Publications

In this article in the Frontline, Thulasi K. Raj and Kaleeswaram Raj criticise the Union government’s assault on free speech.

In this article, Thulasi K. Raj argues that imposing untenable conditions by courts as part of bail orders violates the right to free speech.

In this article published by The Print, Kruthika R and Madhavi Gopalakrishnan, Research Associates at CLPR talk about the recently conducted preliminary rounds of the ConQuest 2020 and also discuss a few interesting questions that created a buzz among the students. The article also enlists the results of the preliminary rounds of the ConQuest quiz 2020.

In this article published by The Print, Kruthika R and Madhavi Gopalakrishnan, Research Associates at CLPR, talk about the CLPR’s annual flagship quiz ConQuest 2020: 5th edition of India’s premier quiz on the Constitution, history and politics.

In this essay published by Socio-Legal Review (SLR), Madhavi and Kruthika, Research Associates at CLPR, argue that English is actually an emancipatory language that is key to socio-economic mobility in India. Further, the essay depicts how the language aspect of the NEP does not fulfil its historical mandate of protecting linguistic minorities and needs to be re-evaluated keeping in mind its outsize impact on disadvantaged students and minorities.

In this article published by Law and Other things, Ritambhara Singh and Arun P S have briefly responded to Prof. Dipika Jain’s paper, ” Law-Making by and for the People: A Case for Pre-legislative Processes in India”. They also reiterated that there is a need to institutionalise the pre-legislative framework that imposes a statutory obligation on policymakers to facilitate pre-legislative consultations while prescribing punishments for defaulting officials and laying down clear timelines etc.

In this essay published by Socio-Legal Review, Thulasi K Raj states that Judiciary has limited role to play in ensuring the socio-economic rights provided under the Directive Principles of State Policy of the Constitution.

The paper examines if the commonly cited reasons & modes for abrogating Article 370 are legally and normatively valid. It goes on to argue that the attempts to abrogate Article 370 without the recommendation of a constituent assembly for J& K is constitutionally suspect.

We analyse how the Supreme Court of India, in 2018, countered both the dominant political power of a single party majority government and social customs and practices that have excluded sections of the Indian population. In part 2, we focus on the Bhima Koregaon, NCT Delhi, Aadhaar and Sabarimala cases.

We analyse how the Supreme Court of India, in 2018, countered both the dominant political power of a single party majority government and social customs and practices that have excluded sections of the Indian population. In part 1, we focus on the Section 377, Adultery, Jarnail Singh, Cow Vigilantism and Hadiya Marriage cases.

Jayna Kothari wrote in the Oxford Human Rights Hub about the recent unanimous decision by the Supreme Court to declare the Right to Privacy as a Constitutional Right. She details how the Right to Dignity formed the core of the reasoning that led to the definition of the Right to Privacy. The acknowledgment by the Court of the importance of the principles of autonomy, the individual’s right to choose, the right to move freely, right to self-identify one’s gender, right to bodily integrity and reproductive makes this one of the most progressive verdicts passed by the Supreme Court of India.

In the article titled “Case for inclusive courts” in Frontline, CLPR’s Executive Director Jayna Kothari shares her views on the book titled “Courting the People: Public Interest Litigation in Post-Emergency India” by Anuj Bhuwania. She analyses the basis of the arguments brought out by Bhuwania, placing them within the larger context and framework of the legal system within India. Whilst tracking the development of Public Interest Litigation in India, she advocates for a balanced role of the amicus curiae, the need to rid the anti-poor bias, and deliberates on the path ahead.

In this article, Vineeth Krishna examines the constitutional and historical reasons for choosing 26th January as India’s Republic Day.

Sudhir Krishnaswamy suggests that the Court needs to formulate a strategy of transparency in the appointments process to win over public opinion and perception. A failure to do so could result in an unacceptable loss of autonomy and erode the power that the Court has to keep a check on the executive and the legislature.

This article is a comment on the Draft Equality Bill, 2016 drafted by Tarunabh Khaitan. It focuses on two central issues. The first is the very concept of equality the Bill propounds and its conflict with other rights guaranteed under the Constitution. The other, is the standard of judicial review envisaged under the bill. It casts doubt on the premise that a court centric model of achieving equality is the best way to achieve equality in a country where millions do not have access to justice.

Jayna Kothari and Gaurav Mukherjee’s piece on out-of-school children is now live on the Oxford Human Rights Blog. (September 18, 2015)

In this article, Jayna Kothari and Aparna Ravi highlight the conflicts of interest between the government and the tobacco industry and note how the intervention of the tobacco industry led to the indefinite suspension of the proposed tobacco packaging rules by the Indian Government. The new rules mandate that warnings should cover up to 85% of the cigarette packaging. The halt in implementation indicates the industry’s influence on government policy making and the serious implications this can have on public health. The article concludes that immediate steps need to be taken to isolate the tobacco industry from the Government’s policy-making wing.

This article considers the role of the Supreme Court in the 2G spectrum case. It argues that the Supreme Court has overstepped its mandate in deciding this issue directly and has done so only to maintain its status as a corruption buster.

This blog post summarises the arguments made on behalf of the Azim Premji Foundation by Jayna Kothari and Menaka Guruswamy in the Supreme Court regarding the constitutionality of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009.

Sudhir Krishnaswamy analyzes attempts by the India and the US to clarify the relationship between the state and private sector, and their respective roles and responsibilities to secure social welfare. He focuses on India’s Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009 and the United States’ Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, 2010.

Sudhir Krishnaswamy and Madhav Khosla published a review of Judges of the Supreme Court of India: 1950-1989 by George H. Gadbois (New Delhi: Oxford University Press) titled ‘Inside Our Supreme Court’ in the 20th August 2011 issue of the Economic and Political Weekly

The article is about a Public Interest Litigation filed in the High Court of Karnataka, Bangalore on the pitiable state of the government hospitals in Bangalore which are short of doctors, beds and equipment, thereby raising pertinent questions about public health being a right for people. The court, however, has taken up this issue quite seriously and this is very essential given the state of government hospitals now. One hopes that more pressure is applied to ensure quality in public healthcare because this is a basic constitutional right in a welfare state.

The paper critically examines what social rights are, the constitutional understanding of social rights, how social rights can be made justiciable, can be implemented, and enforced. The author looks at Supreme Court judgments, constitutional litigation, debates, and discussions around three specific rights: right to food, right to health, and right to education.