On 26 November 2020, the Gujarat National Law University Centre for Constitutional and Administrative Law celebrated the 71st Constitution Day by hosting a webinar on the topic – The Constitution and Idea of India. 26 November marks the adoption of the Constitution of India by the Constituent Assembly on 26 November 1949. In 2015, the Government of India declared the day as Samvidhan Divas, or Constitution Day, in order to commemorate the adoption of the Constitution, which has laid foundation for modern, constitutional and democratic governance in India.
Prof. (Dr.) S. Shanthakumar, Director, GNLU, delivered the welcome address on the special occasion. In his address, the Director acknowledged the contribution of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, and other unsung heroes of the Constituent Assembly, B.N. Rau and S.N. Mukherjee. He also outlined the role and responsibility of the citizens of India – “we the people” under the Constitution of India – in making the political democracy into a social democracy, a way of life that recognizes liberty, equality and fraternity as being inextricably linked to one another.
The eminent speaker for the occasion was Dr. Aditya Sondhi, Senior Advocate practicing before the Karnataka High Court and the Supreme Court of India, who has also served as the Additional Advocate General of Karnataka from 2016 to 2018. Dr. Sondhi began his talk with the historical background of the Constitution of India. He explained how India’s independence was not an end that was achieved, but the beginning for India’s political trajectory. He noted how the Constitution came into being by deliberation, discussion, and collaboration of the makers of the Constitution. For India, having a working Constitution in the early years of independence, meant that there was not only a democracy in place, but also a republic and institutional supremacy with checks and balances in place. Dr. Sondhi expressed how the idea of India is greater than the Constitution itself, because the Constitution, as a living and liberating document, allows for it. He also acknowledged how the Constitution, despite being an old document, has, more often than not, kept pace with the changes in the country.
GNLU Centre for Constitutional and Administrative Law in collaboration with CAN foundation is organising a webinar on the topic "Dissents that made a difference India and Abroad" on Saturday, 5th September 2020 from 05:00 PM. The eminent speakers of the event were Hon'ble Justice Sanjay K. Kaul, Judge, Supreme Court of India and Mr. Dhruv Mehta, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India. The webinar started with the welcome address by our Hon’ble Director Prof. (Dr.) S.Shanthakumar. Landmark dissenting opinions over the years in India by distinguished Hon’ble Justices Fazal Ali, Vivian Bose, Bijan Kumar Mukherjea, K. Subba Rao, A.N. Ray, H.R. Khanna, and D.Y. Chandrachud (Aadhar Matter); Expansion of the “Due Process Clause” during the Lochner Era in the US particularly the dissenting opinions by Justices M. Harlan, Edward D. White, William R. Day, and Oliver W. Holmes Jr.;Landmark dissenting opinions that led to important developments in the American Constitutional Arena by Justices Harlan, Oliver W. Holmes Jr., Brandeis, and Atkin; Dissent of American Courts relating to Same-Sex Marriages and LGBTQ+ Rights by C.J. Roberts and Justices Scalia, Thomas, and Altio were mainly discussed in the webinar. Apart from highlighting the significance of such dissenting opinions, the panelists also trace the background and the majority opinion of the cases at hand.
GNLU Centre for Constitutional and Administrative Law in collaboration with Nishith Desai Association had organised a webinar on "Right to Privacy and Data Protection law in India" on Friday, 28th August 2020. The eminent speakers for the session were Mr. Abhishek.S. and Mr. Aaron Kamath from Nishith Desai Associates. The webinar was conducted for GNLU students only. The webinar witnessed detailed discussion on fundamental right to privacy and the laws on data protection in India.
Constitution Day was celebrated on 26th November, 2019 at the GNLU campus by taking oath to abide by the principles of preamble and fundamental duties. Post celebration, the faculty members attended constitution day celebration programme at High Court of Gujarat. The eminent speakers who graced the event were- Shri Acharya Devvrat, Hon’ble Governor of Gujarat; Shri Vijaybhai Rupani, Hon’ble Chief Minister, State of Gujarat; Shri Justice Vikram Nath, Hon’ble Justice, High Court of Gujarat; Shri Bhupendrasinh Chudasama, Hon’ble Minister of Law and Justice, State of Gujarat; Shri Pradeepsinh Jadeja, Hon’ble Minister of State, Law and Justice, State of Gujarat; Shri Kamal B. Trivedi, Ld. Advocate General, State of Gujarat; Shri Justice Yatindra Singh, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India, Former Chief Justice Chhattisgarh High Court and Shri Mihir J.Thakore, Senior Advocate.
The third episode was organized on 12th August, 2019. The major points for discussion were- Since President couldn’t have amended Article 370 under Article 370(1)(d), therefore, Article 367 was amended to bypass the original procedure laid down in Article 370, does this amount to colourable exercise of power? To what extent can a reference to the Government of J&K be construed as a reference to the Governor of the State? Where does Article 370 stand after the dissolution of the JK Constituent Assembly? and Analysis of the said issue through the prism of Federalism and Basic Structure Doctrine?
The Centre organized the second episode of constitutional discourse on 05th August, 2019. The major issues of discussions were- Which right should prevail- right to life or right to choice? Constitutional Validity of the above-mentioned provisions. Whether abortion (as practised in the MTP Act, 1971) violates Art 14 or/and Art 21? To what extent can Article 21 be interpreted to settle down this issue? and What role does Constitutional Morality have to play in this regard?
The Centre organized 1st episode for the 2nd season of constitutional on 26th July, 2019, whereby the major focus of discussion was the impact of proposed bill on the autonomy and independence of the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC), ICs and State Information Commissioners. The major issues of discussion were- What will be ill-effects of this amendment? Does this amendment curb the rights (of Indian citizens) enshrined in Article 19(1)(a) since the Supreme Court has, at various instances, taken the view that RTI emerges from Art 19(1)(a)? and Constitutional Validity of the bill.
For the past three years, the Centre for Constitutional and Administrative Law has been publishing “Lex Populi”, an in-house publication that is circulated among members of the judiciary. For its fourth edition, due to be released in 2020, the Centre hosted an essay competition on 15th April 2019 to select the best entries for publication. The results have been announced, editing of journal is under pipeline.
In furtherance of its objectives, the Centre organizes “Judgment Analysis Series” where it invites scholars and practitioners to discuss and analyse recent landmark judgments of the Supreme Court. The Centre organized one such Judgement Analysis Seriess on the Aadhaar Judgement i.e. K. S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India (as decided on 26th September, 2018) 14th February, 2019. The session was taken by Mr. Nipun Saxena, Advocate at the Supreme Court of India.
The Centre organized the fourth constitutional discourse on 11th February, 2019. Three major issues were brought for discussion. First, the validity of Constitutional (103rd Amendment) Act, 2018; second, whether 50% cap on reservation is a binding rule? Does this rule have any exceptions?; third, whether economic criteria could be the sole basis for reservation?
With regards to the validity of the Act, the major argument was that, it is violates Article 14 and the Basic Structure Doctrine. It was observed that, indeed, 50% cap on reservation is a hardcore rule and it could be breached under special circumstances. The question that ‘whether the validity of the Act could be justified on these grounds’ remains unanswered. The case is still pending before the Supreme Court.
With a view to strengthening the roots of democracy, inculcate healthy habits of discipline, tolerance of the views of others and to enable the student community to understand the working of our Parliamentary institutions, the Center for Constitutional and Administrative Law has introduced the Intra- University Youth Parliament Competition. The Centre conducted Second Inta-youth Parliament on 2nd and 3rd February, 2019. A simulation of Lok Sabha and the agenda was Reviewing Criminal Defamation and Sedition Laws. The competition saw a wide participation from the student community and the committee discussed two draft Criminal Laws (Ammendment) Bills that were drafted by Yash Modi and Porminder Goyat both from 2017-22 batch. The Bills were not passed by the house but saw a detailed and substantive discussion on the agenda.
The third episode of the Constitutional Discourse looked into the validity of Article 35A of the Constitution of India on 8th January, 2019. Two major points of discussion were (a) whether the President has the power to amend the Constitution of India without approval of Parliament? and (b) whether that power include power to insert a completely new Article into the Constitution?
With regard to validity of Article 35A, the major argument was that, it violates the Basic Structure Doctrine. But then, the Basic Structure Doctrine cannot be applied retrospectively to hold a provision unconstitutional. While most of the participants agreed that the validity of Article 35A is still a debatable issue and it can go either ways, almost everyone reached to a consensus that the Constitution doesn’t give the President such enormous powers so as to insert a new Article into the Constitution without approval of the Parliament.
Episode 2 of Constitutional discourse was organized on 11th September, 2018. In the light of Shayara Bano judgment and the reports of Law Commission, the second episode of Constitutional Discourse primarily revolved around two major questions: First: How far has the Supreme Court gone to interfere with Personal Laws?? & Second: What approach could be adopted to deal with Personal Laws??
After the success of the first edition of ‘Essay writing Competition’. GNLU Centre for Constitutional and Administrative Law organized the Second Essay Writing Competition on the theme ‘One Nation. One Election’. The competition was organized with the objective of creating a dialogue on the topic and getting new ideas and perspectives on the issue. The Centre received a huge response from the student community. The winning participants were awarded with certificates and cash prizes.
The first question taken up at the session was- Should there be a right to die? According to the recent judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of Common Cause (A Regd. Society) v. Union of India, the court upheld a person’s right to choose passive euthanasia by creating an ‘Advance Medical Directive’ in the eventuality of a terminal illness with no hope of recovery, an irreversible coma or a permanent vegetative state.
But why did the court not extend this right to a ‘rational normal’ person? Does the state consider that the people are not rational enough to decide on the matter of their own life and death? Why is the right to die not an absolute right? The court has not extended this right to everyone and when it extends this right selectively, it deviates from the general scheme of rights mentioned in the constitution. The case of Aruna Ramchandra Shanbaug v. Union of India & Ors (2011) was discussed in detail.
The Centre inaugurated its most awaited lecture series titled “We, the People”. The objective of this lecture series was to provide a platform for interaction between Constitutional Law experts, drawn from various fields of practice, and students and general public. This lecture series aims to create a dialogue, by raising interest in matters related to the Constitution amongst the public in general and students in particular. Dr. Subhash Kashyap, an Honorary Research Professor at Centre for Policy Research, inaugurated the Lecture Series on 2nd April, 2016. He delivered a lecture on the topic “Realising Dr. B.R Ambedkar’s dream of Social Justice through the Indian Constitution”.
The Important vision behind the Expert Lecture Series was to provide a forum for discussion of the latest developments in the field of Constitutional and Administrative Law, as well as to analyze past occurrences in the contemporary context. After the success of first four sessions of the expert lectures, the fifth session was organised from 28 - 30 March, 2016, presided by Prof. V S Mallar. The topic for the session were as follows :
The Department of Social Justice and Empowerment organized Two Day Seminar on “The Influence of Ideology of Dr B. R. Ambedkar on Marginal Literature” (Celebrating 125th Birth Anniversary of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar) on 30th and 31st January, 2016. The Programme was organized at GNLU Campus.
The Patron in-chief for the inauguration function of the Seminar was His Excellency The Governor of Bihar, Shri Ram Nath Kovind and the Chief Guest for the Valedictory Session was His Excellency The Governor of Gujarat, Shri O.P. Kohli. The Guest of Honour for the seminar was Shri. Ramanlal Vora, Cabinet Minister, Department of Social Justice and Empowerment, Govt of Gujarat. More than 1000 participants across Gujarat, became the part of this historical event.
In furtherance of its objectives, the Centre organizes “Judgment Analysis Series” where it invites scholars and practitioners to discuss and analyse recent landmark judgments of the Supreme Court. The Centre organized one such Judgement Analysis Seriess on the Aadhaar Judgement i.e. K. S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India (as decided on 26th September, 2018) 14th February, 2019. The session was taken by Mr. Nipun Saxena, Advocate at the Supreme Court of India. Mr. Saxena, a graduate of National Law University, Delhi was representing one of the petitioners in the case. Mr. Saxena began with the history of the act and explained how most of the data collection was done under executive authority without any mandate of a law. He explained the legislative process in bringing about the law and the speaker’s role in the designations of a bill as a money bill which was also a question for adjudication before the apex court. He subsequently dealt with the reasoning given by the Supreme Court in favour of the general right of privacy recognized in Puttaswamy. He talked about the dangers that the Aadhaar linkage with the PAN, mobile numbers posed and how that could lead to creeping state surveillance. Comparisons were drawn between various other biometric regimes followed in other jurisdictions.
The idea of CCAL Judgement Analysis Series is to encourage students to familiarize themselves with the recent judgments of the Supreme Court of India. It also aims to provide a platform for students to improve their understanding by interacting with experts in the field of Constitutional and Administrative Law. The case of Shri Jogendrasinhji Vijaysinghji v.State of Gujarat and Ors [Civil Appeal No. 2374 OF 2015 was taken up for the discussion in this session of the series. The session was held on 19th March, 2016 and Mr. Asim Pandya (Senior Advocate, Gujarat High Court) as the resource person for the session.
The idea of CCAL Judgement Analysis Series is to encourage students to familiarize themselves with the recent judgments of the Supreme Court of India. It also aims to provide a platform for students to improve their understanding by interacting with experts in the field of Constitutional and Administrative Law. The case of Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association v. UOI (NJAC case) was taken up for the discussion in this session of the series on February 20, 2016
The idea of CCAL Judgement Analysis Series is to encourage students to familiarize themselves with the recent judgments of the Supreme Court of India. It also aims to provide a platform for students to improve their understanding by interacting with experts in the field of Constitutional and Administrative Law. The case of Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association v. UOI was taken up for the discussion in this session of the series, which was conducted on 16 January, 2016.
The Center for Constitutional and Administrative Law (CCAL) in collaboration with Department of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of Gujarat (GoG), conducted its First Constitutional Law Quiz Competition. It was organized as a part of celebration of 125th Birth Anniversary of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar on Friday, 8th January 2016 for the school students of Higher Secondary belonging to C.B.S.E. Schools of Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar Region.
The objective of the quiz was to inculcate the sense of pride towards the Constitution of India and to upgrade the knowledge of the present generation keeping in mind nation's capacity building. Chief Guest for the inauguration function of the Quiz Competition was Shri Ravi Shanakar (IAS), Collector Gandhinagar and the Chief Guest for the Valedictory Session was Shri Ashok M. Sharma (IAS), Additional Director, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan, Government of Gujarat.
The participating teams included teams from Anand Niketan School, Ahmedabad International School, SGVP, Prakash, Maharaja Agrasen, DPS Bopal, Sakar English School, Hillwoods School, St. Xaviers etc. A total of 21 teams participated which included 42 students from across 11 schools. Teachers from various schools accompanied the students.
The event was further divided into two rounds under which first session was the elimination round wherein the 21 teams from various schools were subjected to rigorous quizzing related to constitution and legal awareness; it was followed by documentary screening on the life, struggle and success of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.
The quiz was initiated with an inauguration where Mr. Divya Tyagi, CCAL Faculty Member and Assistant Professor of Law, welcomed the guests and discussed about centre’s various activities.
Director of GNLU Prof. Dr. Bimal N. Patel gave a welcome address to all the participants. He encouraged the students to take up law as their career option by making them understand its need in today’s world. He threw light on the life history of various leaders like Baba Saheb Ambedkar, Gandhiji and Sardar Patel as to how they came up as great lawyers and pragmatic leaders. He thanked the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment for assisting in University’s intellectual pursuits.
Mr. Ravi Shanakar, Chief Guest of the event, while addressing the participants motivated the students about the great contributions of pragmatic leaders like BR Ambedkar. He discussed the important features like Fundamental Rights, DPSP etc which the constitutional makers incorporated in the Constitution. His motivating speech was encircled around constitution playing a role of emancipator in the life of each and every person. He discussed how the Constitution gives powers to citizens through writ jurisprudence to pursue cases against the Executive and various decisions of the Government, where they feel which are inappropriate.
Second session was the final round wherein top 6 teams where matched up against each other. The quiz was conducted by Quiz master Mr. Jalaj Maheswari, student of GNLU. After various rigorous rounds, the team from Udgam School, Thaltej was decalred winner. DPS, Bopal and Maharaja Agrasen were declared first and second runners up respectively. The awards included the price money of Rs. 24,000 appropriately distributed amongst the winners. The awards were given in the valedictory ceremony by Shri Ashok M. Sharma (IAS), Additional Director, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan, Government of Gujarat, who while distributing the awards emphasized on the need to follow the preamble of the constitution and the pledge with strong attitude.
The Vote of thanks was given by Mr. Avinash Bhagi, Director of CCAL and Assistant Professor of Law at GNLU. It was followed by the Campus visit .The students seemed happy that they could capture this opportunity and wished to make the best out of such visits.
The Center for Constitutional and Administrative Law in collaboration with Department of Social Justice and Empowerment and Development support Agency, Government of Gujarat, organised the One Day Seminar on ‘Dr. B. R. Ambedkar’s contribution towards Legal Education’ in celebration of 125th Birth Anniversary of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar on Monday, 21st December 2015 at 10:30 am at GNLU for the tribal students of Secondary and Higher S econdary Level of the state of Gujarat.
The Patron in-chief for the event was Mr. Sanjay Nandan, Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, Gandhinagar. The resource persons for the program were Prof. Dr. Jayprakash M. Trivedi, Professor Department of Sociology, Sardar Patel University and Dr. Nidhi Buch, Assistant Professor of Law, GNLU.
The seminar aimed to enkindle the interest in the young minds for the legal education and also to enhance the knowledge of the underprivileged young generation of the state towards the process of admission in NLU’s, CLAT Exam and how law as a profession will prove to be a contribution towards the nation's capacity building and personal growth.
The seminar was initiated with an inauguration at 10:30 A.M where the Director of GNLU Prof. Dr. Bimal Patel expressed his welcome address in Gujarati to all the participants. He encouraged the students to take up law as their career option by making them understand its need in today’s world. He threw light on the life history of various leaders like Baba Saheb Ambedkar, Gandhiji and Sardar Patel as to even after facing so many adversities they came up as great lawyers and pragmatic leaders. He apprised the students about GNLU’s special efforts taken to extend helping hands to underprivileged students of the university. He thanked the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment and the Development Support Agency for assisting in University’s intellectual pursuits. Mr. Sanjay Nandan, Chief Guest of the event, while addressing the participants motivated the students for higher education by citing the struggle taken up by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar. He emphasized on his ideology of 'Educate, Agitate and Organize'. His motivating speech was encircled around education playing a role of emancipator in the life of each and every person. He also motivated students to take utilization of various schemes of welfare and education for enhancing their careers and ensured that Government at each and every step is to encourage bright futures for the development of the nations. The Vote of thanks was given by Director of CCAL Mr. Avinash Bhagi, Asst. Professor of Law at GNLU. The event was further dived into two comprehensive sessions under which first session was chaired by Prof. Dr. Jayprakash M. Trivedi, who enlightened the students about the ideology and principles of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar towards legal education, followed by documentary screening on the life, struggle and success of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and his contribution towards nation building. Last session was chaired by Dr. Nidhi Buch, Asst Prof. of Law, GNLU in which she imparted knowledge about the legal education NLU’s and CLAT and law per se as a bright career option. It was a very interactive session whereby students inquired about many arenas about their career and were fulfilled satisfactorily by the Chair. The session was followed by the Campus visit in which students felt awed by the excellent infrastructural facilities of the university and a final closure where students seemed happy that they could capture this opportunity and wished to make the best out of such visits and thanked the GNLU faculty team for being supportive of the students in their pursuits of choosing career and providing an honest platform about law as profession.
The Centre for Constitutional and Administrative Law, organized its First exhilarating Debate Competition in Celebration of 125th Birth Anniversary of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar on 1st October, 2015. The topic of the Debate Competition was "The topic was selected keeping in mind the ideology of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar who professes equality, liberty and fraternity and was against the system which brings social injustice to any community. Dr. B. R. Ambedkar was strictly against the inhuman practices of Manual Scavenging which are prevalent in India even after 68 years of Independence. The CCAL organised this debate competition to give an opportunity to young talent to express their views on the said topic. Students from the Law colleges of Gujarat were invited to debate over the topic. In order to encourage students who are otherwise immensely talented but due to language barriers are unable to express their views, the medium of expression was kept Gujarati.
The debate competition was initiated with an inauguration function where the Director of GNLU Prof. Dr. Bimal Patel gave a speech in Gujarati to all the participant teams of Law colleges in Gujarat emphasizing the need for discussion on these topics and how policy intervention ideas can be generated through such platforms and emphasized on fulfilling the mission of Swachh Bharat.
The Patron in-chief for the event was Mr. C.S. Rajpal, M.D.,for Gujarat Safai Kamdar Vikas Nigam (GSKVN) on behalf of Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of Gujarat. The rounds were being presided and judged by Prof. (Dr.) N.K. Pathak, former Director University School of Law and Former Director, Institute of Law Nirma University and Ms. Manjula Pradeep, Executive Director of NGO-Navsarjan Trust alongwith Mr. C.S Rajpal.
With over 44 participants from various Law varsities across Gujarat, the debate aimed at enabling students to critically discuss the aspects of ill practice of Manual Scavenging on the thresholds of constitutional and public laws, fitting them in the frame of vision and ideologies of Dr. Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar.
The four hour event witnessed some spectacular presentations of talents and potentiality of the students. Among the 44 participants Vraj Shah of Law College Godhra and Dhruda Krupa of Government Law College, Ahmedabad bagged first and second best proposition speaker repectively and Hemendra Kanani of K. A. Pandhi Law College and Atraya Trivedi of School of Law, Auro University bagged first and second best opposition speaker respectively. The vote of Thanks was given by Mr. Shashi Bhushan Sharma.
This unprecedented event addressing such an intricate social issue of manual scavenging, which has witnessed participation of students of various law colleges of remote areas in Gujarat it came to the fore that the colleges from such remote areas of India are so much sensitized about such an issue.
The Centre for Constitutional and Administrative Law, organized Certificate Course on Expanding Horizons of Fundamental Rights in India. The Course was conducted from 24th to 27th September, 2015. This course was planned with an object to impart the knowledge of fundamental rights and its applicability in the current scenario. The course offered a comprehensive and basic understanding of fundamental rights in India. It covered landmark and latest judgments of Supreme Court of India and also dealt with the contemporary issues relating to fundamental rights.
To fulfill earlier mentioned objectives, the course was covered with several themes like: Fundamental Rights: Conceptual and Historical Reflections, Right to Equality: Key Concepts and Emerging Issues, Fundamental Freedoms and Social Control, Right to Property and Right Against Exploitation, Religious, Cultural and Educational Rights. The lecture method, Group discussions and Case studies approach was adopted to cover the whole syllabus.
The National Conference on "Strengthening Participatory Democracy and Good Governance" was organized in collaboration with Knowledge Consortium of Gujarat in GNLU on January 5, 2014 as a part of Pre-Summit event of the Vibrant Gujarat National Education Summit 2014 'Towards Educating Young India'.
