The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was set up in South Africa by Nelson Mandela's government in 1996 to investigate the human rights violations during the apartheid regime. (Justice Kaul in the Epilogue to his concurring opinion in the Article 370 judgment, has urged the government to set up a Truth and Reconciliation Commission for J&K)... Continue Reading →
26 November is celebrated as ‘Constitution Day’ in India. In the year 1949, on this day the Constituent Assembly concluded its task of drafting a Constitution for India. The Constitution was to come into force however, two months later on 26 January 1950, an event celebrated as the Republic Day. Today our politicians, judges and... Continue Reading →
Yesterday, the Supreme Court delivered its much-awaited judgment in the marriage equality case (Supriyo @ Supriya Chakraborty & Anr. v. Union of India). The Court in a split verdict of 3:2 ruled in favour of the respondents and effectively, failed to recognise same-sex/queer marriages in India. Since the pronouncement of the judgment social media is... Continue Reading →
The internet particularly ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) is a polarizing place. People tend to believe and rely on tweets, threads and viral videos, rather than engaging with literature on developments around them. Engagement is important because often what trends is not the reality. ‘X’ has been abuzz with activity on Dr. Arghya Sengupta’s new book ‘The... Continue Reading →
Article 1 of the Constitution is titled ‘Name and territory of the Union’. It defines the Union as ‘India, that is Bharat’. A plain reading gives us a sense that our beloved nation may be called either ‘India’ or ‘Bharat’. However, over the last two weeks, a heated debate has ensued over this simple reading... Continue Reading →
Governor of Punjab Shri Banwarilal Purohit and Chief Minister of Punjab Shri Bhagwant Mann The Governor and Chief Minister of Punjab are at loggerheads again. Yesterday, Governor Banwarilal Purohit wrote a stern letter to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann asking him to submit responses to his queries in accordance with Article 167 of the Constitution. As... Continue Reading →
“Within a Constitution like ours, there is no question of a referendum.” These observations were made by Chief Justice of India Dr. DY Chandrachud in response to an argument made by Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal in the ongoing hearings concerning Article 370 of the Constitution. Mr. Sibal was arguing that the special status of J&K... Continue Reading →
The Supreme Court Bench hearing the marriage equality case. One of the first cases I was ever taught in law school was the landmark judgment in Kesavananda Bharti v. State of Kerala (the basic structure case). Within my first week, I was struggling to grasp the law laid down in the longest judgment ever delivered... Continue Reading →
Spoke with Shonottra Kumar (from Civis) on the ongoing debate over the potential Uniform Civil Code in India. We chatted about its history, challenges, the impact on different communities and the way forward. It is important that our discussions and opinions over the UCC are informed and not emotional. This interaction was a step in... Continue Reading →
Last month, the Law Commission of India issued a public notice asking the public about their views on the contested issue of Uniform Civil Code (‘UCC’). The Commission gave the public a timeframe of thirty days to submit their responses through an online portal. Since this notice, the internet is abuzz with speculation over the... Continue Reading →
The 'Basic' Structure 