Call for Papers: National Seminar on Constituent Assembly Debates (9th Edition), University of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram [Offline; 26-28 Nov 2026]

The Department of Law was established in 1988 and is located in Thiruvananthapuram. It offers a postgraduate programme in Public Law and Intellectual Property Rights, a Postgraduate Diploma Course in Human Rights Law, undergraduate minor programmes in Cyber Law and Law relating to Intellectual Property Rights, and doctoral and post-doctoral programmes.

The National Conference on Constituent Assembly Debates, "From Deliberations to Destiny: The Constituent Assembly and Beyond", returns for its ninth edition on 26, 27 & 28 November, 2026. It brings together scholars, students, academicians and legal professionals for deliberative and analytical engagement with the Constituent Assembly Debates (CAD), their contents, contexts and continuing legacy.

The past eight editions featured Devan Ramachandran, J., Cyriac Joseph, J., Adv. Sanjay R. Hegde, S. M. Vijayanand IAS, A. K. Jayasankaran Nambiar, J., A. Muhamed Mustaque, J., and Alexander Thomas, J. This edition will also feature some of the most prominent voices in the field.

The past year has pressed constitutional questions that the framers debated at length: unfreezing delimitation, operationalising women's reservation, a proposal to remove ministers held in custody for thirty days, electoral roll revision, the independence of constitutional bodies, the Governor's office and simultaneous elections. A nine-judge bench has revisited the relationship between faith, equality and reform, and Census 2027, with caste enumeration, is under way.

In each of these debates the Constituent Assembly is invoked, selectively and often contestedly, as an authority. The central question this edition asks is: when contemporary institutions and litigants turn to the Constituent Assembly Debates, what do those debates actually say, and how far can they responsibly guide present constitutional choices?

The Conference invites papers that read CAD closely and in context, tracing the competing positions, compromises and silences, and then test these against current constitutional controversies and institutional practice. Papers should go beyond passing references, treat CAD as primary evidence, and address both what the framers intended and what constitutional dynamism now requires.

The sub-themes are indicative and not exhaustive. Submissions on any related topic aligned with the conference themes are welcome.

1. Exploring Constitution: Origins, Dilemmas, and Deliberations

• Foundational constitutional values and principles, and rationales for specific provisions or models (papers that critically engage with comparative analysis of constitutional principles will be given preference)
• Contribution of individual members (papers critically analysing contributions of lesser-studied members, and regional and thematic studies, will be given preference)
• Women members of the Constituent Assembly (analytical studies on the scope and breadth of contributions will be preferred over descriptive studies)
• Contestations and compromises in the Assembly
• Influences of Indian Knowledge Systems (papers that critically engage with primary ancient texts or other classical sources, identifying interlinkages between IKS and constitutional interpretations, will be preferred)
• Historical ripples in the Indian Constitution
• Adoption of National Song and Anthem in the CAD

2. Working of Indian Constitution: Evaluation, Reforms, and Prospects

• Representation and delimitation: federal balance, population-based seat allocation, and the framers' views on 'one person, one vote'
• Women's political reservation: from the 106th Amendment to its operationalisation
• Electoral integrity and the Election Commission: independence, appointment, roll revision and the right to vote
• Simultaneous elections and the parliamentary-federal design
• Constitutional justice: gender, distributive and social justice
• Caste enumeration and the Census
• Protection of marginalised communities
• Democratic decentralisation and fiscal federalism
• Global constitutionalism and the Indian experience, with specific reference to Global South Constitutionalism

Papers that adopt a socio-politico-legal framework, engage critically with competing and dissenting viewpoints and offer substantive reform proposals will be preferred.

3. Constituent Assembly Debates: Relevance, Dynamics, and Changing Discourses

• Relevance and significance of CAD, CAD as an aid of interpretation, and reconciling CAD with constitutional dynamism
• Advisory jurisdiction and constitutional questions: the Presidential Reference and the Assembly's design of the Court's roles
• Religion, reform and equality: CAD on Articles 25-26, social reform and 'essential religious practices'
• Finding justifications in CAD for new found or borrowed frameworks: basic structure, transformative constitutionalism, constitutional morality, competitive federalism, etc.
• Evolving constitutional culture

Papers studying interpretational exercises in specific cases will be preferred over doctrinal studies on principles of interpretation.

4. Contemporary Challenges: Attempts at Resolving through CAD

• Removal of ministers on arrest: presumption of innocence, ministerial responsibility and federalism (130th Amendment Bill)
• Delimitation, Lok Sabha expansion and regional equity (131st Amendment Bill)
• Changing dimensions and challenges to right to protest and right to dissent
• Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, citizenship, franchise and the Election Commission's powers
• Religion, equality and temple entry: the Sabarimala Reference
• Homogenisation of culture, language, and the three-language debate
• Judicial accountability, appointments and reforming constitutional bodies
• Algorithmic governance, digital rights, data protection and surveillance: privacy, liberty and constitutional accountability in the CAD
• Same-sex marriage and legislative-judicial boundaries after Supriyo

These sub-themes are illustrative, and papers are expected to be analytical case studies.

Papers are invited from judicial officers, legal officers, policymakers, academicians, advocates, researchers, and students (UG and PG). Co-authorship is permitted up to one person.

• The Conference will be conducted offline.
• Submissions must substantially explore intersections of the identified themes and the Constituent Assembly Debates. Mere passing references will result in rejection.
• Acceptance of an abstract does not automatically guarantee an opportunity to present at the conference.
• Full papers will undergo a rigorous double-blind peer review, after which a final decision on selection of papers will be taken.
• There is no registration fee.

• Submit in .doc/.docx format. PDF submissions are not accepted.
• Submit through the Google form linked in the brochure.
• Limit the abstract to a maximum of 500 words and provide at least five keywords connected to the central theme of the conference.
• The abstract should include the title, background, methodology, key findings and a suggestive conclusion. The background and methodology should clearly explain how CAD will be incorporated into the paper.
• No personal or institutional identifiers may appear within the manuscript. Violation of this rule will result in rejection of the abstract.
• Font and style: Times New Roman, 12 pt, 1.5 spacing.

• The full paper must incorporate the suggestions made to the approved abstracts, if any.
• Body: Times New Roman, font size 12, line spacing 1.5. Footnotes: Times New Roman, font size 10, single spacing.
• Word limit: 2500 - 4000 words (including citations and references).
• Citation style: Bluebook 21st Ed.
• Only original and non-plagiarised work will be accepted. The plagiarism level must be below 10%.

The best paper will be considered for publication in the next edition of Kerala University Journal of Legal Studies, subject to revisions being made to meet editorial policy and standards.

• Deadline for submission of abstracts: 31 October, 2026
• Decision of abstracts: 3 November, 2026
• Deadline for submission of full papers: 15 November, 2026
• Decision on full papers: 17 November, 2026
• Paper presentation: 26-28 November, 2026

• Mr. Abhijith S Kumar, Research Scholar, Department of Law, University of Kerala, Ph: 8330818429
• Ms. Aryasree P, Research Scholar, Department of Law, University of Kerala, Ph: 9495733842

Email: eventslawdepartmentuok@gmail.com