The Supreme Court has sought a response from the Union Government on a petition filed by Gitanjali Angmo, the wife of Ladakh-based environmentalist and education reformer Sonam Wangchuk, challenging his preventive detention under the National Security Act (NSA), 1980. The petition, filed as a writ of habeas corpus, argues that the detention is illegal and…
By Annunthra Rangan After years of setbacks, the long-discussed India-US trade deal has resurfaced, with Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal recently leading a delegation to Washington. The mood music was familiar: “constructive discussions”, “shared ambition”, and “commitment to continue engagement”. Yet unlike previous rounds, both capitals appear more determined to avoid another stalemate—even if the differences…
By Kenneth Tiven More authoritarian governance in North America and around the globe is the central goal of a second Trump administration. It rests on the belief that democracy is outdated, disregarding the American experiment of nearly 250 years in which three co-equal branches of government balanced the whims of kings and strongmen. In a…
By Sanjay Raman Sinha A recent remark by Justice BV Nagarathna has reignited the debate over the government’s role as the nation’s largest litigant. She sharply criticized government agencies for pursuing cases with slim chances of success—cases that not only drain public money, but also waste valuable judicial time. In the same breath, she called…
By Vickram Kilpady For nearly four years, a quiet protest had been the public face of Ladakh’s anxiety: candlelight vigils, marches and polite petitions demanding statehood and the protections of the Constitution’s Sixth Schedule to guard land and livelihood. On September 24, that long peace was shattered in Leh—four protesters were shot dead and more…
By Dr Swati Jindal Garg In a strongly worded judgment, the Supreme Court directed a return to the long-discarded practice of day-to-day hearings in criminal trials, calling fragmented, piecemeal proceedings a direct violation of citizens’ right to speedy trial under Article 21 of the Constitution. The ruling came in CBI vs Mir Usman, where the…
By Kumkum Chadha Among the many other things that come to mind vis-a-vis Bangladesh are Jamdani sarees and hilsa fish. Therefore, when Bangladesh High Commissioner to India M Riaz Hamidullah celebrated both, it was no surprise. There were two different occasions: one in the Crafts Museum in Delhi and the other in the high commission…
By Sujit Bhar When Chief Justice of India (CJI) BR Gavai spoke at the second National Mediation Conference in Bhubaneswar recently, his words carried the weight of both tradition and urgency. He stressed that mediation—long a part of India’s cultural and political fabric—should not be seen merely as a tool of the legal profession, but…
By Dilip Bobb The Supreme Court judgment on speedy trials which related to a particular case the apex court was hearing has been covered in another article in this issue, but what stood out was the sentence which said: “If it is the lawyer alone who delays trial, the court will be free to appoint…
By Inderjit Badhwar Every magazine cover is a statement. It reflects what we believe demands urgent public attention, what we think cannot be ignored, and what will shape our collective lives in ways we may not yet fully understand. For this issue, the choice of our cover story by Binny Yadav was both inevitable and…