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Equality

Comprehensive coverage, analysis, and breaking news on equality.

‘Majestic Equality of the Laws’ prevails?: How protests against UGC Regulations threaten decades of jurisprudential progress on equality and justice

‘Majestic Equality of the Laws’ prevails?: How protests against UGC Regulations threaten decades of jurisprudential progress on equality and justice

Editor's Pick•8 Feb 2026

‘Majestic Equality of the Laws’ prevails?: How protests against UGC Regulations threaten decades of jurisprudential progress on equality and justice

The Chief Justice of India’s recent remarks, and a spate of agitations led by the Hindu right against the new UGC Regulations to tackle caste-discrimination in campuses seek to undo our progress towards substantive equality.

Justice K. Chandru (Retd.)

Staff Writer

Latest in Equality

Constitution and its Discontents: Taking the Constitution seriously as a political document

Equality•1 Feb 2026

Constitution and its Discontents: Taking the Constitution seriously as a political document

While elitist historiography has predominantly narrated the Constitution as a liberal achievement, its radical re-reading reveals an exclusionary framework towards religious minorities, sexual subalterns, the disabled and the labouring bodies.

Will the Supreme Court ever effectively confront ‘caste’ in India’s student suicide problem?

Equality•29 Jan 2026

Will the Supreme Court ever effectively confront ‘caste’ in India’s student suicide problem?

A decade after Rohith Vemula’s passing, a series of matters before the Supreme Court - Amit Kumar, Abeda Tadvi, and now challenge to the new UGC Regulations - are testing its ability to account for structural factors behind student suicides across India’s higher education spaces.

The constitutional stakes of Assam’s polygamy ban

Equality•14 Dec 2025

The constitutional stakes of Assam’s polygamy ban

As courts move away from insulating personal laws, Assam’s new law brings long-standing tensions between personal law, gender justice, and fundamental rights back into sharp focus.

How a seventy-year-old Presidential Order still shapes Dalit life after conversion

Equality•5 Dec 2025

How a seventy-year-old Presidential Order still shapes Dalit life after conversion

Even after embracing new faiths, Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims continue to face caste-based exclusion. Yet a 1950 Presidential Order blocks them from constitutional protection.

“The problem is not entry, it is retention”: SCBA survey reveals structural barriers faced by women in the legal profession

Leaflet Reports•4 Dec 2025

“The problem is not entry, it is retention”: SCBA survey reveals structural barriers faced by women in the legal profession

With 84.1% first-generation entrants and 57.8% reporting unequal leadership opportunities, the SCBA survey maps persistent gender gaps.

For India’s disabled litigants, justice is an insurmountable challenge

Equality•31 Oct 2025

For India’s disabled litigants, justice is an insurmountable challenge

For millions of disabled Indians, justice is inaccessible not only in time but also in understanding — physical, intellectual, and legislative.

Why Karnataka HC’s refusal to stay SIC’s order banning individual from future RTI requests unsettles a constitutional guarantee

Explainer•22 Oct 2025

Why Karnataka HC’s refusal to stay SIC’s order banning individual from future RTI requests unsettles a constitutional guarantee

While SICs/CIC may reject particular applications if they fall under the exceptions catalogued in the RTI Act, they cannot impose overarching bans on citizens' right to information.

Karnataka HC’s order in X case exemplifies sheer judicial indiscipline

Law and Technology•12 Oct 2025

Karnataka HC’s order in X case exemplifies sheer judicial indiscipline

The HC’s order reflects a conspicuous judicial attempt to dilute the settled precedent in Shreya Singhal (2015), privileging restriction over the enhancement of free expression.

How the Social Justice Ministry’s retrospective rules jeopardise PhD fellowships of Scheduled Caste students

Equality•20 Sept 2025

How the Social Justice Ministry’s retrospective rules jeopardise PhD fellowships of Scheduled Caste students

A November 2024 office memorandum of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment makes NFSC eligibility conditional upon NAAC accreditation of the student’s previous university. The SC formed National Task Force must recognise this as a glaring violation of the Court’s own precedents.

The National Fellowship for Scheduled Castes has been warped in ‘bureaucratic casteism’. The Supreme Court-formed-NTF must take note.

Education•12 Sept 2025

The National Fellowship for Scheduled Castes has been warped in ‘bureaucratic casteism’. The Supreme Court-formed-NTF must take note.

Once imagined as a corrective measure to support Bahujan PhD candidates, the NFSC has sadly reproduced the endless waiting and humiliation which has historically characterised the bureaucracy’s repressive treatment of marginalised communities.

Karnataka’s new Devadasi Bill ushers an era of legal precarity for the gender diverse Jogappa community

LGBTQI•10 Sept 2025

Karnataka’s new Devadasi Bill ushers an era of legal precarity for the gender diverse Jogappa community

The Karnataka Devadasi Bill 2025, while abolishing dedication practices, reinforces cis-normativity and creates potential legal precarity for the gender-diverse Jogappa community. The result is cultural erasure and the undoing of constitutional guarantees to gender plurality.

In Odisha’s courts, bail conditions reek of caste discrimination

Leaflet Reports•10 Sept 2025

In Odisha’s courts, bail conditions reek of caste discrimination

In a string of recent orders by sessions courts and the Orissa High Court, accused from Dalit and Adivasi communities have been directed to engage in forced labour as a condition of their grant of bail. Despite the top Court’s censure of caste-coded impositions in our criminal justice system, courts have not shied in treating life, liberty and dignity malleably.

Are the judges free from caste bias?

Judicial Accountability•3 Aug 2025

Are the judges free from caste bias?

A recent letter to the CJI alleging caste bias by a Madras HC judge must make us reflect carefully on the higher judiciary’s long history of caste feelings and prejudices.

Reframing India’s student suicide crisis as a ‘constitutional injury’

Education•23 Jul 2025

Reframing India’s student suicide crisis as a ‘constitutional injury’

As tragic stories from Odisha to IIT Delhi fill our newspapers, the Supreme Court formed National Task Force on mental health and discrimination must treat these deaths not merely as administrative lapses, but as constitutional infractions.

The Muslim electorate at margins in Bihar

Law and Citizenship•20 Jul 2025

The Muslim electorate at margins in Bihar

The Bihar electoral revision, which will impact regions like Seemanchal the most, touches not only on the issue of domicile with impacts on the upcoming census but also illegal migration which will filter out non-citizens.

Chief Justice Gavai just spoke the truth. Legal education was never equal.

Opinion•19 Jul 2025

Chief Justice Gavai just spoke the truth. Legal education was never equal.

CJI Gavai’s speech last week urging students to reconsider the value of self-funded foreign law masters degrees was more than just financial advice. For those living through the reality of his words, it was a testament to the structural inequities of India’s legal education spaces.

If Elon and Trump were a gay couple in India, they’d be screwed (legally speaking, of course)

LGBTQI•10 Jul 2025

If Elon and Trump were a gay couple in India, they’d be screwed (legally speaking, of course)

Trojan horse for a very real legal commentary on the absence of queer relationship protections in India

By restoring an archaic senior designation process, the SC took away more than it aimed to give

Opinion•3 Jul 2025

By restoring an archaic senior designation process, the SC took away more than it aimed to give

By reversing the gains of the judgements in Indira Jaising I and II, the Supreme Court has retreaded in a rare, testing moment of institutional transparency.

SC’s ruling on maternity benefit as fundamental rights opens doors, but procedural questions demand clarity

Labour Law•25 Jun 2025

SC’s ruling on maternity benefit as fundamental rights opens doors, but procedural questions demand clarity

Last month the Supreme Court laudably recognised that leave and benefit due to maternity formed a part of the fundamental rights, aligned to international human rights standards. But questions on jurisdiction and position of women in informal economy remain crucially unanswered.

How provincial and princely politics around language and sovereignty shaped Indian Constitution’s making: A multi-part series

Historical Series•18 Jun 2025

How provincial and princely politics around language and sovereignty shaped Indian Constitution’s making: A multi-part series

In the halls of the Constituent Assembly, language was a hotly debated issue, shaping several discussions all the way down to how States were named. In the first of this multi-part constitutional history series, we explore a brief history of provinces in newly independent India, their competing visions of nationhood, and what our legal imagination of language in today’s majoritarian India must borrow from this history.

In the three-year mandatory practice debate, clinical legal education offers a third way

Education•17 Jun 2025

In the three-year mandatory practice debate, clinical legal education offers a third way

On June 16, a review petition against the SC’s three-year practice judgement raised the concern of marginalised communities’ access to the judiciary. But the SC’s reasoning that there is no effective justice without practical exposure holds weight too, and a new model of legal education may show light.

A case for reforming the law on sanction for prosecution

Criminal Justice•6 Jun 2025

A case for reforming the law on sanction for prosecution

The law laid down by the Supreme Court on sanction for prosecution is inherently contradictory, the outcome of each decision at the mercy of the precedent relied upon. Despite reforms to the criminal laws, an archaic provision rooted in a colonial procedure survives, and in disharmony with our constitutional scheme.

The SC’s three year practice ruling is a case study in ‘indirect discrimination’

Women and Children•31 May 2025

The SC’s three year practice ruling is a case study in ‘indirect discrimination’

The mandatory imposition of a three year mandatory practice in the Court’s recent All India Judges Association case exacerbates women’s already precarious position in India’s legal and judicial fraternity.

Challenge to the Waqf amendment: As SC reserves interim order, a look-back on three days of arguments

Supreme Court•26 May 2025

Challenge to the Waqf amendment: As SC reserves interim order, a look-back on three days of arguments

After three days of hearings between May 20 and May 22, the Court noted there was presumption of constitutionality even as certain aspects required detailed consideration. Here is a run-down of the arguments by petitioners, respondents, and the rejoinders.

A ‘refuge’ from learning: India’s longstanding dilemma on Rohingya education

Education•18 May 2025

A ‘refuge’ from learning: India’s longstanding dilemma on Rohingya education

The ‘illegal migrant’ categorisation of Rohingyas has ensured a blanket denial of most fundamental rights. However, earlier this year, the Supreme Court stepped in to acknowledge that Rohingya refugees could not be discriminated against on access to education. But the rot runs deep, and the legislature, at some point, must take note.

How does Karnataka fare in transgender welfare?: Takeaways from the 2025-26 budget

LGBTQI•5 May 2025

How does Karnataka fare in transgender welfare?: Takeaways from the 2025-26 budget

A step ahead of the Union’s gender budget statement, Karnataka includes transgender welfare schemes. But the miniscule allocation reminds us why Karnataka, much like Kerala, must also have a separate transgender budget statement if justice for all is to be secured.

Challenge to the Waqf amendment: A complete run-down of the Union’s counter-affidavit and rejoinders by petitioners

Supreme Court•5 May 2025

Challenge to the Waqf amendment: A complete run-down of the Union’s counter-affidavit and rejoinders by petitioners

Today, a Division Bench led by CJI Sanjiv Khanna will continue hearing both sides regarding challenges to the Waqf Amendment Act, 2025. As the Court gears for a hearing that will preliminarily assess whether an interim order is required, our comprehensive explainer breaks down the Union’s counter and the rejoinders.

Labour and the metrics of citizenship

Labour Law•1 May 2025

Labour and the metrics of citizenship

With the aggravating effects of neoliberalism and Hindutva fascism, labour rights in India, which are a reflection of citizenship itself, have been systematically diluted through protective legislation, the criminalisation of protests and strikes, the informalisation of work, and attacks on unionisation - notably through the new labour codes.

The gaping flaws in India’s long march to disability justice

Criminal Justice•30 Apr 2025

The gaping flaws in India’s long march to disability justice

On the ground, the interactions of people with disabilities with courts, policing and prison infrastructures and the fundamental lack of will to effectively implement the RPWD Act, show that reframing access to justice as a disability issue will require serious, concerted efforts

As India's NHRC gets a downgraded 'B' status, a logical conclusion to its steady decline of autonomy

International Law & World Affairs•29 Apr 2025

As India's NHRC gets a downgraded 'B' status, a logical conclusion to its steady decline of autonomy

The downgrading from an A to B status by the Global Alliance for National Human Rights Institutions is a reflection of the NHRC’s eroding autonomous reputation, marked, among others, by its silence on Manipur and its poor performance on custodial death complaints

The use and abuse of the Uma Devi judgement

Labour Law•28 Apr 2025

The use and abuse of the Uma Devi judgement

In 2006, the Supreme Court ascertained the ‘legality’ of employment in the landmark judgement in Secretary, State of Karnataka v. Umadevi. However, multiple interpretations of the double-edged Uma Devi guidelines have aided the State in shirking off its responsibilities.

On thinking and questioning

Miscellaneous•27 Apr 2025

On thinking and questioning

If a government’s decisions are informed by anything other than scientific thought and reason, it becomes a theocratic government

SC allows untainted candidates selected for Assistant Teachers for Classes 9 - 12 to continue till fresh recruitment completed: Everything so far in WBSSC recruitment scam case

Leaflet Reports•21 Apr 2025

SC allows untainted candidates selected for Assistant Teachers for Classes 9 - 12 to continue till fresh recruitment completed: Everything so far in WBSSC recruitment scam case

We bring a complete run-down of the developments in West Bengal’s teacher recruitment scam litigation in the Supreme Court

The more they remain the same: Why protests against the new labour codes might be lacking popular grassroots support

Labour Law•19 Apr 2025

The more they remain the same: Why protests against the new labour codes might be lacking popular grassroots support

Apart from the minimum wages section of the Code of Wages, other labour codes are irrelevant for the vast majority of workers in India

Challenge to the Waqf amendment: After two days of hearings, Supreme Court orders that waqf, whether registered or declared by notification, will not be denotified

Leaflet Reports•18 Apr 2025

Challenge to the Waqf amendment: After two days of hearings, Supreme Court orders that waqf, whether registered or declared by notification, will not be denotified

As the Union files a reply in seven days, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta assured the Court that no new appointments will be made to the Central Waqf Council or State Waqf Board

Contrary to Prime Minister Modi’s claim, both Dr Ambedkar and Syama Prasad Mookerjee envisioned reservations for minorities

Equality•18 Apr 2025

Contrary to Prime Minister Modi’s claim, both Dr Ambedkar and Syama Prasad Mookerjee envisioned reservations for minorities

In April 1947, in a meeting of a sub-committee of the Constituent Assembly chaired by Sardar Vallabbhai Patel, Ambedkar batted in favour of affirmative action for minority groups

In Mizoram, effective implementation of the RPwD Act remains a pipe dream

Leaflet Reports•15 Apr 2025

In Mizoram, effective implementation of the RPwD Act remains a pipe dream

While reservation in employment has boosted representation of people with disabilities in bureaucracy, those from impoverished communities are yet to witness the legislation's promise in practice

Why we need a nuanced reading of Dr Ambedkar’s position on judicial appointments

Judicial Accountability•14 Apr 2025

Why we need a nuanced reading of Dr Ambedkar’s position on judicial appointments

Proponents of the NJAC across the political spectrum have relied on Dr Ambedkar’s quotes in the Constituent Assembly to highlight his disgruntlement with granting primacy to the judiciary on appointments. But before concluding whether Dr Ambedkar would have preferred the NJAC or the Collegium, we need a patient and nuanced scrutiny of the Constitution’s revolutionary framer.

Book review: Anurag Bhaskar’s book gives a foresighted account of the many myths appropriating Babasaheb Ambedkar

Book Review•14 Apr 2025

Book review: Anurag Bhaskar’s book gives a foresighted account of the many myths appropriating Babasaheb Ambedkar

On the 135th birth anniversary of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, we review one of the most important collections on Ambedkar’s works published over the past year. Bhaskar, an anti-caste legal scholar, locates, with scrutiny and honesty, Ambedkar’s profound legacy against the many myths undermining his radical vision for the future.