The Parliament of India 15 May holds a very special place in the annals of India’s Constitutional History. Just like December 1946 when the Constituent Assembly met to decide the fate of the Indian Constitution, on 15 May 1978, the Parliament saw the introduction of India’s Mini-Constitution i.e., the Constitution (Forty-Fourth Amendment) Act, 1978. This... Continue Reading →
The last week of April holds a very special place in the chapters of Indian legal history. On 24th April 1973, the Supreme Court delivered the judgment in Kesavananda Bharti v. State of Kerala (the lengthiest and arguably its most important till date), wherein it held that the parliament while amending the Constitution cannot change... Continue Reading →
The internet has been abuzz with news concerning Hon’ble Justice Gogoi’s recent autobiography ‘Justice for the Judge’. The buzz is understandable given the Judge’s polarizing past and the contentious issues the book deals with. There is significant writing (mostly negative) about the book already which got me wondering, how can a book be so reviled?... Continue Reading →
A few days ago, the Learned Attorney General for India (‘AG’) Shri. K.K. Venugopal, made some important observations about the representation of women in the Supreme Court of India. Speaking on the occasion to recommend ways to gender sensitize the Judges, the AG remarked that more women judges in Constitutional Courts (i.e. Supreme Court and... Continue Reading →
In a discussion over the greatest lawyers India has produced, the name of Motilal C. Setalvad cannot be left out. The stature and brilliance of this man, is evident from the title ‘Mr. Law’ as he was popularly called. Today, marks the 135th birth anniversary of Shri Setalvad and this post tries to pay a... Continue Reading →
Part IV of the Constitution of India contains the Chapter on Directive Principles of State Policy (“DPSP”). The Part casts a non-binding obligation on the government, to promote and achieve certain objectives mentioned therein. The debate and furore over protection of cattle, implementation of the Uniform Civil Code and recognizing labour rights, all have their... Continue Reading →
[This is a guest post by Chandni Ghatak] Dear Justice Ginsburg, I read earlier today that as per Jewish belief, a person who dies on Rosh Hashanah which starts today is considered a ‘Tzaddik’ – a person of great righteousness. That no longer remains a mythical belief today. Ruth Bader Ginsburg. To many, you have... Continue Reading →
[Happy 74th Independence Day to my fellow Indians!] 74 years ago, India attained independence from its erstwhile colonial masters. On the eve of 15 August 1947 Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru (first Prime Minister of India) made his famous ‘Tryst with Destiny’ speech wherein he remarked that ‘at the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world... Continue Reading →
10 August 2020, marks the 45th anniversary of the Constitution (Thirty-Ninth Amendment) Act, 1975. The Constitutional Amendment was passed during the infamous Emergency in India, with the aim of nullifying the Allahabad High Court’s judgment which had quashed Mrs. Indira Gandhi’s election on grounds of electoral malpractice. The Amendment took away the power of the... Continue Reading →
Eminent Scholar and Member of Parliament Dr. Shashi Tharoor in a recent article has argued that India should move to a presidential system of governance, from the present parliamentary system. The premise of his argument is that a parliamentary system produces governments which focus more on politics rather than their actual performance of serving the... Continue Reading →
The 'Basic' Structure 