Articles for author: Anmol Jain

50 Years of Kesavananda Bharti

India is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the landmark Kesavananda Bharti decision this year, which concretized the ‘basic structure doctrine’. Created by the judiciary in response to an overzealous executive branch, it stipulates that the legislature cannot damage or destroy the basic features of the Constitution that are fundamental to its identity. This blogpost explains the circumstances of the doctrine's inception, its substance and controversies as well as its continued importance for Indian democracy.

9. Mai 2023

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Rahul Gandhi’s Disqualification and the Future of Political Opposition in India

With the general elections scheduled for early next year and several crucial state elections lined up for later this year, the ruling party’s onslaught on their opposition continues in India. The Bharatiya Janata Party (“BJP”) government has left no channel of state power unused in its crusade against opposition parties. The disqualification of Rahul Gandhi – one of the most prominent leaders of the opposition from the India National Congress (“INC”) – is another episode of the degeneration of democracy in India.

4. April 2023

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Citizenship by Religion

India is presently witnessing a country-wide mass uprising against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, which purposefully aims to grant migrants belonging to six enlisted communities an easy path to Indian citizenship, while denying the same to others – notably Muslims. This Act is unconstitutional as it exploits deliberate omissions on citizenship rules in the constitution while it ignores the constitutional design which is fundamentally based on equality and secularism.

20. Dezember 2019

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