India's Constitution: Present Tense, Future Tenser

Can the President acting on behalf of the Government seek to undo a judgment or a binding precedent of the Supreme Court by invoking the advisory jurisdiction of the Supreme Court under Article 143 of the Constitution?Can the Supreme Court under the guise of expressing its view of the law in a “functional reference”, cripple the essential functions and functioning of the elected legislature under the Constitution?Can the Supreme Court selectively re-write the Constitution while rendering its...

War Against Psychotropic Drugs – India's Policy Conundrums

Saddled with two of the World's largest cartels of illicit opium production, the Golden Crescent in North-West and the Golden Triangle in the North-East, with approximately four million psychotropic drug users[1], India's legal system faces a Herculean task.India's commitment on prohibition of intoxicating drinks & drugs is enshrined in Article 47 of the Constitution, mandating the State to endeavour “… to bring about prohibition of the consumption except for medicinal purposes of...

Is Definition Of 'Appropriate Government' Under OSH Code, Appropriate?

India's labour-law regime, built over decades through a framework of over 40 Central and 100+ State laws[2], had become complex, fragmented, and often inconsistent with respect to definitions, enforcement, and jurisdiction. The multitude of statutes created overlapping compliance burdens and, among other issues, persistent confusion about which authority was competent in particular situations. To resolve this, the Second National Commission on Labour (NCL) was constituted in 1999[3] with a clear...

Tej Bahadur Sapru- A Sesquicentennial Tribute

December 8, this year is the 150th birth anniversary of Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru who was one of the best legal minds of the country. It is only appropriate that we remember him and light his memory. The likes of him belong to the ages. Very rarely do we see someone like him.A jurist and scholar of the highest repute, he was a great constitutional lawyer who achieved brilliant success. It is said that Sir Tej 'had something which does not necessarily go with superior...

Name Clashes: Resolving Conflicts Between Corporate Identities And Trademarks

With the competitive corporate environment in India, disputes over identical or similar names have become increasingly common, as trademarks and company names frequently overlap. Confusion and disputes over ownership and resemblance with existing entities and goodwill have often seen the emergence of fresh startups pitted against long-standing businesses. This article looks at the development of Indian law over such disputes from the shift from Section 22 of the Companies Act, 1956, to Section...

Beyond The Uniform: Why SSC Officers Deserve Pension And Post-Service Opportunities

The structure of Short Service Commission system was designed to infuse young and dynamic talent in Indian Armed forces. The Short Service Commission is certainly a very significant scheme to individuals who would not wish the defence services to form their permanent profession and also to meet the military shortage of officers in the three services. Over a long time before the year 2006, SSC...

Invisible Corners Of Supreme Court Of India: Paradox Of Non-Reportable Judgments

The public discussion surrounding Justice (Retd.) Abhay S. Oka, who authored nearly ninety-nine non-reportable judgments, has revived a long-standing institutional puzzle, why does the Supreme Court of India, a constitutional court committed to transparency, continue to categorise many of its reasoned decisions as “non-reportable”? The issue does not concern judicial competence but the persistence of an opaque practice with no statutory foundation, no codified criteria, and little...

Fifty Thousand Children, One Fragile System: What The New India Justice Report Tells Us About Juvenile Justice

Ten years after Parliament rewrote the law for children in conflict with the law, the institutions tasked with delivering that promise look worryingly similar to the ones the law was meant to replace. At the launch of the India Justice Report's new study on juvenile justice, the conversation in the room kept circling back to the same disquieting theme: an Act built on rehabilitation, and a system that continues to default to the instincts of the criminal courts. The numbers tell one story, but...

Specific Performance And The Cloud-Of-Doubt: When Is Declaratory Relief Required?

Does a plaintiff suing for specific performance or injunction also need to include a prayer for declaration? Would the failure to include a separate prayer for declaration raise maintainability related concerns?Recently, in Annamalai v. Vasanthi (2025), the Supreme Court refined the “cloud-of-doubt” test laid down in Anathula Sudhakar v. P. Buchi Reddy (2008), for determining when a suit for specific performance or injunction may be maintained without seeking a declaration of the predicate...

Re-Examining Mental Cruelty: Patriarchy In Marital Residence Norms

The recently released NCRB data for 2023 underscores a disturbing persistence in crimes against women in India. With 448,211 reported cases - a small rise from 445,256 cases in 2022, although consistent. The national crime rate was 66.2 incidents per lakh female population, based on mid-year projections of 67.7 crore females. Of these, cruelty by husband or relatives (Section 498A IPC) made...

Flag, Faith, And The Fading Constitutional Boundaries

Recently, the Prime Minister of our state presided and hoisted the dhwaja atop the newly constructed Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. I believe it marks a moment, while emotionally resonant for many, that deserves sober constitutional reflection. While the event holds cultural significance for many citizens, the involvement of the head of government in explicitly religious rituals marks a disquieting...

India's Air Pollution Emergency Underscores How Special Legal Protections For Coal Do Not Serve Public Interest

Despite the AQI crossing 500 every year, and the staggering reality that air pollution is responsible for 9% of all under-5 deaths, coal, which is a major contributor, has legal protections and exemptions for its use due to a legacy law written almost 70 years ago, in 1957.Coal accounts for 75% of India's power generation and production has grown by 35% in the last ten years. Yet one in...