Foreword to IPLR : by Prof. (Dr.) Shivprasad Swaminathan

Scholarship on private law has thrived in the United States, England, Australia and Canada, as it has elsewhere in the common law world. Regrettably, this has not been the case with scholarship on Indian private law. Scholarly peer reviewed articles or monographs on Indian private law are rare. Scholarship that casts a critical glance at the genealogy of the foundational concepts of Indian private law and bring these to bear upon extant legal problems are rarer still. A portion of what was once completely parched ground seems to be spouting green shoots. There have been projects in the form of Studies in the Contract Laws of Asia and Foundations of Indian Contract Law, which could help galvanize the study of Indian contract law. However, other portions of the ground continue to await nourishment. This is where Indian Private Law Review holds such great promise.

With the aim of fostering scholarship in—and inviting new young scholars into—an area which has traditionally not had many backers, the editors of IPLR have thoughtfully reimagined the form and substance of a typical legal blog. They have dispensed with the requirement for contemporaneity for their submissions (historical, philosophical or genealogical pieces are all welcome); and included non-traditional categories of submissions like precis of canonical articles in private law. I am very hopeful that IPLR will be successful in drawing many young law students to private law and also serve as a gateway to Indian private law for the uninitiated.

Prof. (Dr.) Shiv Swaminathan

D. Phil (Oxford); B.C. L (Oxford); BSL; LL.B (ILS-Pune)

Professor and Dean, Shiv Nadar School of Law Shiv Nadar University, Chennai