A fortnightly feature inspired by I-CONnect’s weekly “What’s New in Public Law” feature that presents a curated list of public law-related work in the Indian legal space.

What’s New at LAOT

1. Devi Nandana Baiju, Explainer: Citizen for Justice and Peace v. State of Uttar Pradesh & Ors (Explains the developments on the challenges to various anti-conversion bills in India).

2. Ashish K James and Dyuti Anand, A Thorn by Another Name Pricks Just as Sharply : India’s New Laws Intensifying the Sting of Sedition, (analyzes the transition from Section 124A to the new Section 150 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill, it’s implications on democratic principles and the potential for misuse).

Lately in Academic Scholarship

1. Satyajit Mohanty, Police Discretion in India Legal and Extralegal Factors, Routledge (An empirical study of the workings of the police system, and wide police discretion in India, specifically focusing on how extralegal factors influence the actions of law enforcement).

2. Subhajit Basu & Shameek Senb, Silenced voices: unravelling India’s dissent crisis through historical and contemporary analysis of free speech and suppression, Information & Communications Technology Law (Addresses the lack of a comprehensive framework to address hate speech, and the ill-defined and wide bases used to curb speech on social media, to argue that the freedom to criticize should be better protected).

3. The Journal of Legal Studies, NLU Delhi published the 5th Volume. Here are some select articles on public law:

i. Dakshina Chandra, Beacon Of Hope Amidst The Dark Clouds Of Turf Protection: Evaluating Recent Efforts And Missed Opportunities Towards Competitive Legal Services In India (Compares the Indian legal profession’s regulatory scheme with global standards, and proposes the need to renew India’s regulatory objectives with international standards).

ii. Debayan Bhattarcharya and Kashish Jumani, Coercion, Individual Liberty And Safeguarding Public Health: Analysing The Constitutionality Of Vaccine Mandates In India (Argues that Jacob Puliyel’s holding is incorrect and that a compulsory vaccine mandate for all adults in certain circumstances is constitutional).

iii. Ayan Gupta, Rethinking Bachan Singh: Lessons from South African, Tanzanian and American Constitutional Courts (Analyses the constitutionality of the death penalty in India by undertaking a comparative analysis of death penalty jurisprudence).

4. The NLIU Law Review published its XIIth Volume, Issue ii. Here are some select articles on public law:

i. Apurva Shanker, The Paradox Of Prevention: Individualistic Aspect Of Internet Shutdowns (Given the context of widespread internet shutdowns in India under “national security” grounds, the article argues that India should recognize the internet as a basic human right, as has been accepted in international jurisprudence).

ii. Anushka Satya & Nishant Kumar, Conundrum Around The Right To Default Bail Under Section 167 (analyzes the constraints in accessing default bail, and proposes amendments to reduce such stringent requirements).

iii. Ishika Garg & Abinand Lagisetti, Mind The Gap: Advocating For An Indian Legislative Response To Neurotechnology (Argues that neuro-rights embodied in the right of mental privacy help address the challenges related to the use of neurotechnology such as Brain-Computer Interfaces).

5. The GNLU Student Law Review published its VIth Volume. Here are some select articles on public law:

i. Mudrika Agarwal, Incorporating Indirect Discrimination: Evaluating Section 9 Of The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 (Explains how Section 9 of the Hindu Marriage Act, which deals with restitution of conjugal rights, constitutes an indirect discrimination against women, thus violating Article 14 of the Constitution).

ii. Avantika Tewari & Chetan R, From Tradition To Transformation: Charting A Rights-Based Path To End Female Genital Cutting In India (analyzes female genital mutilation in India, and drawing comparisons with the approaches adopted globally, proposes amendments to the Indian legal framework to address this issue).

iii. Ghanishtha Mishra & Esha Joshi, Semantics Of The Forest: How Lack Of Definitional Clarity Is Leading To Degradation (analyzes the lack of statutory definition of the term “forest” in India, and the resulting diversion of forest land for non-forest purposes).

Elsewhere in India

1. Anshul Dalmia, Authorisation in the Streets, Appointment in the Sheets? – A Constitutional Tussle, Indian Constitutional Law and Philosophy.

2. Madan B Lokur, Is This a Necessary Overhauling?, Economic and Political Weekly.

3. Ajita Banerjie, Emerging Jurisprudence on Queer Love in India, Oxford Human Rights Hub.

4. Abhinav Sekhri, Decolonising Criminal Law?, Verfassungsblog.

5. Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Govt Reports Warn How India’s New Forest Law Will Accelerate Fragmentation Of Critical Animal Corridors, ARTICLE14.

6. Gautam Bhatia, The Indian Constitution through the Lens of Power – II: The Legislature and the Executive, ICONnect. (Part One of the article can be accessed here).  

7. Jinaly Dani & Yeesha Shriyan, Repealing Obsolete Laws in Maharashtra, Vidhi.

Listen up

1. Javeed Ahmad (ex IPS & ex DGP of Uttar Pradesh) and Shrikrishna Upadhyaya, What’s New in Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023? All Things Policy (explaining the significant changes proposed in the Sanhita and discussing its ramifications on the right to a fair and speedy trial, individual liberties, and police powers).

2. Prashant Pratyay and Mr. Gaurav Tiwari, Digital Personal Data Protection Act- Implications for financial entities and fin-tech sector, all Law (discussing the introduction of a comprehensive framework on data protection applicable to entities processing personal data across all sectors).

3. Ravi Chellam and Sampad, Does the Forest Conservation (Amendment) Act, 2023 dilute protection for forests?, In Focus by The Hindu (analysing the effect of this Act on the existing protections afforded to the forests and its specific impact on North-Eastern states). 

4. Kshama Sawant, Prashant Nema and Anurag Verma, Anti-Caste Bills in USA, Anurag Minus Verma Podcast (examining the anti-caste bills passed in the USA).

Opportunities and Other Things

1. 8th Policy Review Article Writing Competition, 2023, by GLC, Mumbai. The last date to register is September 24, 2023.

2. National Seminar on Federalism in India by NMIMS, Hyderabad, 2023. The last date for submission of the abstract is October 1, 2023.

3. 2nd RGNLU Essay Writing Competition on Arbitration. The last date for submission is October 7, 2023.

4. 6th GCLW Conference on Economic Analysis of Law, Governance and Public Policy. The last date of submission is October 15, 2023.

5. Call for Papers by NUALS Law Journal. The last date of submission is November 1, 2023.

6. 2nd Edition of the Legislative Drafting Competition by GNLU. The last date for submission is November 26, 2023.

This initiative was started by Eeshan Sonak, Aditi Bhojnagarwala, Jeetendra Vishwakarma, and Saranya Ravindran from the Law and Other Things Student Team with the guidance of Surbhi Karwa and Gaurav Mukherjee.

Please contact the student editorial team of the LAOT Blog for any queries or to write for us at [email protected].