14 August 2024
Kashmir’s Legal Exceptionalism Reinforced
A single judge bench of the Delhi High Court recently passed an order, rejecting a plea by the petitioner, Sublime Software, challenging a blocking decision by the Union Government under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000. n this blogpost, we critically analyze the Delhi High Court's ruling, arguing that it exemplifies a troubling trend of legal exceptionalism in Kashmir. We critique the order for its unqualified deference to the states’ national security claims, failing to examine the merits of those claims at all. Continue reading >>
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25 October 2019
Constitutional Exceptionalism in Kashmir
The move of India's President to abrogate Article 370 has been subject to much academic debate and discourse along the doctrinaire lines and limits of traditional constitutional law. Since the Declaration was passed, however, in a state of exception, the consequent legal vacuum necessitates an analysis in light of both political facts and public law. Continue reading >>11 October 2019
Miller/Cherry 2 Goes to Kashmir
There are certain principles which emerge from Miller/Cherry 2 which are meaningful for cases involving judicial review of executive powers. The application of these principles, especially in cases where the line between the executive and legislature is thin (resulting in what Bagehot described as the ‘fusion of powers’), can guide comparative lawyers to hitherto underexplored areas of administrative law accountability of the executive to legislative bodies. Continue reading >>
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20 August 2019
Article 370: Is it a Basic Feature of the Indian Constitution?
The move of India’s Government to nullify Article 370 of the Constitution not only broadened the legislative powers of the Union Parliament over the Jammu & Kashmir but also demoted J&K to the position of a Union Territory. Apart from doubts about the Government's power to bring about these changes and their legitimacy, it is an open question whether Article 370 is a basic feature of the Constitution of India. Given the sacrosanct political arrangement it encapsulates as well as its role as an exemplar of Indian federal asymmetry, it is now upon the Supreme Court to formally acknowledge the constitutional basis of India’s delicate distribution of powers. Continue reading >>17 August 2019