The profile was originally published in The Caravan magazine. Read here. {ONE} ON 13 MARCH 2016, the Allahabad High Court began a year-long celebration of its sesquicentennial anniversary. Among the five oldest high courts, it was established in 1866 and, today, stands as the largest, with a sanctioned strength of 160 judges. At the time, it…
The article was originally published in New York-based New Lines Magazine. Read here. An exclusive investigation reveals how the Uttar Pradesh police often exploit loopholes in the law and disregard forensic evidence in shootoutsOn Jan. 26, 2018, as India was celebrating its Republic Day (commemorating the adoption of its constitution), Mukesh Rajbhar, a 17-year-old laborer in…
The article was originally published in Article 14. Read here. Three critical cases impacting the PMLA and its use remained pending before the Supreme Court of India for the past 12 to 55 months. Despite promising to address the larger concern around the weaponization of these laws against political dissidents, Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud has…
The article was originally published in Article 14. Read here. Nine Muslims facing charges of terrorism in the 2020 Delhi riots conspiracy case are enduring systemic failures in their judicial quest for bail. Petitions pending for between 11 and 19 months in the Delhi High Court amid administrative hurdles, changes in a special bench, and a…
The article was originally published in Article 14. Read here. An analysis of eight politically sensitive cases shows they were moved to Justice Bela M Trivedi of the Supreme Court over the past four months, even though the rules of assignment say they should remain with the senior judge or before a judge hearing a similar…
The article was originally published in Article 14. Read here. Delays, adjournments, and lengthy court proceedings are hindering India’s 17-year-old right-to-information framework, a study of 18 pending court cases shows. While cases arising out of RTI languish before the courts—16 years is the longest we found—after judges stay commission orders, frequent adjournments, and poor management by…
The article was originally published in The Wire. Read here. New Delhi: Indian Premier League (IPL) founder, Lalit Modi, during his tenure as former vice-president with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) was accused of bid-rigging and money laundering, along with contravention of provisions of Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA) for several hundred crores. …
The article was originally published in The Wire. Read here. The committee whose recommendations ultimately culminated in the present form of the Bills has operated in complete secrecy ever since its constitution in May 2020. Sources told The Wire that two non-members – the SG and ASG – exerted influence on the committee. New Delhi: The parliamentary…
The article was originally published in Article 14. Read here. New Delhi: An April 2023 Law Commission of India report that recommended retention of India’s colonial-era sedition law relies substantially on a 2018 book, which approves of a law criticised for its misuse, before the Supreme Court suspended its use in May 2022. There appears to be scant evidence of “extensive…
The article was originally published in Article 14. Read here. New Delhi: “As far as India is concerned, I would like to say Christian groups are more dangerous than Islamic groups. Both are equally dangerous in the context of conversion, especially Love Jihad.” “The problem of Christian (sic). If the Islamic terror (sic) is green terror,…
The article was originally published in Article 14. Read here. New Delhi: “Judicial review of legislative and executive actions is an integral part of the constitutional scheme. I would go as far as to state that it is the heart and soul of the Indian Constitution. In my humble view, in the absence of judicial review,…
The article was originally published in Boom. Read here. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) recently told the Parliament in July that it had issued 1,122 orders to block Twitter content till June this year. In 2021, this figure stood at 2,851 — against 2,731 in 2020 and 1,041 in 2019 — showing…