DISSERTATION GUIDEBOOK

An Introductory Guideline to Compile Dissertation of

Undergraduate and Postgraduate Law Degree
Programmes

Prof. Rajesh Bahuguna

1
 ABOUT LCD

Law College Dehradun, as a flagship institution of Uttaranchal University under the

aegis of Sushila Devi Centre for Professional Studies and Research, was established in
the year 2002 as the first independent Law College of Uttarakhand. The college was
the visionary project of Shri Jitender Joshi, the then Chairman of the society and
presently the Chancellor of Uttaranchal University along with his plenipotentiaries
from across the academic spectrum. Within a short span of time, the college registered
its reckoning presence and became one of the most sought-after destinations in the
field of legal education. The college which was initially affiliated to Hemwati Nandan
Bahuguna Garhwal Central University became a top- spot, producing a series of Gold
Medalists and University Merit Holders. As luck would have it, Law College
Dehradun reached its practical zenith and became faculty of Uttaranchal University in
2013 with the passing of Uttaranchal University Act.

Law College Dehradun inhabiting more than 2000 students on its roll is in fact,
reflective of Indian Diaspora as its composition resonates the voices of almost all the
states of India. The college as a lex matrix and an institutional paragon provides
complete legal education under a single roof which includes B.A. LL.B. (Hons.),
BBA.LL.B. (Hons.), LL.B. (Hons.), LL.M. and Doctoral Programme in Law. We
constantly focus on fostering inquisitive spirit and platonic-cum-epistemological quest
among our students as well as research scholars. This confluence reflects a symphony
of our institutional infrastructure, flexible academic curriculum, disciplinarian
paraphernalia, socio-cultural objectives, academic-corporate interface and potential
inducements for society centric academic research and practices.

An institution bereft of socio-economic and cultural objectives is barren and

unproductive. Keeping the fact in mind, the college boasts certain Student bodies like
Moot Court Society, Debating Society, Youth Parliament Society, Legal Aid Centre,
Green Society, Training and Recruitment Division. These bodies propel students
towards professional achievements and welfare-oriented objectives. Our research
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programmes to reflect the same value preference. Also, it is our motto to mobilize and
channelize the tremendous energy of our young students in a creative direction leading
to creation of a creative talent pool assimilating their full potential to benefit the
society and humanity in general. Every institution boasts a vision and we are not an
exception. Right from the beginning, we strenuously endeavored to metamorphose
Law College Dehradun into a world-class institution imparting legal education
accompanying a well cherished dream of becoming an institution of excellence across
the globe producing legal professionals with humanitarian propensity.

II
 PREFACE
Research activity is a quest for new knowledge, with critical and systematic
verification and peer review. Honesty, openness, systematization and documentation
are fundamental preconditions for achieving this goal. An endeavor, in the form of
Dissertation Guidebook, has been made to address the problems that students may
encounter while writing and compiling their dissertation. However, this dissertation
guidebook is not intended to be the final word on the subject, rather it is an attempt to
introduce the concepts and processes of the research. For this purposes, it is divided
into four heads: firstly, Introduction head which introduces the theoretical aspects that
focuses on the basic introduction and essential instructions for undergraduate and
postgraduate students to write research undertakings; secondly, under the Sequence of
Pages head, it prescribes systematic sequences of paging of the subject matter required
to write dissertation; thirdly, under Appendixes head, mode of citation has been
discussed in detail which would be helpful to cite different reference in footnotes as
well as bibliography. Under this head, ILI method of citation has been recommended
and explained Finally, this guidebook sums up with a Concluding Remark.

This guidebook attempts to explain and explore the research processes to the
undergraduate and postgraduate students of Law on the one hand, whilst on the other
it seeks to provide a starting point for their use. I hope our law students will utilize this
guidebook extensively to write their dissertation under their respective degree
programmes. Moreover, it reflects our wider aim to develop and improve the research
skills in our law students. In this, I hope it would go a long way in helping to address
some of the persistent issues and problems faced by budding legal researchers and
contributes to enhance their research knowledge and aptitude.

I pay reverence to Shri Jitender Joshi, Chancellor, Uttaranchal University, the

visionary and founder of the Uttaranchal University. I wish to place on record my
appreciation to Professor Dharam Budhi, Vice-Chancellor, Uttaranchal University. I
also express my sincere thanks to Prof. Poonam Rawat, Head, Law College Dehradun,

III
for a series of harmonious help while preparing the manuscript of this guidebook.

My special thanks to Dr. Laxman Singh Rawat, Assistant Prof. in Law for his
unconditional help in compiling this guidebook.

Dr. Rajesh Bahuguna

Professor & Dean
Law College Dehradun/
Pro Vice Chancellor,
Uttaranchal University Dehradun

IV
 CONTENTS

Page No.

About LCD I-II

Preface III-IV
Contents V
Introduction 1
General Instruction 2-3
Plagiarism 4
Sequence of Pages 5
Cover Page 6
Anti-Plagiarism Certificate 7
Declaration 8
Certificate 9
Acknowledgement 10
Preface 11
List of Abbreviations 12
Table of Cases 13
List of Figures 14
List of Tables 15
Contents 16-17
Main Text 18
Chapters 19
Bibliography 20
Mode of Citation 21-27
Concluding Remarks 28
About Author 29

V
 INTRODUCTION

Writing a dissertation followed by its compilation is an art. On many occasions,

it is seen that a good research work failed to attract its readers for want of its
systematical presentation. I understand that a little care with sincere efforts in
compiling dissertation will give excellent results. Students working on dissertation are
likely to come across some doubts like what different chapters will be, sequence of
pages, citations, formatting and so on. This guidebook gives simple and practical
advice on ‘How to write Dissertation’ for under graduation and post-graduation in
law. Students are advised to follow prescribed sample with appropriate changes, but in
no case, it should limit their creativity in writing. All the suggested sample pages are
based on the minimum requirements of a standard dissertation as well as imaginary.
Every innovation under the guidance and supervision of concerned supervisor is
welcomed.

This guidebook serves to achieve the following: to guide students, step-by-step on

how to conduct research systematically; to guide students on different types of
materials that can be used for academic research; and to conduct proper research, one
needs to realize that conducting research cannot be done in a haphazard manner.
Further, it can help in undertaking research in the selection of appropriate processes of
a research strategy where it is necessary to make explicit judgments about a hierarchy
of evidence, the weight afforded to various elements, and how they might combine to
give a rounded perspective. Furthermore, it can also help in understanding research
processes, and the mode of citation presented to address a research pursuit.

1
 GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS

A student of Law working on dissertation must keep it in mind that in most of the
cases his work will be based on doctrinal research except in the cases where nature of
the research required a field work. In both the cases quality of the research work is
very important but at the same time its presentation on paper in an organized manner
is equally important. So, before we understand to write different chapters, we must go
through the following general instructions to be followed while compiling the
dissertation.

Spine of the dissertation

The spine of the dissertation is some time ignored by the researchers at the time of
finally binding it. A plain spine without indication of year and title creates bad
impression when kept in the library rack. So, it is desirable to write the year and the
title of the dissertation on the spine also. The spine of the dissertation must be printed
with current year on the top and followed by the title of the dissertation in the
following manner:
2023

LEGAL AID AND AWARENESS IN INDIA:

A CRITICAL STUDY

Typing requirements
• Paper size
International standard paper size A4 (297 x 210 mm).

2
• Typing
On one side of the paper only.
• Margins
Top 1.0", Bottom 1.0", Left 1.5", Right 1.0".
• Font
Times New Roman
• Character spacing
Normal
• Font size
14points for chapter headings
12 points for main test
10 points for footnotes
• Line spacing
1.5 Lines for main test
Single for footnotes
• Numbering
Numbering should be in continuation from first chapter to the last. Contents
prior to the first chapter shall be numbered in Roman. Contents after last
chapter should also be numbered in Roman
Appendix (if any) should not be numbered at all.

3
 PLAGIARISM

Plagiarism is an act of copying idea, words or work of someone else with the
pretention that it is an original work of the person who had copied it. In case of
doctrinal research normally researchers are bound to take some references from the
work already done on the subject. A standard dissertation demands that source of such
work must be shown in the footnotes to make one’s stand clear about the plagiarism.
University Grant Commission permits similarity to some extent. Universities also
allow such permitted similarity.

• Every dissertation must be checked by the supervisor before submission using

Uttaranchal University subscribed Turnitin, an anti-plagiarism software to find
out plagiarism, and allowed if found within limits as per university norm.
• All research scholars along with their supervisors are also required to give a
certificate of Anti-Plagiarism on prescribed Performa.
• A case of unfair means (UFM) shall be registered against a student who
submits plagiarized work after making some modification to hide plagiarism.

4
 SEQUENCE OF PAGES

➢ Cover Page

➢ Anti-Plagiarism Certificate

➢ Declaration

➢ Acknowledgement

➢ Preface

➢ List of Abbreviations

➢ Table of Cases

➢ Contents

➢ Main Text

➢ Bibliography

➢ Appendixes

5
 LEGAL AID AND AWARENESS IN INDIA:
A CRITICAL STUDY
A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO
LAW COLLEGE DEHRADUN, UTTARANCHAL UNIVERSITY
IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE DEGREE OF
LL.M. (MASTER OF LAWS)

Submitted by: Supervised by:

ASMITA SHARMA DR. RAJESH BAHUGUNA
Roll No. 131500001 Professor & Dean
Enrollment No. Law College Dehradun
UU131500001 Uttaranchal University

LAW COLLEGE DEHRADUN

Uttaranchal University, Dehradun
Uttarakhand
2023
Note: Name of the Programme i.e., LL.M. or B.A. LL. (Hons.) or BBA. LL.B.(Hons.) can be
written accordingly.

6
 ANTI-PLAGIARISM CERTIFICATE

It is certified that the dissertation titled as “Legal Aid and Awareness in India: A
Critical Study” by Asmita Sharma has been examined with the following anti-
plagiarism tools. We undertake the following:

i. that the dissertation has been checked using Uttaranchal University subscribed
Turnitin, an anti-plagiarism software to check the documents of students and
scholars for detecting plagiarism, and found within limits as per University
norm and instructions issued from time to time;
ii. That the dissertation has significant work/knowledge as compared already
published or are under consideration to be published elsewhere. No sentence,
equation, diagram, table, paragraph or section has been copied verbatim from
previous work unless it is placed under quotation marks and duly referenced;
iii. That the work presented is original and own work of the author. No ideas,
processes, results or words of others have been presented as author’s own
work.
iv. That here is no fabrication of data or results which have been compiled and
analyzed; and
v. that there is no falsification by manipulating research materials, equipment or
processes, or changing or omitting data or results such that the research is not
accurately represented in the research record.

sd/- sd/-
(Research Scholar) (Research Supervisor)

7
 DECLARATION

I, Asmita Sharma, a student of LL.M. of Law College Dehradun, Uttaranchal

University, Uttarakhand with Roll No. 131500001and enrollment No. UU131500001,
do hereby declare that this dissertation entitled, “Legal Aid and Awareness in India:
A Critical Study” is my original work and a result of my own intellectual efforts. I
have quoted titles of all original sources i.e., original documents and name of the
authors whose work has helped me in writing this dissertation and have been placed at
appropriate places. I have not infringed copyrights of any other author.

Date: sd/-
Place: Dehradun (AsmitaSharma)

Note: Name of the Programme i.e., LL.M. or B.A. LL. (Hons.) or BBA. LL.B.(Hons.) can be
written according.

8
 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that dissertation entitled “Legal Aid and Awareness in India: A
Critical Study” which is being submitted by Miss Asmita Sharma for the award of
the degree of LL.M. is an independent and original research work carried out by her.

The dissertation is worthy of consideration for the award of Master of Laws Degree
of Law College Dehradun, Uttaranchal University, Uttarakhand.

Miss Asmita Sharma has worked under my guidance and supervision to fulfill all
requirements for the submission of this dissertation.

The conduct of research scholar remained excellent during the period of research.

Date: sd/-
Place: Dehradun Prof. (Dr.) Rajesh Bahuguna

Note: Name of the Programme i.e., LL.M. or B.A. LL. (Hons.) or BBA. LL.B.(Hons.) can be
written according.

9
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The successful completion of my dissertation would not have been possible without
guidance and support of my supervisor Prof……..I would like to express my deepest
gratitude to him.

I acknowledge with pleasure the unparallel infrastructural support that I have received
from Law College Dehradun, Uttaranchal University, Uttarakhand. In fact, this work
is the outcome of outstanding support that I have received from the faculty members
of the college, in particular… (optional)

I find this opportunity to thank the library staff of the Law College Dehradun.

This research work bears testimony to the active encouragement and guidance of a
host of friends and well-wishers. In particular……(optional)

It would never have been possible to complete this study without an untiring support
from my family (optional)…

I am greatly indebted to the various writers, jurists and all others from whose writings
and work I have taken help to complete this dissertation.

Date: sd/-
Place: Dehradun (AsmitaSharma)

Note:
The above-mentioned Acknowledgement is mere sample and suggestive one. It is
desirable to the students to change appropriately according to his/her own research
undertakings.

10
 PREFACE

Preface of the dissertation should be like a mirror to it and capable to show entire
dissertation briefly. One may take as many pages as required for preface. Only thing a
reader must be able to understand outline of the research work from preface itself.
More a researcher can create interest in the preface more he will be able to attract
readers to read his work.

Four to five paragraphs of this page must be devoted to the historical backgrounds of
your topic, your special attempts to highlight the topic, your attempts to analyze the
topic, what made you to research on this topic and finally your finding in one separate
paragraph. After this you should give a brief note of every chapter of your dissertation
e.g. …

The subject research work has been divided in six major chapters and further divided
into various subtopics and sub to subtopics. The first topic which is named as
Introduction consists of…

The second chapter of this work attempts to…

The third chapter deals with…

The fourth chapter of this research work is an endeavour to…

Chapter fifth attempts to…

The sixth chapter of this dissertation gives conclusion of the research work and certain
valuable suggestions to…

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 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

AIR All India Reports

Cr L J Criminal Law Journal

ICA International Centre for Arbitration

ICADR International Centre for Alternative Dispute Resolution

LL.M. Master of Laws

NALSA National Legal Services Authority

SCC Supreme Court Cases

UNCITRAL The United Nation Commission on International Trade Laws

Versus

v. Versus

WLR Weekly Law Reports

Note:
• That abbreviations used by you are approved abbreviations whether by
traditions, statute or otherwise.

• That you do not invent your own abbreviation.

• That abbreviations listed on this are in alphabetical order.

12
 TABLE OF CASES

AIMS Students Union v. AIMS 9, 27

Delhi Transport Corporation v. D.T.C. Mazdoor Sangh 37,47, 123

H.N.B. Garhwal Central University v. Vijay Sharma 42

Keshwanand Bharti v. State of Kerala 65

Marbury v. Madison 107, 111

Kerala Education Bill 128

Note:
Legal research is not completed without mention of leading cases decided by the
Apex court. Researchers are expected to list out all the cases referred by them in
their dissertation keeping following in the view.

• That you should list out all the cases referred by you in your dissertation in
strict alphabetical order.

• That small ‘v’ is used to indicate versus and followed by full stop.

• That page numbers upon which the case is referred /discussed are indicated in
sequence against the name of the case.

13
 LIST OF FIGUERS

Figure No. Description Page No.

1 Statistics of Lok Adalat held in Uttarakhand during last 10 35
years
2.

Note:
Researchers are advised to list out all the figures used/prepared by them in their
dissertation in the above-mentioned manner in chronological order. Description as
well as page numbers of the figure must agree with its presentation in the respective
dissertation.

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 LIST OF TABLES

Table No. Description Page No.

1 Table of the cases shown pending by High Court of 42
Uttarakhand at Nainital as close on 31st December 2022.
2.

Note:
Researchers are advised to list out all the tables used/prepared by them in their
dissertation in the above-mentioned manner in chronological order. Description as
well as page numbers of the table must agree with its presentation in the respective
dissertation.

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 CONTENTS

CONTENTS DESCRIPTION PAGE No.

ANTI-PLAGIARISM I
CERTIFICATE

DECLARATION ii

CERTIFICATE iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iv

PREFACE v

ABBREVIATIONS vi

TABLE OF CASES vii

TABLE OF FIGURES viii

CHAPTER – ONE INTRODUCTION 1-27

1.1 The Concept 1

1.2 Historical Backgrounds 4

1.2.1 Ancient India 6

1.2.2 Medieval India 13

1.3 Legal Aid V. 24

Legal Awareness 25
1.4 Objective of The Research
1.5 Hypothesis 26
1.6 Research Methodology 27

CHAPTER – TWO SCOPE OF LEGAL AID IN INDIA 28

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BIBLIOGRAPHY ix-xiv

Books ix

Statutes x

Reports xi

Articles, Papers and Transcripts xii

Websites referred xiii

News papers xiv

APPENDIXES

I. Paper Published

II. The Legal Services Authority Act,1987

III. Code of Criminal Procedure,1973

17
 MAIN TEXT

• The main text will consist all the chapters in which dissertation is divided.

• Each chapter will consist the following: -

i. Chapter number
ii. Name of the Chapter
iii. Main Paragraphs
iv. Sub Paragraphs (wherever required)
v. Sub to sub paragraphs (wherever required)
vi. Foot Notes

• Each chapter may be divided into different heading e.g. Major heading, sub
heading and sub to sub heading as per the requirement.
• The first page of first chapter is the first page numbered in international
numerals.
• A larger font size may be used for chapter headings and subheadings.
• That your chapter headings, subheadings and sub subheadings should be
clearly distinguishable from each other.
• To distinguish chapter headings from subheadings and sub subheadings from
sub to subheadings, chapter headings may be made uppercase and bold,
subheadings may be made sentence case and bold and if there are sub
subheadings, these may be italicized.

18
 CHAPTER – ONE INTRODUCTION

1.1. HISTORICALBACKGROUND

The legal aid means providing an arrangement in the society so that the machinery of
administration of justice becomes easily accessible and is not out of reach for those
who must resort to it for enforcement of rights given to them by law…

1.1.1 Indian Perspective…

1.1.1.1. Uttarakhand Perspective…

Note:
Each chapter may be divided as major heading, sub-heading and sub to sub- heading
as per the requirement in the above manner by giving number to each such paragraph
or division of it. A dissertation is expected to cover inter alia following minimum
topics under its introduction –

1. Etymology, meaning and definition of the concept/ words of the topic of

dissertation. Legal dictionary meaning, meaning in legal encyclopedia which
may include Halsbury’s Law of India, interpretation of the concept given by
the Apex court in the leading cases may be part of this
2. Historical Backgrounds of the research undertaking.
3. Importance and present status of the research undertaking.
4. Research objectives
5. Hypothesis
6. Research methodology

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Books: To be written in following manner, e.g.

• Jain, M.P.: Indian Constitutional Law,
Kamla House, Calcutta, 5th edn., 1998
2. Statutes: To be written in following manner, e.g.
• Code of Criminal Procedure 1973 (Act No. 2 of1973)
3. Reports: To be written in following manner, e.g.
• Report of National Commission to review the working of Indian
Constitution, 2002.
4. Articles: To be written in following manner, e.g.
• Pandey, A.K.: Promise to marry and rape: plea for constructing non-
consent, Dehradun Law Review: A Journal of Law college Dehradun
Uttaranchal University, Vol. 5 Issue – 1, 2013

5. Website: To be written in following manner, e.g.

• http//www.wikipedia.com

6. News Paper: To be written in following manner, e.g.

• The Times of India,
• The Hindu
7. Appendixes
• Paper Published
• The Legal Services Authority Act,1987
• Code of Criminal Procedure,1973

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 MODE OF CITATION

I. MODE OF CITATION FOR BOOKS

A. FOR AN AUTHORED BOOK

(i) By a single author:

Name of the author, Title of the book p.no. (if referring to specific page or
pages) (Publisher, Place of publication, edition/year of publication).
E.g., M. P. Jain, Indian Constitutional Law 98 (Kamal Law House, Calcutta,
5thedn., 1998).

(ii) By two authors:

Name of the authors, Title of the book p.no. (if referring to specific page or
pages) (Publisher, Place of publication, edition/year of publication).
E.g., M. P. Jain and S.N. Jain, Principles of Administrative Law 38 (Wadhawa,
Nagpur, 2001)

(iii) By multiple authors (more than two):

Name of the first two authors, et.al., Title of the book p.no. (if referring to
specific page or pages) (Publisher, Place of publication, edition/year of
publication).
E.g., Jerry L. Mashaw, Richard A. Merrill, et.al., The American Public Law
System-Cases and Materials 50 (West Group, St. Paul, MN, 1992).

21
B. FOR EDITED BOOKS

(i) By a single editor:

Name of the editor (ed.), Title of the book p.no. (if referring to specific page
or pages) (Publisher, Place of publication, edn/year).
E.g.,Nilendra Kumar (ed.), Nana Palkhivala: A Tribute 18(Universal
Publishers, Delhi, 2004).
(ii) By two editors:
Name of the editors (eds.), Title of the book p.no. (if referring to specific
page or pages) (Publisher, Place of publication, edn/year).
E.g. S.K. Verma and Raman Mittal (eds.), Intellectual Property Rights: A
Global Vision 38-42 (ILI, Delhi, 2004).
(iii) By more than two editors:
Name of the editors, the first two only, et.al. (eds.), Title of the book p.no. (if
referring to specific page or pages) (Publisher, Place of publication,
edn/year).
E.g.Chatrapati Singh, P.K. Coudhary, et.al. (eds.), Towards Energy
Conservation Law 78 (ILI, Delhi, 1989).

NOTE: And others ('et al.' is used as an abbreviation of 'et alii ‘(masculine
plural) or 'et aliae' (feminine plural) or 'et alia ‘(neuter plural) when
referring to a number of people)
(iv) By or an auspice of an organization/institution: Indian Law Institute,
Index to Indian Legal Periodicals (ILI, Delhi, 2002).

II. MODE OF CITATION FOR ARTICLES/ESSAYS

(i) Citation of a paper published in ajournal/periodical: Name of author of

the article, title of the essay within inverted commas, volume number of
journals, Name of the journal in abbreviation & page number (year). e. g,.
K. Madhusudhana Rao, “Authority to Recommend President’s Rule under
Article 356 of the Constitution”, 46 JILI 125 (2004).
(ii) Citation of a paper published in a case reporter:
22
 P.K. Thakur, “Permissibility of Probation in Offences Punishable with
Minimum Imprisonment” 2 SCJ 26-38 (2002).
(iii) Citation of an essay published in a book edited: Name of author of the
essay, title of the essay within inverted commas, in Name of the editor(s),
title of the edited book page number (publisher, edition/year).
E.g. R.K. Nayak, “Evolving Global Drugs Law for the 21stCentury” in D.C.
Jayasuriya, R.K. Nayak et.at. (eds.), Global Drugs Law 70 (1997).
(iv) Citation of an essay published as a part of a Survey of Law (e.g. Annual
Survey of Indian Law – [an annual publication of the Indian Law
Institute, New Delhi]: Name of author of the essay, title of the essay within
inverted commas, volume number name of the survey, page number(year).
E.g.: P.S. Jaswal, “Constitutional Law-I” XXXVIII ASIL115-150(2002).
(v) Citation of a write up published in a newspaper/periodical: Name of the
writer, Title of the write-up within inverted commas, Name of the
newspaper, date. Robert I. Freidman, “India’s Shame: Sexual Slavery and
Political Corruption are Leading to an AIDS Catastrophe”, The Nation,
April 8, 1996.
(vi) Citation of an editorial from a newspaper: Editorial, Title of the Editorial
within inverted commas Name of the newspaper, date. Editorial “Short-
circuited” The Times of India, August 2, 2004.
(vii) Citing a reference from Encyclopedia: Edwin R.A. Seligman (ed.),
Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences Vol. XV (The Macmillan Co., NY,
1957).
(viii) ACTS: The Information Technology Act, 2000 (Act 21 of 2000)
(ix) REPORTS
• Law Commission of India, 144th Report on conflicting Judicial
Decisions Pertaining to the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908
(April,1992).
• Government of India, Report on Committee on Reforms of Criminal
Justice System (Ministry of Home Affairs, 2003).

23
III. WEBSITES
If the websites give information as to when it was Last modified, that must be
cited, if not, one must cite the date of visiting the website in the following
manner.
(i) If Last modification date is mentioned: Information Technology Act 2000,
India, available at:http://www.mit.gov.in/it-bill.asp (Last Modified July 29,
2003).
(ii) If Last modification date is not mentioned: Information Technology Act 2000,
India, available at: http://www.mit.gov.in/it- bill.asp (Visited on July 29, 2003).

IV. UNPUBLISHED WORKS

(i) Unpublished Research Work (E. g., Dissertation /Thesis): Name of the
Researcher, Title of the dissertation/thesis (Year)(Unpublished) Ph.D. thesis,
Name of the University/organization). Vijay Sharma, xyz(2013)
(Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Uttaranchal University).

(ii) Interviews:
Interview with Mr. Ravi Shankar Prasad, Law Minister of India, The Hindu,
June 25, 2014.
(iii) Forthcoming publication of a book:
Justice V. R. Krishna Iyer, J. Rhetoric versus Reality (In Press).

V. MODE OF CITATION OF CASE LAW

(a) All India Reporter (AIR)

The case title is to be written in the body of the text, e.g.Keshavananda
Bharti v. State of Kerala whereas the citation of the case is to be written in
the footnote as AIR 1973 SC 1461.
(b) Supreme Court Cases (SCC)
The case title is to be written in the body of the text, e.g.Keshavananda
Bharti v. State of Kerala whereas the citation of the case is to be written in
24
 the footnote as (1973) 4 SCC 225.
(c) Criminal Law Journal (Cr LJ)
The case title is to be written in the body of the text, e.g., Ahmed Khan v.
Shah Bano Begum whereas the citation of the case is to be written in the
footnote as1985 Cr L J1129).
(d) All England Reports (AllER)
The case title is to be written in the body of the text, e.g., Wilcox v. Jeffery,
whereas the citation of the case is to be written in the footnote as [1951] 1
All ER 464.

VI. FOOTNOTING OF SECOND-HAND QUOTATIONS

Avtar Singh, Company Law, Eastern Book Company, 2004, p.23 cited in David
Gower, “Rights of the Shareholders”, 27 JILI, 2004, p.39.

Note:
• That there are cases when material at hand (referring source) makes a reference
to some other material (referred material), such as a book cited in another book
or an article mentioning another article or an article mentioned in a book or a
book mentioned in an article etc. That if one is referring to what is referred
without confirming that in original, then what is referred (referred material) and
in which that is referred (referring source), both should be foot noted.
• That referred material should come first and referring source should come next.
• That referred material and the referring source should be separated by the
expression ‘cited in’.

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Use of Ibid (to be written in italics)
Ibid. – This expression commonly refers to ‘same work at same place’.
For example, if footnote number 7 is:
7. Avtar Singh, Company Law, Eastern Book Company, 2004, p.23. and in
immediately succeeding footnote, i.e., number 8, same page of same book is
referred again, then there is no need to repeat the whole footnote. Writing ibid.
in footnote number 8 shall suffice. Thus, footnote sequence shall appear-
7. Avtar Singh, Company Law, Eastern Book Company, 2004, p.23.
8. Ibid.

Use of Id. (to be written in italics)

Id. – This expression is commonly used when in consecutive footnotes referred work
remains the same, but its page number changes.
For example, if footnote number 7 is:
7. Avtar Singh, Company Law, Eastern Book Company, 2004, p.23. and in
immediately succeeding footnote, i.e., number 8, page 79 of the same book is
referred, then there is no need to write the whole footnote again. Writing id.
with the changed page number shall suffice.
Thus, footnote sequence shall appear as-
7. Avtar Singh, Company Law, Eastern Book Company, 2004, p.23.
8. Id. atp.79.

Note:
• That the use of ibid. or id. is meaningful only in successive cases.

Use of supra (to be written in italics)

Expression ‘supra’ refers to an earlier but not immediately preceding footnote.
For example, if footnote number 7is:
7. Avtar Singh, Company Law, Eastern Book Company,2004, p.23. and footnote
number 8 is:
8. David Gower, “Rights of the Shareholders”, 27 JILI, 2004, p.39.Now, if in

26
 footnote number 9 the same page of the same book as referred in footnote
number 7 is required to be referred, the expression ‘supra’ shall be used.
Thus, footnote sequence shall appear as-
7. Avtar Singh, Company Law, Eastern Book Company, 2004, p.23.
8. David Gower, “Rights of the Shareholders”, 27 JILI, 2004, p.39.
9. Supra note7.

(ii) And, if in footnote number 9 a different page of the same book as referred in
footnote number 7 is required to be referred, footnote sequence shall appear as-
7. Avtar Singh, Company Law, Eastern Book Company, 2004, p.23.
8. David Gower, “Rights of the Shareholders”, 27 JILI, 2004, p.39.
9. Supra note 7 at p.79.

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 CONCLUDING REMARKS

This dissertation guidebook lists only the basic requirements for preparing the
postgraduate dissertation. Over and above, the points, a dissertation should be reader-
friendly in both its appearance and presentation. However, several aspects of
dissertation preparation processes, particularly style of writing and presentation, have
been discussed in brief under this guidebook. The student should follow appropriate
ideas from standard literature of his/her area of research and discuss the same with the
assigned research supervisor, and adopt a uniform style and format throughout the
dissertation, such as in the structural divisions/subdivisions of the dissertation, in the
mode of citing references and footnotes in the text, in using dimensions, units and
notations, and in preparing tables and Figures etc.

Finally, ensure the following:

• That before submitting even the first draft to the supervisor all the spellings,
grammar, punctuation etc. are checked thoroughly.
• That at least two copies of the work are to be prepared.
• That all the copies of dissertation must be well bound with black leather cover.
• That you must carry one copy of the dissertation with you on the day of viva
voce examination.

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 ABOUT AUTHOR

Dr. Rajesh Bahuguna did his LL.B. and LL.M. both from Jai Narayan
Vyas Jodhpur University. He qualified UGC- NET examination and
accomplished his Ph.D. from Kurukshetra University under the
supervision of Prof. R.K. Sabbarwal on the topic ‘Alternative Dispute
Resolution system in India.’ He specializes in Constitutional Law and
Alternative Dispute Resolution. He has more than 42 years of working
experience which include 15 years’ service in prestigious Indian Air Force and the rest
includes his teaching, research as well as administrative experience.

A renowned face in legal academia of the state, he is a member of more than 13 top
ranked institutions related to Law including Indian Law Institution (ILI) and
International Centre for Alternate Dispute Resolution (ICADR). He is on the panel of
more than 15 Universities and State Public Service Commissions. He is the Editor in
Chief of Dehradun Law Review: A Journal of Law College Dehradun, Uttaranchal
University and Law College Dehradun Newsletter. He has published 38 research
papers in National and International Journals and has participated in series of events
as Chair, Keynote Speaker, Guest Speaker, and Judge in Moot Courts and at times as a
participant.

He is a trained mediator from International Centre for Alternative Dispute Resolution,

New Delhi. Eight students have successfully completed their Ph.D. under his
supervision. In addition to these, more than 40 LL.M. students have completed their
dissertation under his guidance and supervision so far.

Prof. (Dr.) Rajesh Bahuguna is recipient of numerous Awards and Appreciations,

most noteworthy being, from His Excellency Dr. K.K. Paul, the then Hon’ble
Governor of Uttarakhand and Hon’ble Mr. Justice Rajesh Tandon, Chairman of law
Commission of Uttarakhand. He has appeared as a panelist on TV Channels and has
shared his views on legal issues on Akashwani (AIR).

Currently Prof. Rajesh Bahuguna is holding the Post of the Pro Vice Chancellor along
with Dean of Law College Dehradun, Uttaranchal University.

Contact: 9412975564/7983285811
Email: [email protected]
[email protected]

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