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Fashion as liberation: Breaking the gender mould
No full textThis piece underscores fashion and beauty as empowering tools of self expression for transgender and non-binary identities. It discusses how gender diverse individuals are still struggling with inadequate access to the fashion marketplace and are excluded by consumerism that caters to cis-gendered mainstream
Difficult Fraternities
No full textThis is a book review of Rajmohan Gandhi\u27s Fraternity: Constitutional Norm and Human Need (Speaking Tiger, 2024). The author appreciates Gandhi\u27s utilization of different perspectives to defend the idea of fraternity, while also considering the various difficulties for the norm to be put into practice
Woolmington’s long shadow: The dissipation of the presumption of innocence under the Indian Evidence Act, 1872
No full textThe presumption of innocence is considered a core value of criminal adjudication across jurisdictions today. However, to be an effective protection, it must apply not merely as an abstract declaration, but as a robust procedural right. An analysis of the presumption, therefore, must necessarily examine questions of burdens and standards of proof during trial. Woolmington v DPP is a celebrated reiteration of the abstract aspect of the right, but can be read to have introduced significant gaps into the procedural protection of the presumption. Its judicial application to multiple jurisdictions under the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 has in fact been largely detrimental to the presumption of innocence and constitutes a significant regression to the procedural protection of the right already existent under the statutory design of the Act. This, in turn, has facilitated further legislative encroachment on the presumption of innocence in jurisdictions under the Act such as India, effectively rendering it without any procedural meaning or practical substance. The unprecedented proliferation of special criminal statutes routinely employing persuasive reverse burdens has remained unchecked, and is a result of the courts having accepted the Woolmington doctrine, thereby effectively depriving themselves of any efficacious measures to preserve the presumption of innocence
Reimagining Global Waste Management: The Intersection of WTO Discipline and Environmental Governance in the EU Waste Shipment Regulation
No full textEU’s revised Waste Shipment Regulation (WSR) 2024 provides a regulatory regime for the transboundary movement of wastes imported to, transiting or exported from the EU with a specific focus on its environmentally sound management. The revised regulation, inter alia, expands coverage by including non-hazardous waste for processing (in particular, scrap ferrous and non-ferrous metals) and discipline exports to nonmembers of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). This paper views the regulation as a part of a series of developments which warrant an examination of the interplay between WTO disciplines and global environmental governance, especially against the possibility of the operation of trade measures in the guise of selective implementation of other international law treaties such as the Basel Convention. We argue that the revised regulation aims to implement a selective rendition of the Basel Convention, 1989, with a specific focus on its trade related aspects while impervious to developing states’ status and capability. This paper particularly focuses on the discriminatory elements of the regulation, its differential treatment, and operation as an export-restrictive measure. This paper also suggests potential ways to address a potential export prohibition that may emerge through these facets
Tariffs, Trade Wars, and Talks: Shift from Multilateralism to Bilateralism
No full textThe Trump 2.0 administration’s ‘reciprocal’ tariffs wreaked havoc on the global economy. The move not only challenged the already fragile rules-based multilateral trading system but also caused market fluctuations and fear of supply chain disruptions, triggering uncertainty across businesses. While much has been written about these tariffs, this piece focuses on the bigger problem caused by such unilateral governmental actions, which represent a shift from multilateralism to bilateralism in international trade.
This piece first discusses the international trade law implications of such tariff increases and the responses to them from other countries, while capturing the latest developments. It then examines how similar tariff increases by the Trump 1.0 administration played out in the past and highlights how the US uses tariffs to bring countries to the negotiating table, further eroding the relevance of the World Trade Organization (WTO)
Unmasking the Rhetoric of Reform – The Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam 2023 in Context
No full textThis legislative comment is a critical analysis of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam 2023 (‘BSA’), which has replaced the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 (‘IEA’). It analyses the major changes brought in by the BSA and discusses their implications. It further highlights the existing interpretive disputes within the IEA that the BSA leaves unaddressed. The BSA makes only a few substantive changes in improvement to the IEA, such as streamlining the rules on electronic evidence and expanding the scope of secondary evidence. Apart from this, most changes pertain to the renumbering of existing provisions and the deletion of obsolete colonial references. These could just as easily have been achieved through an amendment to the IEA. All major rules of evidence on relevancy, presumptions, burdens of proof, examination of witnesses, etc., remain unchanged by the BSA. The BSA is also replete with shoddy drafting errors, some of which remain unaddressed by the Parliamentary Standing Committee\u27s intervention. The article argues that the BSA is effectively an episodic amendment of IEA masquerading as an exercise in reform
Kerala vs Chhattisgarh: Nun arrests expose how BJP deals with two kinds of Christians
No full textThe arrest of two Catholic nuns from Kerala in BJP-ruled Chhattisgarh on charges of forced conversion has triggered political uproar and exposed the BJP’s divergent postures toward Christians. What appears to be a contradiction in BJP’s stance between Kerala and Chhattisgarh is, in fact, a regionally calibrated ideological posture. The BJP’s relationship with Christianity is shaped less by theology than by whether Christians reinforce or disrupt dominant caste and class arrangements
Interpreting law, through text and context
No full textThe first thing to note is that contractual relationships in India are governed by the Indian Contract Act, 1872. Why do we even have such an old enactment governing the bedrock of business relationships? The answer lies in the stability of the law which has withstood the dynamic nature of commerce and technology
Skill or Chance: Will the Supreme Court Strike Down the Real Money Gaming Ban?
No full textThe Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act (PROGA) was enacted to promote responsible online gaming, regulate the sector, and prohibit harmful online money games. By mandating a comprehensive ban on all online real money games (ORMGs), the legislation collapses the well-established legal distinction between games of skill and games of chance. Currently, the Supreme Court has consolidated all pending matters before various High Courts that challenge PROGA. The analysis focuses on three core issues: judicial distinction between games of skill and games of chance, legislative competence, and proportionality.On the judicial distinction between games of skill and games of chance, PROGA has done away with the long-standing distinction. The entire debate over the State versus Union question centres on the concept of “industry of public interest”. Legislative competence also raises the issue of centralisation of laws, overriding the legislative powers of the State. And the ultimate question is whether banning is the ultimate solution, or whether we need a measure-based approach under the proportionality principle.The analysis focuses on some of the issues that might be argued before the Supreme Court