A couple of months back, a daily wager in Odisha sued the Prime Minister of India in a Lok Adalat. He stated that he had applied for an Adhaar card and failed in as many as 21 attempts to get one. Reasoning that the Prime Minister “is responsible for the implementation of Read more…
In a recent interview to The Hindu, advocate Prashant Bhushan lamented how Gram Nyayalayas were meant to function as courts where the CPC and CrPC (Civil and Criminal Procedure) wouldn’t apply, which would be closer to the people at sub-tehsil levels and be more accessible to those even without a lawyer. Read more…
It was in late 1979 when Justice P.N. Bhagwati, in Hussainara Khatoon Vs State of Bihar case, set off the phenomenon that Public Interest Litigations (PILs) evolved to become what it is today. Brought about by a substantial relaxation in the traditional interpretation of the term “locus standii”, the Supreme Court formally Read more…
The Supreme Court of India had recognised speedy trial as a fundamental right as far back as 1986. We know how that has worked out in reality over the three decades since. Cases continue to languish, pendency continues to worsen and an ever-larger proportion of Indians continue to be deprived Read more…
How do we integrate virtual courts and digital justice delivery into the broader legal ecosystem of India? The urgency for developing some methodology or procedure for this has gained new relevance in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Parliamentary Standing Committee (PSC) of the Department of Personnel, Public Grievances Read more…
The first sentence on the Ministry of Law and Justice’s website states “Ministry of Law and Justice is the oldest limb of the Government of India dating back to 1833 when the Charter Act 1833 enacted by the British Parliament.” Why is the oldest limb not taken adequate care of? The Law Read more…
The Monsoon session of Parliament was concluded recently. Just like all previous sittings of the Parliament, MPs submitted their questions to different ministries to be answered, albeit only in a written format this time around as the government had scrapped the question hour for this particular session. The Ministry of Read more…
This article was originally published in The Leaflet on September 14th 2020. While analysing the Union Budget and the Demand For Grants (DFG) as presented by ministries for a Member of Parliament earlier this year, one startling revelation stood out. The Ministry for Law and Justice had a rather barebones Read more…