The last fifteen years have seen a fundamental shift in constitutional norms, facilitated by the digitisation of interaction between the citizen and the State. Modern civil‑rights violations are increasingly invisible because they are perpetrated through online and data‑driven systems.

Commercial freedoms are now controlled and curtailed through a vast network of intermediaries that bow to government diktat. Criminal justice has shifted too, as electronic evidence can be manufactured or manipulated by technical means, corroding due process and evidentiary integrity. India’s social fabric, the rule of law, and the regulation of its economy have all changed in profound ways.

This seminar examines these issues, focusing on how technology‑related disputes now sit at the heart of civil‑rights litigation in India, cutting across commercial, criminal, and constitutional law. The Instructor uses recent case files from matters he has personally litigated and advised on to explore intersections with constitutional law (free speech, privacy, equality, federalism), criminal procedure (digital evidence, surveillance, decryption, traceability), and commercial regulation (taxation of online platforms, blocking orders, app bans).

All weekly problems will be drawn from those case files and are paired with core doctrines, statutory frameworks (Information Technology Act, 2000 and Rules; Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023; Indian criminal law and procedure), and policy debates. Students will learn litigation strategy, client advisory skills, and build doctrinal familiarity, and be exposed to a practice‑oriented case study approach to technology regulation. It is suitable as a standalone elective for fourth- and fifth‑year law students of the five-year programme, or final‑year students of the three‑year programme.

By focusing on cases that the Instructor has personally litigated and/or advised on, the course provides students with a clear understanding of the background and context preceding litigation, the interests and conflicts among stakeholders, and why the parties made specific decisions. Where confidentiality requires, a generalised, industry‑level approach is adopted to give students a bird’s‑eye view (keeping relevant client specifics confidential).

The focus is on primary sources: pleadings and extracts, Supreme Court/High Court judgments, statutes, and regulatory instruments. Selective secondary readings—peer‑reviewed articles or chapters framing US/EU comparisons—are suggested where they illuminate Indian litigation choices.

The Instructor will employ socratic, seminar style discussion set in litigation simulations and short in-class exercises on issue framing and evaluating strategies. Workshops use redacted extracts from the instructor’s case files. The student advocacy sessions at the end of each week and the litigation simulation exercises are designed to push students to reflect on how they would have litigated a specific case differently from what played out in court.