In this video we take you back to a key moment in independent India's history: our first Union Budget! Who presented it? What did the Budget contain for the new born republic?   #ConstitutionofIndia #unionbudget #constitution #constituentassemblydebates #indianhistory

Is India's Parliament Sovereign as claimed by India's Vice President? Is Parliament's power to change the Constitution unlimited?  Watch our video to find out.

In this video, we use the 2022 FIFA Men's World Cup to engage with the unique federal system in the United Kingdom. How is it that England and Wales, two countries part of the sovereign state of the United Kingdom, played a group fixture against each other?

On 6 December 2022, the Governor of Tamil Nadu made a controversial statement. He argued that B.R. Ambedkar’s decision to accept the Poona Pact, which dropped separate electorates for the so-called ‘Depressed Classes’, was targeted at the British ‘divide-and-rule’ policy.  Is this claim true? What do we mean by separate electorates? Why did Ambedkar accept the Poona Pact?  Watch this video to find out!

B.R. Ambedkar and M.K. Gandhi spoke and wrote widely on a number of matters. Their contrasting views on the caste system, have garnered wide attention. Relatively less attention however, has been paid to comparing other strands of their constitutional vision for India.  In this video, we compare their views on an important constitutional design feature: Federalism.

The Supreme Court is currently hearing a challenge to the 103rd Amendment Act, which introduced reservations based on economic criteria. Petitioners have argued that our Constitution allows for reservations only on the basis of social or educational backwardness. What did our Constitution Framers think? Watch this video to find out!

On 4th September 2022, Chileans overwhelmingly rejected a new Constitution, with 62% of the voters saying NO in a referendum.   A Constitutional Convention comprising of 144 directly elected delegates had released a Draft Constitution in March 2022. It contained strong provisions for environmental protection, indigenous peoples’ rights, gender diversity in public institutions, a national healthcare system, and labour rights amongst a range of other progressive measures. The Draft soon became the darling of several academics and civil society activists the world over. But the Chilean people, it appears, did not share the same enthusiasm.   In this video, we try to make sense of these developments. Why did the Chilean people reject the new Draft Constitution? What does this mean for future, progressive, Constitution making projects?

On 8 September 2022, Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-serving monarch of the United Kingdom passed away. This has reignited debates around the role of British monarchy in the contemporary world and has made some Commonwealth countries think about cutting ties with the British crown.  India did this in 1950 when it declared itself as a republic. However, it still remained part of the Commonwealth which was odd because to be a Commonwealth member was to accept the British monarch as the head of state. But, becoming a republic meant that your head of state could never be a monarch.   In this video, we revisit how Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru convinced the Constituent Assembly to ratify the Indian government's decision to remain in the Commonwealth whilst being a republic.

The Supreme Court of India is hearing a challenge to the constitutional validity of Karantaka's ban on the wearing of Hijab in educational institutions. Muslim students argue that the ban violates their right to religious freedom guaranteed in the Constitution.  On Day 2 of the hearings, Senior Advocate Devadatt Kamat, representing the students, referred to the Constituent Assembly Debates on Article 25 and argued that the Constitution Framers rejected a proposal to restrict the wearing religious attire in public.  In this video, we revisit this debate. Was there such a proposal? Who proposed it? Why? Watch the video!