Important Topics To Be Done For Slat – Writing Ability Test
1. DEATH PENALTY / CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IN INDIA
Context:
The convicts in the Nirbhaya case were executed after eight long years of the heinous crime. And a few days ago, the relevance of this form of punishment was discussed to mark ‘Forty Years since Bachchan Singh’, the case which laid down the ‘rarest of rare’.
Readings:
- Abolition of the Death Penalty – Anup Surendranath (Link)
- Getting the hang of death penalty – Soibam Rocky Singh (Link)
- Death Sentence as a Collective Conscience – Anjana Prakash (Link)
2. RIGHT TO INFORMATION
Context:
The recent judgement in Subhash Chandra Agarwal v. Supreme Court of India (2019) delivered by a Constitution bench held that the Office of the Chief Justice of India is within the ambit of RTI. Further, the RTI Act was amended in 2019 to remove protection of conditions of service, remuneration, etc. of the Information Commissioners.
Readings:
- Explainer: The Right to Information (Amendment) Bill, 2019 (Link)
- RTI Amendment: A Riddle – K Ramanujam (Link)
- CJI under RTI Act – Shailesh Gandhi (Link)
3. RESERVATIONS / AFFIRMATIVE ACTION IN EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT
Context:
The 103rd Constitutional Amendment extended reservations to the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) by creating a ten percent quota. Further, the 104th Constitutional Amendment extended the SC/ST Reservations by another ten years. Moreover, the recent cases of BK Pavitra II (2019) and Mukesh Singh (2020) allowed reservations in promotions as long as quantifiable data is produced by the government.
Readings:
- The Ambiguity of Reservations for the Poor – Anup Surendranath (Link)
- A solution in the search of a problem – Sonalde Desai (Link)
- The Moral and Logical Failures – Avinash Kumar and Gautam Kumar (Link)
4. THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
Context:
The on-going Novel Corona virus pandemic creates several issues such as: the response of the government, the suffering of the vulnerable sections such as migrant laborers and domestic workers, the burden on healthcare sector, the race to create a vaccine and patent it, the response of the Supreme Court, the way the law treats issues such as on-going contracts, the State Responsibility of China to other States in International Law, etc.
Readings:
- Liability of China for Covid19 Outbreak – Swargodeep Sarkar (Link)
- Force Majeure in the Times of Covid19 – Adarsh Saxena et. al. (Link)
- A compilation of cases head by the Supreme Court – Seema Chishti (Link)
- The Pandemic is a Portal – Arundhati Roy (Link)
- Analysis of Employment Issues in India – Ramit Mehta (Link)
- Effect on Part III of the Constitution – S R Rajagopal (Link)
5. MOB LYNCHING AND COMMUNAL VIOLENCE
Context:
From the unfortunate events of lynching of minorities such as Akhlaq to the recent Palghar episode, mob lynching has been a trend. Violence has also been seen in communal clashes such as the recent Delhi riots.
Readings:
- Mob lynchings in India – Sandipan Baksi et. al. (Link)
- The political dynamics of lynching – Vikram Doctor (Link)
- Inside Delhi: beaten, lynched, and burnt alive – Hannah Ellis-Peterson (Link)
- Anatomy of a Lynching – Aatish Taseer (Link)
- Is India sitting atop a volcano of communal violence? – Sudheendra Kulkarni (Link)
6. SOCIAL MEDIA: CYBER BULLYING & FAKE NEWS
Context:
The recent ‘boislockerroom’ controversy and the spread of fake news has caused several issues ranging from sexual objectification, obvious misogyny, and hatred against persons on the basis of their gender, caste, and religious identity.
Readings:
- The Virus of Misogyny – Nizam Pasha (Link)
- Saving children from cyberbullying – Partha Mazumder (Link)
- Why can’t we agree on what’s true anymore? – William Davies (Link)
7. RIGHT TO PRIVACY & DATA PROTECTION
Context:
The nine-judge bench in Puttaswamy held Right to Privacy to be a part of ‘Personal Liberty’ under Article 21. In the light of the Cambridge Analytica episode and the proposed Data Protection Bill, privacy of data has been a sensitive issue.
Readings:
- Right to Privacy: Survelliance in the Post-Puttuswamy Era – CAM (Link)
- Right to Privacy as a Fundamental Right – Jyoti Panday (Link)
- The Dark Psychology of Social Networks – Jonathan Haidt et. al. (Link)
- The Good, Bad, and Ugly on India’s Template of Data Protection (Link)
8. GENDER EQUALITY & SEXUAL HARASSMENT AT WORKPLACE
Context:
The allegations against the former CJI Ranjan Gogoi, the #MeToo movement, and the unsatisfactory implementation of the Prevention of Sexual Harassment Act has been often in the news. The challenges women face due to non-congenial work atmosphere have been difficult to overcome.
Readings:
- The History Behind Sexual Harassment at the Workplace Law – Malavika Rajkumar (Link)
- Apathy v. Empowerment – Shiba Kurian (Link)
- Where #MeToo Came From, and Where It’s Going – Catherine Mackinnon (Link)
9. ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION: ARBITRATION, MEDIATION, AND CONCILIATION
Context:
Indian Courts plague with several backlogs, making alternative dispute resolution a choice for several litigants. The recent amendments in the Arbitration & Conciliation Act have enabled certainty of the arbitral awards by precluding automatic stays.
Readings:
- India’s dream of becoming a Global Arbitration Hub – Somesh Dutta (Link)
- Alternative Dispute Resolution in India – Vinay Vaish (Link)
- ADR: Why it doesn’t work and why it does – Todd Carver et. al. (Link)
10. INDUSTRIAL DISASTERS AND THE LAW
Context:
The recent incident at the LG Chems factory near Visakhapatnam which saw the toxic styrene gas being released has ended several lives. It raises issues of industrial safety, disaster management, and ascribing responsibilities of such disaster. The use of Public Liability Act and the doctrines of Strict and Absolute liabilities are relevant.
Readings:
- Toxic Disaster – The Hindu Editorial (Link)
- Vizag’s Gas Tragedy: Reflection of Bhopal’s Misery – Nabeela Siddiqui (Link)
- Hazardous History from Bhoposhima to Visakha – Prof. Madabhushi Sridhar (Link)
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