Cohort 7 - LRM - Assignment 2

Blended LL.M.
in Corporate & Financial Law
Cohort 7 - Course 1 – Legal Research Methodology
Graded Assessment 2 - Short Answers
Instructions:
Answer the following questions in a Word document and upload your responses on UMS prior
to the deadline at 11:59pm IST on Monday, 9 August 2022. Please use the answer template
annexed at the end of this document for answering your questions.
Please note that each question has a word limit. Ensure that you restrict your answer to the
prescribed word limit, as marks will be deducted for exceeding the word limit.
Use Times New Roman (Size 12) Font, 1.5 paragraph spacing.
Note that there are 15 questions in this assessment.
Grades will be deducted for plagiarism, in any form. For techniques and strategies of how to
avoid plagiarism, refer to the Session in this course on Plagiarism and ethical considerations in
research. For example, ensure that you are familiar with techniques of using proper citations,
paraphrasing properly, using quotation marks etc.
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Question 1 [4 marks]
Are the following hypothetical situations likely to amount to plagiarism? Justify with reasons.
(i) Mahima is writing an essay on the right to privacy and wants to submit it as an entry
for the 7th National Essay Competition on Law and Society. Mahima has discussed
Justice K.S. Puttaswamy (Retd.) & Anr. v. Union of India & Ors. in her essay and then
copied several paragraphs verbatim from the judgment to support her argument. She
neither encloses these paragraphs in quotation marks nor does she provide a citation for
them as she thinks that the judgment has been so extensively publicised that readers
will understand what the source of the excerpts is. The Competition has strict guidelines
about plagiarism and will preliminarily reject any essays that are found in contravention
of the guidelines. Does Mahima’s action amount to plagiarism? Justify your answer.
(50 words)
(ii) Trisha is drafting an article on insider trading. While explaining the theoretical
framework underlying her intervention, she relies on scholarship produced by several
authors. Though she encloses several phrases in quotation marks, she does not attribute
a source to them. Does Trisha’s action amount to plagiarism? Justify your answer. (50
words)
(iii) Sahil is writing an article on climate change-induced migration. To substantiate his
argument, he uses a graph from World Bank’s 2021 report ‘Groundswell II’. He does
not acknowledge the source of the graph in his paper. Does Sahil’s action amount to
plagiarism? Justify your answer. (50 words)
(iv) Tanya has written a case-comment on Indra Sarma v. V.K.V. Sarma. To analyse its
gendered dimensions, she relies on feminist scholarship produced by a number of
authors. Most of the ideas she draws on have been paraphrased in her own words and a
citation has been included for each of the relevant sentences. Does Tanya’s action
amount to plagiarism? Justify your answer. (50 words)
2
The following sources have been cited as per the OSCOLA style. However, each citation
contains one or more errors. Identify all the departures from the OSCOLA style present in each
of these citations.
(i) Sanjukta Paul, Shae McCrystal, and Ewan McGaughey, The Cambridge Handbook of
Labor in Competition Law (CUP, 2022).
(ii) Rudresh Mandal and Ashwin Murthy (2021) “CSR in the Post Pandemic Era: The Dual
Promise of ESG Investment and Investor Stewardship” Indian Law Review 5(2) 229.
(iii) Francesco De Pascalis, Digital Finance and Data Sharing: The Transition from Open
Banking to Open Finance (Oxford Business Law Blog, 9 June 2022)
<https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/business-law-blog/blog/2022/06/digital-finance-and-data-
sharing-transition-open-banking-open-finance> 5 July 2022.
Cite the following sources as per the Bluebook style. Please note that you may need to find the
sources online for all the requisite details.
(i) Around the Black Box: Applying the Carltona Principle to Challenge Machine Learning
Algorithms in Public Sector Decision-Making, E. Casale, LSE Law Review, Volume
7, Issue 3, 2022, pp. 369-389.
(ii) International Arbitration: Three Salient Problems authored by Stephen M. Schwebel,
Luke Sobota, and Ryan Manton, 2020, Cambridge University Press.
(iii) https://spicyip.com/2022/07/old-is-no-longer-gold-do-copyright-in-films-songs-
expire-with-the-60-year-limit.html by Rajesh Kumar and Akanksha Badika
As discussed in Module 2, prepare an annotation as if you were including each of the following
sources enumerated below in an annotated bibliography. Please note that you may need to
search for the sources online.
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(i) You are writing a research paper on the licensing of trade secrets. During your research,
you come across the following article: Olga Gurgula and John Hull, “Compulsory
licensing of trade secrets: ensuring access to COVID-19 vaccines via involuntary
technology transfer” (2021) 16(11) Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice.
Prepare an annotated bibliography on it. [100 words]
(ii) You are writing a dissertation on vertical agreements in competition law. As part of
your research, you read the following article: Vikas Kathuria, “Vertical restraints under
Indian Competition Law: whither law and economics” (2022) 10(1) Journal of Antitrust
Enforcement. Prepare an annotated bibliography on it. [100 words]
(iii) You are writing a comparative law research paper on corporate governance in which
your emphasis is on proposing reforms relevant for India. During your research, you
come across the following book chapter: Umakanth Varottil and Richa Naujoks,
“Corporate Governance in India: Law and Practice” in Linda Spedding (ed) “India: The
Business Opportunity” (2016)
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2951705. Prepare an annotated
bibliography on it. [100 words]
Distinguish between an annotated bibliography and a literature review. When would your
research benefit from the use of each of these tools? [200 words]
(i) Your friend has recently written a paper on the freedom of religion online. During his
research, he came across ‘Exploring the impacts of artificial intelligence on freedom of
religion or belief online’ by Cameran Ashraf and found it to be informative for his
research. He has extensively relied on the article to demonstrate support for one of his
claims. Given that he is new to legal research, he has requested you to ascertain if he has
plagiarised from the article in the process. Your task is to prepare a plagiarism report for
one paragraph of your friend’s paper. It appears to be taken from p. 764 of the journal
article. Identify whether each sentence in the paragraph below is plagiarised/not
plagiarised and explain why if it is. Since there may be more than one reason why a
sentence is plagiarised, please identify all the reasons in your plagiarism report.
4
Digital religion studies is the new frontier in research about “how religion manifests
online”1. As an academic field, digital religion is essentially interested in understanding
the manner in which religious practices evolve online and “interface with other elements
of religious worship, teaching, practice, and observance”. However, some scholars
disagree with this view; they assert that existing online and offline spaces must not be
conflated with religious manifestations online as such manifestations are a markedly
unique ‘third space’. Still more scholars examine both how religious beliefs are brought
into digital spaces and how these digital manifestations impact digital expressions of
religion. As Ashraf astutely observes, “[e]ach of these perspectives informs digital
religion and is useful in understanding how [freedom of religion or belief] manifests
online”.
Format for the plagiarism report:

Sentence 1: This sentence is/is not plagiarised because ....... [50 words]
Adv. Gargi is appearing in a matter pertaining to comparative advertising and disparagement

before a district court judge in Gurugram. Though she is relying on a few decisions adjudicated
by courts in India, jurisprudence is scant on the issue she is arguing. She has come across a few
relevant judgments from the United States while preparing for the matter and has decided to
use them to strengthen her arguments. What should Adv. Gargi keep in mind while using
foreign sources of law in this case? [100 words]
1
Cameran Ashraf, ‘Exploring the Impacts of Artificial Intelligence on Freedom of Religion or Belief Online’
(2022) 26(5) The International Journal of Human Rights 757.
5
Identify the various internal and external aids of this statutory interpretation in the excerpts to
the judgment of Joseph Shine v. Union of India below: [150 words]
19. International trends worldwide also indicate that very few nations continue to treat
adultery as a crime, though most nations retain adultery for the purposes of divorce laws. Thus,
adultery continues to be a criminal offence in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Iran,
Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, United Arab Emirates, some states of the United States
of America, Algeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Morocco, and some parts of
Nigeria. On the other hand, a number of jurisdictions have done away with adultery as a crime.
The People’s Republic of China, Japan, Brazil, New Zealand, Australia, Scotland, the
Netherlands, Denmark, France, Germany, Austria, the Republic of Ireland, Barbados,
Bermuda, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Seychelles etc. are some of the jurisdictions in which
it has been done away with. In South Korea and Guatemala provisions similar to Section 497
have been struck down by the constitutional courts of those nations.
42. Another aspect needs to be addressed. The question we intend to pose is whether adultery
should be treated as a criminal offence. Even assuming that the new definition of adultery
encapsules within its scope sexual intercourse with an unmarried woman or a widow, adultery
is basically associated with the institution of marriage. There is no denial of the fact that
marriage is treated as a social institution and regard being had to various aspects that social
history has witnessed in this country, the Parliament has always made efforts to maintain the
rights of women. For instance, Section 498-A IPC deals with husband or relative of husband
of a woman subjecting her to cruelty. The Parliament has also brought in the Protection of
Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005. This enactment protects women. It also enters into
the matrimonial sphere. The offences under the provisions of the said enactment are different
from the provision that has been conceived of under Section 497 IPC or, for that matter,
concerning bringing of adultery within the net of a criminal offence. There can be no shadow
of doubt that adultery can be a ground for any kind of civil wrong including dissolution of
marriage. But the pivotal question is whether it should be treated as a criminal offence. When
we say so, it is not to be understood that there can be any kind of social licence that destroys
the matrimonial home. It is an ideal condition when the wife and husband maintain their
loyalty. We are not commenting on any kind of ideal situation but, in fact, focusing on whether
the act of adultery should be treated as a criminal offence. In this context, we are reminded of
what Edmund Burke, a famous thinker, had said, ―a good legislation should be fit and
6
equitable so that it can have a right to command obedience‖. Burke would like to put it in two
compartments, namely, ‘equity’ and ‘utility.’ If the principle of Burke is properly understood,
it conveys that laws and legislations are necessary to serve and promote a good life.
43. Dealing with the concept of crime, it has been stated in ―Principles of Criminal Liability
thus:-
“1. Definition of crime—There is no satisfactory definition of crime which will embrace

the many acts and omissions which are criminal, and which will at the same time
exclude all those acts and omissions which are not. Ordinarily a crime is a wrong which
affects the security or well- being of the public generally so that the public has an
interest in its suppression. A crime is frequently a moral wrong in that it amounts to
conduct which is inimical to the general moral sense of the community. It is, however,
possible to instance many crimes which exhibit neither of the foregoing characteristics.
An act may be made criminal by Parliament simply because it is criminal process,
rather than civil, which offers the more effective means of controlling the conduct in
question.
Read the Excerpt from Ashwini Deshpande, The Grammar of Caste: Economic Discrimination
in Contemporary India (Oxford University Press, 2011) (p.12) and answer the question below:
The third study was a college-to-work study (Deshpande and Newman 2007), where we
tracked a group of students who graduated from three Delhi-based elite universities.
These cohorts of students were similarly qualified and received the same quality of
education; thus, from the point of view of the labour market, embodied similar ‘merit’.
We conducted a baseline survey on the eve of their graduation, eliciting responses
about their expectations from the labour market and their notions about ideal jobs. We
then tracked them for two years, with periodic follow-up interviews, and documented
their experiences in the labour market and the jobs they finally landed. Most of our
respondents went into the private sector, and thus these follow-up interviews revealed
the process through which the social identity (caste or religion) ends up shaping the
final outcome in the labour market. It is important to note that these are jobs that do
not require a formal declaration of caste status, since there is no affirmative action in
7
the private sector. Thus, these settings are supposed to be anonymous and meritocratic,
and yet the outcomes are strongly shaped by social identity.
Does this type of study represent quantitative or qualitative research? Discuss the features of
the research methodology that best represent the type of research undertaken in this excerpt.
(150 words)
Read the following research questions and determine which type of legal research methodology
will be the most appropriate. Justify your answer in each.
(i) How many transpersons were faced with the requirement of confronting the District
Magistrate for issuing a certificate of identity since the enactment of the Transgender
Persons (Protection of Rights) Act of 2019 under Section 5? [100 words]
(ii) What is the inspiration and inheritance of the Fundamental Rights framework in the
South African Constitution drawing from similar imperial and colonial experiences?
[100 words]
(iii) What are the anticipated outcomes of the Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Care and
Rehabilitation) Bill, 2021 as imagined through the lived experiences of 20 sex workers
in the Sonagachi District in Kolkata, India? [100 words]
What is delegated legislation and why is it important? [100 words]
It has been argued that the doctrine of the separation of powers should not be interpreted as
strictly in India as it has in other jurisdictions, such as in the USA. Explain any significant areas
of overlap between the different branches of government and provide 2 examples where the
branches of government are not clearly independent from one another. [150 words]
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How can (i) quantitative and (ii) qualitative research be used by lawyers. Provide two practical
examples for each. [150 words]
What are two key differences between common law and civil law systems? Name one
jurisdiction from each type of system. [100 words]
Please read the hypothetical case study and applicable case law below. On the basis of your
understanding of the doctrine of precedent, answer the questions that follow.
Case study:
In 2021, the Government of India (GOI) launched a new welfare scheme to offset the loss of
employment in informal sectors due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The accused, Mahesh, was
appointed as a Programme Officer under the scheme on 10.05.2021. His responsibilities
entailed conducting surveys to assess the demand for work, ascertainment of work
opportunities and their allocation to workers, supervising implementation of work, ensuring
timely payment of fair wages to the workers, maintenance of accounts, and redressal of
grievances. On 7.12.2021 and 15.12.2021, complaints about the misappropriation of funds for
personal gain were levelled against Mahesh by two workers. On 6.3.2022, the Sessions Court
convicted Mahesh. He has now appealed before the High Court of Bombay.
The relevant paragraphs of a (hypothetical) relevant case Sadhupati Nageswara Rao v. State of
Andhra Pradesh (2012) 8 SCC 547 as decided by the Supreme Court of India are as below:
Facts:
As a shop dealer and in-charge for two Fair Price Shops, the accused was responsible for the
distribution of essential commodities such as rice and kerosene for free to workers possessing
coupons under the ‘Food for Work’ scheme. He was also responsible for maintaining proper
records of the commodities distributed. A complaint was filed against him for committing
9
irregularities in the distribution of these commodities to the public and an investigation ensued.
The accused was held guilty for criminal breach of trust under Sections 405 and 409 of the
Indian Penal Code, 1860.
The Judge had held:

“In order to appreciate the above contentions, it is useful to refer the definition and punishment
of criminal breach of trust and related provision provided under Sections 405, 406 and 409
IPC. ...[]. In order to prove the offence of criminal breach of trust which attracts the provision
of Section 409 IPC, the prosecution must prove that one who is, in any manner, entrusted with
the property, in this case as a dealer of fair price shop, dishonestly misappropriates the
property, commits criminal breach of trust in respect of that property. In other words, in order
to sustain conviction under Section 409 IPC, two ingredients are to be proved: namely, i) the
accused, a public servant or a banker or agent was entrusted with the property of which he is
duty bound to account for; and ii) the accused has committed criminal breach of trust. What
amounts to criminal breach of trust is provided under Section 405 IPC. The basic requirement
to bring home the accusations under Section 405 are the requirements to prove conjointly i)
entrustment and ii) whether the accused was actuated by dishonest intention or not,
misappropriated it or converted it to his own use to the detriment of the persons who entrusted
it. ....[].
[In this case, there] is no dispute that the appellant was entrusted with 13.8 quintals of rice,
387 litres of kerosene in respect of Chinabethapudi Fair Price Shop in the month of June, 2002
and he was also entrusted with 6.88 quintals of rice and 213 litres of kerosene in respect of
Stuartpuram Fair Price Shop. It is also clear from the evidence led in by the prosecution that
the appellant had failed to submit the coupons for the deficiency found by the inspecting
officers. Though the appellant has pleaded that in the same evening, he went and met the
officers concerned along with the coupons, it has come on record that those coupons did not
belong to the persons alleged to the above mentioned Fair Price Shop. The materials placed
by the prosecution show that the appellant-accused had dishonest intention not to distribute
the rice properly to the beneficiaries and an offence of criminal breach of trust could be made
out. As observed earlier, the coupons filed by the appellant-accused belong to Ramnagar and
not to Stuartpuram village. The fact remains that on the date of inspection, the rice was
disbursed without proper coupons.
10
The trial Court, after considering all the materials, came to the conclusion that the evidence of
PWs 1 to 6 is reliable and trustworthy in relation to the offence in proving entrustment of
property of the Government to the accused. In the case on hand, the appellant, an agent
entrusted with the distribution of rice under the ‘Food for Work Scheme’ (FFWS) to the
workers on production of coupons, was charged with misappropriation of 67.65 quintals of
rice. The evidence also proves that there was entrustment of property to the accused. All these
aspects have been rightly considered by the trial Court and found the appellant guilty of the
offence punishable under Section 409 IPC. The appellate and revisional court, on appreciation
of the materials placed by the prosecution and defence, confirmed the same. We are in entire
agreement with the said conclusion.
Mr. Giri, learned senior counsel for the appellant submitted that inasmuch as the alleged
occurrence took place in 2002, some leniency may be shown on the sentence imposed. We are
unable to accept the said contention. Section 409 enables the Court to award imprisonment for
life or imprisonment up to ten years alongwith fine. Considering the fact that the appellant was
awarded imprisonment for 6 months alongwith a fine of Rs. 1,000/- only, we feel that the same
is not excessive. On the other hand, we are of the view that persons dealing with the property
of the Government and entrusted with the task of distribution under FFWS, it is but proper on
their part to maintain true accounts, handover coupons to the Mandal Revenue Office and to
execute the same fully and without any lapse. Such recourse has not been followed by the
appellant. The courts cannot take a lenient view in awarding sentence on the ground of
sympathy or delay, particularly, if it relates to distribution of essential commodities under any
Scheme of the Government intended to benefit the public at large. Accordingly, while rejecting
the request of the learned senior counsel for the appellant, we hold that there is no ground for
reduction of sentence.
Under these circumstances, we find no merit in the appeal. Consequently, the same is
dismissed. In view of the dismissal of the appeal, the order granting exemption from surrender
is revoked and the appellant has to surrender within four weeks and serve out the remaining
period of sentence.”
Questions:
(i) What is the ratio decidendi of Sadhupati and how should it be applied to the present
situation by the High Court of Bombay? [5 marks] [300 words]
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(ii) What is the precedential value of the aforesaid judgment on other courts within India?
Would your answer differ if Sadhupati had been decided by the High Court of Bombay
instead of the Supreme Court of India? Why? [3 marks] [150 words]
12
Answers:
Name:
Student Number:
Section:
i. [Include your answer here (50 words)]

ii. [Include your answer here (50 words)]
iii. [Include your answer here (50 words)]
iv. [Include your answer here (50 words)]
i. [Include your answer here]

ii. [Include your answer here]
iii. [Include your answer here]
i. [Include your answer here]

ii. [Include your answer here]
iii. [Include your answer here]

[Include your answer here (200 words)]
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iv. [Include your answer here (50 words)]
v. [Include your answer here (50 words)]

14

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Blended LL.M.

in Corporate & Financial Law

Cohort 7 - Course 1 – Legal Research Methodology

Graded Assessment 2 - Short Answers

Note that there are 15 questions in this assessment.

Format for the plagiarism report:

Adv. Gargi is appearing in a matter pertaining to comparative advertising and disparagement

“1. Definition of crime—There is no satisfactory definition of crime which will embrace

What is delegated legislation and why is it important? [100 words]

The Judge had held:

i. [Include your answer here (50 words)]

i. [Include your answer here]

i. [Include your answer here]

i. [Include your answer here (100 words)]

[Include your answer here (200 words)]

i. [Include your answer here (50 words)]

[Include your answer here (100 words)]

[Include your answer here (150 words)]

[Include your answer here (150 words)]

i. [Include your answer here (100 words)]

[Include your answer here (100 words)]

[Include your answer here (150 words)]

[Include your answer here (150 words)]

[Include your answer here (100 words)]

i. [Include your answer here (300 words)]

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