Constitutional Law and Philosophy
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Through an analysis of some of our important constitutional cases, past and present, I seek to engage with the set of diverse political and philosophical values that underlies the text of the Constitution, and has informed its interpretation over the years. These values may be articulate or inarticulate premises of judicial decisions.
Constitutional Law and Philosophy
2d ago
[This is a guest post by Rishika Sahgal.] Cases involving eviction from well-located land in the heart of cities and relocation to urban peripheries are common across the world, including in India and South Africa. Resistance to such evictions involve intertwined demands to housing as well as to spatial justice, that is, the demand for ..read more
Constitutional Law and Philosophy
1w ago
Not conducting delimitation for almost half a century has resulted in significant malapportionment, with the votes of certain citizens counting more than others. As the second post in this series noted (here), the Constitution always contemplated States gaining and losing seats in the Lok Sabha based on the population of States. This ensured that constituency ..read more
Constitutional Law and Philosophy
1w ago
[This is a guest post by Abhinav Sekhri, cross-posted with permission from The Proof of Guilt blog.] On 27.02.2025, a Three Justices’ Bench of the Supreme Court delivered its verdict in a large batch of petitions which raised issues about the manner and exercise of the power of arrest without warrant under the Customs Act ..read more
Constitutional Law and Philosophy
1w ago
In a previous article for The Hindustan Times, I had flagged a number of concerns with the way that the Supreme Court of India is handling the case of the YouTuber Ranvir Allahbadia, who is presently facing police prosecution for cracking a crass – but decidedly not criminal – joke on his channel. While Allahbadia ..read more
Constitutional Law and Philosophy
2w ago
[This is a guest post by Anmol Jain.] Introduction In a recent Supreme Court judgment dealing with the determination of the Court’s power to review the decision of the Bihar Legislative Council to expel one of its members—Dr Sunil Kumar Singh—from the membership of the House on account of calling Nitish Kumar paltu ram, among ..read more
Constitutional Law and Philosophy
2w ago
[This is a guest post by Kieran Correia.] Towards the end of January, the Supreme Court began hearing challenges to the constitutionality of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act 2019. The Act was signed into law after the Court’s 2017 Shayara Bano verdict, which declared the practice of triple talaq unconstitutional. Triple ..read more
Constitutional Law and Philosophy
1M ago
On 12th February 2025, in a case concerning the adequacy of night shelters to house homeless people in New Delhi, Supreme Court Justice B.R. Gavai observed that State welfare programmes (which he derogatorily referred to as “freebies”) were creating a “class of parasites” who were unwilling to perform “work” (such as agricultural labour). On 17th ..read more
Constitutional Law and Philosophy
1M ago
I have a new book out on the Constitution, the culmination of three+ years of work that began life in 2021 as my post-doctoral research project. It’s called The Indian Constitution: A Conversation with Power, and you can get it at your local bookshop, or online here. Here’s the blurb: Ever since its creation, the ..read more
Constitutional Law and Philosophy
1M ago
[This is a guest post by Rudraksh Lakra.] Introduction The Supreme Court of the United States (“SCOTUS”), in TikTok Inc. v. Garland on January 17, 2025, rejected TikTok’s appeal thereby upholding the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, 2024 (“PAFACA Act”). Passed in April 2024, the Act required ByteDance Ltd., TikTok’s parent company ..read more
Constitutional Law and Philosophy
1M ago
The previous post (here) noted how the framers of the Indian Constitution sought to guarantee the principle of one person one vote in the Lok Sabha through constituencies of equal populations revised after every census. This meant states would gain or lose seats in the Lok Sabha based on their fluctuating populations. The issue of ..read more