When 2018 ended with data breaches and malpractices, it signalled some new year resolutions in India — A New York Times investigation has revealed that Facebook granted several online platforms access to their user data. This was done without the knowledge of its users and even their contacts. These arrangements were negotiated with the knowledge of top management. Such deals even permitted third parties to access private…

Two key levers leading to a policy gridlock are a lack of transparency and irrationality. Both are playing dutiful twins, supporting each other in the state apparatus which is approaching this issue under the blanket of national security — Internet shutdowns have many names. An online curfew, network bans, information blackouts, and our favourite for its augury, the digital kill switch. It captures the growing centrality of electronic communications in modern society. Going beyond the mere disruption to a flow of information, to a halt to life itself.

Communication about judicial decisions remains at the mercy of initiatives by scrupulous officers — Note: co-authored with Abhinav Sekhri who is the lead author. In 2015, the Supreme Court struck down Section 66A of the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000, as unconstitutional. That decision, Shreya Singhal v. Union of India, was heaped with praise by domestic and foreign media alike. But none of this stopped the police in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, from arresting and…

The necessity of defamation reform has been felt tangibly and with great force in recent weeks — About three years ago, I spent months on a case in the Supreme Court where lawyers juxtaposed two opposing interests, the right to free speech against the right to a person’s reputation. The result of this contest was a judgement in the case of Subramanium Swamy v. Union of India…

The Court permitted judicial review, but the actual standards applied were problematic. One of the most significant issues before the Supreme Court in the Aadhar case was with regard to the passing of the Aadhaar Act as a Money Bill. …

The government in setting its legislative agenda should not approach the issue of reforms to the Aadhaar project from the narrow lens of a recalcitrant private litigant. — As we continue to analyse the Aadhaar judgement we are faced with a peculiar situation in which both the civil society petitioners and government respondents are claiming a qualified victory. In the maelstrom of public opinion, they reveal a singular message, this fight is not over yet. There is every…