The Research Society of Army Institute of Law had organized a guest lecture on ‘Legal Research’ by Mr. Sumeet Malik, Associate Editor, Supreme Court Cases Editor, SCC Online on 22nd of September 2022. The session was attended by the first three batches of the Institute and consisted of 120 plus students.
Mr. Malik started the lecture by asking the students a very simple question- “Why Law?”, while the on the face of it the answer to the question seems rather obvious- it caught everybody’s attention and gave an opportunity to those present to not only introspect but also to re-evaluate their reasons for choosing law. 
“Law is a dynamic field; it’s ever changing and evolving”- was the premise of Mr. Malik’s lecture. He spoke about the need for law to evolve, the need for one to not just read the letter of law but to understand the law. An interesting example of trespass used during the session, made the students wear their thinking caps and resulted in several creative responses, which made the students realise how basic words such as “shall”, “will” etc. alter the meaning and intent of a provision.
Mr. Sumeet malik then proceeded to talk about EBC and SCC Online-during the course of which he also made several relevant points pertaining to a bill turning into a law, a law ceasing to exist etc. This proved to be an extremely enriching discussion not just for the first-year students but also for the other batches as it allowed them to brush up on their understanding. Mr. Malik also spoke about how SCC Online can be used to address these questions in a simple and efficient manner. The relevance and understanding of citations were also explained in the session.
One of the points emphasised during the session was the need to always fall back on authentic sources of law, to return to the basics whenever in doubt. This exercise Mr. Malik pointed- ensures that the scope for ambiguity is reduced, which allows for effective filling of gaps in one’s understanding of the law. The lecture ended with a round of questions and answers.
While it isn’t possible to encapsulate the treasure chest of knowledge that the students received, it goes without saying that the session proved to be extremely enlightening and informative for the students and professors present.
