Email: sabrangind@gmail.com
The Guardians of the Ballot: Supreme Court hearing the legality of executive primacy in ECI appointments
Across two days of intense legal arguments, the Supreme Court scrutinising the 2023 Act governing the appointment of Election Commissioners, as petitioners argued that replacing the Chief Justice of India with a Union Minister creates a "Home Umpire" system, while the Bench questioned the limits of parliamentary power, counsel warned that executive dominance over the "referee" of democracy threatens the basic structure of free and fair elections
Madhav Gadgil’s unshakeable faith in science
Renowned environmental scientist, Madhav Gadgil, who was a recipient of numerous awards including the Padma Shri in 1981 and the Padma Bhushan in 2006, passed away in Pune late night on Wednesday, January 7, after a brief illness
Sharia, Manusmriti or the Indian Constitution
Two extremes, the dominant Hindu right and a creeping conservatism among Muslims seek to undermine the constitutional mandate
BMC Polls: ECI claims superintendence on citizenship even as Foreigners (NRIS) enter Mumbai airport carrying Indian Voter IDs
Mid-day carried an exclusive report today, January 7, on how airport authorities had, after checks caught 28 NRIs with foreign passports allegedly flying with Indian Voter ID cards; ; India does not allow dual citizenship
Gadchiroli, Maharashtra: Pregnant Woman walks 6 km from village for childbirth, dies
Twenty-four-years-old Asha Santosh Kiranga, resident of Aaldandi Tola in Etapalli taluka in Gadchiroli district, was nine months pregnant; Devendra Fadnavis, Maharashtra Chief Minister is the “guardian minister” for the district
Congress leader of the opposition Kerala Assembly writes to Modi, Fadnavis over arrest of a Malayali priest in Nagpur
In a strongly worded letter to Prime Minister, Narendra Modi and Maharashtra Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis, V.D. Satheesan, Congress leader of the opposition Kerala Assembly has sought urgent intervention regarding the detention/arrest of twelve individuals, including Father Sudhir, a priest of the CSI South Kerala Diocese, arrested by the Maharashtra Police following a complaint filed by Bajrang Dal activists
Poetry award for Ipsa Shatakshi at the world book fair, January 2026
Activist and poet, Ipsa Shatkashi, will be awarded the kritya Yuva Puraskar 2026 at the World Book Fair on January 15, 2026
West Bengal: SIR unravelled
Multiple reports of serious anomalies in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process being unilaterally conducted by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in West Bengal have come to light; exclusion of Matuas, immigrants from erstwhile east Bengal, is only one of them
Girija Gupte, trade unionist passes away
Girija Gupte, an activist widely recognised for her sustained...
Searchlight on 2025: The polished window and the dry rot
The author, in his inimitable style writes of the abyss of disintegration that 2026 is likely to harbour in
Related VIDEOS
ALL STORIES
ALL STORIES
Politics
The Guardians of the Ballot: Supreme Court hearing the legality of executive primacy in ECI appointments
Across two days of intense legal arguments, the Supreme Court scrutinising the 2023 Act governing the appointment of Election Commissioners, as petitioners argued that replacing the Chief Justice of India with a Union Minister creates a "Home Umpire" system, while the Bench questioned the limits of parliamentary power, counsel warned that executive dominance over the "referee" of democracy threatens the basic structure of free and fair elections
Rule of Law
Anticipatory Bail Denied to Nida Khan in TCS Nashik Case: Sessions Court flags “systematic plan” and stresses custodial interrogation
While emphasising gravity and custodial interrogation, Sessions Court order leans heavily on narrative of “organised influence”—raising concerns over evidentiary thresholds, criminalisation of religious interaction, and expansion of bail-stage reasoning
Rule of Law
“Reasonable Apprehension of Bias Is Enough”: Telangana High Court orders CBCID probe into SI’s death, reasserts constitutional demand for investigative neutrality
In a sharply reasoned ruling, the Court holds that when police investigate their own, fairness cannot merely exist—it must be demonstrable, credible, and constitutionally defensible
Dalit Bahujan Adivasi
“Obnoxious and Caste-Coloured”: Supreme Court strikes down Odisha bail orders mandating cleaning work, declares them void
Acting on suo-moto proceedings triggered by media reports, the Court condemns “degrading” bail conditions imposed on Dalit and Adivasi accused, warns against judicial overreach, and reinforces that liberty cannot be conditioned on humiliation or caste-based labour
Media
Caged Voices, Silenced Truths: FSC’s expansive indictment of India’s press freedom crisis
On World Press Freedom Day 2026, the Free Speech Collective (FSC) assembles a powerful, deeply layered account of repression, incarceration, and systemic silencing—centring the stories of jailed journalists Rupesh Kumar Singh and Irfan Mehraj to expose the widening fault lines in India’s democratic promise
Dalit Bahujan Adivasi
Systematic Exclusion: Caste-based atrocities across Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, MP, and UP
A spate of anti-Dalit incidents—from a youth killed over leftover food in Amreli to a suspicious death after an inter-caste relationship in Tamil Nadu, and social boycotts in Khargone—also includes temple bans and clashes over Dalit wedding processions