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Legal Glossary

Common legal words, explained in plain language. Search, or jump to a letter.

A

Abuse of dominance Business & company: Conduct by an enterprise in a dominant position that unfairly exploits or excludes others, such as imposing unfair prices or denying market access. Being dominant is not unlawful; abusing that position is.
Accused Criminal: The person alleged to have committed an offence, from the stage of accusation until acquittal or conviction.
Acquittal Criminal: A court's finding that the accused is not guilty, which brings the prosecution to an end.
Act Everyday basics: A law passed by Parliament or a State legislature. It begins as a Bill, and becomes an Act once both Houses pass it and it receives assent.
Adjournment Courts & procedure: The postponement of a hearing to a later date.
Adverse possession Property: Possession of land that is open, continuous and hostile to the true owner for the period the law prescribes, which can extinguish the owner's right to recover it.
Advocate Everyday basics: A person enrolled with a State Bar Council and entitled to practise law and appear in court. In India, only an advocate may plead for another before a court.
Advocate-on-record Courts & procedure: An advocate specially qualified to file cases in the Supreme Court. Only an advocate-on-record may formally file and act in a matter there, though any advocate may argue it.
Affidavit Courts & procedure: A written statement of facts that the maker swears or affirms to be true, used as evidence in court.
Alimony Family: Financial support paid by one spouse to the other. It may be ordered while the case runs, or as a lasting arrangement when the marriage ends.
Anticipatory bail Criminal: An order granting bail in advance to a person who fears arrest in a non-bailable offence, so that if arrested they are released on bail.
Appeal Courts & procedure: A request to a higher court to review and change the decision of a lower court.
Arbitral award Arbitration & ADR: The arbitrator's decision. It binds the parties and can be enforced like a decree of a court, subject to the narrow grounds on which it may be set aside.
Arbitration Arbitration & ADR: A private way of resolving a dispute outside court, in which an arbitrator hears both sides and gives a binding decision called an award.
Arbitration agreement Arbitration & ADR: The parties' agreement to refer disputes to arbitration. It must be in writing, and it survives the termination of the contract it sits in.
Arrest Everyday basics: Taking a person into custody so they can be dealt with according to law. The grounds must be told to them, and they must be produced before a magistrate within twenty-four hours, excluding travel time.
Articles of association Business & company: The internal rulebook of a company, governing how it is run, how shares are dealt with and how decisions are taken.
Assessment Tax: The process by which the tax authority determines the income and the tax payable, after examining the return and any further material.
Assessment year Tax: The year in which income earned in the preceding financial year, called the previous year, is assessed to tax.
Attachment (provisional) White-collar & anti-corruption: An order temporarily freezing property so it cannot be transferred while proceedings continue. Under the money-laundering law it must be confirmed by an adjudicating authority.

B

Bail Criminal: The release of an arrested or accused person from custody, usually on furnishing a bond, with or without sureties, on conditions meant to ensure they attend court.
Bailable offence Criminal: An offence for which bail is a matter of right: the accused is entitled to be released on furnishing bail.
Bar Council Everyday basics: The statutory body that enrols advocates and regulates their conduct. The Bar Council of India sets the national rules; each State has its own Bar Council.
Benami transaction White-collar & anti-corruption: A transaction in which property is held in one person's name but the consideration was paid by, and the real benefit goes to, another. Such transactions are prohibited and the property is liable to confiscation.
Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) Criminal: The code of criminal procedure that replaced the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 with effect from 01.07.2024. It governs investigation, arrest, bail and trial.
Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Criminal: The criminal code that replaced the Indian Penal Code with effect from 01.07.2024. It defines offences and their punishments.
Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA) Criminal: The law of evidence that replaced the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 with effect from 01.07.2024.
Bill Everyday basics: A proposed law placed before a legislature. It is not law until it is passed and receives assent.
Bolam test Medical negligence: A doctor is not negligent if they acted in accordance with a practice accepted as proper by a responsible body of medical opinion, even if others would have acted differently.
Breach of contract Contracts & civil wrongs: Failure to perform a promise under a contract without lawful excuse, entitling the other party to compensation and sometimes to treat the contract as ended.

C

Carpet area Property: The net usable floor area within a flat's walls, excluding the external walls, service shafts, balcony and verandah, but including internal partition walls. Real-estate law requires a flat to be sold by carpet area.
Cartel Business & company: An agreement among competitors to fix prices, limit output, share markets or rig bids. It is treated as among the most serious competition offences.
Cause of action Courts & procedure: The set of facts that gives a person the right to sue. The limitation period usually runs from the date it arises.
Caveat Courts & procedure: A notice filed in court asking that no order be passed in a stated matter without first hearing the person who filed it.
Central Administrative Tribunal Service & administrative: The tribunal that decides service disputes of central government employees in place of a civil court, with its orders open to challenge before a High Court.
Charge memorandum Service & administrative: The document beginning a disciplinary proceeding against a government servant, setting out the articles of charge and the evidence relied on, which the employee must be allowed to answer.
Charge sheet Criminal: The final report the police file after investigation when they find enough evidence, placing the accused for trial. Also called a police report.
Circle rate Property: The minimum value the government notifies for property in an area. Duty is charged on the higher of the circle rate and the price actually stated in the deed.
Codicil Succession & wills: A document that changes or adds to an existing will. It must be made with the same formality as the will itself.
Coercion Contracts & civil wrongs: Forcing agreement by committing or threatening an act forbidden by law, or unlawfully detaining property. Consent obtained this way makes the agreement voidable.
Cognizable offence Criminal: An offence in which the police may register a case and arrest without the prior permission of a magistrate, and are bound to investigate. These are generally the more serious offences.
Cognizance Criminal: A court's act of formally taking notice of an offence so as to begin proceedings.
Combination Business & company: A merger, amalgamation or acquisition large enough to require the competition regulator's approval before it can take effect.
Committee of creditors Banking & insolvency: The body of financial creditors that takes the commercial decisions in a corporate insolvency, including whether to accept a resolution plan.
Compassionate appointment Service & administrative: Appointment offered to a dependant of an employee who dies in service, to tide the family over the immediate crisis. It is an exception to open recruitment, not a right of inheritance.
Compoundable offence Criminal: An offence that the complainant is permitted by law to settle with the accused, ending the case, with the court's permission where the law requires it.
Conciliation Arbitration & ADR: A process in which a neutral conciliator helps the parties reach their own settlement. Unlike an arbitrator, a conciliator does not impose a decision.
Consent manager Technology & data: Under the data-protection law, a registered entity through which a person can give, manage, review and withdraw their consent for the use of their personal data.
Consent to establish and operate Environment: The two permissions a polluting industry needs from the State Pollution Control Board: one before it is set up, and one before, and while, it runs.
Consideration Contracts & civil wrongs: What each side gives or promises in return for the other's promise. An agreement without consideration is generally not a contract.
Consumer Consumer: A person who buys goods or hires services for consideration, for their own use rather than for resale or a commercial purpose.
Contempt of court Courts & procedure: Conduct that obstructs the administration of justice. Civil contempt is wilful disobedience of a court's order; criminal contempt is conduct that scandalises the court or interferes with proceedings.
Contract Contracts & civil wrongs: An agreement enforceable by law: made by free consent of parties competent to contract, for a lawful consideration and a lawful object.
Contributory negligence Motor accident & injury: Where the injured person's own carelessness contributed to the accident, the compensation is reduced in proportion to their share of the blame.
Conveyance Property: The transfer of ownership in property from one person to another, and the instrument by which it is done.
Copyright Intellectual property: The right in an original literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work, and in films and sound recordings, to reproduce it, publish it, perform it and adapt it. It arises on creation; registration is optional evidence.
Corporate insolvency resolution process Banking & insolvency: The time-bound process under the insolvency law in which a company's affairs are taken over by a professional and creditors decide whether it can be rescued or must be liquidated.
Court fee Everyday basics: The fee payable to file a case, usually a percentage of the amount claimed for a money suit and a fixed amount for other proceedings.
Cross-examination Courts & procedure: The questioning of a witness by the opposing side, to test their evidence.
Cruelty Family: Conduct that makes it unreasonable to expect the spouses to live together. It covers mental as well as physical cruelty, and it is both a ground for divorce and, in a criminal form, an offence.
Custody (child) Family: The legal right to care for and take decisions for a child. Courts decide it by what is in the welfare of the child.

D

Damages Everyday basics: Money awarded to compensate a person for loss or injury caused by another's wrong.
Data fiduciary Technology & data: The person or organisation that decides why and how personal data is processed. The duties under the data-protection law fall on the fiduciary, not on the person whose data it is.
Data principal Technology & data: The individual whose personal data is being processed. For a child, it includes the parent or lawful guardian.
Decree Courts & procedure: The formal expression of a court's decision that conclusively determines the rights of the parties in a suit.
Decree-holder Courts & procedure: The person in whose favour a decree is passed and who is entitled to enforce it.
Defamation Media & reputation: Publishing something that lowers a person's reputation in the eyes of right-thinking members of society. In India it is both a civil wrong and, in defined circumstances, an offence.
Default bail Criminal: The right to be released on bail because the investigating agency did not complete its investigation and file the final report within the period the law allows. It is a right that arises from the delay itself, not from the merits, but it must be claimed before the report is filed.
Defendant Courts & procedure: The person against whom a civil suit is filed.
Deficiency in service Consumer: A fault, shortcoming or inadequacy in the quality or manner of a service that the provider was required to deliver.
Design Intellectual property: The protection of the features of shape, configuration, pattern or ornament applied to an article that appeal to the eye. It protects appearance, not function.
Digital signature Technology & data: An electronic authentication attached to a record. A record signed with a valid digital signature carries legal recognition equivalent to a signed document.
Discharge Criminal: An order releasing the accused before trial because there is not enough ground to proceed against them.
Disproportionate assets White-collar & anti-corruption: Assets a public servant cannot satisfactorily account for, being out of proportion to their known sources of income. It is a distinct offence of criminal misconduct.
Domestic enquiry Employment: The internal disciplinary hearing an employer holds before punishing an employee, at which the charges must be put and the employee given a fair chance to answer them.
Due diligence Business & company: The investigation of a business, its assets, contracts, liabilities and disputes before a transaction, so the buyer knows what it is acquiring.
Duty of care (medical) Medical negligence: Once a doctor accepts a patient, they owe a duty to bring a reasonable degree of skill and knowledge, and to exercise reasonable care. The standard is that of an ordinary competent practitioner in that field.
Dying declaration Criminal: A statement by a person about the cause of their death or the circumstances that brought it about. It can be relied on even though the maker cannot be cross-examined.

E

Easement Property: A right to use someone else's land in a limited way, such as a right of way or a right to light, without owning it.
Electronic record Technology & data: Data generated, sent, received or stored electronically. Such a record is admissible in evidence, subject to the conditions the law of evidence lays down for it.
Encumbrance Property: A charge or claim on property that affects its title, such as a mortgage, lien or lease.
Environmental clearance Environment: The prior approval a listed project must obtain before construction begins, granted after appraisal of its likely environmental effects.
Environmental impact assessment Environment: The study of a proposed project's likely effects on the environment, including public consultation, on which a clearance decision is based.
Ex parte Courts & procedure: A step taken, or an order passed, in the absence of or without hearing the other side.
Execution Courts & procedure: The process of enforcing a decree or order so that the successful party actually receives what the court awarded.
Executor Succession & wills: The person a will appoints to carry out its terms, collect the assets, pay the debts and distribute the estate.
Expert evidence Medical negligence: Opinion evidence from a qualified professional. In a medical negligence case a court will usually expect it before holding a doctor negligent, except where the negligence is obvious.

F

Fair comment Media & reputation: A defence to defamation: honest opinion, on a matter of public interest, based on facts that are true. It protects comment, not a misstatement of fact.
Financial creditor Banking & insolvency: A creditor owed a debt disbursed against the consideration for the time value of money, typically a lender. Operational creditors, by contrast, are owed for goods or services.
First Information Report (FIR) Criminal: The written record the police make when they first receive information about a cognizable offence. It sets the criminal process in motion.
Force majeure Contracts & civil wrongs: A clause excusing a party from performing when an event beyond their control prevents it. Without such a clause, the narrower doctrine of frustration applies.
Framing of charge Criminal: The stage at which the court formally sets out the accusation the accused must answer, after finding there is enough material to proceed.
Fraud Contracts & civil wrongs: A false statement made knowingly, or without belief in its truth, or recklessly, to induce someone to enter a contract. It makes the contract voidable at the victim's option.
Fugitive economic offender White-collar & anti-corruption: A person against whom a warrant has been issued for a specified economic offence of large value, and who has left India or refuses to return in order to avoid prosecution. Their property can be confiscated.
Fundamental rights Constitutional: The rights guaranteed by Part III of the Constitution, enforceable directly in the Supreme Court under Article 32 and in the High Courts under Article 226.
Future prospects Motor accident & injury: An addition to the deceased's proven income to reflect what they would likely have earned in future. The percentage depends on their age and whether the job was permanent.

G

Gazette Everyday basics: The government's official journal. A law, rule or notification generally takes effect from its publication in the Gazette, which is why the Gazette is the authoritative text.
Geographical indication Intellectual property: A sign identifying goods as originating from a place where a given quality or reputation is essentially attributable to that origin, such as Darjeeling tea.
Gift deed Property: A document transferring property voluntarily and without consideration. To pass title in immovable property it must be registered and accepted during the donor's lifetime.
Gratuity Employment: A lump sum payable to an employee on leaving, after completing the qualifying period of continuous service, calculated on their last drawn wages and years served.
Guarantor Banking & insolvency: A person who promises to answer for another's debt if that other fails to pay. A guarantor's liability is usually joint and several with the borrower, so the lender may proceed against either.
Guardianship Family: The authority to take care of a minor's person or property. It is distinct from custody, which concerns who the child lives with day to day.

H

Hit and run Motor accident & injury: An accident where the vehicle responsible cannot be identified. A fixed statutory sum is payable in such cases, from a dedicated fund rather than from an insurer.
Hypothecation Banking & insolvency: A charge over movable property that stays in the borrower's possession, such as stock or a vehicle, which the lender can seize on default.

I

Indemnity Contracts & civil wrongs: A promise to make good a loss the other party may suffer. It differs from a guarantee, which is a promise to answer for a third person's default.
Independent director Business & company: A director with no material relationship with the company beyond the board seat, appointed to bring objectivity to the board.
Industrial dispute Employment: A dispute between employers and workmen, or among workmen, connected with employment, non-employment or the terms and conditions of work.
Informed consent Medical negligence: Consent given after the patient has been told, in terms they can understand, what the procedure involves and its real risks and alternatives. Consent to one procedure is not consent to another.
Infringement Intellectual property: Use of a protected right without authority, in a way the law reserves to the owner.
Injunction Courts & procedure: A court order requiring a party to do, or to stop doing, a particular act.
Input tax credit Tax: The credit a registered business takes for tax already paid on its purchases, set off against the tax due on its supplies, so tax applies only to the value added.
Insider trading Business & company: Dealing in a listed company's securities while in possession of price-sensitive information that is not public, or passing such information on.
Insurable interest Insurance: The stake the insured must have in the subject matter, so they gain by its safety and lose by its loss. Without it the policy is a wager and unenforceable.
Insurance Ombudsman Insurance: A free forum for policyholder complaints against insurers, up to the value limit prescribed, as an alternative to going to court.
Interim relief Courts & procedure: Temporary relief granted while a case is pending, to hold the position until the case is finally decided.
Intermediary Technology & data: A service that receives, stores or transmits someone else's electronic record, such as a network provider, host or marketplace.
Internal Committee (POSH) Employment: The committee an employer must constitute to receive and inquire into complaints of sexual harassment at the workplace, headed by a senior woman employee and including an external member.
Intestate Property: Dying without leaving a valid will, so the estate passes by the law of succession that applies to the deceased.

J

John Doe order Intellectual property: An order made against unidentified defendants, allowing it to be enforced against whoever is later found infringing. Used where piracy is widespread and the infringers are not yet known.
Judgment Courts & procedure: The statement by the judge of the grounds for a decree or order.
Judgment-debtor Courts & procedure: The person against whom a decree is passed and who is liable under it.
Judicial review Service & administrative: A court's power to examine the legality of administrative action. It tests how a decision was reached, not whether the court would have decided the same way.
Judicial separation Family: A decree that relieves the parties of the duty to live together while leaving the marriage itself intact.
Jurisdiction Courts & procedure: The authority of a particular court to hear and decide a matter, by its subject, its value or its territory.

L

Lease and licence Property: A lease transfers a right to enjoy property exclusively for a term. A licence only permits an act on the property that would otherwise be unlawful, and gives no interest in the property itself.
Legal heir certificate Succession & wills: A certificate identifying the surviving family members of a deceased person, used for routine transfers such as pension or provident fund. It does not decide title to disputed property.
Legal notice Everyday basics: A formal written demand sent before starting a case, setting out the grievance and what is required. Some statutes make it a compulsory first step.
Letters of administration Succession & wills: A court's authority to administer the estate of a person who died without a will, or where a will names no executor.
Libel and slander Media & reputation: Libel is defamation in a permanent form, such as print or a broadcast. Slander is spoken. Indian law does not always keep the distinction, and treats both as defamation.
Limitation Courts & procedure: The time limit fixed by law within which a suit, appeal or application must be brought. After it expires, the remedy is usually barred even if the right survives.
Liquidated damages Contracts & civil wrongs: A sum the contract itself fixes as payable on breach. An Indian court awards reasonable compensation not exceeding that sum, so naming a figure sets a ceiling rather than guaranteeing it.
Lis pendens Property: The rule that property transferred while a suit about it is pending passes subject to the outcome of that suit. The buyer is bound by the decree.
Locus standi Courts & procedure: The standing a person must have to bring a case, that is, a sufficient connection to the matter. It is relaxed in public interest litigation.
Lok Adalat Arbitration & ADR: A forum where pending or pre-litigation disputes are settled by conciliation. Its award is final, binding, and not appealable, and the court fee paid is refunded on settlement.
Loss of dependency Motor accident & injury: The main head of compensation in a death claim: the annual income the family has lost, after adding future prospects and deducting the deceased's personal expenses, multiplied by a figure fixed by age.

M

Maintenance Family: Financial support that one person is legally bound to provide to another, such as a spouse, child or parent.
Material fact Insurance: A fact that would influence a prudent insurer's decision to accept the risk or fix the premium. Failing to disclose one can entitle the insurer to avoid the policy.
Mediation Arbitration & ADR: A structured negotiation in which a trained mediator helps the parties find their own settlement. The mediator does not decide the dispute.
Memorandum of association Business & company: The company's charter, stating its name, registered office, objects, liability of members and capital.
Minor Everyday basics: A person under eighteen. A minor cannot make a binding contract, and acts for them are done through a guardian or next friend.
Misrepresentation Contracts & civil wrongs: An untrue statement made innocently, believing it to be true, which induces the other party to contract. It makes the contract voidable but is not fraud.
Money laundering White-collar & anti-corruption: Dealing with the proceeds of a crime so as to project them as untainted, whether by concealing, possessing, acquiring or using them.
Moratorium Banking & insolvency: The freeze that follows admission of an insolvency case, during which suits and enforcement against the company are barred so its assets stay intact while a resolution is attempted.
Mortgage Banking & insolvency: The transfer of an interest in immovable property to secure a loan. The property remains the borrower's, subject to the lender's charge.
Motor Accident Claims Tribunal Motor accident & injury: The tribunal that decides compensation claims arising out of motor accidents, in place of a civil court.
Multiplier Motor accident & injury: The figure, fixed by the deceased's age, by which the annual dependency is multiplied. Using a standard table keeps awards consistent between cases.
Mutation Property: The change of the owner's name in the revenue or municipal records after a transfer. It records possession for tax purposes and is not by itself proof of title.
Mutual-consent divorce Family: A divorce granted when both spouses agree to end the marriage and to the terms of their separation.

N

National Green Tribunal Environment: A specialised tribunal for environmental disputes, with power to order relief, compensation and restitution of the environment. Appeals go to the Supreme Court.
Natural justice Courts & procedure: The minimum fairness a decision-maker owes: hear the other side before deciding against them, and do not judge your own cause.
Negligence Contracts & civil wrongs: Failing to take the care a reasonable person would take, where a duty of care was owed, causing damage that was not too remote.
Non-bailable offence Criminal: An offence for which bail is not a matter of right but lies in the discretion of the court.
Non-cognizable offence Criminal: A less serious offence in which the police generally cannot arrest without a warrant or investigate without an order of a magistrate.
Non-compete clause Employment: A promise not to compete with the employer. In India a restraint that operates after employment ends is generally void as a restraint of trade, though obligations of confidentiality remain enforceable.
Non-performing asset Banking & insolvency: A loan on which the borrower has not paid interest or principal for the period the regulator prescribes, after which the lender may begin enforcement.
Notary Everyday basics: A person appointed under the Notaries Act to authenticate documents, attest signatures and administer oaths.
Notification Everyday basics: A formal announcement published in the Gazette by which a government brings a provision into force, makes rules or grants an exemption.

O

Oath Everyday basics: A solemn declaration to tell the truth. A witness gives evidence on oath, and a false statement on oath is the offence of perjury.
Obiter dicta Courts & procedure: Observations in a judgment that were not necessary to decide the case. They carry persuasive weight but do not bind.
One-time settlement Banking & insolvency: A negotiated agreement in which a lender accepts a reduced lump sum in full and final settlement of a defaulted loan.
Oppression and mismanagement Business & company: Conduct of a company's affairs that is prejudicial to members or to the public interest, which the Tribunal can be asked to remedy.
Order Courts & procedure: A formal direction of a court that is not a decree.
Ordinance Everyday basics: A law made by the President or a Governor when the legislature is not in session. It has the force of an Act but lapses unless the legislature approves it within the period the Constitution allows.

P

Partition Property: The division of jointly held property among co-owners so that each holds a separate share.
Passing off Intellectual property: The common-law action to stop a trader misrepresenting their goods or business as someone else's. Unlike infringement it does not require a registered mark, but goodwill, misrepresentation and damage must be shown.
Patent Intellectual property: A time-limited monopoly granted for an invention that is new, involves an inventive step and is capable of industrial application, in exchange for disclosing how it works.
Pecuniary jurisdiction Consumer: The value limit that decides which consumer commission, District, State or National, can hear a complaint. It is worked out on the amount paid as consideration.
Perjury Everyday basics: Deliberately giving false evidence, or making a false statement, on oath.
Permanent disability Motor accident & injury: Lasting impairment from an injury. Compensation looks not just at the medical percentage but at how far the disability reduces the person's actual earning capacity in their own occupation.
Personal data breach Technology & data: Any unauthorised processing, or accidental disclosure, loss or destruction, of personal data that compromises its confidentiality, integrity or availability.
Petitioner Courts & procedure: The person who files a petition, for example a writ petition or an appeal by way of petition.
Plaint Courts & procedure: The written statement of claim with which a plaintiff begins a civil suit, setting out the facts and the relief sought.
Plaintiff Courts & procedure: The person who files a civil suit.
Plea bargaining Criminal: A statutory process in which an accused, for certain offences, applies to settle the case on agreed terms and receives a reduced sentence. It is not available for serious offences, offences against women or children, or offences affecting the country's socio-economic condition.
Pledge Banking & insolvency: A security in which goods are actually delivered to the lender, who may sell them on default after notice.
Polluter pays principle Environment: The polluter bears the cost of repairing the damage caused, as part of the cost of the activity, in addition to compensating those harmed.
Power of attorney Courts & procedure: A document by which one person authorises another to act on their behalf in stated matters.
Precautionary principle Environment: Where there is a threat of serious or irreversible environmental damage, the absence of full scientific certainty is not a reason to postpone preventive measures. The burden lies on the developer to show the activity is benign.
Precedent Everyday basics: A decision of a higher court that later courts must follow on the same point of law. A decision of the Supreme Court binds every court in India.
Predicate offence White-collar & anti-corruption: The underlying offence, listed in the schedule to the money-laundering law, from which the proceeds of crime are said to arise. Without a scheduled offence there can be no money laundering.
Prima facie Courts & procedure: On the face of it. A prima facie case is one that appears sound enough to proceed unless it is answered.
Prior restraint Media & reputation: An order stopping something from being published at all. Courts grant it sparingly, because free speech is generally protected by allowing a remedy after publication rather than preventing it.
Probate Property: A court's certification that a will is genuine and that the executor may administer the estate.
Proceeds of crime White-collar & anti-corruption: Property derived, directly or indirectly, from a scheduled offence, including its value or an equivalent property held abroad.
Proclaimed offender Criminal: A person the court has publicly declared absconding after they failed to appear despite a warrant, which allows further steps including attachment of their property.
Product liability Consumer: The liability of a manufacturer, seller or service provider to compensate for harm caused by a defective product or deficient service.
Protection order Family: An order under the domestic violence law restraining the respondent from committing further acts of violence, and from contacting or approaching the aggrieved person.
Public interest litigation Constitutional: A proceeding brought by a person acting in the public interest rather than for a personal grievance, in which the usual requirement of standing is relaxed.
Public trust doctrine Environment: The State holds resources such as air, water, forests and the seashore as trustee for the public, and cannot convert them to private ownership at will.

Q

Quashing Criminal: A High Court setting aside an FIR, a charge sheet or a criminal proceeding, for example where the allegations do not disclose an offence or the dispute has been genuinely settled.

R

Ratio decidendi Courts & procedure: The legal reasoning essential to a court's decision. This is the part of a judgment that binds later courts.
Reassessment Tax: The reopening of a completed assessment where income is said to have escaped assessment. It can only be done within the prescribed time and after following the procedure, including giving the taxpayer a hearing.
Registration Property: The recording of a document with the Sub-Registrar. Most transfers of immovable property must be registered, and an unregistered document generally cannot be used to prove the transfer.
Regularisation Service & administrative: Converting irregular or temporary service into a regular post. It is available only where the appointment was against a sanctioned post and made through a valid process.
Reinsurance Insurance: Insurance taken by an insurer to pass on part of a risk it has accepted. The original policyholder's contract remains with their own insurer.
Related party transaction Business & company: A transaction between a company and a person connected to it, such as a director or a group company. These need disclosure and, beyond thresholds, approval, because the terms may not be at arm's length.
Relinquishment deed Property: A document by which a co-owner gives up their share in joint property in favour of the other co-owners.
Remand Criminal: An order sending an arrested person to custody, whether police or judicial, for a period while investigation or trial continues.
Repudiation of a claim Insurance: An insurer's rejection of a claim. Reasons must be given, and after three years a life policy generally cannot be called in question on the ground of a misstatement.
Res ipsa loquitur Medical negligence: The thing speaks for itself. Where the injury is of a kind that does not ordinarily happen without negligence, such as an instrument left inside a patient, negligence may be inferred without expert proof.
Res judicata Courts & procedure: The rule that a matter already finally decided between the same parties cannot be litigated again.
Residence order Family: An order under the domestic violence law securing a woman's right to remain in the shared household, or requiring alternative accommodation to be provided.
Resolution professional Banking & insolvency: The licensed professional who manages a company during insolvency, runs it as a going concern and places resolution plans before the creditors.
Respondent Courts & procedure: The person against whom a petition or an appeal is filed.
Restitution of conjugal rights Family: A decree directing a spouse who has withdrawn from the other's society without reasonable cause to return to it.
Retrenchment Employment: Termination of a workman's service for any reason other than punishment by way of disciplinary action, subject to notice, compensation and, in larger establishments, prior permission.
Review Courts & procedure: A request to the same court that passed an order to reconsider it, on limited grounds such as an error apparent on the face of the record.
Revision Courts & procedure: A higher court's examination of a subordinate court's order to correct a serious error of jurisdiction or law, where no appeal lies.
Right to be forgotten Media & reputation: A claim to have personal information about oneself removed from public access once it has served its purpose. Indian courts have recognised it in some situations, and it is still developing.

S

Safe harbour Technology & data: The protection an intermediary has from liability for third-party content, available only while it plays a passive role and observes its due-diligence duties, including acting on a valid takedown order.
Sanction for prosecution White-collar & anti-corruption: The prior approval a competent authority must give before a public servant can be prosecuted for acts connected with their official duty. Prosecution without a valid sanction is liable to fail.
SARFAESI enforcement Banking & insolvency: The procedure by which a secured lender can enforce its security without going to court: a demand notice giving the borrower time to pay, and, failing payment, possession and sale of the secured asset. The borrower's remedy is to the Debts Recovery Tribunal.
Schedule Everyday basics: A list attached to the end of an Act carrying detail that would clutter the sections, such as forms, rates or a list of offences. A schedule is part of the Act.
Seat and venue Arbitration & ADR: The seat of an arbitration fixes the law that governs it and which courts supervise it. The venue is only the physical place where hearings are held, and can be chosen for convenience without changing the seat.
Section Everyday basics: A numbered provision of an Act. Sections are divided into sub-sections, clauses and provisos, which is why a reference looks like section 138(b).
Seniority Service & administrative: An employee's rank relative to colleagues, usually decided by the date of regular appointment. It governs promotion and is a frequent subject of service litigation.
Setting aside an award Arbitration & ADR: The limited challenge to an arbitral award, on grounds such as incapacity, an invalid agreement, lack of notice, the award going beyond the reference, or conflict with public policy. It is not a rehearing on the merits.
Shareholders agreement Business & company: A contract among shareholders governing control, transfer of shares, exits and deadlock, alongside the company's own articles.
Show cause notice Tax: A notice requiring a person to explain why a proposed demand, penalty or action should not be taken against them. Answering it properly is the first and often the most important step.
Significant data fiduciary Technology & data: A data fiduciary the government designates as significant, on grounds such as the volume and sensitivity of the data it handles, which then carries heavier duties including audits and a data-protection officer.
Slump sale Business & company: The transfer of an undertaking as a going concern for a single lump-sum price, without assigning values to individual assets.
Special leave petition Constitutional: A petition asking the Supreme Court, under Article 136, for permission to appeal against almost any order of any court or tribunal. Leave is discretionary, not a matter of right.
Specific performance Courts & procedure: A remedy by which a court directs a party to actually carry out their contract, instead of only paying damages.
Stamp duty Property: A tax on an instrument, paid so the document is validly stamped. An insufficiently stamped document can be impounded and is generally not admissible in evidence until the duty and penalty are paid.
Standing orders Employment: The certified rules of employment in an industrial establishment, covering classification of workers, hours, leave, misconduct and discipline. Once certified they bind both sides.
Stay Courts & procedure: An order halting proceedings, or suspending the operation of an order or decree, until a further direction.
Streedhan Family: Property a woman receives, notably at the time of marriage, over which she has absolute ownership. It is hers, not joint family property, and she is entitled to its return.
Sub judice Courts & procedure: A matter still pending before a court and therefore not yet decided.
Subrogation Insurance: Once an insurer pays a claim, it steps into the insured's shoes and may pursue whoever caused the loss, up to the amount it paid.
Succession certificate Property: A court certificate authorising the holder to collect debts and securities belonging to a deceased person. It does not decide who owns immovable property.
Summons Courts & procedure: A document issued by a court directing a person to appear before it, as a party or as a witness.
Suspension Service & administrative: Keeping an employee out of duty while an inquiry or criminal case proceeds. It is not a punishment, and a subsistence allowance is payable during it.
Sustainable development Environment: Development that meets present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs. Indian courts treat it as the balance between development and ecology.

T

Takedown notice Technology & data: A demand that an intermediary remove or disable access to specific unlawful content. An intermediary that ignores a valid one risks losing safe harbour.
Tax deducted at source (TDS) Tax: Tax collected at the point of payment, which the payer deducts and deposits with the government against the recipient's liability.
Test identification parade Criminal: A procedure in which a witness is asked to pick out a suspect from a line-up, to test whether the witness can genuinely identify them.
Testator Succession & wills: The person who makes a will.
Third-party insurance Motor accident & injury: Insurance covering the vehicle owner's liability to other people, which the law makes compulsory for every vehicle used in a public place. It does not cover the owner's own vehicle.
Title Property: The legal right to ownership of property, and the chain of documents that establishes it.
Tort Contracts & civil wrongs: A civil wrong other than a breach of contract, such as negligence, nuisance or defamation, for which the remedy is an action for damages.
Trade mark Intellectual property: A sign capable of distinguishing one person's goods or services from another's, such as a word, logo, shape or combination of colours.
Truth as a defence Media & reputation: In a civil defamation action, proving the statement true is a complete answer. For the offence, truth defends only when publication was also for the public good.

U

Uberrima fides Insurance: Utmost good faith. Insurance requires both sides to disclose everything material, a higher duty than in an ordinary contract.
Undertaking Everyday basics: A promise given to a court. Breaking it is contempt of court, which is why an undertaking is treated as seriously as an order.
Undue influence Contracts & civil wrongs: Using a position of dominance over another to obtain an unfair advantage. Where it is shown, the burden shifts to the dominant party to prove the transaction was fair.
Unfair trade practice Consumer: A deceptive or misleading method of promoting a sale, such as a false claim about quality, a misleading warranty or refusing to return the price of defective goods.

V

Vakalatnama Courts & procedure: The document by which a party authorises an advocate to act for them in a case.
Vicarious liability (hospital) Medical negligence: A hospital's liability for the negligence of the doctors and staff it employs, which is why a claim is usually brought against the hospital as well as the individual.
Void and voidable Contracts & civil wrongs: A void agreement has no legal effect at all. A voidable contract is valid and binding until the party entitled to do so chooses to set it aside.
Void and voidable marriage Family: A void marriage is no marriage in the eye of the law from the beginning. A voidable marriage is valid until one party gets it annulled on a permitted ground.

W

Wilful defaulter Banking & insolvency: A borrower classified as having the means to pay but choosing not to, or having diverted or siphoned off the borrowed funds. The classification carries serious consequences and requires a fair hearing first.
Will Succession & wills: A written declaration of how a person wants their property dealt with after death. It takes effect only on death and can be revoked at any time before it.
Witness Everyday basics: A person who gives evidence. They are examined by the side calling them, cross-examined by the other side, and may then be re-examined.
Writ Constitutional: A formal order of a High Court under Article 226, or of the Supreme Court under Article 32, to enforce legal and fundamental rights. The main writs are habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, certiorari and quo warranto.
Writ of certiorari Constitutional: A writ quashing the order of a subordinate court or tribunal that acted without jurisdiction or in breach of natural justice.
Writ of habeas corpus Constitutional: A writ requiring a person holding another in custody to produce them before the court and justify the detention.
Writ of mandamus Constitutional: A writ commanding a public authority to perform a duty the law requires it to perform.
Writ of quo warranto Constitutional: A writ questioning the authority by which a person holds a public office, and removing them if they are not entitled to it.
Written statement Courts & procedure: The defendant's written reply to a plaint, admitting or denying the claims and setting up any defence.

Z

Zero FIR Criminal: An FIR that any police station registers regardless of where the offence took place, and then transfers to the station that has territorial jurisdiction. It exists so a complainant is never turned away for going to the wrong station.

Plain-language explanations for general guidance only, not legal advice. For advice on your own matter, please contact the firm.