Fundamental Rights | Law and Other Things

Can Fundamental Rights Be Waived?

On September 12, 2017 By Vikram Raghavan In Constitutional Law, Fundamental Rights, Supreme Court of India

In a recent piece for Bar and Bench, Arvind Datar examines whether a fundamental right can be waived. I had long assumed that this question was settled in Basheshwar Nath’s Case. The Court declared, we learnt …

Stray thoughts on the Privacy hearings

On July 26, 2017 By Tarunabh Khaitan In Constitutional Law, Fundamental Rights, Privacy

The privacy hearings before a 9-judge bench (excellently covered by Ujwala Uppaluri on this blog) have excited much attention. Some thoughts on these hearings below: On the adjudicative form: This is how adjudication, especially in …

The Privacy Hearings-II: Three Pathologies of Indian Civil Liberties Argument (Guest post by Ujwala Uppaluri)

On July 26, 2017 By Guest In Equality, Fundamental Rights, Privacy, Supreme Court of India

(This is the second post by Ujwala Uppaluri in a series on the ‘right to privacy’ hearings in the Supreme Court of India. The first post can be accessed here.) On Tuesday and Wednesday …

The Privacy Hearings: Some Notes on Supreme Court Practice (Guest post by Ujwala Uppaluri)

On July 22, 2017 By Guest In Equality, Fundamental Rights, Privacy, Supreme Court of India

(This is the first post of a 3-part series by Ujwala Uppaluri on the ‘right to privacy’ hearings before the Supreme Court of India. Ujwala is a graduate of NUJS Kolkata and Harvard Law School. …

Section 377 and Refugee Status Determination

On November 2, 2016 By Douglas McDonald-Norman In Comparative Law, Constitutional Interpretation, Discrimination, Fundamental Rights, Privacy

The impact of section 377 of the Indian Penal Code is not measurable solely by reference to formal prosecutions resulting in reported decisions. As the Delhi High Court found in Naz Foundation v Government of …

An Update on the Section 375-377 Ambiguity Question

On August 14, 2016 By Vikram Raghavan In Discrimination, Equality, Fundamental Rights, Punjab & Haryana High Court

Guest Post by Abhinav Sekhri The Indian Express recently reported that a District & Sessions Judge in Rewari, Haryana has referred a case to the Punjab & Haryana High Court. The issue highlighted seems identical …

An Unnatural, Exceptional Confusion

On July 28, 2016 By Vikram Raghavan In Constitutional Interpretation, Constitutional Law, Discrimination, Equality, Fundamental Rights, Privacy

Guest Post by Abhinav Sekhri and Devdutta Mukhopadhyay A little storm is brewing in the Delhi High Court. A bench of two judges (Chief Justice G. Rohini and Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal) issued notice …

Reimagining the Vision of Religion-based Sex Discrimination Through Sabarimala

On February 26, 2016 By Anup Surendranath In Constitutional Law, Discrimination, Editor's Choice, Equality, Fundamental Rights, Supreme Court of India, Women's Rights

(Guest post by Shreya Atrey) On a friend’s invitation, I attended a Sabbath service at her synagogue, which is part of the Jewish Renewal movement. The Rabbi welcomed the ‘newcomers’ individually. As a secularist, …

The s.377 Curative Petition: In Favour of a Broader Jurisdiction for the Supreme Court

On February 9, 2016 By Anup Surendranath In Constitutional Interpretation, Discrimination, Equality, Fundamental Rights, Privacy

(Guest post by Rupali Samuel) In light of the curative petitions in Suresh Kumar Koushal v. Naz Foundation, it has been argued by Shivendra Singh here and Alok Prasanna here that “one of the two …

Koushal v Naz: The Legislative Court

On December 22, 2013 By Tarunabh Khaitan In Delhi High Court, Discrimination, Free Speech, Fundamental Rights, Privacy, Supreme Court of India

[This post follows up on my previous post on this judgment on this blog.] In Koushal v Naz—the case being touted as one of its worst judgments—a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court recently …