Article 21: 18 words that define our freedom with Rohan Alva

In this episode, Karthik speaks to Rohan Alva - Supreme Court counsel and Harvard Law alumni, about his book 'Liberty after Freedom - A History of Article 21, Due process and the Constitution of India'. Rohan's book is a meticulously researched work on the arduous journey of Article 21 through years of debate within the constituent assembly to its present form as we see it in the Indian Constitution. Rohan talks about how this article, which is all of 18 words long is the fulcrum on which all our liberty is based. He speaks to Karthik about the two divergent views that the constituent assembly had on the subject - both with the greatest of intentions but differing on whether the phrase 'due process of law' should be included or not. And how the eventual absence of it would have a huge impact on how the constitution was interpreted for decades to come. Rohan discusses in detail the intense debates within the room over half a decade, the key protagonists who drove both sides of the argument, and the history of how the constitution itself was framed over these years. He also talks about the aspects that make the Indian constitution itself so powerful and so unique compared to anything else in the World.