The Leaflet

Once an autonomous institution producing credible scientific, and independent research on India’s diverse, complicated history, the ASI today stands as a key instrument for the State’s revisionist agenda. If the place of worship disputes are any indication, the judiciary has been complicit in this revisionist project, relying blindly on the ASI’s compromised studies to betray its own polyvocal commitments Swarati Sabhapandit https://lnkd.in/d8tU4DV8

Four days after the Supreme Court Collegium recommended Justice Bagchi’s name for elevation, the President signed his warrant of appointment, putting him in line to become the Chief Justice of India in 2031, if convention is followed. In fourteen years as a High Court judge, Justice Bagchi delivered significant decisions that took a liberal-progressive position, particularly in criminal matters Anshika Bhatt https://lnkd.in/dZDUGiEw

The proposed three-language policy in the New Education Policy critically overlooks the implications it would have on how our children will learn and imbibe their own native languages. In a country as stunningly linguistically diverse as ours, language informs our collective consciousness. Our Constitution’s framers were cognizant of this, but the three-language policy may not be. https://lnkd.in/d_xu5EX3

In a bygone era of the Bombay bar, Advocate N.D. Gudkar loses out on his career’s most lucrative opportunities, all because of his name https://lnkd.in/dAejFej8

Our study involving over seventy women’s rights organisations in India revealed that between December 2022 and June 2023, the pervasive fear of shutdowns has stifled feminist uprising. Crackdown on foreign funded organisations through the FCRA has paralysed advocacy and policy work across the space generally and particularly by Dalit and Muslim women’s organisations, where domestic funding has been scarce. The long term consequences of this systemic backlash are yet to play out. https://lnkd.in/dUVSxHnV

In the last three months, the popular discourse surrounding the notion that progressive laws enacted to protect women are being ‘grossly misused’ seems to have reached a fever pitch. The Supreme Court, itself, in the past has deployed phrases such as “legal terrorism” to perpetuate a distorted, if not completely fictional, account of the large-scale exploitations of these legal regimes to harass men and in-laws. But where are the statistics that remotely establish any such conclusion? And, where are these women accused widely of ‘misuse’? https://lnkd.in/drq-nkXE

A systematic, critical reading of the Union’s submissions in the Supreme Court’s pending case on the constitutionality of the marital rape exemption is also an exercise of resistance. By re-orienting the conversation of rape trials around gender-based violence, we could respond most effectively to the backlash against feminist struggles in our courts, and outside them. Rohin Bhatt https://lnkd.in/dQz2V-Xv

If the last five years of legal developments are any indication, reproductive rights in India have occupied an increasingly shrinking space. A range of recent statutory instruments, delegated legislations and policies, as well as judicial decisions, have chipped away at these reproductive rights through cumbersome procedural requirements, extensive state surveillance and reporting norms. https://lnkd.in/dTs__6wQ

Adivasi women exemplify a confounding intersectional position within India’s societal structure. As part of a broader community-level assertion for land and resources, Adivasi women have played crucial roles. Yet, Adivasi women’s struggle for inheritance has resisted both customary laws and the State’s historic, oppressive imposition of land acquisition policies. https://lnkd.in/dqDHNQPs

Twelve years ago, the Indian legislature enacted the Sexual Harassment of Women at the Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act. Despite the Supreme Court’s repeated acknowledgement of problems with the law’s implementation, critical procedural hurdles, inconsistent court rulings, and lack of awareness within the informal economy sustain the challenge of its enforcement. https://lnkd.in/dpjfbt4d