The severe setback to India’s polity during the period 2018–21 is distinct and unprecedented. It is inaccurate and erroneous to describe this phase as one of an informal Emergency. These four years, in continuation with the political shift that occurred with the Narendra Modi-1 regime in 2014, point to the country’s transformation. This change, if not checked, can lead to annihilation of the very idea of India.

To fight the existing despotism, one needs to understand its characteristics politically, economically, socially and constitutionally. One way of doing this is to reflect on contemporary issues and developments in the legal realm which are closely associated with the political transition. This book is an attempt to explore the process of ‘de-constitutionalization’ that India has put up with, by looking at certain contemporary topics. The chapters, cumulatively, make out a case for cautious political optimism in the face of challenges. A great democracy, even with all its limits, is not to be surrendered to a plutocracy under the prevailing bigotry.