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.
Consent, Conduct, and Their Constraints: Why Estoppel Cannot Cure Non-Arbitrability
May 3, 2026
This essay critiques the Supreme Court’s decision in Sanjit Singh Salwan v. Sardar Inderjit Singh Salwan for allowing estoppel to uphold an arbitral award in a dispute involving public charitable trusts, despite such disputes being non-arbitrable under §92 CPC. It argues that estoppel cannot validate what is legally a nullity, nor override statutory limits or public policy embedded in non-arbitrability doctrines. By prioritizing party conduct over jurisdictional invalidity, the judgment risks undermining the structural boundaries of arbitration and creating uncertainty around void awards and compromise decrees.
April 2026 : IJLT Tech-Law Bulletin
May 7, 2026
We are pleased to launch the first issue of the IJLT Tech-Law Bulletin, a monthly digest designed to make key developments at the intersection of law and technology more accessible to students, scholars, and practitioners. Each edition will provide concise, fact-based coverage of recent judgments, legislative changes, and policy developments, along with brief commentary on their broader implications. The Bulletin is intended as an easy-to-read entry point into fast-moving tech-law debates, while also supporting IJLT’s broader commitment to high-quality academic engagement.
This issue of the bulletin is written by Jai Kumar Bohra, Samik Basu, and Vanshika Gupta from the IJLT Editorial Board of 2025-26.
Appellate arbitration perspectives from India and Australia: The Draft Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill 2024 and the ACICA Arbitration Rules
May 16, 2026
Introduction Studies published by the School of International Arbitration at Queen Mary University of London (‘SIA’) consistently identify arbitration’s status as a preferred dispute resolution mechanism in cross-border trade. Most recently, in SIA’s 2025 International Arbitration Survey, 48% of respondents preferred arbitration coupled with ADR and a further 39% preferred arbitration alone: the survey summarising […]
Poking the Tiger: The Supreme Court Rewrites India’s Treaty Entitlement Rules
March 11, 2026
The author examines the Supreme Court of India's 2026 decision in Tiger Global and its implications for the interaction between treaty entitlements and India's General Anti-Avoidance Rule. The judgment, it is argued, marks a decisive doctrinal shift from formal treaty compliance to a substance-over-form approach, reframing the 2016 Protocol's grandfathering clause from an inviolable guarantee to a rebuttable presumption subject to anti-avoidance scrutiny. By embedding GAAR principles into treaty interpretation, the Court subordinates legitimate expectations to domestic anti-abuse frameworks, ultimately conditioning treaty benefits on demonstrable commercial substance over mere formal compliance.