The Salience of Mill’s Individualism in the Navtej Singh Johar Judgment

By: Advaya Hari Singh INTRODUCTION On 6th September 2018 the Supreme Court had its “moment of atonement”, a moment which comes seldom in the history of constitutional adjudication. This was the moment when Supreme Court decriminalized Section 377 to allow a marginalized section of the society to truly realize their constitutional guarantees in a democracy. These moments allow the Apex Court to pause and reflect on … Continue reading The Salience of Mill’s Individualism in the Navtej Singh Johar Judgment

Judicial Review of Presidential Pardon – Making the Constitutional Provision Redundant?

By: Anushka Sharma INTRODUCTION Right to life and personal liberty are two of the most cherished attributes of the modern civilised society and the pertinence of these rights has given rise to the concept of pardon. The concept of pardon in the contemporary setup primarily addresses the issue of the fallibility of the human judgement, which might manifest itself in judicial decisions. It has been observed … Continue reading Judicial Review of Presidential Pardon – Making the Constitutional Provision Redundant?

On Aadhaar: Part V (Article 110, Constitutionality of Section 59 and Excessive Delegation)

By: Digvijay Chaudhary In the previous part, we discussed, how the Aadhaar act doesn’t bear the character of a money bill based on previous judgments of the Supreme Court and that the judicial review of the speaker’s decision has also not been barred. Here, we’ll try to figure out how the constitution makers did not intend to bar the judicial review of the speaker’s decision … Continue reading On Aadhaar: Part V (Article 110, Constitutionality of Section 59 and Excessive Delegation)

On Aadhaar: Part IV (Aadhaar as a Money Bill)

By: Digvijay Chaudhary When the Aadhaar bill was first introduced in the Rajya Sabha, its nature was not that of a money bill and a few recommendations were made by the Rajya Sabha which advised that the controversial section 57 be dropped and Aadhaar be made voluntary. Both of which were ignored and subsequently Aadhaar was introduced as a money bill and the recommendations of … Continue reading On Aadhaar: Part IV (Aadhaar as a Money Bill)

On Aadhaar: Part III (The ‘Exclusion’ Concern)

By: Digvijay Chaudhary The Aadhaar Act (hereinafter ‘the act’) and the Aadhaar project facilitates exclusion. It means that instead of receiving benefits and entitlements as part of the act, people are excluded from receiving such benefits, subsidies and entitlements. To emphasise, entitlements flow from Part IV of the Constitution (Directive Principles of State Policy), not from the act; Article 37 of the Constitution provides that the principles … Continue reading On Aadhaar: Part III (The ‘Exclusion’ Concern)

DNA Technology Regulation Bill, 2018: Prospective Issues and Challenges

By: Pranav Tanwar & Saurabh Pandey “Existing rules and principles can give us our present location, our bearings, our latitude and longitude. The inn that shelters for the night is not the journey’s end. The law, like the traveler, must be ready for the morrow. It must have a principle of growth”.                           … Continue reading DNA Technology Regulation Bill, 2018: Prospective Issues and Challenges

Whatsapp Leak Case: A Struggle Between Right & Duty

By: Chitresh Baheti INTRODUCTION Reuters, on 16th November 2017, reported that the quarterly results of 12 giant MNCs[1] were being circulated on WhatsApp groups even before they were declared. This information was being circulated under the title ‘HOS: Heard on Street’.[2] This prompted the Indian security regulator board, SEBI, to carry forward investigations which came to be known as the WhatsApp Leak case.[3] SEBI conducted … Continue reading Whatsapp Leak Case: A Struggle Between Right & Duty

Cow Slaughter and the Constitution: Uneasy Compromises

By: Shalvi Singh Cow slaughter finds a special mention in the Indian Constitution under Article 48 which specifically obligates the State to take steps towards prohibiting the slaughter of “cows and calves and other milch and draught cattle”. However, interestingly, it omits other bovines, seemingly because slaughtering them could not have been quite as profitable for the economy.[1] By revisiting the Constituent assembly debates, it … Continue reading Cow Slaughter and the Constitution: Uneasy Compromises

‘Bans’: An Unjust Encroachment on the Right to Freedom of Choice?

By: Kriti Sharma Over the din of overwhelming protests of people against the state’s prerogative to decide what should be consumed (not merely edibles of course), the individual’s freedom of choice lies hanging between its somewhat unsettled constitutionality and the larger role of polity in defining it. The Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Bill, 1995 was finally assented to by President Pranab Mukherjee after being passed … Continue reading ‘Bans’: An Unjust Encroachment on the Right to Freedom of Choice?