DEMOCRATIC AWARENESS WITH LEGAL LITERACY (Our Laws, Our Rights)

By DR. PARTHA PRATIM PAUL | ASSAM UNIVERSITY, SILCHAR

Learners enrolled: 1190

This Course of B.A. (Hons.) POLITICAL SCIENCE entitled ‘Democratic Awareness with Legal literacy’ is a non-technical brief overview of different Laws (including Constitutional Law) operating in the personal, social, political and financial fields of individual and collective lives of the people of this country.

In Unit I, the hierarchy of the regular courts-civil and criminal, their power, function and jurisdiction (including the quasi-judicial bodies, special courts, ADR), the system by following of which they operate justice delivery system, will be focused.

Unit II covers a wide range of legal and Constitutional areas where fall the Fundamental Rights likes Article 14, Article 19, Article 21, Article 25, Constitutional Jurisprudence of Fundamental Rights, emerging and emerged dimensions of FR, Constitutionally permitted limitations over them, the analysis of personal laws in the backdrop of Fundamental Rights, the Fundamental Duties and their scope and ambit.

Basic substantive laws of crime including anti-terrorism laws or cyber crimes and the procedural laws i.e. pre-trial stage, trial stage and appellate/revision stage are also covered in this Unit. Laws enacted for the protection of women, children, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and their implementation are not left out in this Unit. Some elements of Contract and Transfer of Property related laws are also incorporated over here which have vital importance in the economic activity of the people.

Unit III basically deals with how does the legal system work, people’s access to judicial, quasi-judicial process and ADR and implementation/application part of laws and Constitution, enforcement of rights i.e. Article 32 and Article 226 of Constitution of India through which the doors of the higher judiciary are knocked at for the enforcement of Fundamental Rights. Most importantly this unit is touches the origin and development of Public interest Litigation (PIL). While teaching this course, the leading judgments of various High Courts and Supreme Court of India will be highlighted.

This 30 modules of this course will be delivered over a period of 8 weeks roughly covering the working days of a semester.

Summary

Course Status :	Ongoing
Course Type :	Elective
Duration :	10 weeks
Category :	Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit Points :	2
Level :	Undergraduate
Start Date :	08 Jul 2024
End Date :	31 Oct 2024
Enrollment Ends :	31 Aug 2024
Exam Date :	15 Dec 2024 IST
shift: :	II

Note: This exam date is subject to change based on seat availability. You can check final exam date on your hall ticket.

Page Visits

Course layout

M	Title of Lecture		Resource Person
WEEK 1
1		A brief overview of the legal system of India	Prof. Gangotri Chakraborty University of North Bengal
2		System of Courts- Civil and criminal, jurisdictions of courts- Specialized courts	Mrs. Mellissa Gurung Additional District & Sessions Judge, District of Hoogly
3		Role of the police and executive in criminal justice administration	Hon’ble (Retired) Justice Ranjit Kumar Bag High Court of Calcutta
4		Law & its different theories- Understanding of the laws operating in India	Prof. Gangotri Chakraborty University of North Bengal
WEEK 2
5		Concept of State - Pre and Post Constitutional Laws (Part III of Constitution)	Dr. Sanjit Kumar Chakraborty NUJS-WB, Kolkata
6		Right to Equality	Dr. Prem Kumar Agarwal Associate Prof. Hoogly Mahasin Law College, West Bengal & Officer-in-Charge, Government Centre of Legal Education, Chinsurah, Hooghly
7		Right to Freedom	Mr. Rajdeep Ghosh Rashtrita Raksha University, Gandhinagar
8		Right to Life & Personal Liberty and procedure established by law (Article 21)	Dr. Partha Pratim Paul Assam University, Silchar
WEEK 3
9		(Article 25) Freedom of Religion	Dr. Partha Pratim Paul Assam University, Silchar
10		Cultural and Educational Rights, Minority Educational Institutions and related matters.	Mr. Rajdeep Ghosh Rashtrita Raksha University, Gandhinagar
11		Article 51 & Fundamental Duties	Dr. Indra Nath Dey Amity School of Law, Kolkata
12		Enforcement of Fundamental Rights - Writ Jurisdiction and PIL	Dr. Prem Kumar Agarwal OIC; Government Centre of Legal Education, Chinsurah, Hooghly, W.B.
WEEK 4
13		Personal laws in India: Pluralism and Democracy-Uniform Civil Code.	Prof Gangotri Chakraborty University of North Bengal
14		Contract Laws & Transfer of Property Laws (including Premises Tenancy)	Dr. Indrani Kundu Jogesh Chandra Law College, Kolkata
15		Contempt of Court.	Hon’ble (Retired) Justice Ranjit Kumar Bag High Court of Calcutta
16		Laws relating to consumer protection- Consumer Dispute Redressal Bodies.	Dr. Ranjeeta Mukherjee St. Xavier’s University, Kolkata
WEEK 5
17		Criminal Justice administration: Pre-trial stage	Mrs Mellissa Gurung Additional District & Sessions Judge, Hoogly, West Bengal
18		Criminal Justice administration: Trial stage	Mrs Mellissa Gurung Additional District & Sessions Judge, Hoogly, West Bengal
19		General Exceptions to Criminal Liability- Abetments & Conspiracy	Dr Samraggi Chakraborty Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Sciences, Bangalore
WEEK 6
20		Offences against Human Body (Part I)	Hon’ble (Retired) Justice Ranjit Kumar Bag High Court of Calcutta
21		Offences against Human Body (Part II)	Dr. Zubair Ahmed Department of Law, Alliah University, Kolkata
22		Offences against Individual Property: Theft - Extortion - Robbery etc.	Dr. Zubair Ahmed Department of Law, Alliah University, Kolkata
23		Laws relating to cyber crime.	Prof. Anirban Mazumdar WB-NUJS, Kolkata
WEEK 7
24		Anti-terrorist laws: implications on National Security and Human Rights- Offences against State- Offences against Public Tranquility- Sedition	Mr. Subhrajit Roy Legal Advisor, Ministry of Defence, Govt of India
25		Legal Services Authorities Act and ‘Right to Free Legal Aid.’	Dr. Jhimli Bhattacharjee Assam University, Silchar
26		Prevention of Atrocities on Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.	Dr. Ponkhi Borah Assam University, Silchar
27		Laws relating to dowry and various forms of violence and criminal offences against women.	Dr. Ruchira Goswami WB-NUJS, Kolkata
WEEK 8
28		COLLEGIUM SYSTEM	Dr. Prem Kumar Agarwal Hoogly Mahasin Law College, West Bengal
29		RTI	Dr. Shameek Sen National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata
30		PIL	Dr. Partha Pratim Paul Assam University, Silchar

Books and references

1. India’s Legal System by Fali S. Nariman, Penguin Random House.

2. India’s Legal and Constitutional History by M.P. Singh, Universal.

3. Legal Systems in the World (Comparative Law) by S.R. Myneni, Asia Law House.

4. Studies in Jurisprudence and Legal Theory by N.V. Paranjape, Central Law Agency,

5. Jain M P (ed), V N Shukla’s CONSTITUTION OF INDIA (13th edn, Eastern Book Company 2019).

6. Ratanlal & Dhirajlal: The Code of Criminal Procedure, 2020 (Authored by K.Kannan), Lexis Nexis, New Delhi, 23rd Edition, 2020.

Instructor bio

DR. PARTHA PRATIM PAUL

ASSAM UNIVERSITY, SILCHAR

Dr. Partha Pratim Paul (LL.M, Ph.D-Law) is Associate Professor in Department of Law, Assam University, Silchar (a Central University). He completed LL.B from Jalpaiguri Law College and LL.M from Department of Law affiliated to/of University of North Bengal, Siliguri. The title of his LL.M Dissertation was UNIFORM CIVIL CODE: A QUEST FOR UNIFORMITY-an area of Constitutional Law. He did his Ph.D from same Department and the same university. The title of his Ph.D research is MEDICINAL PLANTS AND THEIR PROTECTION AS TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE: A STUDY OF THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK-an area of IPR. He has been teaching in Department of Law of AUS since 2004 and completed eighteen years in University teaching. He regularly teaches Constitutional Law and Intellectual Property Law as he has specializations in these subjects. His present area of research interest is Indian Jurisprudence, Law and Social Transformation, Criminal Law and Victimology, International Trade Law.

Partha Pratim Paul was also an Assistant Professor in Department of Law, University of North Bengal from 2008-2010. He also served Sikkim Government Law College, Gangtok and West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS), Kolkata as faculty member. Regarding research activities, till date he has published twenty articles in UGC recognized National journals (some of which are UGC-CARE listed) to his credit and contributed ten chapters in edited books, published by National and International publishers. Till date he has presented research papers/delivered invited lectures in more than forty National and International Seminars or Refreshers Course/FDI etc in many universities and colleges across India.

Regarding research guidance, till date three Ph.D. scholars have been awarded under his supervision; three Ph.D scholars have submitted their theses. With regard to LL.M level research, thirteen LL.M scholars have completed Dissertations under his guidance. He has also held administrative positions in his university likes member of DRC, BUGS, BPGS, School Board, Governing Bodies of Colleges. He was UGC nominated member to University Court of Sikkim University and CDC of Tripura University, from 2017 to 2020.

Partha Pratim Paul has also organised National level seminars in AUS in association with Asiatic Society, Kolkata on Demographics of The North-East Region of India; with ICSSR on Right to Freedom of Speech and Expression: A Legal and Constitutional Contour; in association with Department of Law, AUS on Right to Information: Issues and Challenges; in association with IRRAD on Good Rural Governance and Citizens’ Participation.

Course certificate

If you complete the course and submit all the assignments in time and participate in the Proctored Examination you will be rewarded with 2 credit points and a “CERTIFICATE OF ACCOMPLISHMENT”.

MARKS DISTRIBUTION: 30% OF INTERNAL ASSESSMENT & 70% OF TERM END FINAL PROCTORED EXAM