When the words of a sitting Supreme Court judge begin to resemble those of lawyers and retired judges of a certain idealogy, who conflate accountability with anti-nationalism, it is a dangerous sign, writes Rohin Bhatt. The post Judiciary needs to dig its heels in on the slippery slope of ultra-nationalism to ensure accountability survives first appeared on The Leaflet .

You have a right to vote No doubt thats fundamental But wanting to check and verify Means you have a problem mental Presume constitutionality Trust all ministers and PM Doubt only the vested interests Spare the foolproof EVM Focus on growth of the nation Dont discuss this and that For benefit of those who doubt They have arranged the VVPAT EC is doing a marvellous job Keeping everything free and fair Those who mount challenges To cast votes may not [] The post Milords EVM first appeared on The L

Preliminary examination of electoral bonds data has revealed a strong possibility of quid pro quo. What are the legal dimensions of the issue? The post What is the PIL on the quid pro quo in the electoral bond scheme all about? first appeared on The Leaflet .

If the Election Commission of India continues to fail its duty, the judiciary must intervene to take action against hate speech by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, writes S.N. Sahu. THE Election Commission of India (ECI) has taken no action on Prime Minister Narendra Modis communally divisive speech delivered in Banswara, Rajasthan on April 21 in violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) and several Sections of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. It clearly shows that the [] The post Wi

What can a five-hundred-year-old case from England tell us about the India of today? The post The uncanny Throckmorton: An Indian resurgence of a 500-year-old trial first appeared on The Leaflet .

The three new criminal laws meant to overhaul Indias criminal justice system are set to come into force on July 1, 2024, but beyond packaging old wine in a new bottle, do even the new provisions move forward the cause of justice? The post Lawless laws: The criminal law amendments and decolonisation as an anti-feminist goal first appeared on The Leaflet .

A detailed analysis of the demand for 100 percent cross-verification of votes cast on EVMs and VVPATs in which the Supreme Court has reserved judgment. ON the eve of the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections, the Supreme Court has reserved judgment on a batch of petitions demanding 100 percent cross-verification of votes cast on Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) with Voter Verified Paper Audit Trails (VVPATs) or revert to the ballot paper system. The Association for Democratic Reforms [] The po

Time is money for all professionals. In many countries, the concept of billable hours is well established. Thus, the amount you pay a professional is supposed to be commensurate with the time the professional spends on the work. This is true for the medical as well as the legal professions. In our country, except in the commercial capital and big metros, the concept of billable hours has not really taken off. Fixed fees or lump sum charges are still the [] The post Justice Mandavli first appeare

Modis statement that 90 percent of Constituent Assembly members were Sanatanis and they supported B.R. Ambedkar in framing a great constitution offends Ambedkars legacy, writes S.N. Sahu. The post 90 percent of the Constituent Assembly, Modi and Ambedkar first appeared on The Leaflet .

A Bench of Justices B.R. Gavai and Sandeep Mehta passed an interim Order directing district magistrates across the country to decide on applications submitted for permission to hold yatras to educate voters about elections within three days of receipt. The post Can campaigns for free elections be run during elections? Supreme Court issues directions first appeared on The Leaflet .

Historically, the Election Commission of India has done a commendable job of taking India from a fledging democracy to a place where it claims to be the mother of democracy, but recent developments suggest an urgent need for course correction. The post Election Commission of India amidst diminishing public confidence first appeared on The Leaflet .

A musing on some of the ideas and questions emanating from the programme on Article 32 organised by The Leaflet and the Society for Constitution and Social Democracy. The post Remains of the day: Exploring some ideas from Article 32: History and the Future first appeared on The Leaflet .

Results of an investigative analysis of government circulars and notifications for Delhi to assess governmental actions and transparency during the first and second waves of Covid. The post An analysis of how ill-managed the Covid pandemic was in India first appeared on The Leaflet .

O Supreme Milords! We may have retired But can never tire Of writing to be in the news. We may have no ammunition But we still can fire Letters to you as situations may require Or to solicit your views. O Supreme Milords! Undesirable elements Are severely undermining Your supreme authority Which we who have enjoyed it Can solemnly declare Befits temporal gods! Vested elements are striving Into forbidden areas are diving To erode the publics confidence In these pillars [] The post Lament of Milor

What will the complex calculus of the new Middle East crisis resolve into, and what will be the impact on India? The post West Asian moves and countermoves: Challenges of them spinning out of control first appeared on The Leaflet .

Thai homosexual culture is unique and yet complex and shows that real development in terms of legislative protection has taken place recently against its image of being a gay-friendly tourist country. The post Thailands ladyboy leitmotif hides a chequered history of LGBTQI rights first appeared on The Leaflet .

Use of real intelligence Being absolutely minimal Time has come to rely on Accurate intelligence artificial AI has the potential To cut pending arrears size To expedite final hearings In short, to revolutionize Automate easy tasks Get rid of all the scribes Digitising registry functions Will eliminate the bribes AI is the way in future For scheduling of cases No need to expend on Senior gowns or faces Milords are on ChatGPT All bigwigs iPads tap The less fortunate ones [] The post Why AI? first

There is a lot in common between the racism faced by African Americans in the US and the caste discrimination faced by the Dalits in India. This was recognised by Dr Ambedkar when he spent time in the US studying at Columbia University in New York establishing contacts with Black rights activists there. But this sibling solidarity was never as much in prominence as during the radical Dalit upsurge of the 1970s, when the most radical post-Ambedkar organisation of the Dalits the Dalit Panthers nam

Sambhaji Bhagat, the most popular Lokshahir (peoples balladeer) of Maharashtra, writes about his experiment of getting the common man to defend the Constitution by taking its values to the people in innovative ways. The post Taking constitutional values to the grassroots first appeared on The Leaflet .

A re-examination of dominant upper-caste voices that engage with liberal values and yet disengage from those very ideas that grow from justice, equality and self-determination. THIS essay is an intellectual history of the language that surrounded birth control in India with a focus on key thinkers of the time, most notably, Dr B.R. Ambedkar. It does not examine contraception as a physical mechanism to prevent pregnancy, nor does it discuss the production and sale of condoms, diaphragms and oral

This is a translation of the Marathi song by Lokshahir Sambhaji Bhagat by Vernon Gonsalves. My Bhim comes and meets me dear bai He tells me something, he tells me something My Bhim comes and meets me dear bai He tells me something, he tells me something On the bund of the fields he stands For the hand of the toiler he stands For those long nights of hunger he stands Through the tears of the silent calf bai [] The post My Bhim comes and meets me dear bai! first appeared on The Leaflet .

In recent years, various courts of Indias higher judiciary have together produced a confusing jurisprudence on the application of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act of 1989, introducing elements not specified by the Act, resulting in its dilution. The post From transformation to dilution: The weakening of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act through judicial decisions first appeared on The Leaflet .

Although there is a tendency to invoke exception clauses every time information is sought from the Central Bureau of Investigation under the Right to Information Act, 2005, courts have time and again ruled against such a blanket exemption. THE statement of objects and reasons of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005 states that the Act was enacted to set out the practical regime of the right to information for citizens to secure access to information under the control [] The post Balancing s

There is a misconception that Electronic Voting Machines have received an unqualified thumbs-up from the Supreme Court. Many serious problems persist and continue to cast a long shadow on Indias electoral democracy. THIS is the first time in the 75-year history of independent India that the fairness of the vital election process itself is under question from multiple quarters and by most political parties. Two substantial constitutional challenges and two verdicts of the Supreme Court later, th