From Meme To Movement; Constitutional Anxiety Beneath India's “Cockroach Janta Party”

Democracies often reveal their deepest institutional anxieties not during elections, but during moments of ridicule. The recent rise of the so-called “Cockroach Janta Party” (CJP) may initially appear to be another transient internet phenomenon driven by memes and satire. However, the extraordinary public resonance surrounding the movement indicates that it reflects something far more significant than digital humour. Beneath the irony lies a serious constitutional conversation concerning freedom...

Disgorgement As A Regulatory Remedy Under SEBI Act

Disgorgement is a legal remedy that helps restore fairness and prevent future wrongdoing. It requires a court or regulatory authority to force a wrongdoer to give up profits or benefits gained through misconduct. Unlike compensatory damages, which are meant to repay victims for their losses, disgorgement aims to strip offenders of their unjust profits. The main idea is that no one should benefit from illegal, fraudulent, or unethical actions.In securities regulation, especially under the system...

After Article 370: Has Justice Reached Kashmir's Forgotten Detainees?

Ever since Article 370 was removed in 2019, the phrase “new Kashmir” has been repeated again and again. News channels spoke about development, integration, investment, tourism, and peace. Slowly, Kashmir started being shown more through beautiful tourist spots, hotels, tulip gardens, and growing business opportunities. Anyone looking from outside would think that Kashmir has finally moved ahead from its painful past and entered a completely peaceful and developed phase.But as someone coming from...

Harshit Sharma Case ; Paradox Of Colonial Honors In Democratic India

The Allahabad High Court judgment in Harshit Sharma v. State of U.P (Criminal Miscellaneous Writ Petition No. 4982 of 2026) that the honorific 'Hon'ble' is a legal requirement when it comes to referring to constitutional functionaries such as MPs, judges, and ministers in FIRs raises extremely serious constitutional issues as it justifies this requirement on the basis of protecting the dignity of constitutional offices. However, this challenges some of the core commitments of the...

Parental Alienation : Silent Struggles

A matrimonial relationship is nurtured through love, care and understanding. However, when this relationship turns bitter, the entire equation changes which affects not only the couple but also their families that leaves a trail of misunderstandings leading ultimately to distraught court battles and shattered emotions. The complication further arises when there is a child in between and then begins the complex battle of custody with high conflict dramas, with both parents amplifying even the...

India Needs An Anti-Sanctions Law, And It Needs One Now

The growing use of extraterritorial sanctions is challenging India's contractual sovereignty and strategic autonomy. According to a recent report, 'India is looking to enact an EU-like anti-sanctions law'[1], a blocking statute. The Indian government's deliberations on the anti-sanctions statute were prompted by Microsoft's unilateral suspension of Nayara's IT services last July. Though the suspension was short-lived, it raised a loud alarm bell for the Indian government. Microsoft's restoration...

Bombay High Court At Goa Addresses Challenges To Goa's Planning Regime

Goa has long been a ground for the tension between developmental needs and environmental concerns. On one hand, its coastline is commercially lucrative; and on the other, 54.06% of its land area fall under ECO I Zone, regions of such ecological importance that no development is permitted, with a further 26.29% designated as ECO II Zones where only minor interventions are allowed.1 In between these extremes is a planning framework that has struggled to balance competing stakes for decades. It is...

Technical Members In Judicial Robes: Dress Code Controversy In NCLT

It is observed that the Hon'ble Judicial Members and Technical Members of the NCLT wear identical dress codes. Ideally, the dress code for Judicial and Technical Members should be distinct. However, at the NCLT, the dress code for Judicial and Technical Members is identical, showing no difference. Technical Members wear attire similar to Judges, including robes and neckbands, despite this being legally impermissible. The dress code is highly significant as it often reflects a person's...

A Question Returns To Three Judges

In November 1941, in the second year of World war-II, the House of Lords decided a case about a man called Robert Liversidge. He had been locked up by the Home Secretary, Sir John Anderson, under a wartime regulation that allowed detention if the Secretary had “reasonable cause to believe” the detainee was of hostile association. Liversidge asked a simple question. What were the reasons? The Home Secretary declined to say. The Lords, four to one, held that he need not. Reasonable cause, in...

Regulating Love? Assam's UCC And Constitutional Limits Of State Control Over Live-In Relationships

The Assam Government's decision to introduce a Uniform Civil Code has once again revived one of the most complex constitutional debates in contemporary India: the extent to which the State may regulate intimate personal relationships in the name of legal uniformity and social reform. While discussions surrounding the UCC have traditionally focused upon marriage, divorce, succession and inheritance, the indication that Assam's proposed framework may also regulate live-in relationships marks a...

Peremptory Decrees In A Suit For Specific Performance Of A Contract

The word “peremptory” is defined as “putting an end to or precluding a right of action, debate, or delay”. In the field of law, when a peremptory/conditional order or decree is passed by a court of law, its effect is that if the conditions provided under the decree or order is not complied with strictly, the rights under the decree or order will get effaced. As a consequence, the court will not have any jurisdiction over the decree or order. The genesis of this article is in the question...

Deepfakes & Deception

Deepfakes are no longer a technological curiosity. Traditionally, the law has relied on the trustworthiness of what people hear and see, but deepfakes fundamentally challenge that assumption. Synthetic audio, video, and images can now imitate real people and real events with enough precision to mislead viewers before any verification is possible. That is what makes deepfakes more than a technological novelty. The emergence of deepfakes presents a distinct regulatory challenge, as the existing...