On 27 August 2020, the Arunachal Pradesh state legislative assembly unanimously passed a resolution to bring the entire state under the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution. This Schedule currently makes special provisions for the administration of tribal areas in the north-eastern states of Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya, and Mizoram. Most laws passed by the legislative assemblies in these states do not apply to tribal areas; instead, these areas are governed by autonomous Councils, which have wide-ranging powers to make laws on land, forest management, agriculture, village administration, and personal matters.
CADIndia website: a digital archive and database of Indian constitutional history with human-tagged original documents that explains and illuminates the contemporary relevance of this history to our contemporary lives [cadindia.clpr.org.in]. Supreme Court Observer website: a living archive of the Supreme Court of India that compiles original materials and daily reports of selected ongoing cases to make apparent the Court’s role as the final interpreter of the Constitution to resolve contemporary problems [scobserver.clpr.org.in].
The Convention will be an opportunity to critically engage with the Indian constitution and develop a plan to preserve, protect and promote constitutional values in the 21st century. The Convention will facilitate collaboration and engagement between student members of the NCS along with eminent lawyers, civil society leaders and retired Judges who will be patrons and will be the first step towards the establishing the NCS as an independent Society.
Vikram Raghavan’s talk was geared to resonate with diverse audiences. For the layman, the talk would have given him/her a useful and exciting nudge into exploring the history of the Indian constitution. For lawyers and academics already familiar with Cornerstone, unknown biographical details of Austin Granville was a treat
