National Essay Writing Competition on “Feminist Perspectives on Indian Contract Act and Surrogacy in Independent India”

Tamil Nadu National Law University, Tiruchirappalli STAP National Essay Writing Competition is inviting essay submissions on the topic, “Feminist Perspectives on Indian Contract Act and Surrogacy in Independent India” as a part of STAP's initiatives to celebrate and commemorate 75 years of India’s progress and the glorious history of its people, culture, and achievements.

About Tamil Nadu National Law University (TNNLU)

TNNLU is located in Srirangam Taluk of the Tiruchirappalli Corporation, formerly known as Trichinopoly. The Government of Tamil Nadu established this institution of learning by an Act of State Legislature (Act No. 9 of 2012) to provide quality legal education. TNNLU commenced its functioning from the academic year 2013-2014.

About Suthanthira Thirunaal Amudha Peruvizha (STAP)

Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav has been adapted to Tamil as Suthanthira Thirunaal Amudha Peruvizha (STAP). It is an initiative to celebrate and commemorate 75 years of India’s progress and the glorious history of its people, culture and achievements. It is an embodiment of India’s socio-cultural, political and economic identity. STAP is specially dedicated to the people of Tamil Nadu and to the people of India, in general. As a part of STAP, TNNLU will be conducting various events from October 2021 to August 2022.

About the event

A woman hired to bear a child for another woman or a couple, which she turns over to the hirer is called a surrogate mother. The concept of surrogacy with modern technological advancements has taken on a new dimension, but the practice of one woman bearing a child for another is prevalent since a long time.

India is the largest and cheapest market for surrogacy. The practice of surrogacy is growing every year. Surrogacy has got the commercial character these days which has resulted in parties agreeing to enter into surrogacy contracts. When the whole process of surrogacy has become more commercial in nature, ethical and legal concerns are raised about surrogate motherhood.

Seventy-five years of Independence has witnessed changes in women’s role and has opened up various opportunities for their growth and advancement in independent India. However, the social hierarchies faced by women is always hindering their well-being and growth. Surrogacy is one such issue where there is no clarity with regard to the rights and liabilities of the parties involved.

Moreover, a proper regulatory mechanism does not exist. The Indian Contract Act, 1872 is considered as the basic law relating to contracts in India. As we are nearing our 75 years of Independence, it is high time we analyse the nexus between the Indian Contract Act, 1872 and the surrogacy contracts from a feminist perspective.

This national essay writing competition is organized by the students of the Batch of 2025, who are currently pursuing ‘Law of Contracts – II', as part of the Suthanthira Thirunaal Amudha Peruvizha (STAP) initiatives to commemorate 75 years of Independence.

Topic of the essay

Feminist Perspectives on Indian Contract Act and Surrogacy in Independent India.

Competition timeline

Registration & Submission Deadline - January 15, 2022.

The first 50 entries will only be accepted.

Winners will be notified through mail.

Eligibility

Undergraduate or Postgraduate students pursuing any discipline in any recognized University in India.

Registration Fee

No Registration Fee.

Awards & certificates

Top 3 participants will be awarded with certificates of merit.

The essay of the winner will be published in the forthcoming issue of TNNLU Law Review.

Guidelines

• All essays must be written in English.

• Co-authorship is allowed.

• The format specified below has to be strictly adhered to.

1. File type – All files submitted should be either in .doc or .docx with file name as 'Participant's Name-Event Name'.

2. Body – Times New Roman, size 12, line spacing 1.5, justified.

3. Footnotes – ILI Rules of Footnoting, Times New Roman, size 10, line spacing 1, left aligned.

4. End notes are not to be used.

• Word Limit of essay (exclusive of footnotes) is a minimum of 3000 words and maximum of 5000 words.

• All submissions must be accompanied by an abstract not exceeding 200 words.

• The body of the manuscript should not contain any personal details of the author, so as to enable anonymous screening.

• The work submitted should be original and unpublished and must not be under simultaneous consideration for publication elsewhere.

• The plagiarism limit should be less than 10%. The Organizing Committee reserves the right to use any plagiarism checker to vet the submissions.

• The entries should be submitted through this registration-cum-submission form only.

• The Organizing Committee reserves the right to publish or not publish the essays. In case of publication, the author(s) of the published essay(s) would be notified by the Organizing Committee.

• The entries would be assessed on the basis of the following parameters: originality, relevance to the topic, coherence and content.

Please refer to this link of brochure for detailed submission guidelines.

For any clarifications, please send an email to stapcontractlaws@tnnlu.ac.in

Reach out to the student coordinator, Mohamed Adnan Sami S +91 79045 65959.

If you would like your campus event to be published on Bar & Bench, please fill in the form available here.