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The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC) completed a decade of operation in 2026, a period marked by measurable gains in creditor discipline alongside persistent delay and deep haircuts. By June 30, 2026, 9,166 corporate insolvency resolution processes (CIRPs) had been admitted nationally; 4,227 corporate debtors were rescued through resolution plans, settlements or withdrawals, yet 3,074 were sent to liquidation, and average resolution time exceeded twice the statutory outer limit of 330 days. This paper evaluates insolvency resolution under the IBC with specific reference to Odisha, a mineral-rich State whose corporate distress is concentrated in steel, sponge iron, ferro-alloys and mineral logistics, and whose matters are heard by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Cuttack Bench, functional only since March 2019 and shared with Chhattisgarh. Adopting a mixed doctrinal–empirical method, the study combines analysis of the Code, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Act, 2026 and leading jurisprudence with secondary data from the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India and a purposive sample of eight Odisha-linked matters, including Odisha Slurry Pipeline Infrastructure, VISA Steel, Jagannath Sponge, OCL Iron and Steel and Bhushan Power and Steel. The analysis finds that Odisha-specific delay is largely extra-statutory, arising from writ interventions and statutory-dues litigation by State-linked electricity utilities, while value erosion is accentuated by the time-sensitivity of commodity-based assets. The 2026 Amendment — mandating admission within fourteen days, codifying the clean-slate doctrine, excluding statutory dues from 'security interest' and introducing a creditor-initiated process — resolves most doctrinal uncertainties but leaves institutional constraints of bench capacity, professional depth and sub-national data unaddressed. The paper recommends strengthening the Cuttack Bench, publishing bench-wise statistics, judicial restraint in writ jurisdiction, early notification of creditor-initiated and group-insolvency rules, and safeguards for mining-licence continuity during insolvency. Keywords: Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code; Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process; NCLT Cuttack Bench; Odisha; Committee of Creditors; Clean-Slate Doctrine; IBC (Amendment) Act, 2026; Creditor-Initiated Insolvency Resolution Process; Statutory Dues; Steel and Sponge Iron Sector.

One of the most contentious and unresolved legal issues in India is marital rape, which is defined as having sex with one's spouse without that spouse's consent. Indian law still grants husbands a conditional immunity from prosecution for rape under the marital exception, despite progressive legislative changes in criminal law. The legal, constitutional, and social aspects of India's criminalization of marital rape are all critically examined in this paper. It examines whether the marital rape exception infringes against the fundamental rights of equality, dignity, privacy, and bodily autonomy as guaranteed by the constitution. Additionally, legislative trends, court rulings, and comparative foreign practices are examined. It highlights the shortcomings in the current legal system and makes recommendations for changes to guarantee complete protection of married women's sexual liberty and respect. The study comes to the conclusion that immediate legislative action is necessary because the marital rape exception's ongoing existence is incompatible with both international human rights norms and constitutional morality. Keywords: Consent, Dignity, Privacy, Criminal Law Reform, Women's Rights, Marital Rape, Sexual Autonomy, Constitutional Morality, Marital Exception, and Domestic Violence.

Family Courts were established in India under the Family Courts Act, 1984 to provide a humane, informal and conciliatory forum for matrimonial and family disputes. Women form a large share of litigants before these courts, seeking maintenance, divorce, custody, protection from cruelty and a share in marital resources. This study examines whether Family Courts deliver gender justice in substance as well as in form. It analyses constitutional guarantees, the Family Courts Act, personal laws, maintenance and custody law, and the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, together with judicial decisions. It identifies persistent problems of delay, stereotyping, weak enforcement of maintenance orders, pressure towards reconciliation, inadequate infrastructure and limited access to legal aid, and it suggests procedural, institutional and legislative reforms. Keywords: Gender Justice, Family Courts, Family Courts Act 1984, Maintenance, Custody, Divorce, Domestic Violence, Mediation, Women’s Rights, Access to Justice.

Bloodstain pattern analysis (BPA) is a specialised field within forensic science that examines the size, shape, distribution, location, and physical characteristics of bloodstains can be analysed to determine the sequence to infer the events that produced them. In homicide investigation, BPA contributions forensic crime scene reconstruction by providing information about the probable positions and movements of the victim and assailant, the direction and characteristics of the bloodshed, the type of the force that may have caused it, and the order in which events unfolded at the scene. This paper examines the theoretical basis, investigative applications, methodological procedures, and evidentiary value of BPA in homicide cases. It also evaluates the limitations of BPA, including contextual bias, interpretive subjectivity, surface effects, environmental alteration, and the need for corroborative evidence. The paper argues that BPA is most reliable when applied through standardised procedures, thoroughly documented scene examinations, controlled experimentation, and a multidisciplinary approach involving forensic pathology, DNA analysis, ballistics, digital imaging, and crime scene investigation. The study concludes that BPA is a valuable scientific tool for homicide reconstruction, but its conclusions should be expressed within defined limits and supported by independent forensic evidence. Keywords: Bloodstain Pattern analysis; homicide investigation; crime scene reconstruction; forensic science; scientific crime detection; forensic evidence.

Offender profiling is usually pictured as the study of the offender’s mind. Good behavioural investigation tends to start somewhere else, with the victim. Victimology asks who the victim was, how they were connected to the offender, how the victimisation happened, and which risks, routines and vulnerabilities may have influenced the offender’s choice of target and conduct. This article examines how victim characteristics are used in behavioural investigation in India. Its central claim is that victim analysis is an investigative method and has nothing to do with shifting blame onto victims. Done properly, it narrows the pool of suspects, helps reconstruct the offender’s decisions, and separates planned offending from opportunistic offending. The discussion draws on the Indian legal and institutional setting, including the victim-oriented provisions of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, the National Crime Records Bureau’s figures for 2023, and decisions of the Supreme Court. It closes by identifying the evidentiary, ethical and institutional obstacles that keep forensic victimology at the margins of Indian investigative practice. Keywords: victimology, offender profiling, behavioural investigation, victim characteristics

Abstract A capital market works only when investors trust it. In India that trust is underwritten by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), a statutory body that makes the rules, supervises the participants, investigates wrongdoing and adjudicates the result. This article explains how SEBI is constituted under the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992, what powers the Act gives it, how those powers are exercised through regulations, interim orders, adjudication and prosecution, and how they are checked by the Securities Appellate Tribunal and the Supreme Court. It then looks at two live developments, the Securities Markets Code Bill, 2025 and the Jane Street proceedings, and argues that the concentration of legislative, investigative and adjudicatory functions in one body is the central design question for the regulator. The article ends with suggestions for strengthening procedural fairness without weakening SEBI's ability to act quickly. Keywords: SEBI; capital market; securities regulation; SEBI Act, 1992; Securities Appellate Tribunal; insider trading; Securities Markets Code.

Indian criminal justice has, on paper, chosen reformation over retribution. The Supreme Court has said so repeatedly, from the late 1970s onward, and Parliament has begun to say so as well. Yet anyone who works in or around a district jail knows that the choice made in the judgments has not been fully made in the barracks. This paper looks at the distance between the two. It sets out the theoretical contest between punishment and rehabilitation, traces the constitutional and statutory framework governing prisons, reads the leading and recent decisions of the Supreme Court on prisoners’ rights and release, and then examines the administrative realities of overcrowding, undertrial detention, staffing, discrimination and weak after-care. The paper argues that the doctrine is largely settled and the implementation is not, and closes with practical recommendations drawn from the perspective of a practising advocate. Keywords: prison reform; reformative theory; Article 21; remission; parole; undertrial prisoners; reintegration; Sukanya Shantha.

The question of who can possess rights and duties under public international law is central to understanding the structure of the international legal system. Traditionally, States were treated as the primary and, in practical terms, almost exclusive subjects of international law. This position reflected a system built around sovereignty, territorial authority and relations between governments. However, developments in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries have made that traditional account incomplete. International organisations now possess legal personality for the performance of their functions; individuals may hold rights under international human rights law and incur direct responsibility for international crimes; and peoples have acquired important rights, particularly the right to self-determination. At the same time, corporations, non-governmental organisations and other non-State actors influence the creation, implementation and enforcement of international norms, although their legal personality remains limited or contested. This paper examines the meaning and tests of international legal personality and traces the movement from a State-centred model towards a more pluralistic international legal order. It analyses States as original and general subjects, international organisations as functional subjects, individuals as holders of rights and bearers of duties, and peoples as rights-holders in the context of self-determination. It also considers the position of multinational corporations, non-governmental organisations, national liberation movements and other non-State actors. Through leading decisions, including the *Reparation for Injuries* advisory opinion, *Barcelona Traction*, *Nottebohm* and *Prosecutor v. Tadić*, the paper explains that international legal personality is not an all-or-nothing status. Its content depends on the rights, duties, powers and procedural capacities conferred by international law. The paper argues that contemporary international law is best understood as a differentiated system of legal personality: States remain central, but they no longer monopolise international legal relevance. A realistic account must distinguish between being an actor in international relations and being a subject with legally recognised rights or obligations. Keywords: Public International Law; International Legal Personality; States; International Organisations; Individuals; Self-Determination; Non-State Actors

The representation of women in the judiciary is central to the legitimacy, inclusiveness and credibility of a constitutional democracy. Although women constitute nearly half of India's population, they remain markedly under-represented on the bench, particularly in the higher judiciary. Women account for roughly 38 per cent of judges in the district judiciary but only about 14 per cent of High Court judges, and the Supreme Court, which has had only twelve women judges since 1950, has two women among its sitting judges as of mid-2026. This pattern, often described as a glass ceiling, raises questions of equality, merit, institutional design and access to justice. This study critically examines the representation of women in the Indian judiciary through the perspective of feminist jurisprudence. It analyses Articles 14, 15, 16, 124, 217 and 233–235 of the Constitution, the Collegium system of appointments, state judicial service rules including horizontal reservation in the subordinate judiciary, relevant judicial decisions and international instruments including CEDAW. It distinguishes descriptive from substantive representation, evaluates the evidence on whether women judges alter judicial outcomes, and examines structural barriers such as the narrow Bar-to-Bench pipeline, opacity in selection, seniority norms, care responsibilities and intersectional exclusion. The study finds that the growing number of women in the subordinate judiciary has not translated into proportionate representation in constitutional courts, and that the absence of transparent, diversity-sensitive criteria for higher judicial appointments is a principal reason. It argues that women's representation should be understood as a question of institutional legitimacy and equal citizenship, not as a claim that women judges decide differently. It recommends published selection criteria and data, publicly reported diversity targets for Collegium recommendations, stronger pipelines from the Bar and the subordinate judiciary, gender-responsive workplace policies and continued judicial education on gender, while safeguarding judicial independence and merit. KEYWORDS Women in Judiciary, Judicial Diversity, Feminist Jurisprudence, Gender Justice, Collegium System, Glass Ceiling, Substantive Equality, Representation, Judicial Appointments, Affirmative Action.