Law

The recently enacted labour codes will provide substantial benefits to unorganised workers and gig workers, said Union minister for commerce and industry Piyush Goyal. He said these workers previously had to navigate numerous forms, inspections and complex regulations, whereas the new framework simplifies processes and ensures access to proper facilities, social security and better working conditions.

OPINION | Supreme Court clarifies roles of Governor and President in dealing with Bills but doesn't resolve the matter entirely

The Supreme Court held it cannot impose timelines on Governors or the President for Bill assent but may issue a limited mandamus against prolonged inaction, balancing separation of powers with ensuring constitutional functioning

OPINION | Evaluating the 130th Amendment Bill: Legal perspectives

Researchers from Charkha prepared a detailed report analysing the Constitution (130th Amendment) Bill, assessing its legal validity, alignment with constitutional principles, and offering recommendations to prevent misuse

OPINION | Supreme Court’s Karur Judgement: Questions of jurisdiction, neutrality and federal trust

Two aspects of the interim order have triggered debate. One, the decision to transfer the case to CBI when jurisprudence has set a high bar to do so. Two, the decision to appoint two IPS officers to the supervisory committee who may be of Tamil Nadu cadre but not natives of the state 

OPINION | Justice Surya Kant’s tenure begins amid reform imperatives

Justice Surya Kant, brings decades of distinguished service, marked by landmark rulings on free speech, privacy, and human rights, and faces crucial judicial reform challenges ahead. He takes oath as the next CJI on November 24 

OPINION | What is the real issue ‘My Lords’?

Despite explicit court orders, Bar Council resolutions, and even petitions seeking to ban such colonial honorifics, their persistence raises a deeper question: is this merely a colonial relic that refuses to fade, or an institutional compulsion the judiciary itself continues to uphold?

OPINION | The Constitution Made Accessible: A new scholarly analysis in Hindi

‘Hum Bharat Ke Log: Bhartiya Samvidhan Par Nau Nibandh’ (We, the People of India: Nine Essays on the Indian Constitution), represents a significant step towards making serious constitutional scholarship available in Hindi. The paucity of scholarship in Indian languages represents a drawback in making the foundational document more accessible

OPINION | Are all land-losers entitled to the same treatment?

Two High Courts have reached opposite conclusions on the issue of taxing compensation received by people whose land is acquired under different statutes. It’s now the legislature’s duty to clarify the position and mitigate the feeling of being hard done-by

OPINION | Manual Scavenging: When the Supreme Court saw its own order being violated at its own gate

Laws, judgments, and penalties can only go so far unless accompanied by a strong administrative will to eradicate this inhuman practice once and for all. The sight of a worker entering a sewer outside the Supreme Court is not just a failure of governance; it is a collective failure of conscience

OPINION | Trillions are stuck in disputes at commercial tribunals but reform agenda ignores it

Litigation amounting to nearly 7.5% of GDP is stuck at the level of tribunals, locking in capital. It’s not the stuff of headlines but it’s a big contributor to regulatory cholesterol. Reform attempts should not ignore blockages in the plumbing

OPINION | India’s Secular Dilemma: Balancing faith and the State

In India, religion is not limited to personal belief; it is deeply woven into the social fabric and continuously shapes citizen–state interactions. In such a context, maintaining a strict and absolute separation between state and religion becomes exceedingly difficult 

Grey area in draft of law increases scope for judicial intervention, legislative draft must be clear, precise: Om Birla

Birla said that better the drafting, the more effective, error-free, and just the law will be.

OPINION | The enduring impact of judicial dissent

A dissent in the Supreme Court may not be an explanation in a lost cause. Jurisprudence is filled with examples where a subsequent generation saw merit in the logic undergirding an earlier dissent and mainstreamed it

OPINION | Rethinking the POSH Act: Ensuring protection for women in all professional spaces

The Supreme Court upheld that political parties aren't workplaces under the POSH Act, excluding women in politics from legal protections against harassment, highlighting urgent need to expand the law's scope

OPINION | Refusing mediation should come at a cost

Mediation in India today is too often a box to be ticked, a hollow formality. Without a credible cost for walking away, mediation will remain symbolic. With such consequences, however, it could become the pressure valve India’s clogged courts desperately need

India’s an antique land, but its antiquities law needs to be modern

The prevailing law treats every collector with suspicion. The outcomes are lost opportunities to project soft power and limited revenue for the government. The law needs to change and treat collectors as partners in preserving India’s rich heritage

OPINION | The real Kerala story

The state is now outperforming the US in some critical social and economic indicators despite having a fraction of the latter’s per capita income. Kerala is an outlier in the truest sense. A look at what went into making this development model

[In]Complete Justice: Reflecting on the Supreme Court at 75 -- triumphs and trials

The book ‘[In]Complete Justice: The Supreme Court at 75, Critical Reflections’ critically examines the Supreme Court's evolution, highlighting its successes, failures, judicial activism, and key reforms. It explores the Court’s role in shaping India’s democracy, law, and social justice

OPINION | Reforming the collegium system will preserve judicial independence, not undermine it

For the judiciary to remain independent, it must first acknowledge its own flaws and correct them. Ignoring the cracks in the Collegium only invites external intervention, which would compromise its autonomy

Presidential Reference once again brings Parliament–Judiciary supremacy tussle to the fore

An ongoing hearing in the Supreme Court on a Presidential Reference has brought to the fore the perennial tussle between legislature and judiciary on the issue of which body is supreme. The widely accepted idea is that it’s the Constitution that is supreme and higher judiciary interprets it. A deeper look at the long and yet unresolved issue follows

Justice in Despair: How India’s judiciary mishandles sexual harassment allegations within its ranks

Supreme Court addressed and remedied the legal vacuum in sexual harassment through an innovative approach.  It then took the Parliament more than a decade to address the issue through legislation. The judiciary’s pioneering effort, however, has been undone by the tardy and unsympathetic approach to complaints from within the institution

Supreme Court’s recall of Bhushan Power and Steel judgement is a step in the right direction

The judiciary carries out the role of interpreting the law and it should harmonize its interpretation wherever possible with our social and economic development. While addressing procedural anomalies is important, it is crucial to remain mindful of the larger economic import and the primary goal of providing a second chance to failing but viable businesses

Presidential Reference under Article 143: A quiet force in constitutional evolution

Article 143 has not only served as a means of constitutional clarification but has also helped shape the trajectory of India’s constitutional development in a way that continues to safeguard the foundational principles of justice and separation of powers 

Parliament may move to impeach Justice Yashwant Varma, but history offers little hope

The impending impeachment motion against Justice Yashwant Varma highlights India’s weak judicial accountability, where past cases show judges often resign to evade scrutiny, undermining public trust in the judiciary’s integrity

Judiciary treats Constitution’s preamble as a no-go area

RSS general secretary Hosabale wants a discussion on whether a decision to introduce the words “socialist” and “secular” in the Constitution in 1976 should be reversed. When asked to decide on the same issue earlier, the judiciary has signalled that it’s the Parliament’s call