Articles
Narcotic-Based Medicines And NDPS Act: Limits Of Therapeutic Practice Defence
In recent years, the misuse of narcotic based medicines, particularly codeine containing cough syrups, has posed a serious challenge to criminal law enforcement in India. Though such substances have been recognised as having legitimate medicinal value, courts are increasingly confronted with cases involving their illegal stocking, transportation, and sale in a manner wholly divorced from therapeutic use. This recurring issue has again come to the fore in a recent order of the Allahabad High...
Acquitted After Noose : Supreme Court Upheld No Death Sentence In 2025, But Acquittals Came After Years On Death Row
With Surendra Koli—the last remaining in the 2006 Nithari killings—walking free after the Supreme Court acquitted him, once again, debate has resurfaced whether establishing guilt beyond a reasonable doubt is attainable.Koli's case was not the only case which ended up in an acquittal this year. LiveLaw covered as many as 15 matters relating to the death penalty awarded in the 'rarest of...
IBC Part Z And Cross-border Insolvency In A Fragmented Global Order
Cross-border insolvency was long imagined as a space governed by cooperation and mutual trust, where courts across jurisdictions would recognise each other's proceedings to preserve value and impose some order on corporate failure. The UNCITRAL Model Law, which underpins India's proposed Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) Part Z, rests on this assumption, that recognition and coordination ultimately serve everyone's interests. India's move in this direction, following the Insolvency Law...
The Collegium Must Grow Up: Why Judicial Appointments Cannot Depend On Chance
India's judicial appointments system rests on an irony it has never fully confronted. It is a structure devised to insulate the judiciary from executive whim, yet it remains acutely vulnerable to internal accident. Who sits in the collegium on a given day, who has retired a week earlier, and who is technically present but practically excluded can make the difference between elevation and eclipse. That is not constitutional design. It is institutional improvisation.The collegium system was...
Violations That Need No Passport: Borderless Nature Of Personality Rights Harm
In an era where digital communication has dissolved geographical borders, personal identity has become a free-floating asset capable of travelling globally without permission. A person's face, name, voice, movements, and behavioural traits now circulate with alarming ease, often appearing in contexts entirely divorced from reality. The disturbing truth of the twenty-first century is that personality rights violations do not require a passport or a confirmed travel ticket. They move instantly,...
SHANTI Act 2025: Sidelining Environment For Private Proliferation
The Parliament recently passed the Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India Bill 2025, now pending President's assent, aiming to accelerate private nuclear expansion in the country's nuclear regime. This will be the first for any nuclear related legislation of the country but at the same time it is neglecting the established environmental regulatory architecture thus presenting a very nuanced relationship between the two. Nuclear energy in all its...
Case For Menstrual Leave: Why It Must Be Codified As A Statutory Right In Labour Codes
In late 2025, the Karnataka Government took a historic step toward gender-sensitive labour reform by notifying a mandatory 12-day paid menstrual leave for the private sector. While celebrated as a progressive victory under Article 15(3) of the Constitution, the move has landed in the Karnataka High Court in Management of Avirata AFL Connectivity Systems Ltd. v. State of Karnataka, W.P. No. 36659/2025 (Karn. H.C. Dec. 18, 2025). While the Court debates "Executive vs. Legislative" power, a deeper...
Aravalli Reclassification And Constitutional Environmentalism: A Legal Critique
Redefining the Aravalli HillsIn November 2025, the Supreme Court of India formally accepted a uniform definition of the Aravalli hills, as recommended by an expert committee appointed by the Central Government. According to this definition, only landforms exhibiting a minimum relative relief of 100 meters above the surrounding terrain qualify as “Aravalli hills.” This judicial endorsement marks a significant milestone in environmental governance, redefining both the legal and spatial recognition...
Unanswered Questions After The Presidential Reference
Most of the legal issues adjudicated in State of Tamil Nadu v. Governor of Tamil Nadu were revisited by the Supreme Court in its advisory opinion on the Presidential Reference of 2025. The five-judge Bench, acting under Article 143, delivered an opinion that carries precedential value, which to some extent overruled the law laid down in State of Tamil Nadu. However, as an advisory opinion, it does not alter the final decision or operative directions issued by the Division Bench in...
Why Social Media Needs A Minimum Age Law
In the light of Australia's recent ban on social media for children under 16, India too must reconsider its regulatory landscape and introduce a Minimum Age Law to protect its minors. Across jurisdictions and legal traditions, one principle remains constant: the state has an affirmative duty to protect children from foreseeable harm. This obligation is not merely decorous rhetoric but a binding legal responsibility grounded in domestic statutes, constitutional doctrines, and international...