Resignations and Resistance Amidst State Inaction: Chronicling Garment Work During the Pandemic
This volume is a compilation of three reports produced over the course of the years 2020 and 2021. The report ‘Garment Workers, COVID-19 pandemic and the Lockdown: A report from South Karnataka’ was published jointly by Garment Mahila Karmikara Munnade and Alternative Law Forum in May 2020. The report ‘Laid Off During ...
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Participation in Play – Demonstrating a Practicable Approach to People’s Participation in the Context of Policy Making during COVID-19
The lives and livelihoods of people across India were severely impacted due to the Covid 19 pandemic. While the government announced a slew of policy measures to address the same, critical analysis has shown that these measures were not adequate.There were significant gaps between policies and needs of vulnerable communities ...
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ದಿ ಕ್ರಿಮಿನಲ್ ಪ್ರೊಸಿಜರ್ (ಐಡೆಂಟಿಫಿಕೇಷನ್) ಬಿಲ್; ಪೊಲೀಸ್ ಕಣ್ಗಾವಲಿನ ಕರಾಳ ವ್ಯವಸ್ಥೆಗೆ ಇನ್ನಷ್ಟು ಪುಷ್ಠಿ
ದಿ ಕ್ರಿಮಿನಲ್ ಪ್ರೊಸಿಜರ್ (ಐಡೆಂಟಿಫಿಕೇಷನ್) ಬಿಲ್; ಪೊಲೀಸ್ ಕಣ್ಗಾವಲಿನ ಕರಾಳ ವ್ಯವಸ್ಥೆಗೆ ಇನ್ನಷ್ಟು ಪುಷ್ಠಿ ...
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How Places Matter – Understanding Workers’ Responses to Garment Factory Closures during the Pandemic in Bengaluru and Srirangapatna
The paper looks at the phenomenon of forced resignations in the garment industry in Karnataka during the pandemic. It demonstrates how workers’ responses to forced resignations were determined by whether they were located in the city (Bengaluru) or a small town (Srirangapatna) and calls for an engagement with the local ...
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Podcast – Right against Gender Discrimination in the realm of Religious Practise – in conversation with Zakia Soman
Alternative Law Forum · Gender Discrimination in the realm of religious practise - In Conversation with Zakia Soman - ALF presents a podcast about the right against gender discrimination in the realm of religious practise. The discussion focusses on the Sabarimala judgement, the Haji Ali Dargah case, the Triple ...
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ಸಾರ್ವಜನಿಕ ಜೀವನದಲ್ಲಿ ಕುಗ್ಗುತ್ತಿದೆ ಅಲ್ಪಸಂಖ್ಯಾತರ ಭಾಗವಹಿಸುವಿಕೆ
ಸಾರ್ವಜನಿಕ ಜೀವನದಲ್ಲಿ ಕುಗ್ಗುತ್ತಿದೆ ಅಲ್ಪಸಂಖ್ಯಾತರ ಭಾಗವಹಿಸುವಿಕೆ ...
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Why we need to be concerned about the DNA Bill
This article was published in Nyaya Patha (Weekly newsletter of Naanu Gauri) in Kannada. The DNA Bill is drowning in vagueness, setting out to make a database of our DNA that renders us vulnerable to targeting and must be opposed. The Parliament before every session provides a list of government ...
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Anti-Trafficking Bill: A travesty of legal principles
THE BILL CRIMINALISES THE LIVES AND LIVELIHOODS OF THOSE IT PURPORTS TO SAVE. The Union government is likely to introduce the Anti-Trafficking Bill, 2021, in the ongoing session of Parliament. This follows the lapse of the 2018 version, which was passed only in the Lok Sabha. The 2021 Bill, however, ...
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Posters on SC ST (Prevention) Atrocities Act – English and Kannada
This is one of the most significant legislations that protects Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Atrocities based on their caste is a lived reality for most of India’s SC and ST communities. This set of 3 posters, available in English and Kannada, are meant to spread awareness and enable citizens to ...
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Forced Resignations, Stealthy Closures
Forced Resignations, Stealthy Closures is an account of the losses faced by garment workers in Bengaluru city during the course of the pandemic in the year 2020. It documents the phenomenon of ‘forced resignations’ in the garment industry whereby factory managements who want to close down or reduce workforce construct situations ...
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Laid-off during the pandemic: A case-study of the closure of a garment factory
To download the English report, click here.To download the English Executive Summary, click here.ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಡೌನ್ ಲೋಡ್ ಮಾಡಬಹುದು ...
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Garment Workers, COVID-19 Pandemic and the Lockdown: A Report from South Karnataka
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THE MYTH OF MISUSE OF 498A
The Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 failed to address the various forms of abuses meted out to married women, and the alarming increase of dowry deaths. This prompted the women’s rights movement in the 1970’s and 80’s to undertake an unrelenting campaign to bring “marital cruelty” under the ambit of the ...
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DRAFT TRAFFICKING OF PERSONS (PREVENTION, PROTECTION AND REHABILITATION) BILL, 2016
Read on Scribd here. Draft Trafficking of Person... by altlawforum ...
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COMMENTS ON THE PERSONS IN DESTITUTION (PROTECTION, CARE AND REHABILITATION) MODEL BILL, 2016
Read on Scribd here. Persons in Destitution Mode... by altlawforum ...
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Contract Pourakarmikas Struggle Relentlessly for Better Wages: Lekha KG
After relentless struggle of more than three years demanding for better wages, the BBMP Guttige Pourakarmikara Sangha (BBMP Contract Pourakarmika Union – affiliated with AICCTU) was successful in compelling the State government to increase the monthly wages payable to guttige pourakarmikas. On August 14th, 2016, the State Government issued a ...
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Breathing Life Into The Constitution
A book on Human Rights Lawyering in India Published January 2017 Read on Scribd here. Breathing Life Into The Con... by altlawforum ...
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Law Commission’s Questionnaire on the Uniform Civil Code: A Critique
The questionnaire released by the Law Commission of India to initiate a debate on the uniform civil code (UCC) is problematic on various fronts. The aim of the questionnaire, as stated by the law commission, is to seek opinion of the public about ways in which family law reforms can ...
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Demonetization, the informal economy and civil society
The 50 days of the ‘Demon’ are now done. Even as the nation waits in apprehension, wanting to know what lies next, there have been several humorous responses to the same. Church Street Social, an upscale pub in Bangalore has announced that their customers can get a drink of beer ...
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The Padayatra from Dantewada to Gompad: Liberating the Tricolour from the clasp of violence
On June 13, 2014 Madkam Hidme, a 23 year old adivasi girl was found dead with marks of torture and rape on her body. The body was found near her village Gompad, Block Konta, district Sukma, Chhattisgarh. The very next day, a picture of her corpse, draped in a crisp ...
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The Changing Face of the Family- Guardianship, Custody and the Law
An individual is considered a minor till he or she attains the age of eighteen. Till a minor attains majority, he has a guardian, who is empowered to take decisions on behalf of the minor. The minor may also be in the custody of an individual, who is responsible for ...
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Hate’s tryst with destiny – Prof. Kalburgi’s Murder
There has been a prominent resurgence of the hindu right wing, all over India but especially in Karnataka, in launching a relentless campaign of hate and murder with a view to curtailing the fundamental freedoms of all people, but specially writers, activists and minorities. This campaign is being carried out ...
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Governing Speech on the Internet: From the Free Marketplace Policy to a Controlled ‘Public Sphere’
Introduction The internet is widely thought to be unprecedented and radically different from the media which preceded it. Interestingly, the internet has been unlike other media, in that it does not have a history of being monopolised by governments. True, certain States have tried to regulate the internet in a ...
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A REPORT ON THE HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS AGAINST TRANSGENDERS IN KARNATAKA, 2014
Violence faced by the transgender community is often invisible or under reported in mainstream media. Further, an insensitive criminal justice system makes reporting even more difficult. In this report, my effort has been to document instances of violence faced by the members of transgender community in the recent past by ...
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Empathy, Craft and other Lessons to Learn from the US Same-Sex Marriage Decision
The Court recounts James Obergefell’s struggle to be listed as the surviving spouse on his partner’s death certificate, the uncertainty that an unmarried status created in the lives of April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse with respect to their children, and the burden endured by Ijpe DeKoe and Thomas Kostura who ...
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A Carriage of Injustice
The Justice J.S. Verma Committee report that came out in light of the Delhi rape case in late 2012 took us a few steps ahead in the conversation on rape. It gave us the tools to locate the crime of rape in the context of gender justice. However, the recent judgment of ...
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A Primer on the Transgender Rights Bill
The Rajya Sabha passed the Transgender Rights Bill in April 2015. The following primer prepared by Danish Sheikh of ALF for Orinam offers a guide to it ...
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Application by Union of India Asking For Clarification of Transgender Judgement
The Union Government has asked the Supreme Court for clarification on its judgment pronounced earlier this year in NLSA v. UOI, which has been reported in The Hindustan Times. Following is the text of the Government application: ...
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Karnataka Amendments to Goonda Act
The State of Karnataka has amended the Goonda Act to bring “habitual offenders” concerning cybercrimes and copyright under the legislation. The Goonda Act is an extremely regressive piece of legislation stemming from the colonial Criminal Tribes Act wherein people were deemed criminal merely because they belonged to a certain social ...
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The Aesthetics of Discrimination: Street Vendors and Public Spaces
A few weeks ago, a number of street vendors were illegally evicted by the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewage Board following a complaint by a local resident (who also happened to be a Member of the Ruling Party). The complaint was based on the notion that street vendors were an ...
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Press Release: One year of NDA government
On the occasion of the completion of 1 year of the NDA government, a group of organisations and individuals, including Central Trade Unions, NGOs, Human Rights groups have come together to expose the bitter truths of the promised ‘Acche din’. The group has decided to have a series of programmes ...
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ALF Response to Article on Caste Diversity in the Development Sector
The piece by Karthik Navayan on Caste Diversity in the Development Sector raises many important issues. Clearly the blindness to the question of the way caste operates is structural and institutional and pervades all spaces including so called ‘progressive spaces’. This reality was pointed out to by Dr. Ambedkar in his key ...
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Forced Into Marriage by Social Pressures
Recently, a doctor in Delhi committed suicide when she found out that her husband was gay. Her suicide note indicates that she also faced mental harassment from her husband. In late 2014, a dentist in Bangalore, on finding out that her husband was having sexual relationships with other men, filed a case ...
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Research for an Indian Comprehensive Anti-Discrimination Statute
Garry Hartlieb from the United States of America, joins ALF an intern for the summer of 2015. He graduated from Michigan State University with two B.A.s, and obtained his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School. At ALF his research has concentrated on anti-discrimination laws, net neutrality, freedom of speech, ...
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For Those Marked “Other”
On April 24, the Rajya Sabha passed a private member’s bill which provides a comprehensive rights framework for transgender persons. This is a victory of staggering magnitude — not only was it voted in unanimously, it is also the first time in 46 years that a private member’s bill has ...
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Rajya Sabha passes Transgenders bill aimed to uplift community (Read the Bill)
Rajya Sabha passes Transgenders bill aimed to uplift community Rajya Sabha on Friday passed The Rights of Transgender Persons Bill 2014 with members from across the political spectrum joining hands to demand that the government take steps to bring the transgender community, facing social stigma and ostracism, into the mainstream ...
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Report on Consultation on Net Neutrality in the Indian Context: Reality v. Rhetoric
Read on Scribd here. ALF Net Neutrality Consulta... by altlawforum ...
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Net Neutrality for a Web of Equals
In the past few weeks, net neutrality has spiralled from an obscure term of concern only to telecom and Internet companies to a major topic that sparks off innumerable passions about peoples’ personal perception of the Internet. A public debate on net neutrality is much needed. As most popularly understood, ...
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Government Must Ensure All People Get Unhindered Access to Public Spaces
A few years ago, when some members of Hasiru Usiru wanted to have a meeting in Traffic Park on St Marks Road, the guard asked us to leave because the park closes at 6pm. This park had been handed over to a realty group which then fixed timings for the ...
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Regulation of OTT Services
On 27 March 2015, TRAI released a consultation paper seeking public comments on the Regulation of OTT Services. ALF submitted both comments and countercomments in the same regard. These are below. Read on Scribd here. ALF Countercomments to TRAI... by altlawforum ...
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How AAP Could Decriminalise Homosexuality in the National Capital Region
Part I AAP’s commitment towards the politics of change is on test: will it decriminalise homosexuality by amendment, if not outright repeal of Section 377 of the IPC? AAP’s landslide victory in New Delhi has meant a reopening of shrinking democratic space. But a robust democracy itself doesn’t guarantee checks ...
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Internet.org Comes to India
Last week, India became the sixth country to see the launch of Internet.org, the outcome of a Facebook tie-up with Anil Ambani’s Reliance Communications. Internet.org is a service that promises to bring the internet to you for free. But of course, you need a Reliance mobile connection to get that ...
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All Internet Users, Pay Attention
The following article by Smarika Kumar was first published in The Hoot. In December 2014, Airtel decided to charge a differential tariff on VOIP calls (Voice on Internet Protocol calls, such as those made possible by Skype or Google Talk). Themove received a lot of flak on the internet and eventually Airtel had ...
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How Internet.org Presents An Opportunity To Rethink Freedom Of Speech
Ever since rumours regarding the Indian launch of Internet.org app by Facebook in a tie-up with Reliance were confirmed, there has been lively speculation about whether the move is a violation of net neutrality. The app presents an opportunity for internet access (The stated objective ambitiously being internet access for ...
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Thanks to CBFC, we need to come up with better abuses today
One of the hallmarks of absurdity – especially as manifested by government policies – is its ability to confuse our reactions, provoking umbrage when it ought to provoke raucous laughter. The Central Board of Film Certification (how ironic that they were renamed and are no longer the censor board) issued ...
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The Death Wish of the Constitution?
The present political dispensation hinting that they would go by the unamended version of the preamble (which did not have the words socialist and secular in it) has stirred the pot of controversy. The intellectual support for this move has been articulated by Ravi Shankar Prasad who as reported by the ...
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Dignity First: One Year of Resistance to Re-Criminalisation of LGBT Lives
11 December 2014 marks one year of Re-Criminalisation of LGBT lives by the Supreme Court of India. This booklet is the product of the collective labours of a number of people including those who testified about their lives, those who collected the narratives, those who protested the judgment of the ...
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Book Review: Insights on Film Piracy (EPW)
Read on Scribd here. Insights on Film Piracy by altlawforum ...
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Order by Karnataka HC directing that Street Vendors Act must be followed while making Streets Safer for Pedestrians
Karnataka High Court has passed an interim order that provisions of Street Vendors Act must not be violated by the Government while implementing earlier orders of the Court in the PIL to make streets safer and friendlier for pedestrians.The order is reproduced below for reference. If anyone hears of any ...
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High Court Order in Bangalore Metro Rail Construction Workers’ Case
Following is the order passed by the Karnataka High Court in the BMRCL construction workers case, which raised the issue of violation of various legislations governing workmen working on the Bangalore Metro Rail Project ...
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ಕಾನೂನಿನ ಗೂಂಡಾಗಿರಿ, or Goondagiri of the Law (Kannada and English)
This piece by Maitreyi Krishnan and Siddharth Narrain was first published in Prajavani. ರಾಜ್ಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಒಂದಾದ ನಂತರ ಒಂದರಂತೆ ನಡೆದ ಲೈಂಗಿಕ ದೌರ್ಜನ್ಯ ಪ್ರಕರಣಗಳ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಸಾರ್ವಜನಿಕರಿಂದ ತೀವ್ರ ಆಕ್ರೋಶ ವ್ಯಕ್ತವಾದ ನಂತರ ರಾಜ್ಯ ಸರ್ಕಾರ, ಗೂಂಡಾ ಕಾಯ್ದೆ ತಿದ್ದುಪಡಿ ಮಸೂದೆಗೆ ವಿಧಾನ ಮಂಡಲದ ಉಭಯ ಸದನಗಳ ಅನುಮೋದನೆ ಪಡೆದುಕೊಂಡಿದೆ. ಆಸಿಡ್ ದಾಳಿ ನಡೆಸುವ ವರು, ಪರಿಸರವನ್ನು ಹಾಳು ಮಾಡುವವರು, ಡಿಜಿಟಲ್ ಅಪರಾಧ ಎಸಗುವವರು, ಕಪ್ಪು ಹಣವನ್ನು ...
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Call for Public Comments on Framework for Rules on Rights of Street Vendors
The Central Government recently passed an act to protect the rights of street vendors – the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihoods and Regulation)Act, 2014. The Karnataka government through a G.O dated 14/07/2014 , No. NaAE81MLR has constituted a committee under the chairpersonship of the Director, Municipal Administration to frame rules for ...
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Remembering Naz
The following piece was written by Danish Sheikh and first appeared on Kafila on 2nd July 2014. “We declare that Section 377 IPC, insofar it criminalises consensual sexual acts of adults in private, is violative of Articles 21, 14 and 15 of the Constitution.” Today marks 5 years of the Delhi High ...
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Ruling in India Not the Last Word
The following piece was written by Gowthaman Ranganathan and first published in the Gay and Lesbian Review on 25 June 2014. “NO GOING BACK!” The message was clear after the Supreme Court of India’s decision to recriminalize homosexuality by reversing the judgment of the Delhi High Court that decriminalized adult consensual same ...
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Response to Law Commission’s Consultation Paper on Media Laws
In May 2014, the Law Commission of India issued a consultation paper, to seek responses to amendment in media laws in the country. A number of issues were raised regarding media laws and regulations, and we at ALF have submitted our responses to the Commission on the following points: a. Cross ...
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Understanding the Problem of Piracy: A Perspective From The Issue of Access
Presentation made by Smarika Kumar at the National Seminar on Copyright organised by National Book Trust and Sahitya Akademi on World Book and Copyright Day in Calcutta University on 23rd April 2014. https://www.scribd.com/presentation/227370776/The-Problem-of-Piracy-A-Perspective-from-the-Issue-of-Access ...
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Not just his and hers
This opinion piece by Danish Sheikh first appeared in The Indian Express on April 25, 2014. Speaking of the persecution of transgender individuals in India, the Supreme Court observes that the “moral failure lies in society’s unwillingness to contain or embrace different gender identities and expressions”. With this opening acknowledgment, the ...
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Third, but not separate
This opinion piece by Arvind Narrain first appeared in DNA on 21 April 2014. The Supreme Court in National Legal Services Authority vs Union of India, in a sweeping, rights-affirming judgment for the first time in its institutional history, recognised that transgender persons are full and equal citizens of India. By ...
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National Legal Services Authority versus Union of India — Preliminary Reactions
This post by Danish Sheikh first appeared on Law and Other Things. In 2004, Kokila, a hijra in Karnataka, was brutally raped by ten men, only to be tortured by the police to whom she went to report this crime. Kokila filed an affidavit to this effect before the Supreme Court ...
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Crimes of Unreason
Article by Danish Sheikh, first published on Kafila. With the ease of a particularly sadistic magic trick, a 98 page document has sent millions of LGBT individuals time-warping back into pre-2009 criminality. If there were any constitutional justifications for this act, they are not to be found lurking in the pages ...
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The Road to Decriminalization
Danish sheikh: "the road to decriminalization: litigating India's anti-sodomy law" in 2009, the Indian LGBT community took its first step towards equal sexual citizenship. Sheikh: despite the landmark judgment, there was an equally fierce backlash. Read on Scribd here. Danish Sheikh, Yale Human R... by altlawforum ...
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Penguin India served legal notice on agreement to withdraw and pulp “The Hindus: An Alternative History”
Subsequent to the private settlement agreement made by Penguin India in February 2014 to withdraw from circulation and to pulp all copies of Wendy Doniger’s book, “The Hindus: An Alternative History,” Lawrence Liang of the Alternative Law Forum has served a legal notice upon Penguin India. The notice informs Penguin India that ...
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We Dissent
Article by Siddharth Narrain, first published on Kafila. The Supreme Court’s decision in Suresh Kumar Kaushal & Another v. Naz Foundation & Others is an unprecedented ruling, deciding to turn the clock back to pre-July 2009, when LGBT persons were criminalized by section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. On close reading, the judgment is ...
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Struggling for Reason: Fundamental Rights and the Wrongs of the Supreme Court
Article by Siddharth Narrain and Danish Sheikh in the Economic and Political Weekly. Read on Scribd here. Struggling for Reason: Fund... by altlawforum ...
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It’s Not My Job To Tell You It’s Okay To Be Gay
Paper by Arvind Narrain and Vinay Chandran covering a queer critique on the medicalisation of homosexuality. Read on Scribd here. It's Not My Job To Tell... by altlawforum ...
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Queer Women and the Law in India
By Ponni Arasu and Priya Thangarajah Read on Scribd here. Queer Women and the Law in ... by altlawforum ...
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The Articulation of Queer Rights: The Emerging Right to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
Paper by Arvind Narrain on the emerging right to sexual orientation and gender identity. Introduction During the last decade of the 20th century in India, the hitherto private realm of sexuality emerged as a focal point and basis for various forms of political assertion. India is increasingly witness to people ...
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Analysis of Justice Somashekhara Commission Report
An analysis of the findings of the Justice Somashekhara Commission Report on the attacks on churches in Karnataka. Read on Scribd here. Analysis of Justice Somashe... by altlawforum ...
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All in All, It’s Just Another Hole in the Wall…
An article by Jiti Nichani and Aarti Mundkur on the Juvenile justice system. (Sarai Reader 2007: Frontiers) Read on Scribd here. All in All, It’s Just Anoth... by altlawforum ...
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Constitutionalism and the Possibilities of Peace
An analysis of the Nandini Sundar judgment where the Supreme Court ordered that the state of Chhattisgarh disband Special Police Officers and looked at the issue of state support to vigilante groups. This piece was published in the Infochange Agenda issue on “Peace”. Read on Scribd here. Constitutionalism and the ...
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Sexual Minorities and the Police in India: Towards a Regime of Accountability
The following document is a submission to the Soli Sorabjee Committee set up to reform the Police Act. This submission was made by 39 civil society organizations working in the area of gender, sexuality and rights and was aimed at suggesting reform to ensure that police took the human rights ...
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Subaltern Queer Cultures in the Era of Hindutva
Issues of sexuality remain inextricably linked to questions of both health and human rights. The discourses surrounding health have had a deeply contradictory impact on the human rights of “queer” people in the Indian context. At one level there is the medical discourse which, under the rubric of the International ...
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Proposed Changes to Law relating to Sexual Assault
The horrific sexual assault on a moving bus in Delhi which has shocked the nation has drawn attention to the prevalence of the crime of sexual assault. What has also emerged into the limelight are the huge gaps in the legal framework which allows for these forms of violent crime ...
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Documentation of a Right that Dares To Speak Its Name: The Delhi HC Naz Foundation Decision
Alternative Law Forum was involved in the Naz Foundation decision case by the Delhi High Court, representing Voices against 377. This section contains various documents which are useful signposts leading up to the High Court decision. 1. Final Written Arguments by Voices Against 377 These are the final written submissions ...
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Teachers and Academics Against 377
The following is an open letter signed by a number of academics supporting the Delhi High Court decision in the Naz Foundation Case. University teachers, researchers and academics from all over India issued a strong statement in support of the recent Delhi High Court judgement decriminalizing consensual sex among adults ...
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Intellectual Property and the Knowledge Culture Commons
The ALF-SARAI Collaboration on “Intellectual Property and the Knowledge / Culture commons” For much of its history intellectual property research and practice was considered a niche area of property law, properly considered as hard private law. There are clearly major limitations of such a traditional black letter approach, particularly since ...
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Malnutrition and Destitution among Adivasis in Kerala
The continuing deaths of children in the Attappady Hills, Palakkad district in Kerala has shocked the conscience of the entire country. Sadly, since majority of these children either were stillborn, or died within days of being born, they have not even been given names by their family, and died unnamed ...
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Captive Democracy: A Fact Finding Report On Abuse of the Criminal System to Curb dissent against the POSCO Steel Plant in Odisha
As is now well known, the Government of Orissa and Pohang Steel Company (POSCO), Republic of Korea signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on June 22, 2005 for setting up an Integrated Steel Plant in Orissa, in Jagatsinghpur district, affecting 8 villages of three Gram Panchayats of Kujang Tahsil, i.e ...
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FAQs concerning the Copyright Amendment of 2010 (revised to 2012)
Report by Katherine Gibson, intern from Yale Law School at ALF ...
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Fact Finding Report: Death of Manual Scavenging Workers in Hasan, 9 July 2011
Read on Scribd here. Fact Finding Report: Death ... by altlawforum ...
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A Milestone Verdict in the Domestic Worker Struggle
Papamma, a domestic worker in Bangalore, took her employers to court and managed to receive a favourable judgment. This is a historic victory for perhaps the most vulnerable segment of unorganised workers, made possible by the support of a trade union, a dedicated team of advocates and a labour officer ...
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Sedition Laws & the Death of Free Speech in India
Sedition Laws and the Death of Free Speech in India: A Publication by the Center for the Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy, NLSIU & the Alternative Law Forum, Bangalore (2011). This publication looks at the history of sedition laws, legal interpretation of sedition laws by Indian courts, and comparative law ...
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Fact Finding Report: Death of Manhole Workers in Kolar
Yet again two unfortunate victims lost their lives to asphyxiation in manholes. This time the ‘accident’ repeated itself on 11th December 2010, at a manhole near the R.T.O. in Kolar city ending the lives of Shri Manjunath and Shri Rajanna. ALF carried out a fact finding report, which can be ...
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Srishti (Ad-Anhad) Judgement
Srishti (Ad-Anhad) Judgement The recent Delhi High Court judgement upholding the constitutional right to freedom of speech of expression in a case related to the censorship of Ad-Anhad(Bounded-Boundless), a film by Shabnam Virmani that centres around 15th century mystic poet Kabir who defied the boundaries between Hindu and Muslim. This ...
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Where Angels Fear To Tread: The Ayodhya Verdict
An article by Lata Mani in Economic and Political Weeklyhttps://www.scribd.com/document/192467166/Where-Angels-Fear-to-Tread-The-Ayodhya-Verdict ...
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Information Pack on Patents (3rd Amendment) Act, 2004
This information pack contains all necessary information about the Proposed Patents (3rd Amendment) Act which you can use for your campaign. Information Sheet on Patent... by altlawforum 2003 Draft of Proposed Amen... by altlawforum ...
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Ishrat Jahan Judicial Enquiry Report
0https://www.scribd.com/document/192467022/Ishrat-Jahan-Judicial-Enquiry-Report ...
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Comments on Draft Cinematograph Act 2010
ALF’s comments on the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting’s draft Cinematograph Act 2010. These comments have been endorsed by a number of groups and organisations including Vikalp (Films for Freedom) and the Screen Writers Association. Read on Scribd. Comments on Draft Cinematog... by altlawforum ...
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Dalit Studies and Law
Article on Dalit studies and law by Manoranjini.https://www.scribd.com/document/192472521/Dalit-studies-and-law ...
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The Right That Dares To Speak Its Name
The following document is a primer on the Naz Foundation decision by the Delhi High Court in 2009. This primer includes a schematic guide to the decision and commentaries analyzing the judgment and examining the wider implications. Read on Scribd here. The Right That Dares to Spe... by altlawforum ...
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Fact Finding Report: Death of Three Manual Scavengers in Karimsaab Layout, 9 May 2009
The three sanitary workers (manual scavengers) – Rajanna, Shivu, and Pampanna – died due to asphyxiation when they entered the soak pit of the house belonging to Jayaram at Jayanna to clean it at Karimsaab Layout. This Report was collated by ALF and sent to the Karnataka Human Rights Commission ...
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Complaint to the SHRC: Death of 1 person & Injury to 1 person while laying of underground drainage in Vyalikaval
Complaint to the SHRC in regard to the deaths of 1 person and injury to 1 person during laying of underground drainage in Vyalikaval on March 8th , 2009 9th March, 2009 Bangalore Dear Sir, We would like to bring to your attention the death of 1 person and the ...
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Representations on Manual Scavengers’ Death in Bengaluru
Date:14.07.2008 Bangalore To, The Chairperson National Human Rights Commission New Delhi. Sub: Death of two workers due to asphyxiation having being trapped in manhole, in Bangalore City Ref: Case no. 51/10/15/08-09/UC in regard to the death of two manhole workers and injury to five in K.R. Nagar in Karnataka Dear ...
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Summary of Final Arguments Before the Delhi HC in the Naz Foundation Case
A summary of the 12 days of final arguments before the Delhi High Court in the Naz Foundation case has been provided in the following document. An edited version of this summary has also been included in the primer “The Right that Dares to Speak Its Name” published by Alternative Law Forum ...
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Comments on Proposed Broadcasting Bill and Content Code
The following are comments that we have drafted on the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting’s proposed Broadcasting Bill and Content Code. The Ministry has invited responses to the proposed Broadcasting Bill and Content Code by August 5th Read on Scribd. Comments on Proposed Broadc... by altlawforum ...
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Democracy, Political Dissent, and Repressive Laws
Democracy, Political Dissent, and Repressive Laws: Proceedings of A PUCL-Karnataka Seminar Held on 1 July 2007 in Bangalore. Read on Scribd here. Democracy, Political Dissen... by altlawforum ...
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Comparing Mashelkar Committe and INTERPAT
GOVT. OF INDIA Novartis files writ petition against Govt., says strict Indian patent law is not TRIPs compatible. Grant of patents only to NCEs or NMEs and thereby excluding other categories of pharmaceutical inventions is likely to contravene the mandate under Article 27 to grant patents to all 'inventions' INTERPAT ...
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Response to the Proposed Amendment to the Copyright Act 1957
The Indian Government is planning to amend the Copyright Act 1957. We have drafted a critique and response to the proposed amendment, and forwarded the same to the government of India. In this folder you can find all the relevant links and documents around the proposed amendment. Draft of Proposed ...
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Laws That Lack Foresight
An Article by B N Jagadeesha on rehabilitation in Vijay Times. Read on Scribd here. Laws That Lack Foresight. by altlawforum ...
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Terror Has No Boundaries
An Article by B N Jagadeesha on violence against Dalit women in Vijay Times. Read on Scribd here. Terror Has No Boundaries. by altlawforum ...
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Queer: Law and Despised Sexualities in India (Book)
Book by Arvind Narrain that serves as an analytical introduction to law and sexuality in India. It is also a useful guide for activists and scholars interested in working in the area or needing to contact groups. Read on Scribd here. Queer: Law and Despised Sex... by altlawforum ...
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Draft of Proposed Amendment to Patent Act – 2003
In May 2014, the Law Commission of India issued a consultation paper, to seek responses to amendment in media laws in the country. A number of issues were raised regarding media laws and regulations, and we at ALF have submitted our responses to the Commission on the following points: a. Cross ...
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Draft letter to the PM urging him to consider the impact of the amendment on access to drugs
Draft letter template to the PM urging him to consider the impact of the amendment on access to drugs. We urge you to send this letter to the Prime Minister. Read on Scribd here. Draft Letter to the PM by altlawforum ...
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Fact Sheet and Myths about Pharmaceutical Patents
Read on Scribd here. Fact Sheet and Myths about ... by altlawforum ...
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A Critique of the Juvenile Justice Act 2002
Paper by Arvind Narrain critiquing the Juvenile Justice Act 2002The Juvenile Justice Act 2002 – A CritiqueTable of Contents A. Introduction 2-4 B. The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act, 2000: A 4-7 Critical look C. The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act, 2000, 7-12 Criminological considerations 1) The various ...
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