The Supreme Court's (New) Reservations Judgment And Its Discontents

This Friday, a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court handed down a judgment holding that Article 16(4) of the Constitution is only an enabling provision, and does not confer a "right" to reservations. The context of the case was as follows: in 2012, the government of Uttarakhand decided to fill up the posts in the state's public services without providing reservations to Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) (paragraph 5). This was challenged, and after a round of litigation before...

[Law On Reels] 'Mohan Joshi Hazir Ho'- Of Hopes & Delays Of Judicial System

Justice delayed is justice denied- this often repeated quote has been repeated so often that it is almost mundane, ineffective and boring to quote this quote anymore. But it is hardly debatable that time and justice share a relationship, that timely delivery of justice is important factor (if not essence) in ensuring justice 'being done'. Our judicial system is struggling with issues of long pendency and delay- a fact we, law students and lawyers are very well-aware of. While National Judicial...

Domicile Reservations In National Law Universities

Reservations based on domicile in education are not unknown, however, reservations in institutes having national importance certainly call for a debate. Recently, NLU Delhi announced a 50% domicile reservation which would be implemented from the year 2020. In view of the demand by the local students, when one state introduces domicile reservations, other states are bound to follow the same. Last year, the West Bengal Government passed an amendment to provide 30% domicile reservation in...

Allowing Room For Student Activism At National Law Schools Would Be A Befitting Tribute To Gandhi

The best of academic institutions around the world have played a pivotal role in shaping public opinion and influencing the national politics. Be it the protest against the Vietnam war in the 1960s at Harvard or the protest against racial insensitivity at Yale in 2015, students across top universities have never shied away from speaking up their minds. Being intellectual hubs, top universities provide ample space – physical and mental to the students and the faculty members to take strong...

Nirbhaya Case: How Disturbingly Clamour For Death Manifested Itself In Courtroom

It would be an understatement to say that the Nirbhaya rape case is more than just a 'legal proceeding'. The entire gestation of this case, the facts involved and the judgments delivered, has galvanised a nation, led to structural changes in criminal law, and surfaced a polarised discourse on punishment and deterrence. Hence, by its very development, it has transcended the limits definitive of a 'legal case'; so much so, it can safely be called an 'event'.There lies the tragedy of it all, the...

'Holy Cow' : An Extract From The Book 'Republic Of Religion' By Dr. Abhinav Chandrachud

(This is an extract from "Republic of Religion: The Rise and Fall of Colonial Secularism in India" by Dr Abhinav Chandrachud. The extract has been published with the permission of the Author and Publisher.) This chapter examines how independent India became less secular than British India by permitting laws that banned cow slaughter. In British India, Muslims were allowed to sacrifice cows during the festival of Bakr Id (the word bakr is Arabic for cow), though Hindus worshipped...

Chinmayanand Bail : An 'Unusual' Order Playing On Textbook Rape Myths

The Allahabad High Court speaking through Hon'ble Justice Rahul Chaturvedi has grantedbail to former Union Minister and BJP leader Swami Chinmayanand. Chinmaynand is accused of sexually exploiting a 23 year old LL.M. student at SS Law college where he is a Director. Previously, District and Sessions' Judge, Shahjahanpur had denied the bail application of Chinmayanand. In my humble opinion, the bail order of the High Court is bad in law and is based on range of myths about rape and...

The Conundrum Of The "Seat" And "Venue" Of Arbitration: When Is "Venue" A "Seat"?

The three judgments of the Supreme Court in quick succession namely Union of India v. Hardy Exploration and Production (India) INC[1] (in short "Hardy's Case"), Brahmani River Pellets Ltd. vs Kamachi Industries Ltd[2] (Brahmani's Case) and the most recent BGS SGS SOMA JV v NHPC Pvt Ltd[3] (BGS's Case), underscore the significance of identifying the "juridical seat" in an arbitration agreement clearly so as to avoid wholly unnecessary litigation. These Judgements also highlight, why...

The Constitutional Challenge To The Transgender Act

On 5th December, the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act came into force. As is well-known, the Act – that had been in the pipeline for four years – was passed over sustained protests and objections by the trans and intersex community. Among other things, critiques of the Trans Bill (as it then was) focused upon its inadequate definitions, its reification of the gender binary, its failure to recognise different forms of sexual identity, the denial of the right to self-determination,...

100 Years Of Ambedkar's Journalism

Today's date marks 100 years of journalism of Dr B.R. Ambedkar. Popular for his contributions in framing of India's Constitution, this aspect of Ambedkar's life has generally been ignored. In the compilation of his writings published by Government of Maharashtra (2008), Gangadhar Pantawane has aptly remarked, "even after the well-crafted journalistic creation by Babasaheb Ambedkar nobody has recognised him as 'Patrakar Ambedkar'" (p.2; roughly translated from Marathi). Coming back...

Testing CAA On The Principles Of Constitutional Law

You may choose not to address a certain problem but once you choose to address it you must do so equally and without discrimination.

Mis-Governance, Corruption Remains Unchecked As RTI Has Gone With 370 Say J&K Govt Officials

After the abrogation article 370, I am getting frequent calls from RTI applicants that Government officials are not providing them information under RTI Act. It is alleged that Government officials are misleading citizens saying RTI law has gone along with article 370 from J&K. Some uninformed people have started accepting this narrative and it is mainly due to lack of legal knowledge among citizens. Even the educated people take this as gospel truth. As I have said there are many...