BUSINESS
Justice is in need of reassurance
India’s reputation as a justice system to be emulated is taking a hit. The World Justice Project’s Rule of Law index 2020 ranked India at 69 — wedged between Belarus and Burkina Faso, both practically dictatorships
POLITICS
Legal Matters | A law to set communities against one another
While Uttar Pradesh’s new anti-conversion law is aimed at checking religious conversions, it will also ensure that religious communities are perennially suspicious of each other, and act even more exclusionary
BUSINESS
Legal Matters | Article 32 has outlived its original ideal
Whatever be the merits of the Supreme Court’s ruling, a system where judges can lay down law unfettered by independent judicial scrutiny, is antithetical to the rule of law
POLITICS
Legal Matters | The judges, they protest too much
All public figures are subject to harsh criticism — often unfairly. For judges to use their powers to punish critics betrays a deep sense of insecurity
ENVIRONMENT
Air Pollution | A game of smoke and mirrors
India’s commitment to environmental protection is mostly lip service. It’s time our politicians were called out for their duplicity
INDIA
Stricter punishments for online defamation is a step too far
The available remedies against online disinformation and mischief are proportionate to the crime. Anything further will only result in suppression of free speech and stifling criticism of the government
LEGAL-TRENDS
Aadhaar Resurgence | Still of questionable legality
The Supreme Court was very clear that Aadhaar was to be a voluntary scheme and meant only for disbursal of benefit under government welfare schemes. This seems to be completely flouted by states over the last few months
POLITICS
Legal Matters | Judicial accountability is about staying relevant
Brushing complaints about judicial misconduct under the carpet only gives the executive a lever to influence judges, and by extension, judgments
BUSINESS
Tax litigation: A case of no returns
About 66 percent of our direct tax cases together add up to a paltry 1.8 percent of total amount under tax litigation. It will be more efficacious for the government to simply abandon those claims
BUSINESS
FCRA Amendment | The real consequences of tightening rules around NGO funding
For a country which welcomes foreign direct, as well as institutional, investment, it is hypocritical to be overly suspicious of non-corporate funds
POLITICS
Why are governments so fond of anti-terror laws?
From ineligibility for bail to denial of a lawyer, some of India’s anti-terror laws take away the most fundamental of rights — the presumption of innocence. The State is increasingly using them to silence political opposition
BUSINESS
Government must reconsider its flawed approach towards drugs
By imposing exceedingly severe jail terms, perhaps more harm is being done to drug users than by their use of the drugs
LEGAL-TRENDS
Legal Matters | A moral argument against life without parole
Life sentences without possibility of early release is favoured by those who oppose the death penalty — but that is not without its defects
POLITICS
SC judgment does not clear confusion surrounding PM CARES
The problem with the PM CARES fund is that it is not transparent — the public doesn’t know the basis of allocation of funds. The Supreme Court judgment does not address this core issue
ENVIRONMENT
Why the proposed environmental rules might incentivise illegal activity
The draft EIA notification is likely to incentivise the practice of setting up industries without any regard for environmental concerns — knowing that any violation is highly likely to be condoned in due course
BUSINESS
Why consumers must start demanding greater data privacy
The consent-based model of data collection is a charade. Regulation must evolve to put limits on what companies can do with your personal data
BUSINESS
Legal Matters | Why are there so few women justices in India? Our male-dominated collegiums could hold the answer
Justice R Bhanumathi — only the second woman ever in the Supreme Court collegium — retires without a single appointment having been made during her tenure.
POLITICS
Distress Profiteering | State must not misuse its unfair advantage
The competition law does not apply to the exercise of sovereign functions by the government. However, if it did, many of State's actions during the pandemic would have come under severe censure
INDIA
Legal Matters | Decriminalise economic offences, but with uniformity
The recent proposal to remove jail-term for certain economic offences contains inherent contradictions
INDIA
Is SEBI toothless when it comes to insider trading cases?
Cracking down on insider trading is such an uphill task that SEBI almost always comes short. The number of insider trading convictions that have stood up to scrutiny before the Appellate Tribunal is negligible
POLITICS
Legal Matters | Why knee-jerk legislation continues to inflict misery
Politicians and bureaucrats never suffer the consequences of ill-thought and shoddily-drafted laws. So they continue unabated
POLITICS
Sedition Cases | When the process becomes the punishment
Sedition trials are statistically doomed to end in acquittals. Then why does the State doggedly pursue these cases?
POLITICS
Labour Laws | States could turn to the four codes set by the Centre
While reforms were much needed, some of the hastily drawn changes will do more harm than good
POLITICS
Policy | Why PM CARES and other relief funds must be audited by CAG
The PM-CARES fund, just like the PMNRF and many CM relief funds, is opaque in its functioning, even as it collects donations using State apparatus
