Law and Other Things

Foreigners Tribunals, Refugee Status Determination and the ‘Surveillance of Authenticity’

On January 4, 2020 By Douglas McDonald-Norman In Comparative Law

A woman in Assam is determined not to be a citizen of India by the NRC. She seeks review by a Foreigners Tribunal. She faces a formidable task. She bears the burden of proving that …

The Citizenship Amendment Act and ‘Persons Belonging to Minority Communities’

On December 28, 2019 By Douglas McDonald-Norman In Comparative Law, Constitutional Law, Discrimination, Equality, Fundamental Rights

The Citizenship Amendment Act alters the definition of ‘illegal immigrant’ for the purposes of the Citizenship Act 1955. It provides that ‘persons belonging to minority communities, namely, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from …

CJI Office under RTI – An Explainer

On December 28, 2019 By Anirudh Agrawal In Uncategorized

On 13 November, 2019 the Constitution bench of the Supreme Court of India in the case of Central Public Information Officer, Supreme Court of India v. Subhash Chandra Agarwal has held that the office of …

The Supreme Court in Review, 2019

On December 14, 2019 By Law and Other Things In Announcements, Conference

The Supreme Court Observer invites you to attend ‘The Supreme Court in Review, 2019’, in partnership with the NCS chapter of the St. Joseph’s College of Law, Bangalore. The event will bring together judges, lawyers, litigants, …

Tax, Constitution and the Supreme Court

On December 14, 2019 By Karthik Sundaram In Book Launch, Constitutional Law, Supreme Court of India, Taxation

Taxation is omnipresent and makes its presence felt in all spheres of life. From a legal standpoint, when one contemplates on the fundamentals of taxation, the first set of questions which arise are (i) what …

The Criminalization of PUBG in Gujarat: A Frivolous Affair?

On October 18, 2019 By Tanishk Goyal In Comparative Law, Constitutional Interpretation, Constitutional Law, Free Speech, Fundamental Rights, Madras High Court, Supreme Court of India

In our latest piece, the author highlights the criminalization of PUBG in Gujarat with special focus on Section 37(3) of the Gujarat Police Act, 1951. The author discusses this in the light of the Blue Whale precedent, while further drawing parallels between the deontological and consequentialist approaches to free speech.

Life without Remission: An Irreviewable and Unconstitutional Punishment

On September 4, 2019 By Himanshu Agarwal and Amartya Kanjilal In Comparative Law, Constitutional Law, Death Penalty, Editor's Choice, European Court of Human Rights, Fundamental Rights, Madras High Court, Supreme Court of India

In this piece, the authors look at the new trend in the Indian judicial system, of remitting death sentences to life sentences, but without the option of further remission under any circumstances.