On March 16 and 17, 2019, the NLIU Law Review, in collaboration with India Foundation, organised the first edition of the NLIU – India Foundation Constitutional Law Symposium. The event, which aims to provide a platform for discussions on contemporary constitutional law issues in India, saw great participation from students, researchers, faculty members, academicians and legal professionals. The event saw a paper presentation competition on the first day, followed by several panel discussions engaging legal experts on the second day.
The paper presentation competition called for submissions from law students across the country. The NLIU Law Review, through its multi-tier review process, shortlisted submissions, which were subsequently presented at the event. The discussions on the first day covered topics such as the doctrine of essential religious practices, female genital mutilation and reservation in promotions, with the presenters also suggesting novel solutions to address the lacunae in the existing legal framework.
The paper presentation was followed by panel discussions and plenary sessions on the second day. The theme for the first session was “The Aberrations in the Principle of Separation of Powers”. The eminent panellists were Justice A.P. Misra, Former Judge, Supreme Court of India and Chairman, Legal Education Committee; Prof. N.L. Mitra, Former Director, National Law School of India University, Bangalore and Founder Vice-Chancellor, National Law University, Jodhpur; Prof. (Dr.) B.N. Pandey, Dean, Adamas University; Prof. (Dr.) V. Vijayakumar, Vice-Chancellor, NLIU, Bhopal and Dr. Manoj Sinha, Director, ILI Delhi. The session was moderated by Mr. Apurv Mishra, Senior Fellow, India Foundation.
The second session for the day was a plenary session on “Faith and the Indian Constitution” where eminent legal scholars and personalities, Prof. V.K. Dixit, Professor of Jurisprudence, NLIU, Bhopal; Mr. Vikramjit Banerjee, Additional Solicitor General, Supreme Court of India and Mr. J. Sai Deepak, Advocate, Supreme Court of India, presented their opinions. Finally, a special plenary session on “Freedom of Speech and Expression in the Age of Social Media” with a panel consisting of Ms. Anuradha Shankar, ADGP of Madhya Pradesh Police; Dr. P. Puneeth, Centre for Study of Law and Governance, JNU, Delhi and Prof. (Dr.) Ghayur Alam, Dean of Undergraduate Studies, NLIU, Bhopal concluded the discussions. This session was moderated by Mr. Guru Prakash, Fellow, India Foundation.
A concise summary of the address delivered by the panellists at the Symposium has been put together by the Editorial Board at the NLIU Law Review. Click here to read the same.