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# Apar Gupta

Opinion on law, technology and society

## Sitemaps

- [XML Sitemap](https://www.apargupta.com/sitemap.xml): Contains all public & indexable URLs for this website.

## Posts

- [Invariably a tragedy – How Indian law encouraged risk-averse filmmaking and audience apathy](https://www.apargupta.com/2014/11/invariably-a-tragedy-how-indian-law-encouraged-risk-averse-filmmaking-and-audience-apathy/) - The first scene in the fifth act of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet: Prince of Denmark is perhaps the most unflattering prose that the bard wrote on the subject of lawyers. Before holding up a skull, Hamlet points to an exhumed grave and asks if the occupant was a lawyer. Proceeding to mock lawyers who do not appreciate the
- [The power of licences to censor](https://www.apargupta.com/2014/05/the-power-of-licences-to-censor/) - Any study of censorship has to commence with the power of licensing. Shortly after the War for Independence, our colonial masters realised that it was inefficient to enforce criminal sanction for each distinct act of dissent when the mode of expression itself could be prevented by prescribing a set of licensing conditions. Simply, why pulp
- [“I know it, when I see it”](https://www.apargupta.com/2015/02/i-know-it-when-i-see-it-the-limits-of-the-law-in-finding-illegality-in-obscenity/) - The limits of the law in finding illegality in obscenity The recent legal prosecution of AIB, a stand-up comics collective, has thrown open the debate on obscenity standards. In its show, AIB used cuss words and made express sexual innuendos. It was plainly visible that they were challenging, even if unwittingly, not only the conventional
- [The flight of rights](https://www.apargupta.com/2024/03/the-flight-of-rights/) - Long years ago, Air India released an advertisement for Bombay residents, offering a flight to Delhi to join in celebrating India's first Independence Day festivities. Priced at a princely sum of 140 rupees, the ad promised the "cheapest, fastest, and safest" mode of transport. Over time, these promises have faded as air travel has become
- [See it, to believe it](https://www.apargupta.com/2024/03/see-it-to-believe-it/) - In the second week of January, a visit to my parents' home brought the delight of their garden into sharp relief. I love their garden. When conversation is easy it adds a bloom, when difficult it serves a useful distraction. We swiftly turned our attention to comparing the winter's floral arrangements. Despite the challenge of
- [Three cases that threaten the open internet](https://www.apargupta.com/2016/07/three-cases-that-threaten-the-open-internet/) - Do you dislike eating pumpkin? It may surprise you to know that exercising this dietary option in some places can lead to a criminal prosecution. In 2015, during a seminar organized by the International Committee for Jurists, a participant played a YouTube clip of a Sharia Judge in Pakistan prescribing hate speech sanctions on people
- [Invoking Emergency](https://www.apargupta.com/2015/06/invoking-emergency/) - 40 years ago, on this day by a presidential proclamation under Article 352 emergency was invoked. This discussion opens due to a debate as to the possibility of another such event. To some degree, legally this seems improbable today given a change in the operative provisions of the Constitution. This must be credited to the 44th Amendment
- [Cameras in the Courtroom](https://www.apargupta.com/2014/07/cameras-in-the-courtroom/) - The relationship of the camera with the Court has been something I often think about. Though plainly it should be about increasing transparency by capturing information accurately, it’s use till today been for everything but this. Only today while sitting in the the Chief Justices Court in the Delhi High Court, the definition of the surveillance
- [Tarkunde Memorial Lecture 2015 : Love and Law](https://www.apargupta.com/2015/12/tarkunde-memorial-lecture-2015-love-and-law/) - With each passing year the annual lecture to commemorate Justice Tarkunde grows in stature. Justice Tarkunde was a former judge of the Bombay High Court but that was only one of his achievements. As Mr. Ashok Desai marked in his opening address, positions of respect and power are mere flags that can hang on a
- [When lawyers speak, they argue.](https://www.apargupta.com/2014/11/when-lawyers-speak-they-argue/) - The practice of law changes a person. Not to become more rational or cynical. These adjectives do not capture the stress and the rewards of a profession which changes so many. They do not even properly articulate the change. What’s the change and why does it matter? In my profession it takes at least 20 years
- [How do you like your beer? Warm and Considerate](https://www.apargupta.com/2014/06/how-do-you-like-your-beer-warm-and-considerate/) - A few months back I wrote how my reading habits have gravitated towards fiction gradually. Every now and then, I ask friends for recommendations and even sometimes even steal glances at books carried by strangers at airports and book stores. It came as a pleasant surprise yesterday I spotted something at a local bar. I
- [Before he is sworn in](https://www.apargupta.com/2014/05/before-he-is-sworn-in/) - Many have stated here that people who have been voicing their, “fears” are misguided or worse are motivated. Its my view though name calling (even comparisons to hitler) are excessive and lazy, the apprehension is legitimate. It has a basis in fact and this has to be appreciated for any dialogue to proceed. A recent instance
- [Its all been done](https://www.apargupta.com/2014/04/its-all-been-done/) - Often we hear from people that the slide in professional standards of lawyers are recent. Lawyers today are interested in profit rather than service. In the same cavalier vien allegations of corruption are made against judicial officers. It is my belief, that such sentiments have always existed, and there is nothing novel in such assertions.
- [I don’t know](https://www.apargupta.com/2014/03/i-dont-know/) - There is no greater display of ineptitude than to start a personal essay with a borrowed quote. But, sometimes renting a strangers expression seems inescapable. It captures a sentiment more deftly than anything I am capable of. With a nudge from Marukami, I hope to put into words, what it means for me to turn
- [When giants bid farewell](https://www.apargupta.com/2013/12/when-giants-bid-farewell/) - Something which killed the years for Nelson Mandela in Robben Island were the complete works of Shakespeare. Smuggled in by Sonny Venkatrathnam pictures of Hindu deities cut from Diwali greeting cards were pasted on the cover to avoid confiscation. Subsequently called the Robben Island Bible prisoners marked out their favourite passages. Nelson Mandela marked out Caesar’s speech
- [Delay and deterrence](https://www.apargupta.com/2013/09/delay-and-deterrence/) - "Her failure to appeal to her companions who were no others than her brother, her aunt and her lover, and her conduct in meekly following Ganpat appellant and allowing him to have his way with her to the extent of satisfying his lust in full, makes us feel that the consent in question was not
- [Placards of justice](https://www.apargupta.com/2013/08/placards-of-justice/) - Today the Juvenile in the Delhi Gang Rape was sentenced to three years imprisonment amongst a torrent of outrage. Many saw this as a failure of the criminal justice system even though the Juvenile was punished to the maximum extent possible under the Juvenile Justice Act. The statute which is made with a view towards
- [Principles of Convenience](https://www.apargupta.com/2013/03/principles-of-convenience/) - In absence of a clear legislative mandate there are two popular dispositions inherent in lawyers and judges. The first is a liberal philosophy which junks formalistic, technical approaches in favor of equitable outcomes. The second one appears as its older conservative cousin looking narrowly at the existing law and likes to stick within the legislative

## Pages

- [About Me](https://www.apargupta.com/about-me/) - Hello, my name is Apar Gupta. Born in 1984, I work as a lawyer and writer, focusing on the impact of technology on democracy and civil rights. For over 15 years, my commitment to social change, aligned with the Constitution of India, has driven me to practice law and broader social advocacy. It includes writing,

## Categories

- [Archives](https://www.apargupta.com/category/archives/)
- [Digitalism](https://www.apargupta.com/category/digitalism/) - Our digital lives
- [Op-ed](https://www.apargupta.com/category/op-ed/)
- [Free Expression](https://www.apargupta.com/category/free-expression/)

## Tags

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