Law is not a dusty relic but a living force, constantly sculpting society. As India prepares to observe Law Day (Constitution Day) 2026, it is fitting to reflect on how law has animated our democracy. From the beating green heart of our cities to the avenues of cyberspace, recent Indian jurisprudence shows law flexing and adapting to protect people and planet.
The past two year saw courts and regulators intervene boldly: enforcing environmental protections, advancing social justice for the marginalized, and crafting digital safeguards. These developments illustrate law’s rich tapestry and its steadfast role as “living, breathing” social engineer.
Green Jurisprudence
This past year, Indian courts have acted like stewards of nature. In Delhi, the capital choked by smog, the Supreme Court, calling the Delhi Ridge the city’s “green lungs,” revived a long-dormant protection board[1]. In effect, the court treated the Ridge as a citizen in need of protection – a common trust asset whose defilement threatened Delhi’s very breath.
Likewise, the Bombay High Court took urgent action for the fragile Western Ghats around Lonavala. In a July 2025 public-interest case, a division bench warned that the twin hill stations’ unchecked urban sprawl was pounding their ecology and civic systems[2]. The court ordered Maharashtra’s government and Lonavala council to update development plans, curb rampant construction, and overhaul waste and drainage systems.
These cases are not isolated. High courts across India have emphasized the precautionary and public-trust doctrines. For example, Kerala’s courts quashed government notifications that would have exempted certain buildings from environmental clearance without public consultation[3]. Andhra Pradesh ruled that open parks and playgrounds zoned for public hygiene cannot be sold to private developers[4].
Even infrastructure giants like metro projects are being balanced against ecology: a Kolkata HC case stressed that any development “necessary for economic growth” must still protect the environment for future generations[5]. Collectively, these rulings reveal how the law is extending its roots into every hill, river, and public space – insisting that development and ecology grow hand in hand.
Social Justice
Law Day prompts us to see how Indian law also nurses society’s wounds. Recent judgments have confronted entrenched inequalities – protecting vulnerable workers, marginalized castes and women – with compassionate force. A stark example is the fight against manual scavenging, a relic of caste oppression. In Dr. Balram Singh v. Union of India, the Supreme Court intervened after shocking photos emerged of sewer cleaners being exposed to filth even outside the Court’s own gate[6].
Similarly, on gender equality, the law struck another blow. In a landmark August 2025 ruling on Army recruitment, a Supreme Court bench unanimously struck down a male-female quota in the Judge Advocate General (JAG) branch. The impugned army notification had reserved 6 slots for men but only 3 for women. The court declared this split “against the concept of equality” and ruled that the Army must allocate at least 50% of JAG vacancies to women[7].
Other social fronts have seen similar activism. In State of Punjab v. Davinder Singh, a seven-judge Supreme Court upheld the power of states to sub-divide Scheduled Caste and Tribe quotas so as to uplift the most disadvantaged (overturning earlier position). The bench led by the then-CJI DY Chandrachud affirmed that concerns about “administrative efficiency” cannot stifle the rights of SC/ST groups[8]. Whether caste, gender or class, the recent tide of judgments shows the judiciary breathing life into India’s constitutional promise of social justice.
Digital Frontiers
Law Day in 2026 also falls in the era of screens and silicon. Indian law is scrambling to adapt to new challenges of digital governance. Courts and regulators have begun to lay down rules for cyberspace. A few examples:
Journalists and citizens have long complained about unchecked police raids on phones and laptops. In October 2022, the Foundation for Media Professionals filed a writ in the Supreme Court seeking precise rules. The petition argues that personal devices contain “extensions of an individual’s self” and that warrantless seizures breach privacy. The SC has since tagged the case with similar petitions (e.g. Ram Ramaswamy v. UoI) and asked the Union government to draft model guidelines. As one court aptly noted, investigative agencies “must not possess overly broad powers” online.
Digital intermediaries have faced new obligations under the IT Act. Comedian Kunal Kamra challenged the 2023 IT (Intermediary Guidelines) rules that empowered a government “fact-check” unit to block “fake news” about the government directly on social media. Kamra argued that content removal must go through courts, not a one-sided administrative module. A Bombay High Court split verdict has already struck down these fact-check provisions as arbitrary.
In April 2025 a seven-judge bench held that websites and online government portals must be accessible to persons with disabilities. Flowing from that, regulators are issuing mandates: notably, SEBI’s July 2025 circular compelled all stock exchanges, banks and brokerages to make their digital interfaces barrier-free[9].
Even economic law is evolving for the digital era. In late 2025 India’s competition tribunal (NCLAT) reviewed CCI’s orders against Big Tech. It lifted a five-year ban on WhatsApp’s data-sharing but upheld a Rs. 213 crore fine for unfairly forcing users to accept a controversial privacy update. These decisions (along with other pending cases on AI and deepfakes) indicate that Indian courts are ready to police the grey zones of the internet, balancing innovation with fundamental rights.
Together, these developments show that India’s digital regime is being woven into the constitutional fabric. From search warrants to data rules, the law is establishing guardrails in cyberspace, signaling that neither Facebook nor faceless algorithms are above the law.
Conclusion: A Forest of Laws
Law Day 2026 invites us to recognise that Indian law is not a closed book but an ongoing constitutional conversation between courts, citizens, institutions, and social movements. The legal developments of 2024–25 show that this conversation is vibrant and responsive.
Across each domain (green jurisprudence, social justice, and digital frontiers), the courts have reminded us that the Constitution is designed not merely to be interpreted, but to be lived. Judicial interventions over the past two years prove that constitutional values do not remain confined to Part III or judicial rhetoric; they translate into cleaner hillsides, safer workplaces, fairer recruitment, accessible digital spaces, and more accountable governance.
To observe Law Day, then, is to recognise this continuing movement: a system that listens, adapts, and corrects itself. The judiciary’s role has not been to replace governance, but to illuminate its path: ensuring that development remains sustainable, power remains answerable, and rights remain meaningful. In this way, Indian law continues to function as a moral compass in a rapidly evolving society.
Ultimately, the past two years affirm a simple truth: the rule of law in India remains alive because it is participatory. It draws breath from public scrutiny, civic courage, and judicial vigilance. As we look toward the future, Law Day reminds us that the Constitution is not only a founding document but a living promise: one that each one of us must safeguard, reinterpret, and carry forward.
[1] T.N. Godavarman Thirumulpad v. Union of India, 2025 SCC OnLine SC 2386
[2] Lonavala Khandala Citizens Forum and Anr v. The Municipal Council of Lonavala and Ors., 2025:BHC-AS:30822-DB
[3] One Earth One Life v. Union of India, (2024) 1 HCC (Ker) 51
[4] Veterinary Colony Samshema & Abhivrudhi Sangam v. State of A.P., (2024) 1 HCC (AP) 32
[5] People United for Better Living in Calcutta v. State of W.B., (2024) 1 HCC (Cal) 169
[6] Dr. Balram Singh v. Union of India, 2025 SCC OnLine SC 1672
[7] Arshnoor Kaur v. Union of India, 2025 SCC OnLine SC 1668
[8] State of Punjab v. Davinder Singh, 2024 INSC 562
[9] SEBI, Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 and rules made thereunder- mandatory compliance by all Regulated Entities (31 July 2025)