Third Pregnancy Penalty: Madras High Court Strikes Down Tamil Nadu's Discriminatory Maternity Leave Order

On April 28, 2026, a Division Bench of the Madras High Court, comprising Justices R. Suresh Kumar and Justice N. Senthilkumar, delivered a significant order in the case of Shayee Nisha v. Principal District Judge, Villupuram & Ors (W.P.No.16245 of 2026),. The Court set aside a Government Order (G.O. Ms. No. 18) dated March 13, 2026, issued by the Tamil Nadu Human Resource Management Department (TNHRMD), which restricted maternity leave for a third pregnancy to only 12 weeks.The petitioner,...

From Intelligence To Empathy: Reimagining Role Of Emotional Intelligence (EQ) In Legal Profession

The legal profession has long been anchored in the primacy of intellect, logic, precedent, statutory interpretation and reasoning. From classrooms to courtrooms the emphasis has traditionally been on the relevance of Intelligence Quotient (IQ) i.e. the ability to analyse, argue and adjudicate. However, the lived realities within the legal profession increasingly reveal a silent yet an urgent need for Emotional Intelligence (EQ). There is a need to bring in a paradigm shift from a purely...

When Does An Independent 'Join' A Party? Tenth Schedule's Unanswered Question

Rajesh Ranjan, better known as Pappu Yadav, is a six-time Member of Parliament from Purnea, Bihar. In March 2024, he merged his Jan Adhikar Party (Loktantrik) with the Indian National Congress. He did so reportedly on a single condition: Congress would field him from Purnea. The condition was not honoured. Under the INDIA alliance's seat-sharing arrangement, Purnea was allotted to the Rashtriya Janata Dal. The RJD, whose founder Lalu Prasad had expelled Pappu Yadav twice from the party, had no...

Judicial Misbehaviour

A single judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court has become the judicial newsmaker this week after losing his temper and ordering the imprisonment of a young lawyer with only two years of practice. The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) and the Bar Council of India (BCI) invited the attention of the Chief Justice of India through representations and resolutions. The Supreme Court suo motu seized the issue, and after registering two writ petitions, gracefully closed the matter on the judicial...

Likes, Shares, And Liability: The Evolution Of Finfluencer Regulation In India.

The modern Indian investment adviser no longer operates from a desk on Dalal Street. More often, significant financial advice comes via smartphones, short videos, and the unclear logic of algorithms. In this landscape, “finfluencers,” who are social media figures discussing money, markets, and investing, have become influential but loosely regulated links between retail investors and the securities market.I. The Rise of Finfluencers in India(i) Growth of Retail ParticipationThe growth of...

Gavel And Court: Analyzing Judicial Review In Speaker Rulings

Raghav Chadha and two-thirds of AAP's Rajya Sabha members (legislature party) have merged with the BJP, citing the Tenth Schedule's merger exception (4th paragraph) and a Bombay High Court precedent. In 2019, 10 of 15 Goa Congress MLAs merged with the BJP. The Speaker rejected a subsequent disqualification petition, a decision upheld by the Bombay High Court in 2022. The Bombay High Court affirmed that a two-thirds majority of the legislature party is sufficient for a valid merger under the...

Delhi Rent Control Act, A Case for Reference To A Larger Bench

The Delhi Rent Control Act, 1958 (DRC Act) was enacted as a situational legislation in the aftermath of the Partition of India which led to a temporary housing shortage. Being a socio-economic legislation, it required periodic review to remain in consonance with the changing times. However, the Executive's inaction in not issuing a commencement notification to enforce the Delhi Rent Act, 1995, coupled with judicial deference, has led to DRC Act assuming permanence.Disputes under the DRC Act...

Policing The Soul: Anti-Conversion Laws, Quiet Unravelling Of Constitutional Freedom

When the State begins to require permission for belief or affection, it no longer regulates conduct alone. It begins to intrude into the inner life of the individual.Certain freedoms occupy a constitutional space so intimate that any regulatory oversight appears inherently disquieting. The freedom to think, to believe and love forms the core of human dignity. In contemporary India, these freedoms are increasingly subjected to legislative suspicion under the rubric of anti-conversion laws. The...

Where Are We Heading? Disturbing Events

The defection of 7 AAP Rajya Sabha members and their joining the ruling BJP signals a dangerous portent for probity in public life.Defections flout the people's mandate which is the very soul of democracy. Democracy is reduced to a mockery. It is to address this malady that the Anti-Defection law - Schedule X to the Constitution was brought in. While members/legislators who defect suffer disqualification, some exception is carved out -in paragraph 4- that it would not apply in case of merger....

J&K Private Universities Act, 2026: Expansion Or Transformation?

For decades, students from Jammu and Kashmir have been forced to leave the region in search of quality higher education. The Jammu and Kashmir Private Universities Act, 2026, seeks to reverse this trend, but whether it can transform the system or merely expand it remains an open question. The legislation marks a decisive policy shift from an exclusively state-driven model to a mixed higher education system, responding to a long-standing demand from educators, civil society, and industry...

From Suspension To Civil Death: Rethinking Subsistence Allowance In Indian Service Jurisprudence

The legitimacy of a democratic state rests upon a social contract where the sovereign safeguards the livelihood of its servants. Within the framework of service jurisprudence, the provision of a subsistence allowance is the primary mechanism that prevents an administrative suspension from devolving into a violation of the constitutional right to life.[1] But the practical question arises, whether the state is capable of safeguarding such a right of employees facing suspension.The dictionary...

Supreme Court Clarifies: Section 480(3) BNSS Bail Condition Not Applicable To Offences Punishable Up To Seven Years

In a significant order passed on 22nd April 2026, the Supreme Court settled an important question of bail jurisprudence that trial court across country had been getting wrong since Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS) came into force. In Narayan v. State of Madhya Pradesh, SLP (Crl.) No. 7011 of 2026, a division bench comprising Justice J.K. Maheshwari and Atul S. Chandurkar held that the mandatory conditions prescribed under Section 480 (3) BNSS do not apply to non-bailable offences...