Sidhartha Shukla’s funeral exposes the media’s lack of respect for the dead, again!

Picture Credits - Indian Express In a recent post on his Instagram, comedian Zakir Khan wrote, ‘Wo tumhe insaan nahi samajhte. Isliye nahi hai koi line, na koi boundaries hain. Tumhari laash unke liye koi rooh nikla hua jism nahi. Bas tasveer lene ka ek aur mauka hai. Jitni ho sake utni. Ye waise hai...

Law governing the usage of India’s National Flag

Recently the Madras High Court delivered a judgment concerning the Indian National Flag, which has garnered significant applause. The judgment has been lauded for its progressive observations on patriotism and national symbols. At a time, when there is a rise in hyper nationalism and every government is trying to portray itself as a patriot, the...

Appointing the Chief Justice of India–What criteria does the Collegium consider?

[The current Chief Justice of India S.A. Bobde, is due to retire in April. He shall be succeeded by Justice Ramanna, the next senior most Judge. The Constitution is silent on the procedure for appointment of the CJI and the matter is governed purely by Convention. (Picture Credits - The Indian Express)] The Supreme Court...

Lessons from Lord Denning’s Life for the Indian Courts today

This year marks the 121st birth anniversary of Lord Denning, arguably the greatest English Judge of the 20th century. Alfred Thompson Denning was born on 23 January 1899 and lived a life that contributed significantly to the law and most importantly inspired generations. In this post, I shall focus on his life at the Bar...

‘You have the Right to Remain Silent’- Story behind the Miranda Rights

Anyone interested in Hollywood crime thrillers or drama, has at least once come across a scene where an arrest is being made by the police. The officer while carrying out the arrest mandatorily utters the following words, “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in...

Gender and the Supreme Court of India

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...

An ode to Justice Ginsburg (The Notorious RBG!)

[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...

The Basic Structure is Two Years Old

Picture Credits - Indian Express On 06 September 2018, the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India delivered its verdict in Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India. The judgment partly struck down the archaic Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code which criminalised carnal intercourse against the order of the nature with any man, woman or...

Student Welfare trumps Centre-State impasse over University Campus

The Parliament in the year 2007 enacted the National Institute of Technology, Science Education and Research Act to bestow on certain institutions the tag of ‘Institute of National Importance’. The aim of the Act was to ensure that these institutes work towards advancement of learning and dissemination of knowledge, in their respective fields. The Act...

The Demand for a Presidential System of Governance in India

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...