In this episode of The 39A Podcast, Professor Vijay Raghavan and Dr. Anup Surendranath discuss the institutional imagination of prisons in India and the manner in which it has interacted with the COVID-19 pandemic. The conversation looks at whether the measures taken by prisons to control the pandemic were at best management strategies and failed to incorporate ‘right to health’ perspectives.
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In this episode of The 39A Dialogues, Senior Advocate and criminal law practitioner Ms. Nitya Ramakrishnan discusses what sets apart the stringent bail provision under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967 and makes it almost impossible for an accused to secure bail once charged for offences of ‘terrorist activities’ and ‘terrorist organization’ under the Act. She comments on the decision of the Delhi High Court from June 2021, granting bail to three student activists – Asif Iqbal Tanha, Natasha Narwal and Devangana Kalita while coming to the finding that that their acts of protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 did not meet the standard of a ‘terrorist act’ as defined under the UAPA. Ms. Ramakrishnan argues that the decision of the Delhi High Court is logically sound and does not come in conflict with the Supreme Court’s 2019 landmark ruling in Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali.
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Henry Shue, ‘Torture in Dreamland: Disposing of the Ticking Bomb‘, Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law, 2006 The most common debate on torture perhaps pertains to its use in…
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The Constitution of India is a document of aspiration. Conceived as what recent scholarship has called a “break from the (colonial) past”, it is accepted knowledge now that the Indian Constitution aspired to establish a state that aimed to replace colonial authority with a democratic republic and that aimed a state-led revolution against an oppressive social order.
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In 2019, the Ministry of Home Affairs commissioned the All India Citizens Survey of Police Services (‘AICPS’). It is a nationwide public perception survey aimed to suggest measures to ‘provide citizen centric police services’ in India. Its scope includes an assessment of the impact of police services on the public, gauging perceptions of safety and suggestions on measures to improve public satisfaction of the police.
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In this episode of the 39A Dialogues, commemorating the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, human rights lawyers Babloo Lointongbam (Human Rights Alert, Manipur) and Henri Tiphagne (People’s Watch, Tamil Nadu) share their experiences of working, supporting and building relationships with victims of torture.
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Soon after the controversial arrest of environmental activist Disha Ravi by the Delhi Police, her lawyers approached the Delhi High Court in a writ petition, alleging that the police had leaked her Whatsapp conversations to the media in a mala fide act. Before the single bench, the police took the stand that they had shared no information with any media house. The impugned articles and videos of the various channels however claimed to the contrary, as the court observed. By its order dated 19th February 2021, the court issued a set of interim directions to the police and to the respondent media houses, holding them accountable to their own respective professional standards. Pertinently, the court also made an observation that “a journalist cannot be asked to reveal the source”.
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The main objective of India’s penal policy is reform and rehabilitation. Providing prisoners with opportunities to work, and earn, helps in realizing this policy. It empowers prisoners to manage their daily expenses, save for their rehabilitation, even send money to their family, and overall become a responsible citizen.
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The Government of Gujarat has, in the recent past, been enacting legislations with startling frequency in an attempt to make society safer and to deal with anti-social elements. In early September, an Ordinance was promulgated to widen the scope of the Gujarat Prevention of Anti-social Activities Act (PASA), 1985 (hereinafter “the PASA Act”).
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Though these apps are slowly gaining currency in India, there is comparatively little domestic discourse on the subject. Reports show that due to social distancing guidelines, street sex work in India has come to a halt. However, currently, phone and internet sex work appear limited to “higher class” sex workers with middle or high-income clientele.
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According to Titli Bai’s statement, Muskan had snatched the gold chain from her neck and cackled, ‘Give me that, whore!’
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The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 [POCSO Act] was enacted with a view to protect children from different forms of sexual abuse and to provide for child-friendly procedures.
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In response to a recent petition before the Delhi High Court, the Central Government through the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the National Crime Records Bureau
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Section 110 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) empowers the police, with the sanction of the Executive Magistrate, to initiate preventive action against hardened and habitual offenders
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Recently, a petition filed before the Supreme Court sought directions to ensure prevention of suicide attempts in zoos. The petitioner citing instances of persons
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In a judgment widely covered in the media, the Supreme Court in Rajesh v. State of Haryana, reversed a conviction after the accused had already spent over 12 years in custody. Justice delayed is justice denied aside
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The Supreme Court in 1975 had observed that ‘sentencing involves an element of guessing.’ More than 40 years later, this statement still rings true as there are no
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The genuineness of statements made to police officers has long been doubted given the historic distrust of the persuasive powers of the police.
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The Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (“PMLA”) seeks to punish money-laundering and to provide for confiscation of property derived from or involved in the offence.
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A Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court of India has, in the recent judgment of Sushila Aggarwal & Ors. v. State of NCT & Anr set at rest a conflict