Citizens for Justice and Peace
Defending Forest Rights in 2021 CJP and AIUFWP stand by Adivasis and forest dwellers amidst mounting challenges
27-Dec-2021
As the Covid-19 pandemic continued to pose new threats via more infectious and deadly variants, Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) and the All India Union of Forest Working People (AIUFWP) worked hard to ensure it did not allow vested interests and their stooges in the administration an opportunity to snatch away Forest Rights of…
What are the Rights against being handcuffed in India? Iron fetters and handcuffs violate human rights
12-Jun-2021
For a lay person the visual of a person getting arrested or being escorted to court, includes him being restrained by handcuffs. That is how arrests were and are portrayed in movies and pop culture for decades. However, the use of handcuffs, while once a common practice, has now been restricted by directives of the…
Personal Laws vis-à-vis Fundamental Rights, Part III of the Constitution Analysing State of Bombay v. Narasu Appa Mali, 1951
19-Mar-2021
In India, personal laws deal with marriage and divorce, maintenance, guardianship and succession, joint family and partition etc. These are broadly be characterised as ‘family laws’. While India is a secular country otherwise; in the context of its personal laws, it is essentially pluralistic. Thus, while the Indian Constitution guarantees equality before the law, and…
When rights weigh down laws and bail is granted When courts invoke discretionary jurisdiction to uphold right to liberty
02-Mar-2021
The grant of bail to 82-year-old Telugu Poet Varavara Rao on medical grounds has highlighted that a prisoner is not denuded of his fundamental rights, just because he has been remanded to custody through due procedure of law. It is relevant to examine how courts have upheld the rights of prisoners despite the crimes alleged…
Where do we stand on free legal aid? On National Legal Services Day we examine what legal aid entails and who benefits from it
10-Nov-2020
Providing access to justice for all and building effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels is one of India’s Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 as adopted during the United Nations General Assembly of 2015. A robust legal aid system is something that will contribute towards achieving this goal and will at the same time fulfil…
Understanding the right to default bail It is an extension of Article 21: Right to Life and Personal Liberty
16-Oct-2020
The Supreme Court of India has held that there is a fundamental right granted to an accused person to be released on bail once the conditions of the first proviso to Section 167(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure are fulfilled. Moreover, life and personal liberty of an individual must be paramount. The three-judge Bench…
Violation of the Constitution of India
01-Jan-2002
The communal violence that engulfed the state of Gujarat in 2002, was a gross violation of the Principles enshrined in the Indian Constitution. Not only were the acts of the government and other perpetrators in violation of the Fundamental Rights of the victims but also their other rights as mandated in the constitution. Below is…