Alok Prasanna Kumar

1 week ago | epw.in | Alok Prasanna Kumar

Discussion around the nationwide caste census in 2026 has focused largely on its potential impact on the reservation of government jobs and education. However, a caste census could have other ramifications from a constitutional perspective that have not yet been fully explored or understood—ranging from a change in the very conception of what the meaning of the phrase “socially and educationally backward” is to political representation among Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

1 month ago | epw.in | Alok Prasanna Kumar

Chief Justice of India, Justice  Sanjiv Khanna’s tenure at the Supreme Court saw increased transparency on the part of the Court and re-established the Court’s role in protecting constitutional values. His actions should set the template for his successors if they intend to restore the Court’s damaged credibility in the years to come. With a tenure of little over six months, not much was perhaps expected of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Justice Sanjiv Khanna’s tenure.

1 month ago | indianexpress.com | Alok Prasanna Kumar

Can the Union government, through a Presidential Reference under Article 143 of the Constitution, ask the Supreme Court to overturn the two-judge bench judgment curbing the powers of the Governor to refuse assent to legislation? The short answer is “no”. Article 143 relates to the Supreme Court’s “advisory” jurisdiction. An advisory cannot overturn a verdict that has attained finality.

2 months ago | epw.in | Alok Prasanna Kumar

A decade after Bengaluru’s last municipal elections and five years since the term of the previous municipal corporation (Tripathi 2025), yet another law has been passed ostensibly to restructure urban governance. The lack of elections looks unlikely to be addressed any time soon. This is because the existing Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Act, 20211 is intended to be repealed and replaced by the Greater Bengaluru Governance Bill, 2024.

2 months ago | indianexpress.com | Alok Prasanna Kumar

Story continues below this adSecond, it has exercised its powers under Article 142 to hold that the bills the TN governor did not assent to have become law. Third, it has given itself the power to issue a mandamus to the president when a bill has been referred to the president by the governor.