Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy's Podcast

In the 4th episode of Justify Season 4, Dr. Arghya Sengupta discusses the Tenth Schedule of the Indian Constitution with lawyer and jurist Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi. The episode looks at the issues plaguing the law of defection in India and the recent developments around the same.

This season of Justify is an election special - where Dr. Arghya Sengupta will discuss issues which should matter to the youth as they cast their votes in April 2024.

In the episode 3 of the 4th season of Justify, Dr. Arghya Sengupta examines India's relationship with the erstwhile colonial mothership (UK) with Kanishka Narayan, Labour Party Candidate in the upcoming UK elections. The episode looks at Kanishka's journey from India to the UK and the recent debate around decolonisation in India.

This season of Justify is an election special - where Dr. Arghya Sengupta will discuss issues which should matter to the #youth as they cast their votes in April.

In the 2nd episode of Justify Season 4, Dr. Arghya Sengupta discusses the relevance of constitutional values with Lalit Panda, Senior Resident Fellow, Constitutional Law, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy and Swapnil Tripathi, PhD Scholar, University of Oxford. The episode looks at how the Constitution plays a critical role in our day-to-day lives and how the Constitution can be seen as an electoral issue.

This season of Justify is an election special - where Dr. Arghya Sengupta will discuss issues which should matter to the youth as they cast their votes in April.

In the second episode of the Great Cases Series, Arghya Sengupta and Varsha Banta talk to Hon'ble Justice Sanjib Banerji on the Group of Companies Case. The episode focuses on the ‘Group of Companies’ Case, Cox and Kings Ltd. v SAP India Pvt. Ltd. The judgment brought to close the uncertainty surrounding the scope and applicability of the ‘Group of Companies’ doctrine in India, by confirming that non-signatory group companies can, in principle, be bound by arbitration agreements under the Doctrine, subject to the fulfilment of certain conditions set out under law.

In the 1st episode of Justify Season 4, Dr. Arghya Sengupta discusses the language debate and the shortfalls of the 'One Nation, One Language' model with prominent linguist, Prof. Anvita Abbi. The episode looks at how policies come to determine who speaks a language and the fascinating yet near-extinct Present Day Great Andamanese Language (PGA).

This season of Justify is an #election special - where Dr. Arghya Sengupta will discuss issues which should matter to the #youth as they cast their votes in April.

Get your copy of Prof. Abbi's book on the Great Andamanese Language - 'Voices from the Lost Horizon' - here: https://www.amazon.in/Voices-Lost-Horizon-Stories-Andamanese/dp/9391125069

The episode looks at the ongoing infrastructure projects in Mumbai and their profound impact on the city’s environment. It also looks at how such development compounds existing social inequities and challenges faced by the city’s marginalised communities. Through this, the discussion analyses the broader landscape of environmental and human rights law jurisprudence in the country and address concerns about potential regressions.

In the first episode of the series, Naveed Mehmood Ahmad speaks to Shobha Gupta on the Bilkis Bano Case.

The discussion focused on the recent Supreme Court decision quashing the order of en masse remission granted by the State of Gujarat in August 2022 to 11 men sentenced to life imprisonment for the gang-rape of Bilkis Bano and murder of her family, including a two-month-old infant during the 2002 riots.

The main objective of this conversation series is to engage in targeted and detailed discussions on a wide range of topics in the area of urban planning, development, and governance. The intention is to identify law and policy solutions to various challenges facing the city of Mumbai today and nudge its inhabitants to demand more from their political representatives who go to polls this year.

Vidhi Maharashtra hosted Up The Ante conversation series to engage in targeted and detailed discussions on a wide range of topics in the area of urban planning, development, and governance.

The first episode with Dr. Amita Bhide Mumbai’s relationship with its informal settlements or, what is legally referred to as, “slums”. Our focus will be on examining how planning, municipal regulations, as well as rehabilitation and redevelopment laws and policies, have overlooked these settlements and the basic needs of their residents.

Context for the Episode - 00:00

Financial Capital of the World's Largest Slum - 04:24

Appraisal of Mumbai's Development Plan - 15:09

Preventing Creation of Vertical Slums - 26:24

Structural Violence and Spaces of Exception - 44:51

Resilience, Hope and Small Wins - 55:14

In this series of conversations, the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy speaks with queer academics, lawyers, and activists on marriage equality and beyond. The series touches upon the relationship between queer movements and the law, the need for community consultation, the importance of legal recognition to intimacies beyond marriage, demands of the transgender community, and the future of family law in India.

The second conversation on Vidhi Beyond Marriage Equality is with Koyel Ghosh, a gender non-conforming, non-binary queer feminist activist and the Managing Trustee of Sappho for Equality. In this conversation, Koyel throws light on the motivation behind Sappho for Equality's decision to participate in the marriage equality matter before the Supreme Court of India and why the law must also extend legal recognition and protection to atypical and chosen families, beyond marriage.

Resources mentioned in the video:

Rituparna Borah & Ors. vs Union of India - http://orinam.net/content/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Rituparna-Borah-Ors.-v.-UOI-WP-No.-260-of-2023-as-filed.pdf

Sappho for Equality, Nazariya, PUCL, Saathia and Hasrat-E-Zindagi Mamuli, 'Apno Ka Bahut Lagta Hai: Our Own Hurt Us the Most - Centering Familial Violence in the Lives of Queer and Trans Persons in the Marriage Equality Debates', April 2023 - https://www.sapphokolkata.in/public/media_pdf_file/1681735321.pdf

Credits for videos and images used:

Videos -

Rainbow Flag LGBT Pride Month 2023 by Bordo

Animation of lgbtq rainbow colors stripes by VectorFusionArt from Getty Images Signature

Let’s all celebrate the love and support the LGBTQIA community, during pride month by Timbicus from Getty Images Signature

LGBT Flags waving Gay Pride by Zanuck from Getty Images Signature

Images -

Symbol of LGBT, LGBTQ by Alexmia from Getty Images

Protests in Mumbai against regressive provisions of the Transgender (Protection of Rights Bill), 2018