Bio Piracy VIS-A-VIS Medicinal Plants in Assam: A Socio Legal Analysis
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Date
2026
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NLUJAA
Abstract
Central to this discussion is the controversy surrounding ‘biopiracy’, which involves unauthorized commercial utilization of biological resources and related traditional knowledge (TK) without authentic compensation or benefit-sharing from indigenous communities that have cultivated these resources for thousands of years. The shift from an age where genetic resources were seen through the legal myth of the 'common heritage of mankind', now supplanted by sovereign rights, a regime largely driven by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) 1992,2 has markedly changed international environmental law. State of Assam located in North-Eastern part of India is a signing country under the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot. It is richest in endemic flora containing extremely useful phytochemistry and secondary metabolism, which was used for therapeutic and medicinal application by local aborigine communities (Bodo, Mising, Karbi, Rabha & Tiwa tribes). The customary custodians of this ethnobotanical heritage are the traditional healers of Assam, more commonly called as the Bez. On the basis of their knowledge on few native medical plants specific, such as Rauvolfia serpentina (Sarpagandha), Coptis teeta (Mishmi Teeta) and Garcinia pedunculata (Borthekera had used respectively in curing complaint from simple Dermal infection to complicated Gastro-intestinal disorders.
Description
Dissertation submitted to National Law University and Judicial Academy, Assam, for the partial fulfilment for the award of degree of ONE YEAR LL.M DEGREE PROGRAMME Submitted by: Sachin Mungrati UID ID: SM0225035 LL.M. 2nd semester Supervised by: Dr. Debasis Poddar Professor of Law