Governance And Policy

Following mass exclusions from the electoral rolls, the West Bengal government has made SIR inclusion mandatory for access to PDS benefits. Does linking citizenship to welfare and labour benefits have any statutory basis? And how can the judiciary intervene?

The National Testing Agency’s unbroken record of paper leaks, glitches, and mismanagement is not a story of institutional failure alone but of unconstitutional centralisation, corporate capture of public examinations, and a federal structure being quietly dismantled.

In its 124-page judgement upholding the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision of Bihar’s electoral rolls, the Supreme Court ruled that the Election Commission acted within its constitutional authority under Article 324 and the Representation of People Act.

As actor Vijay swears in as Tamil Nadu’s chief minister following days of uncertainty, we look back upon whether the Governor can actually act as an authority certifying legislative confidence despite prima facie proof of majority support. Could statutory clarity on the sequence of government formation avoid future instances of such ‘receipt constitutionalism’?

In December 2025, UP’s Public Service Tribunal imposed punishment on a public servant for a Facebook post made in 2018. A formal warning, a transfer and a chargesheet have trailed the officer since. Glaringly, the tribunal has overstepped its own mandate, even violating the UP Government Servant Conduct Rules.

While the 131st Constitution Amendment Bill may have failed in the legislature, several questions surrounding delimitation and the fate of ‘political justice’ in Indian federalism continue to linger. Is a bloated Parliament truly what we need? And are there other ways to imagine India’s delimitation future?

As the Supreme Court keeps the SIR in suspension, lawyers across the West Bengal bar, including the grandson of a former Rajya Sabha MP, have had their names struck off electoral rolls, with many appellate tribunals still in complete dysfunction.

In this personal account, human rights lawyer and founder of People’s Watch, Henri Tiphagne recalls how a routine MHA inspection in 2012 spiralled into a 14-year battle of suspensions, CBI raids and court hearings. And why, despite it all, he will not relent.