The Indian Private Law Review
Board of Advisors
Prof. (Dr.) Shivprasad Swaminathan
Professor of Law and Dean
Shiv Nadar School of Law
Prof. (Dr.) Nigam Nuggehalli
Professor of Law and Registrar
National Law School of India University
Prof. Katy Barnett
Professor of Law
Melbourne Law School
Prof. Manasi Kumar
Professor of Law
Jindal Global Law School
Mihir Naniwadekar
Advocate, Bombay High Court
Scope and Mandate
The Indian Private Law Review (IPLR) is committed to advancing rigorous, doctrinal scholarship in private law with a focus on Indian law. Our aim is to make under-explored areas and theoretical foundations of private law clearer and more accessible. We particularly welcome submissions that trace the development of doctrines in Indian law, as well as an analysis of the law in common or civil law jurisdictions that draw on these doctrines. In defining our scope, we have kept the categories deliberately broad and general to create a diverse corpus of scholarship on under-explored subjects in Indian private law. The following are merely indicative subject-matter categories:
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Commercial Remedies: Damages, restitution, specific relief.
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Contractual Obligations: Indemnities, bailment, agency, trust law.
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Tort Law: Negligence, breach of statutory duty, good faith clauses.
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Legal Philosophy: Theoretical contributions on any field of private law.
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The Law of Equity: Equitable principles as developed in English law, and the place they find in Indian law.
Board of Editors
Founding Editors
Prem Vinod Parwani
Student, NLSIU
International Editor, Cambridge LR
Deputy Editor-in-Chief, NLSBLR
Editor-in-Chief, LSPR
Kedar Manoj Ammanji
Student, NLSIU
Deputy Editor-in-Chief, IJIEL
Anirud Raghav S U
Student, NLSIU
Former Editor, NLSBLR
Liquidated Damages, French Civil Code and a March Towards Equity?
Anirud Raghav S U
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This piece analyses the Indian law on liquidated damages, and compares it with the French Civil Code to highlight the different interests prioritized by both jurisdictions. It then asks whether liquidaed damages are just another instance of a bad bargain that courts should enforce as is, without regard to relief against penalties.​​​​
The Empty Provisions of Indemnity in the Indian Contract Act
Prem Vinod Parwani​​​​​
This piece argues that the provisions on indemnity in the Indian Contract Act are a drafting anomaly, and thus essentially defunct today.
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The Puzzles in our Preambles: A Backdoor to Common Law or a Self-Contained Code?
Anirud Raghav and Prem Vinod Parwani
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In this piece, the authors argue that the preambles and legislative history of the Indian Contract Act and the Indian Evidence Act provide guidance as to whether they were intended to operate as complete codes. They excavate that the Indian Evidence Act was a complete code, while the ICA was not.​​​
Section 68 of the Indian Contract Act: Minor's Liability for Necessary Goods
Anirud Raghav S U
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This piece discusses the basis of minor’s liability for necessaries: is it contractual or quasi contractual? It is argued that under Indian law, the drafting intention was in favour of a quasi-contractual basis, given the scheme of the Act. However, judicial decisions have implicitly affirmed a contractual basis instead, giving rise to doctrinal confusion.​​​​
What is Private Law Really?
Prem Vinod Parwani
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This piece tries to answer the question of 'what is private law'? What distinguishes 'hard' public law from private law? How do we justify the 'public law pressures' in private law?
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Restitution Against Public Authorities: The Status of ‘Passing On’ Defence in Indian Law
Anirud Raghav S U
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This piece explores the defence of passing in the context of a restitutionary claim against public authorities, typically in cases of ultra vires payments. It argues that Mafatlal Industries v. Union of India, the controlling precedent, reverse-engineers artificial reasoning by invoking the private law defence of ‘passing on’ to deny recovery, while the legal question could have been simply settled based on Art.265 of the Constitution.​​​​
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