Second Article Writing Competition 2026 on Regulatory Gaps in India's Digital Ecosystem, in Collaboration with Luthra and Luthra Law Offices

LexTech, the Centre for Law, Entrepreneurship and Innovation at National Law University Odisha (NLUO), has announced the second edition of its Article Writing Competition, organised in collaboration with Luthra and Luthra Law Offices India as law firm partner and Manupatra as publication partner.

The competition is part of an annual series aimed at fostering academic discourse on pressing legal developments. This year's theme, "Regulatory Gaps in India's Digital Ecosystem", invites participants to critically analyse the structural, policy and enforcement challenges within India's rapidly evolving digital regulatory framework, and to propose forward-looking solutions.

The inaugural edition was organised in June 2024 on the theme "Emerging Areas in Technology Law", in collaboration with Nishith Desai Associates, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy and SCC Times. It drew over 160 registrations and more than 100 submissions from law schools across the country, and winners were awarded internships and publication opportunities with the collaborating organisations.

National Law University Odisha, established in 2009 at Cuttack, offers undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral programmes with a focus on academic rigour, practical exposure and interdisciplinary learning. It runs multiple research centres and academic societies and regularly hosts conferences, workshops and collaborative initiatives on contemporary legal and policy issues. The University is led by Vice Chancellor Prof. (Dr.) K. Vidyullatha Reddy and Registrar Prof. Dr. Rangin Pallav Tripathy.

LexTech, the Centre for Law, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, works on FinTech, AI, TMT, online gaming and betting laws, and data privacy. The Centre publishes a monthly newsletter, hosts the talk show "Tech Tales: From Code to Courtroom", and runs Lexathon (its tech-law conclave), a national article writing competition, a specialised credit course, and explainer and conversation series.

Luthra and Luthra Law Offices India (Law Firm Partner): a full-service law firm established in 1990, with over 300 members including 55 partners, and offices in New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai. The firm advises Indian and multinational companies across a wide range of practice areas and on complex, high-value transactions and disputes.

Manupatra (Publication Partner): an Indian legal publisher and pioneer in online legal research, founded in 2000, with its flagship online database launched in 2001. It offers legal, taxation, corporate and business policy content through digital and print platforms, serving academia, the judiciary, legal professionals, corporates, government bodies and research institutions.

Theme: Regulatory Gaps in India's Digital Ecosystem

• Evaluating India's now liberalised FDI Policy and the IN-SPACe Framework in light of the global commercial space race
• Copyright challenges in the era of Generative AI within the Indian regulatory landscape
• DPDP compliance concerns and the veracity of age-gating and verification mechanisms
• The CERT-In Cyber Security Audit Policy Guidelines and their impact on India's digital ecosystem
• Analysing intermediary liability in light of executive-driven content moderation frameworks
• Examining the impact of the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 on the online gaming industry in India

The organisers state that these sub-themes are suggestive in nature, and any sub-theme falling within the umbrella theme of "Regulatory Gaps in India's Digital Ecosystem" is permissible.

• Open to all undergraduate and postgraduate students enrolled in a recognised law university, college or institute
• Co-authorship is allowed, up to a maximum of two authors
• Cross-institutional teams are allowed
• Only one submission per author is allowed
• There is no restriction on the number of entries from any college or university

• The submission must be the original and unpublished work of the author, must be analytical in nature, and must not be under simultaneous consideration for publication elsewhere
• Responsibility for verifying the accuracy of facts, opinions or views in the submission lies with the author
• Submissions must not contain content that is offensive, abusive, derogatory or potentially defamatory
• The author's name must be absent throughout the article, including in file properties and metadata; only the team code is to be mentioned
• Team codes are allotted by email after registration
• Submission must be in .doc or .docx format, and the document must be titled "TC XX - Title of the manuscript" (where XX is the allotted team code)
• LexTech has sole discretion to accept or reject submissions, and its decision is final and binding

The article must be written in English and the format below must be strictly followed:

• Word limit: 1,500 to 2,000 words
• Font and size: Times New Roman, size 12, justified alignment
• References: sources must be hyperlinked; footnotes, if any, must conform to OSCOLA (4th Edition)
• Footnotes (if any): Times New Roman, size 10
• Margin and spacing: 1.5 spacing with a 1 inch margin on all sides
• Plagiarism: similarity above 15 per cent will attract immediate rejection
• AI-generated content: the use of AI tools for article writing is strictly prohibited
• Anonymity: the manuscript must not carry author names, institutional affiliations or any other identity markers
• The title of the article must be 100 characters or fewer

Registration fee: Rs 350 for single authorship and Rs 600 for co-authorship (maximum two authors).

Payment is to be made through ICICI Bank Eazypay as follows:

• Visit the Eazypay portal and enter the institution name as "National Law University", then click "Go"
• Fill in email ID, mobile number and the amount (Rs 350 for a single author, Rs 600 for co-authors)
• Enter student name; for roll number, NLUO students enter their roll or enrolment number and all others enter 131
• For semester, NLUO students enter their semester number and all others enter 11; then enter the year
• Enter the purpose as "LexTech Article writing 2026"
• Submit after entering the captcha and OTP, then save the auto-generated payment receipt
• Attach the payment receipt in the registration form

Registration is through the official Google Form linked below, with the Eazypay payment receipt attached. Registration opened on 27 July 2026 and closes on 16 August 2026 at 11:59 PM.

Registered participants are sent a separate submission form. All articles must be submitted through that form by 30 August 2026, 11:59 PM. The organisers state that any other method of submission will not be considered. Results are to be declared in October 2026.