance of 15 sets by 29 students.

About the NLS Music Society

The NLS Music Society is a student society constituted in December 2024, following a vibrant and competitive audition process that saw participation from over 100 talented musicians across cohorts and programmes at NLSIU. After careful selection, 43 passionate and skilled members were inducted into the Society, representing a wide range of musical styles—including Hindustani, Carnatic, Western Classical, Rock, and Indian Semi-Classical vocals—as well as instruments such as the drums, acoustic and electric guitar, tabla, saxophone, harmonica, and flute.

The NLS Music Society is committed to nurturing a thriving musical ecosystem on campus. It aims to celebrate diversity in musical expression, foster collaboration, and promote performance across genres. The Society also plans to host workshops and performances by renowned artists and actively collaborate with faculty, staff, and researchers who are trained in various musical traditions, thereby building an inclusive and enduring musical community at NLS.

About the Showcase

The NLS Music Society is thrilled to present their very first ensemble performance—an inclusive and vibrant showcase of talent that spans genres, instruments, and vocals. Featuring 29 members of the Society, this two-hour event will bring to life 15 thoughtfully curated sets, including a Tabla-Mridangam-Flute ensemble, Hindustani vocals, performances by the NLS band Glorified Soundcheck, rock, bollywood as well as Indian Semi-Classical and Western music.

This inaugural showcase is more than just a performance—it’s a celebration of the rich musical talent at NLSIU and the beginning of a new chapter in our campus’s cultural life. Over the past year, music at NLSIU has been shaped by ad-hoc open mics and occasional performances. With the formation of the Music Society, we now take our first official step toward building a sustained and inclusive musical community.

This event is called a ‘showcase’ because it brings together the broadest range of musical forms, styles, and artists in a single evening. While future performances will explore genre-specific themes and focused collaborations, this ensemble is meant to be a comprehensive and heartfelt introduction to what the Music Society stands for.

The Music Society looks forward to welcoming you to an evening of energy, emotion, and extraordinary performances!

NLS Faculty Seminar | Accommodating Disability ‘Reasonably’: The Indian Supreme Court and the Shifting Contours of ‘Reasonable Accommodation’ Under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016

In this week’s faculty seminar, Ishita Ghosh, Academic Fellow, will be presenting her paper titled “Accommodating Disability ‘Reasonably’: The Indian Supreme Court and the Shifting Contours of ‘Reasonable Accommodation’ under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016.” The seminar will be held on March 26, 2025, at 3:45 pm, in the Ground Floor Conference Hall at NLSIU’s Training Centre.

Abstract

The principle of reasonable accommodation (RA) for persons with disabilities forms an indispensable component of the Rights of Persons with Disability Act, 2016. Largely mirroring Article 2 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 2006, the principle is considered to be an elucidation of the doctrines of ‘equality before the law’ and ‘equal protection under the law’ contained in Article 14 of the Indian Constitution.

Considered to be an innovative, progressive and inclusive principle that exemplifies the right  of the disabled to be treated equally, and afforded equal opportunity, while placing a corresponding obligation or duty on the State to ensure the realisation of these core rights. An enquiry into its constituent elements reveals three main components, firstly, the requirement to make ‘necessary and appropriate modifications and adjustments” secondly, that ensures equal enjoyment of rights by the disabled as all others; thirdly, without imposing a disproportionate or undue burden on the authority in a particular case”. Yet, the application of the principles itself, alongside its very contents, has seen widespread conflict between the State and the disabled beneficiaries, and has required innovative-albeit inconsistent and piecemeal-approaches and arguments to be adopted by the higher judiciary to further the cause of the disabled, almost bordering on altruism. This raises concerns regarding the nature of RA, and elicits the need to dig deeper to locate what kind of norm is RA, and it is meant to serve as a vehicle to realise the right to equality and equal opportunity, or does it have an independent existence of its own?

In this paper, I argue that RA exists as a ‘duty-based norm’, rather than a ‘right-based norm’ or a ‘goal-based norm. More accurately, RA exists as a duty-based norm embedded with a goal-based framework of each particular legislation or precedent. In the context of RPwD, RA serves to provide an avenue or conduit for the realization of goals such as non-discrimination, equality, inclusivity and accessibility for disabled individuals. Through an exploration of the jurisprudential treatment of RA by the Indian Supreme Court, revealed a conceptual puzzle at the heart of the Court’s attempts to grant relief to disabled claimant(s) under the principle of RA due to a misreading of RA as a ‘right-based norm’ under the RPWD, as opposed to a ‘duty based norm’. This means that as opposed to being simply a pre-existing justiciable right which the individual/group can seek to enforce before a Court of law, reasonable accommodation creates a conditional duty on the State to make provisions even in the absence of a right, so far as the State can realistically and ‘reasonably’ accommodate.

The Silenced Voices: Caste and Sexual Violence Against Women | SPAC & AOW

The Savitribai Phule Ambedkar Caravan (SPAC) & Alliance of Oversensitive Women (AOW) are organising a lecture on ‘Silenced Voices: Caste and Sexual Violence Against Women.’ The lecture will be delivered by V. Geetha, an Indian feminist campaigner, historian, and writer.

About the Lecture

Discussions of sexual violence in India tend to be incomplete without due consideration to the role of caste. While legal and social systems have attempted to tackle gender-based violence, the underlying caste dynamics of these problems are seldom considered in mainstream discussions. ‘The Silenced Voices: Caste and Sexual Violence Against Women’ seeks to place this important intersection at the centre, challenging hegemonic narratives and investigating the entrenched impunity facilitated by caste-based hierarchies.

We are privileged to welcome V. Geetha whose scholarship has shed light on how caste and patriarchy converge in constructing experiences of violence, justice, and resistance. Her groundbreaking book, ‘Undoing Impunity: Speech After Sexual Violence’, critically analyses how legal and social frameworks perpetuate impunity in sexual violence, especially when caste is a deciding factor. Through this lecture, we hope to spur a much-needed debate regarding how caste works within legal discourses and public discourses around sexual violence. This session is also part of an ongoing effort by LawSoc, SPAC and AOW to critically explore institutional policy around sexual violence, especially in educational institutions.

As per UGC guidelines and the report of the SAKSHAM Committee, we hope to raise voices for reforms that recognise caste as a determining factor in judicial and institutional reactions to sexual violence explicitly. This conversation will provide a chance to reflect on resources, judicial precedents, and potential reforms challenging the caste-blind nature of gender justice. This lecture is a call to critically address the silences regarding caste and sexual violence in legal and social discourse. By placing this discussion within larger feminist and anti-caste movements, we seek to open a space for substantial dialogue and action toward a more equitable and inclusive paradigm for confronting sexual violence in India.

About the Speaker

V. Geetha is an Indian feminist campaigner, historian, and writer living in Chennai. She writes widely on gender, caste, education, and civil rights and has critically approached the intersectionality of caste and patriarchy within Indian s ociety. As an editorial director at Tara Books, she has made substantive contributions to alternative publishing, and notably in areas of literature, history, and visual culture.

She has played a leading role in the Tamil Nadu Women’s Coordination Committee, which arranged milestone conferences on women’s violence, politics, and autonomy. Working with the women’s group ‘Snehidi’, she has worked among survivors of domestic violence and also worked with the Tamil Nadu State Legal-Aid Board. Together with S. V. Rajadurai, she has published a great deal of work on Tamil non-Brahmin movements and the revolutionary Self-Respect Movement of Periyar.

Her other notable works are ‘Towards a Non-Brahmin Millennium: From Iyothee Thass to Periyar’, which relooks at the historical changes of the Dravidian movements and how they are still pertinent in politics today. An English translator of novels of Perumal Murugan, Geetha’s intellectual inspirations are Ambedkar’s writings, Periyar’s works, Fanon’s writings, and K. Balagopal’s works. She continues to study and write about Dr. B. R. Ambedkar’s legacy, as well as the intersections of law, violence, and social justice in India.

Release of ‘A Legal Handbook on Domestic Violence Laws: A Practical Guide’ | By Centre for Women and the Law and Aweksha

The Centre for Women and the Law (CWL), along with Aweksha, is organising a release event of ‘A Legal Handbook on Domestic Violence Laws: A Practical Guide,’ at the NLS campus on Saturday, April 5, 2025. The handbook will be released by Hon’ble Mr. Justice S. Sunil Dutt Yadav, High Court of Karnataka, Bengaluru.

Please note: Guest entry for the event will be restricted to Gate 3. If you are interested in attending the release, please RSVP here.

About the Handbook

This handbook draws from four decades of experience in supporting survivors of gender-based violence, particularly domestic violence. While legal reforms have criminalized domestic abuse and provided protective measures, many women still face challenges in accessing justice due to a lack of information and legal literacy.

Despite legal advancements, many women still struggle to navigate the justice system. This handbook bridges that gap by simplifying legal processes, explaining complaint procedures, and outlining key legal provisions. It offers step-by-step guidance on documentation, civil and criminal matrimonial laws, and essential safety measures. Designed as a practical tool, the handbook aims to transform legal awareness into action, empowering women with the knowledge needed to access justice effectively.

About Aweksha

Aweksha (Sanskrit for “Care”) is a Bengaluru-based women’s trust with a strong foundation in gender justice and years of grassroots-level experience. Committed to ending Gender-Based Violence (GBV), with a particular emphasis on Violence Against Women (VAW), Aweksha focuses on creating resilient feminist networks that serve as vital support systems for survivors of abuse. Our work is centred on building trauma-informed safe spaces that foster healing and recovery while addressing gender-based violence through crisis intervention, research, capacity-building, and advocacy. Aweksha recognises that VAW is a systemic issue and a significant public health concern. Our survivor-centric, process-driven, and holistic approach prioritizes the needs of survivors, ensuring they receive the necessary support to make empowered decisions. Through our efforts, we strive to strengthen collective resistance to violence and drive systemic change — bringing justice within reach for all.

Programme Schedule

11.00 AM: Welcome Address by Kajol, Aweksha
11.05 AM: Release of the Handbook by Honourable Justice S. Sunil Dutt Yadav, High Court of Karnataka, Bangalore
11.17 AM: Presentation of the Handbook
11.29 AM: Address by Honourable Justice
11.34 AM: Introduction: Why a Handbook on Domestic Violence? by Rahul Raman, Assistant Professor of Law, NLSIU
11.41 AM: Challenges in Preparing the Handbook by Shreya Sunny, Research Associate, C-HELP
11.56 AM: Ground Realities in Implementing the Domestic Violence Act, 2005 by Manoranjini Thomas Kundal, Advocate, High Court of Karnataka
12.06 AM: Taking Law Beyond Classrooms by Noor Ameena, Co-Director, CWL and Assistant Professor, NLSIU
12.16 AM: Survivor Testimonies
12.26 AM: Concluding Remarks by Donna Fernandes, President, Aweksha

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Book Talk | ‘Feminist Politics, Intersectionality and Knowledge Cultivation’ | Centre for Women and the Law

The Centre for Women and the Law (CWL) is organising a book talk event by Dr. Radhika Govinda, Senior Lecturer in Sociology and Director of GENDER.ED, University of Edinburgh, on her book ‘Feminist Politics, Intersectionality and Knowledge Cultivation.’ The event will be held on Tuesday, April 8, 2025 between 5 pm and 6.30 pm at the NLSIU library basement.

Dr. Ashwini Tambe, Director of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies and Professor of WGSS and History, George Washington University, who is currently in Bengaluru as a Fulbright scholar will be the discussant of the book. Dr. Debangana Chatterjee, Assistant Professor, Social Sciences, NLSIU & Co-Director, CWL, will be the moderator of the discussion.

Registration is mandatory for visitors from outside the NLS community. You can register for the talk here.

Title and Abstract of the Discussion

‘Insights, Dilemmas and Hopes in Cultivating Knowledge on Feminist Politics in India’

This discussion is a meditation on some of the insights, dilemmas and hopes I have encountered when engaging in knowledge-making on feminist politics in India and beyond. It draws on my engagement – spanning fifteen years and four case studies – with questions of intersectionality, coloniality and neoliberalism in feminist activism, development practice and knowledge production. I reflect on the construction and continued use of the ‘third world woman’ trope, the impact of professionalization of feminism on knowledge-making, the exclusion and erasures in such knowledge-making, and the challenges in decentring northern hegemony in women’s and gender studies and in decolonizing feminist classrooms. My motivation behind these reflections is to disrupt the idea of sanitised linear accounts of feminist knowledge production. The discussion is drawn from my new book, ‘Feminist Politics, Intersectionality and Knowledge Cultivation’.

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Maps of Memory: The Uma Chakravarti Collection | NLS Archives

The NLS Law and Society Archives invites you to the launch of Maps of Memory, an interpretive exhibition based on the Uma Chakravarti Collection at the Bangalore International Centre (BIC).

Dr. Uma Chakravarti is a historian, feminist, filmmaker, civil liberties activist and teacher. The exhibition will be held from March 29 to April 6, 2025, between 11 am and 8 pm.

About the exhibition

The NLS Archives’ Maps of Memory exhibition displays archival fragments and glimpses of personal memory to reconstruct joyful utopian worlds that feminists began building across South Asia in the mid-20th century. It invites us to reflect on key questions: How do we remember social movements? How do we archive friendships, solidarities, and struggles?

Featuring Dr. Uma Chakravarti’s collection from the NLS Archives, the exhibition offers a visual, cinematic, and scholarly journey through people’s movements in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Through posters, films, and groundbreaking historical research, it invites visitors to engage with the intertwined narratives of friendships and struggles for democratic rights across South Asia. The exhibition is curated by NLS faculty members Diya Deviah and Ammel Sharon.

The curators of the exhibition see the archives not as a repository of passive records, but as a site for conversation and world-building. Drawing on our conversations with Uma Chakravarti, we sought out the people behind the references, and welcomed new and less known material into the exhibition.

If you’re interested in attending the exhibition, RSVP here.

About Dr. Uma Chakravarti

Born in 1941, Dr. Uma Chakravarti is a historian, feminist, filmmaker, civil liberties activist and teacher. Since the 1980s, Dr. Chakravarti has played a key role in recovering and documenting histories—both in print and film—of pioneering women activists and extraordinary women’s lives from the late 19th century onward, shaping the field of Women’s Studies in India. Her work spans field research, historical analysis, and active engagement with national developments, alongside documenting human rights violations and the lives of incarcerated women across India. She taught for many years at Miranda House, Delhi, and her students have since become feminist writers, lawyers, and filmmakers in their own right.

The Uma Chakravarti Collection emerges from a collective commitment to rewriting historical narratives by recovering women’s voices and envisioning feminist worlds. Describing herself as an intuitive archivist, she has preserved ephemera from across South Asia, creating an invaluable resource. Her collection invites continuous exploration, offering new ways to reimagine democracy in the subcontinent.

Schedule

Inaugural Panel (BIC Auditorium | Saturday, March 29, 11:00 AM)

The inaugural event will begin with a dramatic reading of a short story “Bacchisu” by Dr. Du Saraswathi, a well-known Kannada writer, theatre artiste, and activist.
It will be followed by a multimedia, interactive panel discussion featuring Uma Chakravarti, Du Saraswathi, and historian and publisher V. Geetha—friends and co-travellers—alongside the NLS curators. Together, they will explore creative expression and feminist processes of making history.

Pakshi Purana: Performance exploring Masculinity by Du Saraswathi

(BIC Auditorium | Sunday, March 30, 11:00 AM)

In Pakshi Purana, Du Saraswathi immerses us in the life-world of Santhimmi, a woman from rural Karnataka with a mischievous and inquisitive way of engaging with the world around her. Observing the behaviour of male birds—their capacity to nurture, care, and express love—Santhimmi poses a poignant question: What happened to the lost birds in our hearts before we sent them into exile? Her reflection opens a space for speculation, prompting us to consider the parts of ourselves we hide away and the aspects we censor.

Workshop 1: History in Your Hands – Archiving for Everyone

Date: Friday, April 4, 6 PM | Saturday, April 5, 11.30 AM
(BIC Conference Room | Duration: 1.5 hours | Participants: 20)

How do we transform everyday objects into meaningful historical records?
History in Your Hands: Archiving for Everyone is an interactive, hands-on workshop that introduces participants to the principles of archiving, preservation, and curation. Turn clutter to collection, and make your records accessible for future generations.

To register, write to .

Workshop 2: The Art of Visual Storytelling – A Hands-on Workshop on Poster Design

Date: Wednesday April 2, 6PM | Sunday, April 6, 11:30 AM
(Space: Conference Room | Duration: 2 hours| Laptops needed, no specific design software required | Participants: 20)

Posters have long been a powerful tool for activism, communication, and artistic expression. The Art of Visual Storytelling is a two-hour hands-on workshop designed for anyone interested in using visuals to tell compelling stories. Whether you are an artist, activist, student, or simply curious about the medium, this session will guide you through the essentials of poster design—from concept to creation.

To register, write to .

Curator-led Walk-throughs

We have specially designed tours to offer deeper engagement with the exhibition, that will be of interest to a diverse audience.

Walk-through schedule (15 people each):
Saturday, March 29 – 3:30 PM, 5:30 PM
Sunday, March 30 – 3:30 PM, 5:30 PM
Wednesday, April 2 – 4:00 PM
Friday, April 4 – : 4:00 PM
Saturday, April 5 – 3:30 PM, 5:30 PM, 7:00 PM
Sunday, April 6 – 3:30 PM, 5:30 PM, 7:00 PM

Logistics

The NLS community will arrange bus services to and from the venue on March 29 and 30, 2025.

Events:
March 29, 11 AM: Panel Discussion and Exhibition
March 30, 11 AM: Performance by Du. Saraswathi and Exhibition

The bus will leave at 9:15 AM from campus.
The bus will leave from BIC at 2 PM back to campus.

If you wish to avail the bus service, please fill out the google form below by 4 PM, March 26 (Wednesday) so that the University can make the necessary arrangements.

Google form link: https://forms.gle/zHqYE6brf2aHupMM6

Follow this page for more information about the exhibit.

About the NLS Archives

Since 1988, the National Law School of India University in Bengaluru (NLSIU) has played a pivotal role in shaping the legal education landscape in India. In line with its research and teaching priorities,  the NLSIU established the NLS Law and Society Archives in 2024 as a multimedia repository documenting the legal profession, legal education, and social efforts that have shaped the legal field in independent India.

Part of the Archives’ mission is to contribute to informed public discussion by making available rare records of independent India’s history from the collections of individuals and institutions. We are delighted to bring the Uma Chakravarti Collection to the BIC in March and April 2025.

Team

Curators: Ammel Sharon and Diya Deviah
Design and Art Direction: Diya Deviah
Video Editors: Bavana Gone and Vibhav Saraf
Animator: Keerti Jain
Initial Research Support: QAMRA Archival Project, NLSIU

Contact Us

Please write to Ammel () if you have any inquiries.

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The Manupatra National Law School Quiz | 3rd Edition

The National Law School Quiz Club is organising the 3rd edition of the Manupatra National Law School Quiz from 22nd-23rd March, 2025 at National Law School of India University, Bengaluru.

Introduction and History

NLSIU has had a decorated quizzing legacy, having been on the participating and organising ends of quizzing since the 1990s. In 2024, for the first time, an independent quizzing collective (the NLS Quiz Club, fondly known as QC) was formed with the intention of promoting and improving quizzing at NLSIU. Its flagship event comes in the form of the NLS Quiz, an annual festival with two days of intense quizzing.

Event Details

The event comprises 5 main quizzes, revolving around a variety of themes. These are:

  1. Major’s General Quiz by Major Chandrakant Nair – a quiz on anything under the sun, hosted by one of the most popular QMs in India.
  2. FLAMES Quiz by Swapnil Das – hosted by one of our own, this quiz covers themes such as food, literature, art, music, entertainment and sports.
  3. Passports, Out! Around the World in TBD Qs – hosted by our alumni Varun Rajiv and Atulaa Krishnamurthy who had successful college quizzing careers in their time, this quiz takes participants around the globe with questions on history, geography, and culture.
  4. What’s in the Name? – an etymology quiz hosted by masters of language, Dr. Arul Mani and Cynthia Gonsalves.
  5. (not) Legally Blonde – by Akshaya Sivakumar, who brings her Twitter-friendly trivia to a quiz on women in media (movies, TV, music) involving the law. “What, like it’s hard!” – Elle Woods, circa 2001.

We also have the following short, fun quizzes, titled Blitz quizzes, which follow a no-elimination format, hosted by the NLSQC team.

  1. Ee Saala Quiz Namde – how better to celebrate the commencement of the 2025 IPL season than with a quiz on the men’s and women’s cricket premier leagues?
  2. Manupatra – put your reasoning hats on for this quiz by our title sponsor, a leader in legal knowledge and research.
  3. I Saw the TV Quiz – sitcoms, web series, everything in between. Put your bedrotting skills to use.

More than 150 participants from all over the country shall be participating in the quizzes for bragging rights, fun prizes from our sponsors, and a massive prize pool of over Rs. 1.1 lakhs up for grabs.

Registration

Registrations for the 3rd Manupatra NLSQ are open here.
Registrations will also be open on-the-spot.

Book Talks@NLS Library | ‘India and Investor-State Dispute Settlement’

The Ministry of Commerce Chair on International Trade Law, NLSIU organised a book talk at the NLS Library by Dr. Prabhash Ranjan on his book ‘India and Investor-State Dispute Settlement.’ The talk was held on March 28, 2025 at 4.00 pm.

The talk was moderated by Ms. Ronjini Ray, Assistant Professor, NLSIU and Affiliated Faculty, MOC Chair. Dr. Harisankar K Sathyapalan, Associate Professor, NLSIU and Ms. Sahana Ramesh, Assistant Professor, NLSIU were the discussants.

Registration is mandatory for visitors from outside the NLS community. You can register for the talk here. [closed]

About the Book

Dr. Prabhash Ranjan explores the two competing narratives of investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) and focuses on the six ISDS cases India lost. On the one hand, ISDS is chastised for affronting the State’s sovereign regulatory power – the Philip Morris narrative. On the other hand, ISDS allows investors to hold States accountable for abuse of public power – the Yukos narrative. This book argues that India’s ISDS story resembles the Yukos narrative.

With a focus on six case studies, this book examines the reasons that led to foreign investors suing India and the following developments. These ISDS claims are divided into four categories: a case arising from judicial actions, claims brought because of the cancellation of a contract to lease spectrum, conflicts resulting from the imposition of retroactive taxes, and disputes arising from the actions of sub-national governments. Based on India’s recent treaty practice, the book also contends that India is de-legalizing and de-judicializing international investment law. By telling India’s ISDS story, the book drives home the point that rectifying the ISDS system’s flaws requires both narratives’ centrality. Excessive focus on the Philip Morris narrative will replace the existing imbalances with a new one where the scale tilts towards the States to the detriment of foreign investment.

This is a useful reference for scholars and practitioners interested in ISDS and its implications for India.

About the Author

Dr. Prabhash Ranjan is a Professor at the Jindal Global Law School. He holds a PhD in Law from King’s College London, where he studied on a King’s College London doctoral scholarship. Dr. Ranjan studied for an intercollegiate LLM programme in London at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and University College London (UCL). He read for his LLM as the prestigious British Chevening Scholarship recipient. Dr. Ranjan is also a Visiting Professor at the National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS), Kolkata, and an International Fellow at the National Institute of Military Justice, Washington DC. Previously, he taught at South Asian University – a university established by the SAARC nations, National Law University Jodhpur and NUJS. He has been an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for International and Comparative Law, Heidelberg, a Visiting Scholar at Brookings India; a Visiting Fellow at the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law, Cambridge University; and a Transnational Summer Law Institute Fellow at the Transnational Law Institute, Dickson Poon School of Law, King’s College London.

As an external consultant, Dr. Ranjan has handled various projects from key UN organisations like the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNSCAP), and United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD); and also from other prestigious organisations like the Centre for WTO Studies, IIFT; Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry; Trade Impact BV; Linklaters – an international law firm; and University of Pennsylvania’s Centre for Advanced Study of India.

Excerpts from the Talk

“There is a lack of a mechanism that can hold the executive and the other governmental powers accountable. As an international lawyer, I believe that if ISDS is that mechanism then so be it. Let ISDS hold governments accountable for their wrong actions! While TWAIL (Third World Approaches to International Law) scholars and those who think international law is a colonial project will have a problem with this, but given the current context, I think international investment law can be a way through which these powers can be held accountable”

“In my opinion, it makes more sense to have investment chapters as part of FTAs (Free Trade Agreements) because the reason why India has started signing FTAs is because it wants to be part of global supply chains. Global supply chains require both trade and investment. Now, if India is undertaking commitments on international trade law, then why is it shying away from commitments on international law of foreign investment.”

Reflections from the Author

“My book on India and ISDS basically focusses on India’s story on investor state dispute settlement. In this book, I have looked at six cases which India lost, and I’ve tried to argue that in all these cases it was primarily because of bad governance and the absence of the rule of law. It wasn’t because India was adopting a genuine regulatory measure. So this narrative or this argument is more for India to self introspect and improve its domestic governance.

And I enjoyed talking about my book at NLS. NLS is the top law school of India. I had wonderful discussants, and wonderful conversations with young students who were very curious about what I have written, and they asked very insightful questions, which I was very happy to answer. So I’m very happy to be here.”

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