The NLS Forum curates pioneering research and current developments in the fields of law, public policy, social sciences and humanities.
Our work bridges academic scholarship, legal practice and
civil society discourse.
We present the University blog and five student journal blogs, where leading scholarship from around the world is edited by our faculty, researchers and students. To submit your work, please refer to the submission guidelines provided for each blog.
NLSIR On Line #7: A Conversation with Dr. Nivedita Menon on Higher Educational Institutions and Student Politics and the Law
February 9, 2026
NLSIR's Harshvardhan Ray, Shreya Rajesh, Vedant Gupta and Yashaswini Singh Chauhan in conversation with Dr. Nivedita Menon on autonomy in higher educational institutions, student politics and the law, redefining carceral processes and the rise of the "manosphere". Note: The transcript has been edited for length and clarity.
Gimmicking the Gillick Test: Evaluating the Age of Consent under India’s DPDPA, 2023
February 8, 2026
This article critiques India’s rigid, age-based consent regime under the DPDPA, 2023, arguing that it overprotects children at the cost of their autonomy. Drawing on the Gillick competence test and Singapore’s hybrid model, it proposes a capacity-based framework that recognises minors as active participants in their digital privacy decisions.
Beyond Compensation and a New Dawn for Section 74: Supreme Court and Agreed Sum for Breach of Contract
February 7, 2026
Section 74 of the Indian Contract Act was intended to discard the English penalty and liquidated damages distinction. Yet, the Indian courts had reintroduced it through the requirement of the genuine pre-estimate of loss test. Resultantly, agreed sums under section 74 were confined to providing compensation for loss. This article argues that the Supreme Court’s decision in BPL Ltd v Morgan Securities (2025) marks a decisive break from this orthodoxy. By endorsing Cavendish, the court has recognised that agreed sums payable upon breach in commercial contracts may protect legitimate performance interests beyond compensation for loss, and need not constitute a genuine pre-estimate of loss. The article demonstrates how Morgan Securities departs from Kailash Nath and its predecessors, rebuts concerns of windfall and unjust enrichment, and reconceptualises agreed sums as function of party autonomy and post-breach risk allocation.
The Monetary and Fiscal Mechanism
August 25, 2025
Part 1 of this blog series focused on the distributive aspects of taxation: public goods and the market failure that they address; why it is preferable that taxes be progressive and relative to income and wealth; the political and economic case for taxing capital and redistribution; and the economic and distributive implications of tariffs. This […]