Law & Justice

SC: Article 142, Mass Amnesties, and the Panchayatisation of the Rule of Law

Within a month of youth-led protests in Delhi and at least half a dozen other locations, the Supreme Court’s September 1 Order invoked its extraordinary powers under Article 142 to quash criminal cases registered across at least five states. This examines the limitations of this ad hoc jurisprudence, arguing that while protection from abusive state prosecution is welcome, linking it to the cancellation of the September 5 march sets a troubling precedent. Constitutional scrutiny demanded a rigorous examination of alleged executive and police overreach, including blanket prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the BNSS and the shutdown of metro stations and internet services. Instead, the alleged excesses of Delhi and other police forces remain unadjudicated.

Removed Without Process: The Doyjan Bibi case and the Gauhati High Court’s Retreat from demanding deportation records

In refusing to question the absence of any deportation or handover records after a woman vanished from a holding centre and was reportedly transferred to the BSF, the Gauhati High Court has signalled a dangerous judicial tolerance for undocumented removals carried out in the name of sovereign authority

Manipur gang-rape survivor dies without justice, three years after 2023 ethnic violence

Abducted, brutally assaulted and gang-raped during the Meitei–Kuki conflict, the young Kuki woman succumbed to trauma-linked illness as her case languished without arrests, exposing systemic failure in prosecuting sexual violence in Manipur

When Speech Becomes an Act of Terrorism

Terms like “freedom of speech,” “freedom of expression,” “Article...

After Five Years in Jail, Bail Still Barred for Two: Supreme Court denies bail to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in Delhi riots case

Holding that the UAPA’s elevated statutory threshold continues to apply, the Court says Khalid and Imam stand on a “qualitatively different footing”, while granting conditional bail to five co-accused after more than five years of incarceration

Acid Attacks: The judicial struggle to regulate acid violence in India

From the landmark mandate of Laxmi v. Union of India to the BNS, a critical examination of why progressive legal doctrine continues to falter against the wall of administrative inertia and systemic trial delays

When the Rule of the Bulldozer Outpaces the Rule of Law: One year after this landmark judgment

In November 2024, the Supreme Court reaffirmed that no home can be destroyed without notice, hearing, and legal process. Yet across various states, the past year has shown how that standard is often treated as optional

Delhi HC grants bail pending appeal to Unnao rape convict Kuldeep Singh Sengar

The bail order accompanies a temporary suspension of sentence for Sengar will walk free; it has returned public attention to the survivor and her mother's pursuit of justice since 2017; Sengar will, however, remain in jail as he is also serving a 10-year sentence in the custodial death case of the rape victim’s father

Dadri lynching: UP Court rejects state govt plea to withdraw charges against Akhlaq murder accused

Additional District Judge Saurabh Dwivedi hearing the matter also directed that the case be categorised as “most important” and heard on a daily basis.

Bombay High Court allows Gautam Navlakha to return to Delhi, relaxes restrictive bail condition in Bhima Koregaon Case

Court recognises financial hardship, prolonged trial delay, and the human cost of territorial bail restrictions on a 73-year-old activist; NIA conditions accepted to ensure continued oversight

Allahabad High Court registers suo moto PIL over delays in termination of pregnancy of rape survivors

From September 2025, three months ago, the Allahabad High Court has registered a suo-moto Public Interest Litigation (PIL) regarding the issue of delay at different levels in taking appropriate steps while dealing with cases of termination of pregnancy of rape survivors

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SC: Article 142, Mass Amnesties, and the Panchayatisation of the Rule of Law

Within a month of youth-led protests in Delhi and at least half a dozen other locations, the Supreme Court’s September 1 Order invoked its extraordinary powers under Article 142 to quash criminal cases registered across at least five states. This examines the limitations of this ad hoc jurisprudence, arguing that while protection from abusive state prosecution is welcome, linking it to the cancellation of the September 5 march sets a troubling precedent. Constitutional scrutiny demanded a rigorous examination of alleged executive and police overreach, including blanket prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the BNSS and the shutdown of metro stations and internet services. Instead, the alleged excesses of Delhi and other police forces remain unadjudicated.

Need for Clarity on the SIR: An Open Letter to the Congress Leaders of Karnataka

While the national leadership of the party, leads and articulates the national campaign for the scrapping of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process, the state leadership of Karnataka, a state governed by the party, gives conflicting statements almost endorsing a process that has disenfranchised close to 10 million there

From Arunachal to Delhi, anti-dam protesters face state crackdown; detained allege sexual assault

Around 40 protesters from Arunachal Pradesh were detained during a solidarity demonstration, as the crackdown on indigenous resistance to the proposed mega dam intensifies

Beyond Appropriation: Vidya Bhushan Rawat’s recovery of Bose’s inclusive nationalism

Rawat’s book emerges from a unique perspective that argues –among other things – that Bose and Nehru must be understood through their competing strategies, and historical circumstances— not recruited retrospectively into opposing political camps; neither does the book place Bose beyond criticism, affirming however his intrinsic secular outlook while stressing on diverse networks that helped sustain the struggle for independence’ not a biography of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose but a chronicle of Indian National Army as well as India’s freedom Movement.

After 22 years under suspicion, Assam’s Kashem Ali declared Indian by Foreigners Tribunal

With 18 years passing between the registration of the case and service of notice, and nearly a year spent fighting to prove his citizenship, Kashem Ali finally wins legal relief with CJP’s assistance

From treating Adivasi communities to being branded an instigator: Odisha jails doctor Randall Sequeira

Arrested in a case in which his name did not figure in the original FIR, Dr Randall Sequeira faces serious criminal charges amid an intensifying crackdown on Adivasi communities resisting bauxite mining in Odisha