NLSIU hosted a special guest lecture by Vivek K. Chandy, the Joint Managing Partner of Jyoti Sagar Associates (JSA), one of India’s leading corporate law firms, on May 14, 2025. In this session, Mr. Chandy shared insights from his distinguished legal career, offering guidance on navigating the corporate law landscape, and reflecting on the evolving nature of the industry.
After a brief lecture about his own career, he questions from our students about working at tier-1 law firm and the culture at JSA, specifically.
About the Speaker
Vivek Chandy has over 30 years of experience in the areas of private equity, mergers and acquisitions, corporate commercial work and real estate advisory in India. He is also qualified to advise on international commercial arbitration and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb). He assumed office as the Joint Managing Partner of JSA in January 2019.
Convenors:
Rahul Singh, Associate Professor of Law, and Faculty In Charge, ICICI Professorial Chair on Business Laws, NLSIU
The National Law School of India University hosted a campus reunion for the batch of 2014 on May 10, 2025 as they celebrated 11 years of their graduation.
Our alumni spent the day on campus re-connecting with batchmates, faculty, and other members of the NLS community, and celebrating their friendships and connections over the last decade.
Schedule
Time
Activity
11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Arrival
12:00 pm – 12:15 pm
Introduction of Batch members (Venue: OAB-101)
12:15 pm – 1:30 pm
Interaction with Faculty and Batch members (Hybrid Mode)
1:30 pm – 2:30 pm
Networking Lunch (Training Centre)
2:30 pm – 4:00 pm
Campus Walk including visit to NAB
4:00 pm – 4:15 pm
Group Photo Session
Reflections from our Alums
Vikram Shah Freelance writer, editor, and content consultant “When I was in my third or fourth year at NLS, I had a sense that maybe a long-term legal career was not for me, though I did work for a law firm for a couple of years after I graduated. Since then, I’ve worked mostly in the media. I’ve worked at Mint as an editor of the features paper, Mint Lounge. I reported on and wrote several stories for Mint. Then I worked with the media startup called All Things Small where we put out a publication called fiftytwo.in which was long form journalism of 4,000 to 5,000 words. We would cover one different aspect of the subcontinent every week and that was a fantastic job. A dream job for me as a freelancer. I work part time with a legal journalistic outlet, but I also do corporate writing, corporate content writing. I’ve written scripts for videos. I have written an 11-part narrative podcast which was commissioned by the American podcast platform Luminary.
It’s NLSIU where I started reading novels. All those trips to Blossoms and the other amazing bookstores that are on Church Street. Here is where I met peers who encouraged this side of me. I started writing while I was in law school. The first time I got paid for a piece of writing was in my third year. I credit NLS with blowing open my mind to all sorts of possibilities, not just in terms of what’s possible career wise, but just in terms of ideas, which is an extremely important thing in my line of work.
And the other thing is that NLS was the first time that I truly understood the idea of India. At NLS, there were people literally from Kashmir to Kanyakumari to Arunachal. And it was the first time that I had a sense of what it means, how vast and wonderful our country is. And a lot of the journalism that I’ve worked on has been about that idea, and we need to preserve this idea. And NLS is where it started so I’m grateful for my time here.”
Megha Mathur Director, Pocket FM “It’s been so lovely to be back at NLS today after 10 years of having graduated. I think all of us loved our time here. It was five years that were transformative for most of us. We all came here when we were 17 or 18 years old. I had among the best years of our life here in Nagarbhavi. It’s been so lovely to see how much the campus has changed. We see some great new additions, and some conspicuous absences as well. Since my time after law school, I’ve worked mostly in tech companies across India. I worked at Zomato, then Meesho, and now I’m with Pocket FM. I don’t practice anymore as a lawyer. But I do think that my five years here were still foundational and helped me prepare for all of the different work that I’ve had the chance to do. So thank you so much for having us back here.”
Amshula Prakash Entertainment Lawyer “I’ve been working as a lawyer for artists since I graduated from NLS, and for the last couple of years I’ve also been working as an art curator. It’s very exciting to be back to a place that really formed us during the five years we spent here. It significantly shaped all of us. And I think I can speak on behalf of pretty much anyone who has been here. It has been bittersweet because there are a lot of changes on campus. It’s a mix of nostalgia and just not being able to see campus the way it was. Thanks to everybody at NLS for welcoming us so hospitably and we look forward to our 20th year reunion.”
Dheer Bhatnagar Corporate Lawyer
“My time at NLS was very formative. I think that’s how I look at it. It was fun and it was great and all of that, but when I look back, it’s the one keyword. It has really formed who I am today. Since I graduated, I’ve done a mix of corporate law and in-house roles. Now I’m in a sort of a business plus legal role at a startup. It feels really, really good to be back. I think the campus has retained a mix of the old and the new. I can see a lot of things that have changed. I think a lot of the old charm is still here, which I really like. I hope to come back more frequently and stay in touch with the folks here.”
Chetna Kumar Analyst, Bloomberg
“I think NLS is such an integral part of who I am. The rigour and the challenging environment we were in really tests you. Whatever I’ve accomplished since, the seeds were planted here. It’s so great to come back to most of the people who have this imprint on me.
Since I graduated, I moved away from the law very quickly. I worked in politics and now I work in geo-economics. I still feel like the skills I learned at NLS, in terms of lawyering and thinking critically, are what gave me an edge and helped me drive my own career in a different field. I think the education you get here actually makes you confident enough to go venture into new areas and be able to hold your own still.”
What constitutes a sovereign state in the international legal sphere? This question has been central to international law for centuries. Sovereignty, International Law, and the Princely States of Colonial South Asia provides a compelling exploration of the history of sovereignty through an analysis of the jurisdictional politics involving a specific set of historical legal entities.
Governed by local rulers, the princely states of colonial South Asia were subject to British paramountcy whilst remaining legally distinct from directly ruled British India. Their legal status and the extent of their rights remained the subject of feverish debates through the entirety of British colonial rule. This book traces the ways in which the language of sovereignty shaped the discourse surrounding the legal status of the princely states to illustrate how the doctrine of sovereignty came to structure political imagination in colonial South Asia and the framework of the modern Indian state.
Opening with a survey of the place of the princely states in the colonial structures of South Asia, Sovereignty, International Law, and the Princely States of Colonial South Asia goes on to illustrate how international lawyers, British politicians, colonial officials, rulers and bureaucrats of princely states, and anti-colonial nationalists in British India used definitions of sovereignty to construct political orders in line with their interests and aspirations. By invoking the vernacular of sovereignty in contrasting ways to support their differing visions of imperial and world order, these actors also attempted to reconfigure the boundaries among the spheres of the national, the imperial, and the international. Throughout the eighteenth, nineteenth, and early twentieth centuries, debates and disputes over the princely states continually defined and redefined the concept of sovereignty and international legitimacy in South Asia.
Using rich material from the colonial archives, Sovereignty, International Law, and the Princely States of Colonial South Asia conveys an understanding of the history of sovereignty and the construction of the modern Indian nation-state that is still relevant today. A riveting read, this book will be of considerable interest and importance to scholars of international law and South Asia, legal historians, and political scientists.
About the Author
Dr. Priyasha Saksena is a legal historian focussing on the development of legal concepts and institutions within the British Empire and their contemporary effects. She is a graduate of Harvard University (SJD) and National Law School of India University (BA LLB). Currently, she is an Associate Professor at the School of Law, University of Leeds. Prior to joining the University of Leeds, she was a visiting researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory. She also has experience of working at a corporate law firm.
Reflections from the Author
Speaking to us, Dr. Saksena said:
“It’s so wonderful to be back after 15 years to an unrecognisable campus, and have such a wonderful and warm welcome. I enjoyed a very engaged audience with some fantastic questions.
The book started out as a doctoral dissertation. But I guess the idea can be traced back to my time here at NLS when I took history courses with Professor Elizabeth, which sparked my interest in history. So I think this book can be seen as a culmination of what I started out here back in 2005.”
The National Law School of India University in collaboration with the Bengaluru City Police and Durga Foundation conducted training programs on sensitisation for 5,600 participants under the Active Bystanders Initiative. The initiative which is a part of the Bengaluru Safe City Project aimed to empower individuals across different community segments to identify, intervene, and respond effectively in situations of sexual harassment or violence in the city of Bengaluru.
Through targeted sessions, street plays, and community visits, this initiative has fostered a culture of proactive bystander behaviour, therefore contributing to safer public spaces. During the course of intervention (September 2024 to March 2025), bystanders from diverse communities, including auto drivers, cab drivers, bus drivers, street vendors, garment factory workers, domestic helpers, security guards, construction workers, and BBMP employees were identified and equipped with the necessary information and skills. These sessions were organised across various police station limits situated within the city.
The final report was submitted to Mr. B. Dayananda, IPS, Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru City, on May 14, 2025.
Implementation Approaches
Active Bystander Behaviour Training Sessions:
These interactive sessions equipped participants with the skills to identify and intervene in situations of sexual harassment in public places. The participants were informed about the concept of harassment, its types, and impact, emphasising the emotional and societal consequences of inaction. Additionally, these sessions included role-play activities to help participants explore and refine practical intervention strategies. The participants were informed about the DARE framework (Distract, Address, Rally, Extend) which consists of actionable steps for intervention.
Community Visits:
Apart from the structured sessions, community visits were organised to cover a diverse group of individuals. These visits primarily focused on shopkeepers, roadside vendors, and domestic workers.
Street Plays:
In order to spread awareness, street plays were organised in different parts of the city. The play, titled “Teesri Aankh”, focused on the themes of domestic violence, sexual harassment, and gender-based violence. The plays were delivered in multiple languages depicting different scenarios of violence and effective intervention strategies.
Observations
During the sessions with security guards, drivers, street vendors, gig economy workers, and BBMP employees, it was observed that they possessed a nuanced understanding of active bystander behaviour. While many participants expressed a natural willingness to intervene when someone was in distress, they often did not consciously categorise it as active bystander intervention or place it within the broader context of ensuring safety in public spaces for women. Instead, they viewed it as an action they might take in favourable circumstances, rather than a consistent responsibility to intervene in such distress situations. This perspective was shaped by their personal experiences or those of people they knew, where actively intervening in a situation had sometimes led to negative consequences. These experiences influenced their decision-making and highlighted the necessity of building their confidence and providing them with tools to intervene effectively. Participants were vocal about their understanding on why such incidents happen and this led to a discussion on gender stereotypes, prejudices and victim blaming.
Interactions with women unearthed interesting observations. They empathised with the idea of intervening in stressful situations because of their own personal experiences. This personal connection to the subject allowed them to quickly grasp the importance of recognising and acting upon signs of harassment or violence.
On the other hand, male participants associated active bystander behaviour with the safety and well-being of their family members, particularly female relatives. Their willingness to intervene is frequently framed within the context of protecting their mothers, sisters, wives, or daughters, showing a familiar lens through which they approach the topic.
When asked about the ideal way to respond to harassment in public places, the majority suggested that the perpetrator should be physically confronted or beaten up. While this might seem like the simplest and most immediate solution from their perspective, it can often escalate into further complications, such as mob violence. Additionally, some participants justified violence against women by citing factors such as how they dressed or their presence in certain places at times deemed unsafe. These attitudes reflected deep-seated gender biases and highlighted the need for more conversations around victim-blaming and societal prejudices.
Through our sessions, we aimed to foster a deeper understanding of appropriate responses. It also opened a pathway for participants to assess the prejudices they hold and to begin unlearning a bit in the process. Participants were encouraged to assess situations critically and decide on the most suitable course of action — whether to intervene directly, rally others to support the intervention, or escalate the matter to the police. By providing clarity on what to do when witnessing harassment, the initiative sought to empower individuals to make informed decisions, ultimately increasing the likelihood of active bystander intervention in public spaces.
NLSIU invites online applications from accomplished professionals for the position of Manager – Alumni Relations (1 vacancy). The Manager – Alumni Relations will play an important role in ensuring a high level of interaction with the alumni community, developing innovative ways of engaging with groups of alumni and cultivate the University’s worldwide alumni and supporter community into a committed group of volunteers, donors and advocates.
This is a full-time position, based out of the NLSIU campus in Bengaluru involving field and desk work, and will report to the Director – Communications and External Relations, NLSIU.
About NLSIU
The National Law School of India University (NLSIU) was established in 1987 to be a pioneer in legal education. Over the last three decades the University has consistently been an innovative leader in legal education and research in India and has been ranked First among Law Universities in the National Institute Ranking Framework for the last seven years.
Role Description
A. Qualifications
Essential
Graduate degree in any discipline (preferably Business Administration/Communications / Public Relations or related areas) with aggregate 55% marks. Provided, for candidates with benchmark disabilities, the minimum aggregate mark is 50%.
Desirable
Post Graduate Degree in a related field.
B. Experience and Skills
Minimum 6 years of overall work experience with at least 3 years in alumni engagement, programme development, stakeholder engagement, client servicing, financial aid initiatives, or a related field;
Excellent ability to work with and manage a wide range of internal and external stakeholders and forge partnerships;
Excellent research, communication and drafting skills;
Excellent time management skills and ability to meet tight deadlines;
Strong budget management skills, organisation skills and IT skills.
C. Role and Responsibilities
The Manager-Alumni Relations would serve as the primary point of contact between alumni and the University and will report to the Director Communications and External Relations.
They will be responsible for undertaking the following tasks:
Continuous outreach to NLSIU alumni across years and programmes;
Creation and maintenance of a platform to offer a uniform and easily accessible set of services to all alumni of NLSIU across programmes;
Engagement on the platform and through other channels to promote and enhance alumni relations;
Develop and implement alumni engagement strategy for NLSIU and support of key University priorities around student recruitment, global engagement, fundraising and employability;
Develop innovative ways of engaging with groups of alumni to reach, inspire and cultivate the University’s worldwide alumni and supporter community into a committed group of volunteers, donors and advocates;
Develop, maintain and regularly update repository/database of alumni profiles and alumni success stories to position alumni at the heart of the University’s profile, both nationally and internationally and to support key University priorities including employability, recruitment and fundraising;
Works with departments (academics, professional learning etc) to launch course-based, batch-wise, state-wise, country-wise alumni groups and associations;
Lead the creation and launch of alumni services;
Coordinate with the University communications team on alumni engagement to ensure the successful delivery of engagement activities and promotion of alumni success stories;
Coordinates and produces reports, proposals, and analyses for management, to include monthly budget to actual reviews of areas of programmatic responsibility, periodic reports to reflect relevant data gathering and analysis, and post-event reports and recommendations;
Conceptualise and organise events and activities for the benefit of alumni communities;
Identify and develop opportunities for alumni fundraising and support.
D. Tenure
Permanent basis till the age of superannuation i.e. 60 years, subject to confirmation after the satisfactory completion of two years’ probation.
Selection Process
Selection will take place in two parts.
a. Part 1 shall consist of review of applications by the University. Upon review of applications, candidates will be shortlisted in a 1:5 ratio as against the number of vacancies for the Interview round (Part 2).
b. Part 2 will be an interview round wherein the Interview Selection Panel shall score candidates out of a total of 50 marks for selection to the post.
NLSIU reserves the right to have more than one round of interviews either in person or over video conferencing and to conduct independent background checks on the candidates.
NLSIU reserves the right to request for references from people who are not listed in the application form but would be familiar with the candidate’s previous work.
Learn more about the role and application process here.
Deadline
Interested individuals are requested to go through the University’s website, fill in the Application Form and upload the certificates to support their claim for educational qualifications, age, experience etc. The deadline to submit the application has been extended to June 9, 2025 (5 pm IST). View Corrigendum.
NLSIU invites online applications from accomplished professionals for the position of Development Officer (1 vacancy). This is a full-time position, based out of the NLSIU campus in Bengaluru involving field and desk work, and will report to the Director – Communications and External Relations, NLSIU.
About NLSIU
The National Law School of India University (NLSIU) was established in 1987 to be a pioneer in legal education. Over the last three decades the University has consistently been an innovative leader in legal education and research in India and has been ranked First among Law Universities in the National Institute Ranking Framework for the last seven years
Role Description
A. Qualifications
Essential
Graduate degree in any discipline with aggregate 55% marks. Provided, for candidates with benchmark disabilities, the minimum aggregate mark is 50%.
Desirable
Post Graduate Degree/Diploma in Public Relations, Communications, Development, Social Sciences or a related field.
B. Experience and Skills
Minimum 8 years of overall work experience with at least 4 years in fundraising, programme development, philanthropic initiatives or a related field;
Excellent ability to work with and manage a wide range of internal and external stakeholders and forge partnerships;
Excellent research and communication skills;
Strong networking abilities;
Strong presentation skills with expertise in MS PPT working knowledge of Canva would be helpful.
Excellent drafting skills;
Strong budget management skills, organisation skills and IT
skills;
Excellent ability to work effectively and constructively;
Knowledge of Kannada is a bonus for this role;
Skilled in MS Office.
C. Role and Responsibilities
The Development Officer will report to the Director Communications and External Relations.
The Development Officer will be responsible for undertaking the
following tasks:
Be responsible for developing the strategic fundraising plans of the University;
Be responsible for building relationships with prospective donors and grantees across multiple sectors and communicating with the broader public, alumni and internal teams;
To develop and implement strategies and internal processes for programme development and grant management across all research and University development projects;
To identify and explore prospective donor pools, to draft tailored messages, and to cultivate donor relationships with the goal of securing financial support;
To write and negotiate funding proposals for potential donors and work closely with the University academic staff and legal team;
To identify and develop opportunities for programmatic support;
To maintain external stakeholder relationships related to programme development;
To set up internal processes for managing fundraising lifecycles and donor relations including MOU/contract closure and reporting;
To draft, press releases in consultation with the communications team as required;
To prepare quarterly budgets and establish and maintain reports for funders;
To implement a variety of marketing strategies and promotional campaigns towards fundraising.
D. Tenure
Permanent basis till the age of superannuation i.e. 60 years, subject to confirmation after the satisfactory completion of two year’s probation.
Selection Process
Selection will take place in two parts.
a. Part 1 shall consist of review of applications by the University. Upon review of applications, candidates will be shortlisted in a 1:5 ratio as against the number of vacancies for the Interview round (Part 2).
b. Part 2 will be an interview round wherein the Interview Selection Panel shall score candidates out of a total of 50 marks for selection to the post.
NLSIU reserves the right to have more than one round of interview either in person or over video conferencing and to conduct independent background checks on the candidates.
NLSIU reserves the right to request for references from people who are not listed in the application
form but would be familiar with the candidate’s previous work.
Learn more about the role and application process here.
Deadline
Interested individuals are requested to go through the University’s website, fill in the Application Form and upload the certificates to support their claim for educational qualifications, age, experience etc. The deadline to submit the application has been extended to June 9, 2025 (5 pm IST). View Corrigendum.
In this week’s faculty seminar, Samantha Chacko, a Fulbright-Nehru Scholar affiliated to NLS, presented her paper titled “Equality in Access: Reviewing India’s Legal Aid Framework.” The seminar was held on May 7, 2025, at 4 pm, in the Ground Floor Conference Hall at NLSIU’s Training Centre.
Abstract
Article 39(A) of the Indian Constitution guarantees citizens access to legal aid. At its core, this Article solidifies each citizen’s right to access justice. Often, the individuals seeking this kind of assistance are litigants preparing for cases addressing critical issues. Without proper access to legal aid, people can lose their homes, families, or livelihoods. In 2022, India’s government-based legal aid program, the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA), reported that only 61% of those who visited legal services clinics throughout India actually received legal assistance. Without proper access to justice, no legal system can be considered just.
There have been few studies that address the gender gap in legal aid services, and even fewer that exclusively focus on accessibility to legal resources and services categorized by demographic. One such study, however, the 2016 DAKSH Access to Justice survey, found that only 14% of all litigants in India are women. There is little explanation for this gender gap in legal participation, and it remains unclear whether women are actually receiving the legal assistance they are constitutionally entitled to and their subsequent ability to navigate the Indian justice system successfully. This research was designed to identify and contextualize the causal factors perpetuating the gender gap in access to justice within the Indian legal aid framework.
Reflections from the Speaker
“It was an honour to present my research at the Faculty Seminar at NLSIU. The faculty feedback was very insightful and will help me develop my paper and future research. I have learned so much as a Fulbright-Nehru Scholar at NLS. I am very grateful to my academic supervisor, Dr. VS Elizabeth, for all her support throughout my grant. Ultimately, I hope this research serves as a foundation for continued awareness about the status of accessibility to justice in India and the USA.”
Dr. Sushmita Pati, Associate Professor of Political Science at the National Law School of India University, Bengaluru, has been awarded a grant from the India Foundation for Arts (IFA) for a project where she is the co-coorindator along with Sarbani Sharma, Assistant Professor of Sociology & Social Anthropology at Azim Premji University, Bengaluru.
About the Project
This Foundation Project implemented by IFA under Arts Projects (Research and Practice), will explore Bengaluru’s urban transformation through oral histories of retired Public Sector Undertakings (PSU) managers, highlighting their experiences of deindustrialisation, shifting identities and nostalgia in the post-liberalisation era of the city. Using a multidisciplinary approach, including social sciences research methods, illustrations and creative mapping the project will culminate in a zine.
This project will examine the urban transformation of Bengaluru through the experiences of retired middle and upper-management employees from the Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) that once thrived in the city. The project will foreground the social and personal histories of those who lived through the changes in Bengaluru that remain unexplored, as against the transformation of the city from a sleepy pensioner’s paradise to the Silicon Valley of the subcontinent, which is well documented in terms of economic and infrastructural shifts. The senior managers, who were born in the 1950s, close on the heels of the Midnight’s Children, and were brought up in the Nehruvian Modern, built their lives around state-led industrialisation, but lived on to witness their workplaces decline with the rise of privatisation and globalisation. Their narratives will provide a unique perspective on urban memory, industrial decline, and the shifting socio-political fabric of the city.
The research process of the project will be through oral histories and participant observations, to uncover how these men recall their neighbourhoods, workplaces, and social networks in PSU colonies like ITI Layout, HAL Layout or BHEL Layout and how their experiences shaped their identities in their contemporary life. A key motivation for this project is the lived experiences of the Project Coordinators in PSU townships in Jharkhand and Arunachal Pradesh, which paralleled Bengaluru’s industrial culture. This insider perspective of a transitional nation will allow for a critical, reflexive approach to understand class, masculinity, and nostalgia about Bengaluru, set in a post-liberalisation India. Through this research, how deindustrialisation reshaped urban identities in Bengaluru, will be illuminated as a broader narrative through the perspectives of the retired PSU employees who straddle both privilege and displacement, as a study that will highlight an underrepresented group. The project will also contribute to ‘masculinity studies’, examining how elderly, upper-caste, and upper-class men perform authority in urban spaces, with special emphasis on Bengaluru. Through a multidisciplinary approach, the project will aim to contribute to urban studies, political economy, while fostering a deeper public understanding of the changing social fabric of Bengaluru. The Project Coordinators will collaborate with an illustrator, to visually reconstruct PSU neighbourhoods and their transformations, in order to make the research accessible beyond traditional academic formats. Public lectures and interactive sessions with the illustrator will attempt to bridge scholarly analysis with broader civic engagement. To equally engage with both academic and public audiences, the project will culminate in a zine titled Good’ol Bangalore, combining oral histories with illustrations and creative maps.
The outcome of the project will be an illustrated zine, public lectures and interactive sessions. The Project Coordinator’s deliverables to IFA with the final report will be physical and digital copies of the zine, and audio-visual or photographic documentation of the public lectures and interactive sessions.
This project suitably addresses the framework of IFA’s Project 560 programme in the manner in which it attempts to position Bengaluru as a lens to examine postcolonial economic transitions, class dynamics, and urban memory, through an intimate archive of lived history, of the retired male PSU employees, whose life has been mirroring the transitions of the nation, reflecting on the city’s past and its uncertain future.
In the week preceding the lecture, the University and SIAC also conducted the second edition of its elective course module, ‘SIAC and Institutional Arbitration,’ at the NLSIU campus. The lecture and the module were conducted as part of the ongoing Memorandum of Understanding between NLSIU and SIAC.
Speaking on the occasion, Lucy Reed said: “For this year’s lecture, I thought I would take a different approach, a more practical, practice oriented approach. Specifically, I wanted to address what I see after these 40 years, as some of the basic misconceptions about real life in international arbitration. And I also took the opportunity to thread in some of the new 2025 SIAC rules which we enacted, upon demand of users mostly, but which show the evolution of international commercial arbitration over the years.”
Watch the full video here:
Highlights from the module
The elective course, held between April 22 and April 25, 2025, saw the participation of 40 law students, within as well as outside the NLS community, and professional practitioners.
The participants attended various sessions, including ‘SIAC’s Role in the Constitution of the Arbitral Tribunal’ by the course convenor, Vivekananda Neelakantan, Registrar, SIAC; Shivam Patanjali, Deputy Counsel, SIAC; and Steffi Mary Punnose, Strategy & Development Manager (South Asia), SIAC.
There were sessions by seasoned practitioners such as Ila Kapoor, Partner, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co, who spoke to the attendees about ‘Jurisdictional Objections, Consolidation and Joinder, Emergency Arbitrator, Expedited Procedure, Early Dismissal, Streamlined Procedure;’ Ankit Goyal, Partner – Foreign Law, Allen & Gledhill LLP, who delivered a talk on ‘Arbitral Proceeding;’ and Ashish Chugh, Principal, Baker & McKenzie Wong & Leow, on the ‘Award and Costs of the Arbitration.’
NLS alumni Promod Nair, Senior Advocate, High Court of Karnataka, and Vijayendra Pratap Singh, Member, SIAC Court of Arbitration; Senior Partner & Head – Litigation and Dispute Resolution Practice (Delhi), AZB & Partners, conducted sessions on ‘SIAC, Investor State Dispute Settlement and Alternative Dispute Resolution.’
“The Singapore International Arbitration Centre is conducting this module on SIAC and institutional arbitration for the second year at the National Law School of India University, and it has been our pleasure to helm this course and engage with the students and others attending.
For the SIAC, training and education on international arbitration has always been a high priority. India is an important jurisdiction for SIAC and therefore, to have this opportunity to be here in Bengaluru at the National Law School, is a great privilege.
Personally, as registrar of the SIAC and an alumnus of the National Law School (NLS BA LLB 2006), it has been my pleasure to be back here on campus and to be talking to all the students.”
Dr. Harisankar K Sathyapalan, Associate Professor of Law; BA LLB (Hons) Chair; Faculty In Charge, D C Singhania Chair on Alternative Dispute Resolution, National Law School of India University, Bengaluru, said:
“The partnership between the National Law School of India University and the Singapore International Arbitration Centre has been a fine example of a common saying- bridging the gap between academia and legal practice. In the past two academic years, we delivered a specially curated module on institutional arbitration for NLS students and the wider arbitration community in the country.
The University also hosted two leading voices in international arbitration in our Annual Arbitration Lecture series with SIAC. These initiatives underscore the National Law School’s commitment to providing a truly global legal education.”
NLSIR announces the publication of its latest Special Blog Series, entitled “Beyond Algorithms: AI, Intellectual Property, and Indian Courts.” The series features 5 articles from prominent academics and practitioners on themes in the realm of AI & Law, with a special focus on Intellectual Property.
About the Series
AI in the courtroom is no longer a distant possibility—it’s here. At a recent conference at the Kenyan Supreme Court, Justice B.R. Gavai cautioned that AI-driven legal research isn’t foolproof, with tools like ChatGPT fabricating case citations. As AI’s presence in legal institutions grows, its impact and associated risks have both become impossible to ignore.
This concern is particularly relevant given the rising global debate on the role of AI in the judiciary. Closer to home, the Bangalore bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal recently issued a tax order that cited completely fictitious judgments. It used AI not merely as an assistive tool but as the sole basis for its legal reasoning. Conversely, the high courts of Manipur and Punjab & Haryana have used AI strictly for research purposes, ensuring that human judges retain full control over decision-making, a point also supported by Justice Gavai. This difference highlights an ongoing dilemma—on one hand, AI has the potential to make judicial processes more efficient and less burdensome; on the other, it comes with significant risks, including hallucination (the generation of incorrect or misleading outputs) and IP violations. This underscores a broader question: How should the Indian legal system approach AI?
Beyond the courtroom, AI is also reshaping intellectual property law. From disputes over the ownership and attribution of AI-generated works to questions about rights over training data, AI is reshaping some of IP’s major foundational assumptions. The ongoing litigation between ANI and OpenAI has further exposed gaps in existing legal frameworks, highlighting the tension between human creativity and machine-generated content. Traditional copyright and patent laws—centred on originality, authorship, and inventorship—are being tested as AI systems autonomously generate text, music, and art. Yet, these technologies rely on human-created datasets, raising complex concerns about fair use, attribution, compensation, and moral rights of the artists.
Recognising the urgency of these issues, NLSIR Online is launching a special series examining the intersection of AI, intellectual property rights, and the Indian judicial system. This series aims to foster a nuanced dialogue on how India’s legal system can navigate this technological shift while upholding its core values of human creativity, judicial discretion, and access to justice.
NLSIU hosted a special guest lecture by Vivek K. Chandy, the Joint Managing Partner of Jyoti Sagar Associates (JSA), one of India’s leading corporate law firms, on May 14, 2025. In this session, Mr. Chandy shared insights from his distinguished legal career, offering guidance on navigating the corporate law landscape, and reflecting on the evolving nature of the industry.
The NLSIU Library Committee organised a book talk by NLS alumna 
The National Law School of India University in collaboration with the Bengaluru City Police and Durga Foundation 
In this week’s faculty seminar, 
The National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bengaluru, and the 
Speaking to us, 
NLSIR announces the publication of its latest Special Blog Series, entitled “Beyond Algorithms: AI, Intellectual Property, and Indian Courts.” The series features 5 articles from prominent academics and practitioners on themes in the realm of AI & Law, with a special focus on Intellectual Property.