Presenters
Suresh Mayur - SOAS, University of London, London, United KingdomRangarajan Lubhyathi - SOAS, University of London, London, United Kingdom
Fariya Yesmin - SOAS, University of London, London, United Kingdom
Panel
58 – Law on the Ground in a Time of Indian Political TransformationAbstract
This uncertainty around fundamental rules and processes also gives voice to basic questions around the nature of the law. Behind every manipulations, deviation or questioning of the rules they took for granted, lawyers sometimes saw the hand of more sinister forces. Here, through rumours about the actions of state officials and judges, the lawyers we spoke to articulated a certain understanding of the state and its relation to law: that the legal text remains in-tact, but the true power behind it becomes visible and recedes in quick succession. By harnessing literature on legal consciousness, this article seeks to contribute to literature on authoritarian legality. Based on these conversations with lawyers, this article argues that authoritarian legality is the emergence of an idea of law as a front for power that is constantly shape-shifting, that produces uncertainty.
