A fortnightly feature inspired by I-CONnect’s weekly “What’s New in Public Law” feature that addresses the lacuna of a one-stop-shop public law newsletter in the Indian legal space.

What’s new at LAOT

1. Sughosh Joshi, Uniform Civil Code: History and the Present (explains the meaning of the Uniform Civil Code, elaborates on the history of the issue, and finally highlights essential features of and criticisms against Uttarakhand’s UCC while suggesting further readings on the same).

2. Ameya Sharma, Between Sanctity and Economic Sense: A Compromise to be Struck? (provides a summary of the T.M.D Rafi v. State of AP case and delves into the contentions from both sides by making a comparative analysis of the concerns raised and proposing an amicable solution).

3. Anushka Agarwala, Explainer on Want(s) over Can(s)? Irreversible Changes and Article 370 (criticizes the Supreme Court’s decision supporting the abrogation of Article 370, arguing that it undermines federalism).

4. Aamukatamalya Thalluri, Explainer on Equality at Crossroads: Constitutional Oversight in Revanasiddappa v. Mallikarjun (analyses the SC judgment in Revansiddappa v. Mallikarjun which held that children from void and voidable marriages would only be entitled to inherit the self-acquired property of their parents and not the Hindu Joint Family Property).

5. Aditi Bhojanagarwala, Explainer on Aligarh Muslim University Through its Registrar Faizan Mustafa v Naresh Agarwal – Part I and II (analyses the key provisions and judgments surrounding the Supreme Court’s recent hearings on AMU status focusing on the jurisprudence on Article 30(1) and dissecting the arguments raised by the parties before the Supreme Court).

Lately in Academic Articles

1. Faiza Rahman, Divided we stand: the Supreme Court’s judgement in the hijab ban case, Indian Law Review (case note on the Supreme Court’s verdict on the “hijab ban” imposed in some educational institutions in Karnataka focussing on the issues of religious freedom, privacy and freedom of speech, and discrimination).

2. NUJS Law Review’s Special Issue on the Basic Structure was recently published. Some articles from the publication include:

I. Upendra Baxi, Foreword

ii. Kartikay Agarwal & Harmanjot Kaur, Harmonising Constitutional Ideals: A Modern Reassessment of the Basic Structure Doctrine

iii. Prabhu Gupta, Conundrum of Judicial Review vis-a-vis the Application of Basic Structure Doctrine to Ordinary Laws

3. Devansh Kaushik, Policy Responses To Fake News On Social Media Platforms: A Law And Economics Analysis, Statute Law Review (recommends the adoption of a multi-pronged strategy to internalize social costs of fake news on social media platforms by channeling resources towards promoting state measures to mitigate the effects of fake news).

4. Gururaj Devarhubli & Alaukik Shrivastava, The advancement of environmental procedural rights in India: an analysis of issues, problems, and prospects, Cogent Social Sciences (examines the three procedural rights for environmental protection— right to information, right to public participation and right to access justice— and discusses the requirements and barriers of accessing them).

5. Zaglul Haider, Biharis in Bangladesh: Transition from Statelessness to Citizenship,  Palgrave Macmillan Cham (analyzes the citizenship status of Biharis in Bangladesh and argues that they lack access to important rights despite being citizens legally).

Blogs

1. Rakshita Goyal and Narmata Mukherjee, Uttarakhand UCC Bill  does a lot of things. Achieving true ‘uniformity’ is not one of them, The Print.

2. Alok Prasanna Kumar, Too Late for Social Justice, Economic and Political Weekly.

3. Ananya Moncourt, Navigating the Indian Data Protection Law: Examining user rights in the context of voluntary disclosure of personal data, Centre for Communication Governance.

4. Areeb Uddin Ahmed, How Procedure Upended Personal Liberty In Allahabad High Court’s Refusal To Protect Interfaith Couples, Article 14.

5. Saranya Ravindran, The PMLA’s “Adjudicating” Authority as an “Administrative” Body: Appraising the Madras High Court’s Decision, Indian Constitutional Law and Philosophy.

6. Kieran Correia, The Supreme Court’s Electoral Bonds Judgment – I: Political Equality and Electoral Transparency, Indian Constitutional Law and Philosophy [Part II can be accessed here]. 

Podcasts

1. Milan Vaishnav and Leah Verghese, The End of the Electoral Bond Era, Grand Tamasha (discussing the controversy surrounding the electoral bond scheme and the impact of the court’s judgment on the future of political funding in India).

2. Rahul Matthan and Shruti Rajagopalan, Rahul Matthan on AI, Privacy, and Digital Public Infrastructure, Ideas of India (examining India’s digital public infrastructure revolution and its unified payment systems in light of the concerns surrounding privacy).

3. Anupam Chander and Anirudh Barman, Anupam Chander on the Challenge of Regulating Free Speech Online, Interpreting India (analysing the impact of laws regulating digital intermediaries on the economy and the right to free speech). 

4. Sarasu Esther Thomas and G. Sampath, What are the issues with Utrakhand’s Uniform Civil Code?, In Focus by the Hindu (understanding the history of the UCC proposal and its impact on the minority community). 

5. Sreehari Aney and Bhavika Jain, The legal roadblocks for Maharashtra’s Maratha quota, The Times of India Podcast (explaining the legal challenges that the move to provide a 10% reservation to Marathas might face).

6. Shekhar Gupta, Anonymous no more: What Supreme Court said in electoral bonds judgment & why it matters, The Print (elucidating on the Supreme Court’s judgment on the electoral bond scheme).

7. Udit Bhatia and Gauri Kashap, Dr. Udit Bhatia on the Electoral Bonds Scheme and Funding of Political Parties in India, The Supreme Court Observer (discussing the role of transparency in election, political funding and its limitations).

8. Arudra Burra and Aman Kumar, Prof. Arudra Burra on ‘Colonial Laws’, IL-literate (understanding the meaning of “colonial laws” and the idea of “colonial continuity”). 

Opportunities:-

1. 2nd National Seminar on Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in Consumer

          Protection in India by RGNUL. The last date for submission of the abstract is 15 March 2024.

2. 1st Fox & Mandal – NUJS National Article Writing Competition. The last date for Submission is 20 March 2024.

3. Call for Papers, Journal of Cyber Laws and Security (JCLS) by HPNLU.The last date for submission of contribution is 25 March 2024.

4. Call for Papers by DNLU -Student Law Journal. The last date for submission of papers is 25 March 2024.

5. Call for Papers for International Conference on ‘Aerodrome Requirements: Legal and Developmental Perspectives by NUJS Kolkata. The last date for submission is 31 March 2024.

6. NALSAR- International Conference on Crises and Solutions to Dispute Settlement System under WTO between 13-14th April 2024. The last date for registration is 1 April 2024.

7. Call for Papers by National Law School of India Review (Vol. 36(2)). The last for submission is 15 May 2024. 

This newsletter is prepared by Aditi Bhojnagarwala, Jeetendra Vishwakarma, and Saranya Ravindran from the Law and Other Things Student Team with the guidance of Surbhi Karwa.