Explained: Examining the law on prostitution in India

By Gayathri G The Kerala High Court recently held that a ‘customer’ who avails the services of a sex worker may be held criminally liable under the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act (ITPA).  While on one hand, punishing customers could make the process of accepting prostitution as a profession difficult, but on the other hand it could also prove to be helpful in curbing sexual exploitation of … Continue reading Explained: Examining the law on prostitution in India

Explained: Love jihad, Supreme Court, and law on religious conversions

By Deb Ganapathy The Supreme Court (SC), while hearing arguments in a PIL in January 2023 for the enactment of a special legislation to ban forced religious conversions, stated that the issue of the ban on forced conversions should not be given a political colour. The petition filed by a lawyer and BJP Spokesperson Ashwini Kumar Dubey, in December of last year, comes after the … Continue reading Explained: Love jihad, Supreme Court, and law on religious conversions

Workplace harassment: Sensitization on PoSH act isn’t a priority for government institutes, shows RTI reply

By Anushka Pardikar Workplaces in India continue to be biased, misogynistic and unsafe for women. After the pandemic introduced work from home model, the issues of harassment and bullying have become furthermore complicated. The organizations and experts working on issues of safety at workplaces have reported an increase in the number of harassment incidents that women employees continue to face. All of this is despite … Continue reading Workplace harassment: Sensitization on PoSH act isn’t a priority for government institutes, shows RTI reply

Visual story: Criminalizing conversion therapy of queer people in India

By Rishabh Shrivastava Conversion therapy is one of the most brutal forms of human rights violation that people from queer community often experience. With no legal framework and a notified ban, a lot of medical professionals continue to prescribe this illegal and unscientific practice. This causes a great deal of mental and physical pain to queer people, infringing their health and privacy rights. Queer people … Continue reading Visual story: Criminalizing conversion therapy of queer people in India

Explained: Maharashtra’s Shakti Bill

By Rishabh Shrivastava What is Shakti Bill? Maharashtra Government tabled two bills on 14th December 2020 in the state assembly: Maharashtra Shakti Criminal Law (Maharashtra Amendment) Act, 2020 (also known as Shakti Bill) and the Special Court and Machinery for Implementation of Maharashtra Shakti Criminal Law, 2020. The former is making the headlines as it contains various provisions that are controversial in nature and needs in-depth … Continue reading Explained: Maharashtra’s Shakti Bill

Second wave of COVID-19 exposes fault lines in the Child Adoption System

By Ritambhara Singh The second wave of COVID-19 has created havoc in our country. The deadly virus took many lives and left several children orphaned. As per the National Commission for Child Rights (NCPCR), more than 30,000 children were orphaned, lost a parent or abandoned during the period between April 1, 2020, and June 5, 2021. This crisis led many to put out calls for adoption … Continue reading Second wave of COVID-19 exposes fault lines in the Child Adoption System

Part IV – Understanding Domestic Violence: Jurisdiction and Maintenance

By Bhawna Gandhi In the last three parts (Read Part I here, Part II here and Part III here) of our  Domestic Violence Laws Simplified Series, the author explained the functioning  of domestic violence laws in India and discussed the various types of reliefs that the victim (woman) is entitled to under the law. In this last and final part, the author shall discuss the … Continue reading Part IV – Understanding Domestic Violence: Jurisdiction and Maintenance

New abortion law disregards woman’s reproductive autonomy

By Anubhav Kumar On 16th March 2021, the Indian Parliament passed the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill 2020 to Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act (MTPA) 1971, which regulates abortion in India. The new law extends the gestation period of abortion from 20 to 24 weeks. It is also for the first time when an unmarried and single pregnant woman was placed on an equal … Continue reading New abortion law disregards woman’s reproductive autonomy

Explained: Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2020

By Gautam Kumar As farmers’ protest continues, the government on 30th December 2020 agreed to withdraw the Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2020 – one out of the four demands made by the farm unions. So far, the government and farm unions have met six times and very little progress has been made on the deadlock concerning the recently passed agri laws by the center. While the … Continue reading Explained: Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2020

After 26/11: Status of maritime security in India

Maritime Laws which regulate the various maritime activities has a very vast history of its evolution. The Mumbai terror attacks of 26/11 has left a great impact on the maritime security of the country. There are various loopholes in our maritime laws, one major flaw highlighted after the 26/11 attacks was the poor surveillance of maritime domain and lack of coastal security. Coastal Security: The … Continue reading After 26/11: Status of maritime security in India

Charan Khad Slum Demolition: A story of lost human rights

Charan Khad in Dharmshala (Himachal Pradesh) was home to around 1,500 slum dwellers for more than 3 decades, before the settlement was demolished last year by the newly formed Municipal Corporation. Before demolition, these people, mostly Scheduled Caste migrants from Rajsthan and Maharshtra, used to live in ‘shanties’ located close to the  Charan Khad (stream). The population mainly consists of rag pickers, street vendors and … Continue reading Charan Khad Slum Demolition: A story of lost human rights

Legal: The Benamidars of South India

The recent buzz in the country have undoubtedly been about Sasikala, the lady who had been a shadow cum right hand for the Late Selvi J. Jayalalitha, who was the main convict in the DA case. Charges were framed against them under Section 13(1) (e) and 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and under section 120B and 109 of Indian Penal Code, 1860. … Continue reading Legal: The Benamidars of South India