Category: Articles in Mainstream Media

Is judiciary part of the ‘State’ under Article 12?

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The Daily Guardian

On the basis of this history, it can be reasonably stated that Part III of the Constitution, which deals with fundamental rights and the remedies to enforce them, has been crafted with a view to protect fundamental rights from unreasonable and summary abridgement by legislative and executive bodies of all grades who form the “State”. The role of the judiciary is limited to exercising its power of judicial review under Articles 32 and 226 to assess the constitutional validity of such State action. …

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Constitutional morality, public morality and moral diversity

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The Daily Guardian

The pith and marrow of this discussion is that constitutional morality may be invoked on the basis of the provisions of the Constitution to question the conduct of the State and to identify the metes and bounds within which the State must operate.…

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Constitutional morality versus public morality

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The Daily Guardian

In the last piece, this author had highlighted the views of Dr. Ambedkar on “Constitutional Morality” as expressed in the debates of the Constituent Assembly on November 4, 1948. While his views on the subject cannot be interpreted as being representative of the entire Assembly, at the very least what can certainly be inferred is that one school of thought represented by Dr. Ambedkar interpreted constitutional morality as translating to respect for the values as embodied in and by the Constitution, both by the State as well as the people.…

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Dr. Ambedkar on constitutional morality

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The Daily Guardian

There are quite a few myths that abound in relation to the Indian Constitution, in particular in relation to its preparation and its nexus with the Government of India Act, 1935. Contrary to popular perception which gives the impression that the Constitution is the product of a solo act, the history of the framing of the document tells us that the first draft of the Constitution was prepared by the Constitutional Advisor to the Constituent Assembly, Shri Benegal Narsing Rau.…

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Shri Ram janmabhoomi: Reconciling truth & secularism

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The Daily Guardian

The Bhoomi Pujan ceremony performed at the Shri Ramjanmabhoomi in Ayodhya two days ago has predictably evoked diametrically opposite reactions from various quarters. These reactions include celebrations by those who succeeded in proving their case before the Allahabad High Court as well as the highest Court of the land after struggling for half a millennium to secure justice in their civilizational homeland…

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The places of Worship Act 1991, decoloniality and indigenous rights

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The Daily Guardian

The Bhoomi Pujan for the proposed Shri Ram Temple in Ayodhya is scheduled to take place in five days, marking the culmination of a five-century old indigenous movement to reclaim a site which is of both religious and civilizational importance…

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The deep-seated coloniality in the Indian legal system

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The Daily Guardian

Last week, this author had the occasion to take part in a virtual panel discussion on the intersection between faith and law organised by the department of law of a Pune-based institution. The specific theme of the discussion was the continued relevance of the Bombay High Court’s well-known and widely debated judgement in The State of Bombay v. Narasu Appa Mali (1951)…

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For God’s Sake

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Openthemagazine.com

On July 13th, a Bench of the Supreme Court of India comprising Justice U.U. Lalit and Justice Indu Malhotra delivered a historic verdict in the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple case. The verdict was delivered in two special leave petitions and a writ petition preferred against the judgment of January 31st, 2011 of the Kerala High Court…

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The Sree Padmanabhaswamy verdict: A case for Indic civilisational identity

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The Daily Guardian

Five days ago, on July 13th, a Bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justice U.U. Lalit and Justice Indu Malhotra pronounced the verdict in the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple case, which was pending before it since 2011. The 218-page verdict has finally put to rest all the unnecessary controversy surrounding the world renowned Temple which is the object of worship and reverence for millions of devotees of the Presiding Deity the world over.…

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Addressing transgenerational trauma through history education

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The Daily Guardian

Two days ago, legendary West Indian cricketer Michael Holding delivered a powerful message on the ongoing #BlackLivesMatter movement which has taken the United States of America by storm and has started a global conversation on racism, in particular with respect to the stereotypes associated with members of the African community in predominantly White countries. While there are several relevant threads from an Indian perspective to pull from Holding’s heartfelt and deeply emotional message, following are the excerpts which this author wishes to focus on for the purpose of this piece…

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