Indian Constitution

THE INDIAN ARMS ACT

The Punjab government has cancelled the 813 gun licenses across the state in a bid to clamp down on the “gun culture” in the state. The Indian Arms Act of 1959 scrapped the erstwhile Act of 1878. The Act of 1878 passed by the British in the aftermath of the 1857 mutiny, restricted Indians from …

Read More »

JUDICIAL MAJORITARIANISM

As the recent majority judgment of the Supreme Court on demonetisation comes under criticism, the minority judgment by J. Nagarathna is being hailed for its challenge to the RBI’s institutional acquiescence to the Central government. This questions our blind acceptance of numerical majorities in judicial decision-making. What is judicial majoritarianism? …

Read More »

BASIC PRINCIPLES OF THE CONSTITUTION

In her first and customary Republic Day address to the nation, President Draupadi Murmu reiterated the founding ideals of the Republic on the eve of the 74th anniversary of the adoption of its Constitution. As the first tribal woman to occupy the highest office in the country, the 15th President …

Read More »

THE BASIC STRUCTURE OF THE CONSTITUTION

The Chief Justice of India, D. Y. Chandrachud compared the ‘basic structure’ of the Constitution to the North Star, an unfailing guide which shows the way when the path appears convoluted. His observation marks the response of the Supreme Court to a recent statement made by Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar …

Read More »

DEMOCRACY AND ITS STRUCTURAL SLIPPAGES

The democracy that is functional around the world today — even as it has a long history of evolution — was essentially a 19th century to 20th century western creation. Every civilisation, of course, claims to have had some form of democratic origin. But the institution of universal adult franchise …

Read More »

THE CONDUCT OF ELECTIONS IN INDIA

To begin with, elections divide voters into a dubious majority and a minority. The majority-minority division of 50% plus one and 50% minus one is, in principle, hardly a decisive mandate even as this is treated as one empirically. But the practice of elections belies even this notion of “majority”; …

Read More »

SYSTEMIC REFORM ON JUDICIARY

There is something rude and unpleasant in the way the Government is going about the task of demanding a big say in the appointment of judges in constitutional courts. The latest salvo is from Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, who has written to the Chief Justice of India to request …

Read More »

FOUNDATION OF THE CONSTITUTION

Come April and it will be 50 years since the Supreme Court of India delivered its verdict in Kesavananda Bharati vs State of Kerala. The judgment is widely recognised as a milestone in India’s history. In holding that Parliament’s power to amend the Constitution was not plenary, that any change that …

Read More »

SECTION 6A OF CITIZENSHIP ACT

A Constitution Bench led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud on Tuesday said it will first take up for preliminary determination whether Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, 1955 suffers from any “constitutional infirmity”. Section 6A was a special provision inserted into the 1955 Act in furtherance of a …

Read More »

THE RIGHTS OF SAME-SEX COUPLES

In a welcome move, the Supreme Court has transferred to itself petitions pending in several High Courts seeking legal recognition of same-sex marriage. A Bench of Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justices P.S. Narasimha and J.B. Pardiwala asked the Centre to file its reply to all the petitions on the …

Read More »

It’s a constitutional crisis: Bengal

The West Bengal government on Friday told the Supreme Court that the row over the recently-concluded panchayat polls in the State has led to a “constitutional crisis” since the tenure of several panchayats was over and new bodies have not been made functional. The apex court had earlier stayed the …

Read More »

Baig to mount PDP defence of Art. 35 A

The Peoples Democratic Party on Wednesday said senior leader and MP Muzaffar Hussain Baig and party counsel will fight the legal challenge to the validity of Article 35A in the Supreme Court on the next date of hearing. “Veteran PDP leader and MP from Baramulla, Muzaffar Hussain Baig, along with …

Read More »

More Assembly seats for Sikkim

Cabinet panel to take a decision soon The Home Ministry has moved the Union Cabinet to increase the number of seats in the Sikkim Assembly from 32 to 40. The State goes to the polls in 2019. A senior Ministry official said the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs, headed by …

Read More »