India: Constitutional & Administrative Law

In Anwar Hussain v. State of Madhya Pradesh, the Supreme Court of India delivers a strong message on state accountability and protection of personal liberty under Article 21. The Court found that false criminal antecedents were wrongly attributed to the petitioner in a bail matter, rejecting the State’s “computer error” explanation and calling it a serious lapse affecting a citizen’s liberty.

The Industrial Relations Code, 2020 (Act No. 35 of 2020) came into force on 21st November, 2025, consolidating three foundational labour statutes. The Code represents a significant structural...

The Supreme Court has held that a residential sale deed pertaining to land situated in an adjoining village cannot be relied upon to determine compensation for industrial...

A jurisdictional conflict has emerged between the Union and Delhi governments over stamp duty collection on share issuances, leaving companies caught between competing regulatory frameworks.

In a recent ruling, the Division Bench of the Bombay High Court, Nagpur Bench (“Bombay HC”) in Dr. Meenakshi Muthiah v. State of Maharashtra1, observed that the right to maternity leave is an integral facet of a woman’s fundamental right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution of India,1950 (“Constitution”) and cannot be curtailed by service bonds, contractual obligations, or administrative instructions. The Bombay HC emphasised that maternity leave cannot be treated as a break in service and that penalising a woman for availing maternity leave would undermine the dignity of motherhood and the constitutional mandate of social justice.

India’s digital regulatory framework is once again at a turning point. The Central Government has proposed amendments to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (“IT Rules”), signalling a significant expansion of State oversight over online content.

The Maharashtra Land Revenue Code (Second Amendment) Act, 2026 (L. A. BILL No. XXVIII OF 2026) represents a significant reform in the regulation of government land transactions in Maharashtra. Introduced in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly on 24th March 2026, it focuses primarily on amending Section 37A of the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, 1966, a provision that governs the sale, transfer, redevelopment, use of additional Floor Space Index (“FSI”), transfer of Transferable Development Rights (“TDR”), and change in use of government land.

On 9 April 2026, the Karnataka Government published Karnataka Act No. 24 of 2026 the Karnataka Government Educational Institution’s Lands (Protection and Regularisation) Act, 2026 in the Official Gazette.

The Union Cabinet has approved a significant relaxation of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) norms for investments from countries sharing land borders with India, marking a potential shift from the stringent framework introduced under Press Note 3 (2020 Series). This policy change aims to balance national security considerations with investment facilitation and economic engagement, potentially improving investor sentiment while maintaining regulatory oversight for strategic interests.