THE LEAFLET BULLETIN

Hijab ban: Can we decide without going into the Essential Religious Practice doctrine, asks Supreme Court

A?day after senior advocate Dushyant Dave?asked ?the Supreme Court’s division bench comprising Justices Hemant Gupta and Sudhanshu Dhulia to consider the composite culture of India to decide the validity of the ban on the hijab, the Solicitor General, Tushar Mehta earlier today said that the hijab is not an essential religious practice of Islam, and asked the bench to go into this issue, to settle it once and for all, without leaving it to the religion to decide.

The bench continued to hear today a?batch of petitions ?challenging ?the ban on wearing hijab in educational institutions in Karnataka based on the?Karnataka Government Order on Dress Code for Students ?(‘GO’) and the?Karnataka Education Act, 1983 , which was?upheld ?by the Karnataka High Court on March 15.

EWS quota breaches 50 per cent ceiling on quota, violates basic structure, Supreme Court told

THE?Supreme Court earlier today resumed hearing?on a batch of petitions challenging?the?validity?of the?Constitution (One Hundred and Third Amendment) Act, 2019 ?that provides for a ten per cent quota to economically weaker sections (‘EWS’) of citizens in admission to educational institutions, including private educational institutions. The?petitions challenging the amendment ?are being heard by a five-judge Constitution Bench comprising the Chief Justice of India U.U. Lalit, and Justices Dinesh Maheshwari, S. Ravindra Bhat, Bela Trivedi and J.B. Pardiwala.

Senior advocate Gopal?Sankaranarayanan, appearing for an organisation named ‘Youth for Equality’, resumed his?arguments from last week . His submissions were primarily in support of the EWS quota; however, he contended that the ten per cent EWS quota has breached the 50 per cent ceiling?on total reservation which, he argued, is core to the equality code of the Constitution.

A podcast on books & authors: Saumya Saxena on her book, Divorce and Democracy: A History of Personal Law in Post-Independence India

On the fifth episode of?The Leaflet’s?podcast series, our host Gursimran Kaur Bakshi interacts with legal researcher and author,?Saumya?Saxena on her newly launched book, titled ‘Divorce and Democracy: A History of Personal Law in Post-Independence India’ published by the Cambridge University Press.

Saumya?is a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow at the Faculty of History, University of Cambridge and a Postdoctoral Associate at Jesus College, Cambridge. She is a legal historian interested in family law, religion, and gender politics in India. She writes on women’s movements, secularism, and law in late-20th and 21st century South Asia.

In the podcast,?Saumya?explains how she was able to deal with the idea of divorce in a non-judgmental manner by bringing different actors of the state and institutions to the forefront. The author by mapping the trajectories of marriage and divorce laws of Hindu, Muslim and Christian communities in postcolonial India, explores the dynamic interplay between law, religion, family, minority rights and gender in Indian politics.?

For those dependent on Loktak Lake, sustainable development is an elusive goal

What is the controversy?

LOKTAK?Lake in Manipur is the largest freshwater lake in all of North-East India, known for its distinctive floating islands, popularly known as “phumdis” by the local people. The?lake spans an area of 286 square kilometres .?It is also home to the world’s only floating national park housing the endangered Sangai deer. About 12 lakh people in the state are?estimated ?to be indirectly or directly dependent for their livelihoods on the lake.

The Loktak Development Authority (‘LDA’) is a statutory body which has been entrusted with the responsibility of administering the lake. On August 3, 2016, the LDA forcibly?evicted ?fishermen families by claiming that their houses were government property. Acquisition of their land was a consequence of the state government’s plan to open a parking lot for tourists.

If wishes were horses

If?wishes were horses

Beggars would be kings

At this fanciful thought

An imaginary bell rings..

If politicians were dogs

They would be faithful

And not switch sides

Even for the best bag full

If the law was an ass

Donkeys would be milords

Carrying burden of arrears

Not moving despite prods