Recent SC order has 'direct bearing' on civil liberties in India: top world academics

By A Representative
Eleven world renowned academics have said, they are "deeply disturbed" by some of the recent judgements of the Supreme Court, which have a direct bearing on the future of civil liberties and human rights in India" even as drawing attention, in particular, to the judgement in the Zakia Jafri case, which "raises three disturbing questions."
In a plea to the Supreme Court, the academics said, "First, since the petitioners had challenged the findings of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) report that gave a clean chit to the Gujarat government for the riots following the Godhra incident, and asked the Supreme Court to order an independent investigation, for the Court to dismiss their appeal on the basis of the very same impugned SIT report seems to us to be unjust."
Secondly, they said "while dismissing the petitioners' appeal, the "Court has quite gratuitously and wholly unfairly attributed ulterior motives to the petitioners. This has even emboldened the executive to arrest co-petitioner Teesta Setalvad, along with witness RB Sreekumar, both of whom have also been denied bail."
They added, "If any patient, prolonged, peaceful, and entirely legitimate pursuit of justice through the due process, is called 'keeping the pot boiling', then this remark, quite apart from being offensive, discourages people from approaching the Court on any matter relating to excesses or dereliction on the part of the executive."
Thirdly, the academics said, the Court has passed "these uncalled-for obiter dicta without even giving a hearing to those against whom these remarks are directed", underlining, "this sets an unfortunate precedent in jurisprudence."

Dismissing Teesta Setalvad's and RB Sreekumar's appeal, the Court unfairly attributed ulterior motives to the petitioners

The academics who have signed the plea are -- Bhiku Parekh, House of Lords, UK; Noam Chomsky, professor emeritus, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US; Arjun Appadurai, professor, Max Planck Institute, Germany; Wendy Brown, Professor, Institute of Advanced Studies, Princeton, US; Sheldon Pollock, professor emeritus, Columbia University, US; Carol Rovane, professor, Columbia University, US; Charles Taylor, professor emeritus, McGill University, Canada; Martha Nussbaum, professor, University of Chicago, US; Robert Pollin, professor, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, US; Akeel Bilgrami, professor, Columbia University, US; and Gerald Epstein, professor, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, US.
The plea asserted, "Apart from the brief period of the Emergency, the Indian Supreme Court has generally played an honourable role in defending the democratic commitments of the country, which is why we are dismayed by the recent tendency discernible in the Zakia Jafri judgement."
It urged the Supreme Court to take "suo motu notice of the fall-out of the judgement in this case, to expunge the derogatory remarks contained in it, and to dismiss the cases against those who have been arrested on the strength of these remarks."

Comments

When a lake becomes real estate: The mismanagement of Hyderabad’s waterbodies

By Dr Mansee Bal Bhargava* Misunderstood, misinterpreted and misguided governance and management of urban lakes in India —illustrated here through Hyderabad —demands urgent attention from Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), the political establishment, the judiciary, the builder–developer lobby, and most importantly, the citizens of Hyderabad. Fundamental misconceptions about urban lakes have shaped policies and practices that systematically misuse, abuse and ultimately erase them—often in the name of urban development.

'Serious violation of international law': US pressure on Mexico to stop oil shipments to Cuba

By Vijay Prashad In January 2026, US President Donald Trump declared Cuba to be an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to US security—a designation that allows the United States government to use sweeping economic restrictions traditionally reserved for national security adversaries. The US blockade against Cuba began in the 1960s, right after the Cuban Revolution of 1959 but has tightened over the years. Without any mandate from the United Nations Security Council—which permits sanctions under strict conditions—the United States has operated an illegal, unilateral blockade that tries to force countries from around the world to stop doing basic commerce with Cuba. The new restrictions focus on oil. The United States government has threatened tariffs and sanctions on any country that sells or transports oil to Cuba.

When grief becomes grace: Kerala's quiet revolution in organ donation

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Kerala is an important model for understanding India's diversity precisely because the religious and cultural plurality it has witnessed over centuries brought together traditions and good practices from across the world. Kerala had India's first communist government, was the first state where a duly elected government was dismissed, and remains the first state to achieve near-total literacy. It is also a land where Christianity and Islam took root before they spread to Europe and other parts of the world. Kerala has deep historic rationalist and secular traditions.

Bangladesh goes to polls as press freedom concerns surface

By Nava Thakuria* As Bangladesh heads for its 13th Parliamentary election and a referendum on the July National Charter simultaneously on Thursday (12 February 2026), interim government chief Professor Muhammad Yunus has urged all participating candidates to rise above personal and party interests and prioritize the greater interests of the Muslim-majority nation, regardless of the poll outcomes.

Beyond the conflict: Experts outline roadmap for humane street dog solutions

By A Representative In a direct response to the rising polarization surrounding India’s street dog population, a high-level coalition of parliamentarians, legal experts, and civil society leaders gathered in the capital to propose a unified national framework for humane animal management. The emergency deliberations were sparked by a recent Suo Moto judgment that has significantly deepened the divide between animal welfare advocates and those calling for the removal of community dogs, a tension that has recently escalated into reported violence against both animals and their caretakers in states like Telangana.

Why 20 years later, Rang De Basanti feels less like cinema, more like warning

By Mohd Ziyaullah Khan* This Republic Day , the Rang De Basanti , starring Aamir Khan , completed 20 years since its release. I first watched it in a single-screen theatre in my city—at a time when multiplexes were only just beginning to appear and our town was still waiting for one. It remains my favourite film, and I often revisit it on OTT platforms or television around Independence Day or Republic Day, when the air is thick with rehearsed patriotism. A few days ago, I noticed it streaming again on Jio Hotstar . Released in 2006, it is a film I have watched many times over the years. Yet, like all powerful cinema, returning to it at different stages of life offers a different experience. Twenty years ago, I found it deeply inspiring. In 2026, watching it again felt suffocating. At its core, the film follows a group of Delhi University friends who challenge the might of the central government after one of their own, a flight lieutenant, is killed in a MiG aircraft crash alleged...

Stray dogs, an epsilon (ϵ) problem: Of child labour, and the art of misplaced priorities

By Bhaskaran Raman The Greek alphabet ϵ (epsilon) is used in maths and science to denote a quantity which is not zero, but extremely small *** Since the Supreme Court's interim order on the issue of stray dogs came out on 07 Nov 2025, there have been a range of opinion pieces speaking for the voiceless. Most of them take the stance that there is a "problem" with stray dogs, but that we need a humane solution. I agree with this broadly, but I think we need new terminology to talk about this.

A. R. Rahman's ‘Yethu’ goes viral, celebrating Tamil music on the world stage

By Syed Ali Mujtaba* Good news for Tamil music lovers—the Mozart of Madras is back in the Tamil music industry with his song “Yethu” from the film “Moonwalk.” The track has climbed international charts, once again placing A. R. Rahman on the global stage.

Constitution vs. mining: The trial of environmental justice in Pachama Dadar

By Raj Kumar Sinha* The auction process for the Pachama Dadar bauxite block in Balaghat district, Madhya Pradesh, was initiated in 2023. Yet a closer examination of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report submitted for this proposed mining project reveals serious procedural and substantive failures that call into question the legitimacy of the entire exercise.

Search This Blog