L

THE LEAFLET

Rights

Equality
Freedom
Life and liberty
Religion
Privacy
Citizenship
Education
Health

Rule of Law

Civil justice
Due process
Criminal justice
Federalism
Governance and policy
Information and technology
Judicial accountability
Press freedom

Courtroom

Supreme Court
High Courts
District Courts
Tribunals

Multimedia

Videos
Photo Essays
Podcasts

About

About Us
Our People
Contact Us
Careers

Privacy Policy Terms of Service Cookie Policy AdChoices

© 2026 The Leaflet. All Rights Reserved.

f

Freedom

Comprehensive coverage, analysis, and breaking news on freedom.

Secularism in India is a foundational constitutional norm, not a postscript to the Preamble

Secularism in India is a foundational constitutional norm, not a postscript to the Preamble

Editor's Pick•11 Jan 2026

Secularism in India is a foundational constitutional norm, not a postscript to the Preamble

Far from being a political afterthought, India's secular character is deeply rooted in the freedom struggle, Constituent Assembly debates, and the Constitution's core guarantees of equality and religious freedom

Mohammad Wasim

Staff Writer

Latest in Freedom

The ghost of a colonial law still haunts Indian theatre

Leaflet Reports•31 Oct 2025

The ghost of a colonial law still haunts Indian theatre

Eight years after the Modi government repealed the colonial era Dramatic Performances Act, remnants of the law in Maharashtra and Gujarat continue to uphold a regime of censorship for theatre artists.

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.

The Bihar Gig Workers Law: A bold step forward but a step back for trade unions

Labour Law•6 Oct 2025

The Bihar Gig Workers Law: A bold step forward but a step back for trade unions

Bihar’s new gig workers law goes one step ahead of similar state laws when it comes to recognising workers’ welfare rights. But a weak funding framework for welfare entitlements and restriction on trade unions make this a law mired with internal inconsistencies.

How West Bengal’s resolution on Bengali migrant safety underscores the constitutional acrimony against India’s interstate migrants

Explainer•4 Oct 2025

How West Bengal’s resolution on Bengali migrant safety underscores the constitutional acrimony against India’s interstate migrants

Going forward, reimagining migrant safety as a constitutional and human rights obligation, rather than a matter of state discretion, is essential, achievable only through co-operative federalism.

‘The time has come to decriminalise defamation law’, mulls Justice Sundresh while hearing The Wire’s plea

Leaflet Reports•23 Sept 2025

‘The time has come to decriminalise defamation law’, mulls Justice Sundresh while hearing The Wire’s plea

Justice Sundresh questioned whether defamation involving private individuals can legitimately be classified as a crime when it serves no broader public purpose. In 2016, the Court had upheld the constitutionality of the criminal defamation law.

Why India needs to fill the legal vacuum on social media shadow banning

Digital Rights•19 Sept 2025

Why India needs to fill the legal vacuum on social media shadow banning

Shadow banning of human rights commentators and journalists on social media infringes core tenets of our constitutional freedoms. Despite certain obligations under the IT Act and Rules, India’s regulatory regime does not yet address the opaque nature of this silent censorship.

Supreme Court transfers petitions before HCs challenging “anti-conversion” laws to itself, seeks response from Centre, seven states

Leaflet Reports•16 Sept 2025

Supreme Court transfers petitions before HCs challenging “anti-conversion” laws to itself, seeks response from Centre, seven states

The matter will be taken up after six weeks to consider the prayer for stay of these laws.

Supreme Court’s Samay Raina order: Reflecting on disability justice in the era of precarious liberties

Life and Liberty•8 Sept 2025

Supreme Court’s Samay Raina order: Reflecting on disability justice in the era of precarious liberties

The Court’s directive to the Union government, in the Samay Raina case, to have a guideline to regulate ‘commercial speech’ can have a chilling effect on speech, which is inconvenient for the political establishment. For the disability movement, this is a moment to reflect on the limits of carceral disability justice.

“Retaliatory raids” under the new Income Tax Act must be put under sharp judicial scrutiny

Commercial Law•31 Aug 2025

“Retaliatory raids” under the new Income Tax Act must be put under sharp judicial scrutiny

In silence, haste and the shadow of mainstream discourse, India brought in a new Income Tax Act in August. Until put through exacting constitutional scrutiny, the expansion of search and seizure power to “digital space” could financially cripple critical journalism and civil society.

Supreme Court bars magistrate from taking cognizance of chargesheet against Ali Khan Mahmudabad

Leaflet Reports•25 Aug 2025

Supreme Court bars magistrate from taking cognizance of chargesheet against Ali Khan Mahmudabad

Taking note that the Haryana police SIT had seized Mahmudabad’s devices, the Court asked why the SIT was “misdirecting itself” despite earlier order to not expand scope of investigation.

After Kashmir’s ban on books, librarians are on a tightrope

Kashmir•23 Aug 2025

After Kashmir’s ban on books, librarians are on a tightrope

On August 5, the J&K Home department notified the ban of 25 books, also marking the Director of Libraries in J&K, likely directing for the books to be removed from public libraries in the region. Before librarians, there is a stark dilemma, one they have faced before in eras of censorship - comply or abide by international ethical codes?

The art of speaking only that which serves justice

Judicial Accountability•14 Aug 2025

The art of speaking only that which serves justice

Justice Datta’s comments last week on the leader of opposition’s patriotism revealed one thing with clarity: a judge’s words carry both legal weight and public influence, and even the unspoken has a profound impact.

Ink, irony and insecurity

Kashmir•10 Aug 2025

Ink, irony and insecurity

As the J&K Home Department bans 25 books by intellectuals by classifying them as ‘seditious’, we must understand that it is not just the ink, but the imagination, the inquiry, and the unforgetting histories which are under attack.

Supreme Court quashes Madras HC order restraining use of CM Stalin’s name in govt scheme; fines AIADMK MP ₹10 Lakh

Leaflet Reports•7 Aug 2025

Supreme Court quashes Madras HC order restraining use of CM Stalin’s name in govt scheme; fines AIADMK MP ₹10 Lakh

The top Court’s decision effectively upholds the Tamil Nadu government’s position and reiterates that State-level schemes named after sitting Chief Ministers or prominent leaders are not inherently unconstitutional.

Supreme Court pulls up Rahul Gandhi for remarks on Chinese land occupation, stays defamation trial

Leaflet Reports•4 Aug 2025

Supreme Court pulls up Rahul Gandhi for remarks on Chinese land occupation, stays defamation trial

“If you are a true Indian, you would not say this,” remarked Justice Dipankar Datta, questioning the credibility of the Leader of Opposition’s claims.

“Police’s arrival instigated the mob”: At Delhi’s Palestine solidarity event, chaos, police unaccountability and the wages of India’s corrupted stance on Israel

Leaflet Reports•26 Jul 2025

“Police’s arrival instigated the mob”: At Delhi’s Palestine solidarity event, chaos, police unaccountability and the wages of India’s corrupted stance on Israel

A peaceful pro-Palestine rally at Delhi’s Nehru market was rocked by a hyper-nationalist mob of intruders. As tensions escalated, Delhi police first stood by and watched, and then closed in on the protestors to detain and charge them. One reporter saw it all.

Free speech in the age of war

Freedom•21 Jul 2025

Free speech in the age of war

For decades, free speech has remained central to the health of liberal democracies. As Ali Khan Mahmudabad’s prosecution emerges as a test to India’s liberal commitments, the judiciary’s intervention, like many critical times in the past, must be looked at with calculated hope.

On uncertain freedom of speech and enforced silences

Freedom•8 Jul 2025

On uncertain freedom of speech and enforced silences

At times the understanding of the state institutions seems to be that the Constitution of India protects ‘right to be offended’ as a fundamental right and the freedom of speech and expression is subordinate to it.

What does the Indian Constitution truly ask of its citizens when it speaks of scientific temper?

Civil Justice•1 Jul 2025

What does the Indian Constitution truly ask of its citizens when it speaks of scientific temper?

Scientific temper, as enshrined in Article 51A(h), is often reduced to a footnote. But what if it were central? What if the story of constitutional democracy in India is also a story about how we argue, question, doubt, and dare to know?

The idea of a university: A response to Sanjeev Bikhchandani

Education•4 Jun 2025

The idea of a university: A response to Sanjeev Bikhchandani

Can a university not be a space to debate and critique the hounding political issues of our time - including how court decisions and the law are framed - what Upendra Baxi terms ‘demosprudence’? How would social movements inform judicial decisions unless they are discussed beyond the four walls of the superior courts and the black letter of the law?

In the age of algorithm, we must revitalise the conversation on the ‘freedom of thought’

Digital Rights•2 Jun 2025

In the age of algorithm, we must revitalise the conversation on the ‘freedom of thought’

Despite its critical importance, the right to freedom of thought (‘FoT’) remains underdeveloped in both law and discourse. As social media and advertising groups exploit the limits of our regulations around mental autonomy, a revival of debate and discourse on FoT is crucial.

What a post 9/11 short story tells us about the Mahmudabad arrest and law’s chilling effect in liberal academia

Freedom•26 May 2025

What a post 9/11 short story tells us about the Mahmudabad arrest and law’s chilling effect in liberal academia

Laila Lalami’s haunting short story Echo (2011), part of a post 9/11 literary collection, follows an Arab academic in the US hounded for her critique of the ‘War on Terror’. Lalami’s U.S. and Modi’s India present a common blue print for chilling speech in liberal academic spaces, and the law’s enabling role in it.

Supreme Court grants interim bail to Prof Ali Khan Mahmudabad even as it restrains him from expressing opinion on Operation Sindoor

Leaflet Reports•21 May 2025

Supreme Court grants interim bail to Prof Ali Khan Mahmudabad even as it restrains him from expressing opinion on Operation Sindoor

In a recent similar case against Madhya Pradesh MP Vijay Shah for egregious comments against Col. Sofiya Qureshi, the Bench had not refrained the Minister from expressing opinion.

Justice Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai, reputed for notable decisions on personal liberty, sworn in as 52nd Chief Justice of India

Supreme Court•14 May 2025

Justice Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai, reputed for notable decisions on personal liberty, sworn in as 52nd Chief Justice of India

From granting bail to Manish Sisodia for denial of right to speedy trial to staying Rahul Gandhi’s conviction in defamation case, Justice Gavai’s record on personal liberty matters has been a noteworthy one

“No monetary compensation even when heat crosses 50 degrees”: over 150 Blinkit delivery partners demand higher wages, shaded areas, cotton uniforms as heatwaves loom large

Labour Law•10 May 2025

“No monetary compensation even when heat crosses 50 degrees”: over 150 Blinkit delivery partners demand higher wages, shaded areas, cotton uniforms as heatwaves loom large

In response to the organised protests, Blinkit blocked the worker IDs of delivery partners in a complete violation of the freedom of association guaranteed under Article 19.

The courage of Gulfisha Fatima’s writings

Life and Liberty•3 May 2025

The courage of Gulfisha Fatima’s writings

Gulifisha’s continued imprisonment and her poetry on the unjusts of pre-trial detention showcase the masculinist carceral culture of the Indian State

Cutting back: How the Central Board of Film Certification’s censorship panders majoritarian sensibilities

Freedom•8 Apr 2025

Cutting back: How the Central Board of Film Certification’s censorship panders majoritarian sensibilities

Heavy cuts in recent Malayalam film Empuraan which depicted the Gujarat riots and the denial of certification to internationally acclaimed film Santosh denote the hold of political and revisionist interventions in the CBFC

From Mahmoud Khalil to Umar Khalid, authoritarian regimes have a common script when it comes to abusing free speech safeguards

Freedom•17 Mar 2025

From Mahmoud Khalil to Umar Khalid, authoritarian regimes have a common script when it comes to abusing free speech safeguards

On March 8, as Palestinian protestor Mahmoud Khalil was being detained by U.S.’s federal immigration authority, Umar Khalid completed 1538 days in jail without trial. The U.S. under Trump and India share, clearly, a common authoritarian vision where national security laws can easily dismantle constitutional protections on free speech to stifle political dissent.

“Further deepening of State control on lives of people”: PUDR condemns seizure of 668 books, literature in Kashmir

Kashmir•14 Mar 2025

“Further deepening of State control on lives of people”: PUDR condemns seizure of 668 books, literature in Kashmir

The civil rights organisation claims that most books that have been seized were published by Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, and authored by its founder, the scholar Abul Ala Maududi. The crackdown on Kashmir’s rich art and literary legacy,is another reminder of the tightening grip on Kashmir’s intellectual spaces.

Chokehold: Law and disorder stifling dissent in Jamia Millia Islamia

Education•24 Feb 2025

Chokehold: Law and disorder stifling dissent in Jamia Millia Islamia

As a recent wave of protests erupt in one of India’s leading minority institutions, the administration has responded with heavy police deployment and invoking the law to curb demonstrations. Faced with archaic property defacement laws and charges of ‘unlawful assembly’ and ‘mischief’ under the new criminal codes, students continue a push-back for free speech

Revoking Reporters' Collective’s non-profit status: How taxing philanthro-journalism aids majoritarianism

Press Freedom•19 Feb 2025

Revoking Reporters' Collective’s non-profit status: How taxing philanthro-journalism aids majoritarianism

The revocation of the philanthropic status of the Reporters' Collective, which has consistently produced critical journalism, from covering Electoral Bonds to Adani, for purposes of income tax exemption, cannot be viewed in a vacuum. If anything, it is an indication of how majoritarian governments do not hesitate from weaponising tax law to stifle the press.

The blocking of Tamil website ‘Vikatan’ for displaying Prime Minister Modi’s cartoon affronts critical journalism

Press Freedom•19 Feb 2025

The blocking of Tamil website ‘Vikatan’ for displaying Prime Minister Modi’s cartoon affronts critical journalism

Earlier this month, the 125 year old website published a cartoon of Prime Minister Modi shackled, with U.S. President Donald Trump ridiculing him, as a satirical commentary on the Indian government’s silence over undignified deportation of various Indians from the U.S. Days later, the website went invisible. The government’s blocking of the website without supplying any reasoning is another blow to press freedom in the country.

Beer Biceps, Chhattisgarh HC’s marital rape decision and the making of a crime in Hindu majoritarian India

Freedom•17 Feb 2025

Beer Biceps, Chhattisgarh HC’s marital rape decision and the making of a crime in Hindu majoritarian India

The string of State actions against social media influencer Ranveer Allahabadia for a joke on an online show, and a recent decision by the Chhattisgarh High Court acquitting a person accused of committing marital rape have something in common. As liberal democratic principles erode systematically, how the State responds to offences will be shaped by the society’s majoritarian impulses.

India’s Got Potent: Is the vulgar also the obscene?

Opinion•14 Feb 2025

India’s Got Potent: Is the vulgar also the obscene?

Ranveer Allahbadia has approached the Supreme Court by filing a writ petition against multiple First Information Reports (FIRs) against him in different states. His lawyer mentioned the matter before the Chief Justice of India today for urgent listing, who said it would be listed soon.

Beckoning the Peacock(s): State of Delhi’s Prisons

Life and Liberty•5 Feb 2025

Beckoning the Peacock(s): State of Delhi’s Prisons

“There are endless stories like this in Tihar. Stories that nobody wants to tell and that no one is willing to hear."

Examining Assam government’s response to SC amidst illegal detention of foreigners in ‘transit camps’: Part 2

Opinion•5 Feb 2025

Examining Assam government’s response to SC amidst illegal detention of foreigners in ‘transit camps’: Part 2

In the second part of this series, we question the proportionality of detention given the low likelihood of deportations

Slavery in 2024: A story from New Delhi

Leaflet Reports•31 Jan 2025

Slavery in 2024: A story from New Delhi

A heart-wrenching story of modern-day slavery in the heart of India’s national capital.

Why did Gandhi say media monopoly leads to dictatorship?

Freedom•30 Jan 2025

Why did Gandhi say media monopoly leads to dictatorship?

On M.K. Gandhi’s Martyrdom Day, S.N. Sahu takes a look at his perspective linking dictatorship with control of media by the ruling party.