GLCT) Is As Old As the Institution
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FOREWORD My association with the Government Law College, Thrissur (GLCT) is as old as the institution. I remember with a sense of pride that I have been invited to all the important academic events organised by the college over a period of more than two decades. My visits to the college, including the one for delivering the prestigious C. Achyutha Menon Memorial Lecture, always left indelible impressions in my mind. Each visit to GLCT has strengthened my bonds- both emotional and intellectual- with the faculty and students of the institution. I have always felt that this institution of legal learning has great potential to emerge as a centre of excellence These recollections rushed to my mind when I have been asked to associate with the launching of an academic journal under the auspices of the Centre of Economics, Development and Law, an initiative of GLCT. What baffled me initially was the title Elenchus Law Review (Elen.LR), and, I am sure, I may not be the only one to be so baffled. My attempt to unravel the mystery behind the title convinced me that it is the most appropriate title for an academic journal. Elenchus is a dialectical method in the Socratic tradition, which has been defined as „a form of inquiry and discussion between individuals based on asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking and to illuminate ideas‟. The aim of Elenchus, according to Richard Robinson, is „to wake men out of their dogmatic slumber into genuine intellectual curiosity‟. Elenchus Law Review describes itself as an inter-disciplinary law review. Inter- disciplinary approach, contrary to what is commonly assumed, is not a current development. This is what the great jurist Roscoe Pound said more than a century ago: ―The teacher of law should be a student of sociology, economics and politics as well. He should know not only what the courts decide and the legal principles by which they decide, but quite as much the circumstances and conditions, social and economic, to which these principles are to be applied.‖ However even after a century interdisciplinary approach is still in its infancy, especially among legal academics mainly because they neither understood nor knew how to use the quantitative and statistical methods developed by the social scientists. Incidentally one of the papers included in the inaugural issue of the Elen.LR deals with the „methodological challenges while one attempts to cross beyond disciplinary boundaries academically‟. It is well to remember that attempts to break down discipline–specific barriers sometimes runs the risk of eliminating, rather than integrating, disciplines. This pertains to the need for developing appropriate tools to bring social science expertise 1 into the legal learning environment. It is gratifying to note that inter-disciplinary research, or rather meta-disciplinary research, heralded as a means to dismantle the walls around academic disciplines, is gathering momentum. The cognitive and social significance of interdisciplinary thinking for students, faculty and professionals is being increasingly recognised. The focus on inter-disciplinarity, which singles out Elen.LR from the run- of- the mill law journals in our country, is a manifestation of that recognition. Finally before bidding adieu, I must sound a word of caution. It is very easy to start a journal; but to sustain it, maintaining quality, is more than a Herculean task. I am sure that the Elen.LR team is well aware of the bumpy road ahead. With commitment, dedication and determination they will have a smooth ride and reach their destination. Bon Voyage! Prof. (DR.) N K JAYAKUMAR 2 PATRON’S NOTE My heartiest congratulations to the Editorial team of Elenchus Law Review for their first endeavour. The cultural capital of the state, Thrissur, had put its signature in the arena of legal education only in 1992. The visionaries had dreamt that Government Law College, Thrissur would live up to the challenges of new ages. And I feel proud standing on a 23 year old platform that the institution has grown to such a high level that it has been possible to successfully groom its students into dignified and decent persons and competent professionals. In spite of being the youngest among the Government Law Colleges, it has nurtured excellent professionals for the future. The institution went through a whole series of development over the years resulting in the establishment of a new high tech library with a well-equipped cyber station having various electronic data bases which are essential for a law student to be self-equipped with all professional tactics. We are privileged to have four academic centres of excellence with the aid and support of the government. Centre for business law, Dr. A. T. Markose Chair on advanced legal studies, Centre for Law, Economy and Development and Centre for Para Legal training and institutional ADR centre distinguishes the institution from the rest of its kind. Students get ample opportunities to develop their skills by indulging in the activities of these centres and thus materialises the principle, learning by doing. National trial advocacy and moot court competitions are organized in a splendid manner with the full support of the students and committed team of faculty. Student lawyers are trained to scale up their professional skills and capacity through an integrated mechanism of trial advocacy and moot court. We strive to provide our students with every opportunity of joyful learning. Our aim is to bring out their potential in order to help them achieve their aspirations. We have excellent faculty as well as facilities for giving opportunity to excel in all fields. I am extremely proud of our students and we enjoy working together like a big family. We would like each of our students to be role models for their communities and become future leaders of our country. A long cherished ambition is being materialised by the launch of Elenchus Law Review. Elenchus law review is a peer-reviewed interdisciplinary journal which aims at prospering the aesthetic skills of the budding professionals. The journal amply shares the views and opinions of the student academicia and legal fraternity in a critical 3 perspective. It aims to promote research and writing centred on the theme of Justice to enliven the practical content of life. As the patron of the journal I take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude towards each and every member of the editorial board for bringing laurels and glory to the institution. I hope this journal will serve as an inspiration and encourage and motivate the student community for similar future ventures. Thank you… Prof. (DR.) MERCY THEKKEKKARA Principal, Government Law College, Thrissur 4 In Focus Earthing with Expectation Mathew A Varghese Post Novartis Agenda to Curb Patenting of Known Substances K M Gopakumar , Third World Network 2015 (1) Elen. L R 1. ‘EARTHING’1 WITH EXPECTATIONS Mathew A Varghese2 Multi-storey apartments have proliferated, in the Kakkanad region. A new „site‟ appears almost every week and the finished and partially finished structures are the most visible symbols of transformation in the region. The advertised intention is catering to the needs of information technology spaces that are getting developed. The majority of these are developed by Malayali corporates based in metropolitan cities in India and some who are based overseas. Though Harilal (2003) argues that the construction boom started off after the mid nineteen seventies as a result of overseas remittances, the contemporary process has not been a logical follow through.3 Instead, this is directly linked to the post nineties economic policies and the growing role of the state as the promoter of corporate order. Bhaduri and Nayyar (1999) suggest that neoliberal Indian state has been both a continuation and reconfiguration of the nexus between corporate business and the state.4 “These groups have in fact determined the direction of reforms since the nineteen nineties with phenomenal state support” Corbridge and Harris (2000).5 In the newly urbanising places in question, as Harvey (2003) argues the „accumulation by dispossession‟ has been buffered out/watered away to a great extent by state intervention with respect to compensations, labour rights, or 1 Used in the sense of earthing apparatuses in electrical installations that earths out any surge and maintains the balance. 2 Dr. Mathew A. Varghese is currently working as Assistant Professor (FIP Substitute), Department of Political Science, Maharajas College, Ernakulam. He was awarded a Ph.D from the University of Bergen, Norway for his thesis “Spatial Reconfigurations and New Social Formations: The Contemporary Urban Context of Kerala” in the year 2013. 3 Harilal, K.N. and K. J. Joseph, „Stagnation and Revival of Kerala Economy: An Open economy Perspective‟, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 38, No. 23, Jun. 7-13, 2003: 2286-2294. 4 Bhaduri, Amit and Deepak Nayyar, An Intelligent Person‘s Guide to Liberalization, New Delhi: Penguin Books, 1999. 5 Corbridge, Stuart and John Harriss, Reinventing India, Polity Press: Cambridge, 2000. 7 2015 (1) Elen. L R drawing of frameworks.6 But these do not curtail financial reforms that provide easy routes for real estate investment. Unlike some of the overtly violent processes through which real estate business got established in cities like Bombay, as represented in popular usages like „mafia raj,‟7 here these evolved by getting embedded in the social capital8. With infrastructural facilities evenly spread out, the sector fast became the major employer in fields like construction, especially a situation from which secure jobs and primary sectors of production had been going out. In addition the migrant manual workers who flowed into such spaces too saw themselves co-opted in a relatively welfarist order9. More significant is the involvement of those who could be categorised middle men, the facilitators of land based real estate processes.