Decriminalising homosexuality in India: The Long, Twisted Road of Section 377
Section 377, Indian Penal Code: Unnatural offences – Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal shall be punished with imprisonment for...
Goolrokh Gupta v. Burjor Padriwala: A Chance to Redeem, Update and Rationalize the Law
An appeal against the decision of Gujarat High Court in the case of Goolrokh Gupta v. Burjor Pardiwala is being heard by the Indian Supreme Court. To provide a brief...
International Law, Right to Privacy and Marital Rape in India
In an order dated 6/11/2017, the High Court of Gujarat described marital rape as “a disgraceful offence that has scarred the trust and confidence in the institution of marriage”, proposing...
Through Two Progressive Rulings, Indian Supreme Court Bolsters Rights of the Disabled
In India, home to one of the world’s largest populations of disabled people, the Government has taken a number of concrete measures in recent times to erect a robust legal...
Is Consent of the Husband Needed for an Abortion in India?
The Indian Supreme Court on 27th October, 2017 in the case of Anil Kumar Malhotra v. Ajay Pasricha, dismissed a man’s petition who was seeking damages from his wife as...
Criminal Justice and the Death Penalty in India: An Opinion Study with 60 Former Supreme Court Judges
The Centre on the Death Penalty at National Law University, Delhi conducted an opinion study with 60 former Indian Supreme Court judges to understand their perspectives on India’s criminal justice...
The Supreme Court of India Reads down the Marital Rape Exception: A Partial Victory for Women’s Rights Advocates
In a recent case, Independent Thought v. Union of India and Anr, a division bench of the Supreme Court of India partially read down an archaic exception to the offense...
Consent In Indian Rape Law: A Case For An Objective Standard Of Determining Consent
Section 375 of the Indian Penal code defines rape as the offence committed by a man having sexual intercourse with a woman “without her consent”. Since criminal law attempts to...
Farooqui v State Government of Delhi: Confusing Consent
The recent Delhi High Court judgment acquitting Mahmood Farooqui of rape is problematic as it appears to create a new test for consent The court held that a ‘no’, even...
Child Marriage before the Indian Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of India on 11th October 2017 ruled that sexual intercourse or sexual acts by a man with his minor wife would amount to rape for the purposes...
The Indian Supreme Court’s “Curative” Hearing in the “LGBT Case”
In 2009, the High Court of Delhi decriminalized same-sex relations between consenting adults in India, holding that Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which penalised “carnal intercourse against the...
Atmospheric Trust Litigation: Offering Hope To India’s Hapless Adivasi Community
The all-encompassing phenomenon of anthropogenic climate change has endangered the lives and livelihood of humanity at large. However, the distribution of adverse effects of climate change is not uniform. The...