The Narendra Modi Government has promulgated eight ordinances since coming to power last May. Readers may be aware of Shubhankar Dam’s excellent recent book, Presidential Legislation in India: The Law and Practice of Ordinances (Cambridge University Press, 2014). In this interview, Dam answers questions on the recent controversy, by speaking at length on the validity of justifications offered for the promulgation of ordinances. In an accompanying article, I give the necessary factual details of the controversy, which is still unraveling. A report today speculates about dissensions within the Cabinet on the need for these ordinances. In a sense, Dam is correct in suggesting that the blame for the ‘inevitability of ordinance raj’ must lie with India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. How else can one explain the resort to ordinance by the Rajasthan Government, which does not face the problem of lack of majority in the Upper House, like the Modi Government at the Centre?
The first part of this analysis delved into the Supreme Court’s judgment in Ashok Kumar Sharma & Ors v. Union of India, where it misread the International Rule of Law (IRoL) by focusing on...
Blurb: A petition was filed in the Supreme Court, seeking the suspension of military exports from India to Israel in light of the unfolding armed conflict in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The...
Blurb: In his recent rejoinder, Dalmia clarifies the “expressed an opinion” standard to better define when recusal may be appropriate. He addresses the four rebuttals that the author raised and...
Blurb: In his recent rejoinder, Dalmia clarifies the “expressed an opinion” standard to better define when recusal may be appropriate. He addresses the four rebuttals that the author...
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...
A mass movement led by students has ushered in a new dawn in Bangladesh. What began as a claim for reform of the quota system transformed into a national movement to oust Bangladesh’s long-standing...