You Shared Photo. Did You Consent To What AI Could Infer?

A recent recurring theme in social media circles where users upload their photographs and ask AI systems to recreate those pictures in the 1980's style. While such pictures are entertaining, the underlying question that is only beginning to be addressed by Indian privacy law is rather difficult to answer. When a person uploads his photograph to an AI system, what exactly is he giving consent for? Of course, the natural answer to this question would be the photograph itself. But is it enough...

Forest Rights Act Has Legal And Implementation Problem

Only one of the two has actually been solved.Nineteen years have passed since Parliament passed the Forest Rights Act, 2006. Today, almost no one says India lacks a law to protect forest dwellers. The Act exists. The Rules exist. The machinery to process claims exists too. The real question is different. Is this machinery working the way Parliament wanted it to work?The Act was passed to correct an old wrong. Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers had lived on forest land for...

Can State Take Down Your Post Without Hearing ? Comparative Public Law Case For Digital Due Process In India

On 29 March 2026, the Facebook page belonging to digital news platform Molitics was blocked all over India and unavailable for viewing. Molitics approached the Delhi High Court claiming that it had neither received a reasoned order nor been informed why its page had been blocked. This question ultimately concerned a simple point of procedure; how can a person challenge the suppression of online speech when they are not informed as to the direction given to the social media intermediary by the...

Sand Scandals: Directive On Disusage

Despite a call for sustainable practices and the efforts to establish a surveillance system, coupled with the National Green Tribunal's targeted crackdown on the illicit sand mining activities, rampant illegal sand mining continues to plague the country in response to the excessive demand of sand, to match the massive construction drive of the nation. Demands tripling by the time we form these thoughts, sand holds the infamous title, for collectively being the second-most...

Beyond Marriage: Same-Sex Gap In Supreme Court's New Section 498A Test

In August 2026, the Supreme Court handed down a judgment family-law practitioners had been waiting years for. In Dr. Lokesh B.H. & Ors. v. State of Karnataka & Anr., a Bench headed by Justice Sanjay Karol answered a deceptively simple question: can a man not legally married to a woman, but living with her as though he were, be prosecuted as her "husband" under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code, now Section 85 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita? For over four decades, the plain text of...

Composite Transaction Route To “Veritable Party”: Doctrine Still Finding Its Edges

Indian arbitration law has spent the last two years refining a single question when can a non-signatory be forced into or allowed to invoke an arbitration clause it never signed? The Constitution Bench in Cox and Kings Ltd. v. SAP India Pvt. Ltd. 2023 LiveLaw (SC) 1042, gave courts two distinct routes to answer this “group of companies” doctrine, which looks at corporate structure and conduct and the “composite transaction” doctrine which looks at whether a set of linked agreements forms a...

AIBE Open Book Exam That Is Anything But Cakewalk

Ask any law graduate what the easiest-sounding exam of their career was supposed to be, and many will say the All India Bar Examination. Open book, no negative marking, unlimited attempts and on paper, it glance like a formality. Ask the same graduates after they've actually sat for it, and the answer changes entirely from the perceived notion about it. For an assessmentt designed to be a threshold rather than a hurdle, the AIBE has quietly become one of the most debated tests in Indian legal...

Gendered Grammar Of Cultural Anxiety

There is something revealing about a society that can look at a brother and sister celebrating Raksha Bandhan and decide that the sister's outfit is the most urgent thing in the frame. GIVA's festive advertisement showed a in an ivory bralette-style blouse, tying a rakhi to her on-screen sibling and then to her dog. Actor Kangana Ranaut called it “intentionally creepy” and asked why someone would tie a rakhi to her brother wearing “bikini/undergarments”. She later widened her objection: where...

Explained | Controversy Surrounding UP Judge Ravi Kumar Diwakar

From praising the UP Chief Minister and handing down 22 death sentences in nearly 5 months, Judge Ravi Kumar Diwakar has repeatedly found himself at the centre of controversy.

$18 Billion Over Claims Of Harm To Children's Mental Health: Is It Still a Win for Meta ?

One of the largest child-safety settlements in the technology industry imposes significant changes on how social-media platforms are designed for young users. Yet its arithmetic, exclusions and competitive conditions suggest a carefully purchased escape from trial. Two truthful stories can be told about the settlement before the US Court, entered on 26 August 2026. First, American state attorneys-general forced one of the world's most profitable technology companies to accept age assurance,...

Black Sheep In Judiciary Increasing; Courts At All Levels Moving Towards Majoritarianism: Justice Deepak Gupta Writes

No country can claim to be free unless it has an independent and fearless judiciary.

Why Institutional Memory, Administrative Continuity, Rule Of Law Matter For Effective Governance

Across India's administrative landscape, a quiet but persistent pattern defines governance. Each district functions as though it were a laboratory. A new officer arrives, studies familiar challenges, and launches a set of “innovations” to address them. Dashboards are created, monitoring mechanisms redesigned, grievance systems revamped, and flagship initiatives introduced with urgency and visibility. These efforts are often sincere and, at times, effective. Yet beneath this constant churn lies a...