1st Edition

The Working of the Indian Constitution

Edited By Arghya Sengupta, Omita Goyal Copyright 2025
296 Pages
by Routledge India

296 Pages
by Routledge India

296 Pages
by Routledge India

The Indian Constitution has held the country together for 75 years now. This volume demonstrates the Constitution is not a static document and has seen several amendments and interpretations over the years. It delves into how the document has worked for the people since its adoption — its strengths and weaknesses, its many interpretations, how it has influenced and shaped our collectives over... Read more

Editorial

OMITA GOYAL

 

Foreword

KARAN SINGH

 

Introduction

ARGHYA SENGUPTA

 

 

Sovereignty

 

1. Sovereignty in the Indian Constitution

DEEPAK GUPTA

 

2. Friend not Foe: Popular Sovereignty in the Indian Constitution

ALOK PRASANNA KUMAR

 

3. Sovereignty and Prevalent Morality: Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code

AKHILESH GODI

 

4. GST and Federal India

T. M. THOMAS ISAAC

 

5. Development through Participatory Governance: MGNREGA in Meghalaya

CYRIL V. DARLONG DIENGDOH

 

6. The Making of a Sovereign People

THOMAS BLOM HANSEN

 

Socialism

7. Socialism in the Indian Constitution

BRINDA KARAT

 

8. Public Health for All

SIDDARTH RAMJI

 

9. MGNREGA: Towards Realising the Constitutional Objective of Work for All

DIPA SINHA

 

10. Early Childhood Care and the Right to Education Act

VIMALA RAMACHANDRAN

 

Secularism

11. Secularism in the Indian Constitution

RAJEEV BHARGAVA

 

12. Secular, but on its Own Terms

RITWIKA SHARMA

 

13. Secularism and Indian Elections: A Personal Memoir

NAVIN CHAWLA

 

14. Communists and the Fulfilment of Secular Promises in West Bengal

MAIDUL ISLAM

 

Democracy

15. Democracy in the Indian Constitution

GOURAB BANERJI

 

16. Testing Democracy in Sasaram

ANSHUL AVIJIT

 

17. Constitution, Corporates and the Costs of Democracy

M. V. RAJEEV GOWDA, AIMAN HASHMI

 

18. Election Commission of India: The Watchdog of Indian Democracy

SANJAY KUMAR

 

19. The Constitution, the Court and Freedom of Media

RONOJOY SEN

 

Republic

20. Republic in the Indian Constitution

MADAN B. LOKUR

 

21. The Constitution and Religious Minorities: A Comparative South Asian Perspective

FAIZAN MUSTAFA

 

22. Beyond Rhetoric: Transgender Persons and Socio-Economic Inclusion

DIKSHA SANYAL, PAWAN DHALL

 

23. Women, Law and the Constitution

KIRTI SINGH

 

24. Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups in South India: From ‘Backwardness’ to ‘Poverty’

RITAMBHARA HEBBAR

 

25. Karnan: Caste and the Constitution in Tamil Nadu

MARI SELVARAJ, NAMRATHA MURUGESHAN

 

Biography

Arghya Sengupta is Founder and Research Director, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, India’s premier law and policy think-tank. His areas of research include constitutional law, administrative law and the regulation of the digital economy. He is the author of Independence and Accountability of the Indian Higher Judiciary (2019). He is currently working on a book that explores the origins of the Constitution of India (2023). Prior to founding Vidhi, he studied for his BCL and DPhil as a Rhodes Scholar, and was subsequently a Lecturer in Administrative Law at Pembroke College, Oxford University.

Omita Goyal is presently Chief Editor of the IIC Quarterly, Journal of the India International Centre. She started her career in the voluntary sector with the Indian Social Institute, New Delhi. Shortly thereafter, she moved into academic publishing where she has spent close to 40 years. She worked at SAGE Publications India Pvt. Ltd. for 20 years, leaving as General Manager. She took time off to work as a freelance editor for SAGE and other institutions, such as the World Bank, UNICEF, UNDP, Voluntary Health Association of India, Centre for Women’s Development Studies, WHO, Institute of Social Studies. The Hague and TERI. In 2005, she was invited by Taylor and Francis to start a social science programme under their social science and humanities imprint, Routledge, as Publishing Director.