Common Cause Events
India Justice Report 2025 Launch
April 15, 2025: : The Common Cause team attended the launch of the India Justice Report 2025 at the India International Centre, New Delhi. The event brought together legal experts, civil society leaders, researchers, and policymakers to unveil the fourth edition of India’s only comprehensive ranking of states on justice delivery. Justice (Retd) Madan B Lokur emphasised the urgent need to strengthen frontline justice institutions, noting that the burden of accessing justice still falls disproportionately on individuals. Ms Maja Daruwala, Chief Editor of the report, called for immediate and sustained reforms, stressing that a responsive justice system is a constitutional imperative. The event was followed by a panel discussion on the portrayal of the criminal justice system and the idea of justice in Bollywood movies.
Dr Vipul Mudgal, Director, Common Cause, and member of the steering committee of the report, was a panelist at the event. Ms Radhika Jha, Project Lead (Rule of Law) at Common Cause and one of the key authors, contributed significantly to the report’s research, development, and advocacy efforts.
Strategic Dialogue on Judicial Data Collaborative
April 25, 2025: : The Judicial Data Collaborative project of Daksh organised a discussion on project strategies and future directions to maximise impact and sustainability. Ms Radhika Jha from Common Cause participated in the well-attended discussion, which had representatives from various other organisations, independent practitioners and lawyers. Ideas for taking the project to the next stage were discussed with a long-term vision of making the judicial data wiki pages accessible for public contributions.
Domestic Workers’ Sammellan on International Domestic Workers’ Day
June 16, 2025: To mark the International Domestic Workers’ Day, Common Cause teamed up with the National Platform for Domestic Workers (NPDW), in collaboration with Nari Shakti Manch and Seva Bharat, to host a vibrant convention at Rajendra Bhawan, New Delhi.
The event drew over 200 domestic workers from across the National Capital Region, filling the auditorium with energy and solidarity. Representatives from Common Cause -- Dr Vipul Mudgal, Mr Rishikesh Kumar, and Mr Vinson Prakash – attended in support.
Two engaging panels featured domestic workers who shared first-hand accounts of their experiences on the job and the struggles faced therein. They called for dedicated legislation ensuring fair wages, decent working conditions, and social security.
Dr Vipul Mudgal delivered a keynote address on the issues at hand. The convention concluded with lively folk-dance performances by domestic workers, celebrating their resilience and community spirit.
Collaborative Legal Action for Domestic Workers’ Rights
May 26, 2025: A meeting with the National Convenors of the National Platform for Domestic Workers (NPDW) was held for filing a joint petition on fair working conditions for domestic workers. Common Cause is in the process of drafting the petition, with NPDW as co-petitioners, which will be filed in the Supreme Court soon.
Steering Committee
Meeting on Global Tech Accountability
May 28, 2025: Global Coalition for Tech Justice organised a steering committee meeting to analyse the latest developments and trends in the global and regional tech accountability landscape and deliberate on the future course of action. Ms Radhika Jha represented Common Cause in the meeting.
Workshop on Quantitative Analysis
May 29-30, 2025: Ms Radhika Jha and Mr Vinson Prakash from Common Cause participated in a workshop on ‘Quantitative Analysis using STATA’ organised by the Population Council of India. The twoday immersive workshop was designed to strengthen analytical capabilities and learn practical tools for working with quantitative data using STATA software.
Seminar Against Torture
June 23, 2025: Ms Radhika Jha from Common Cause attended a session on “Challenging Torture in India”, during the Global Week Against Torture. The seminar brought together survivors, legal experts and former members of the judiciary to examine the systemic nature of torture in India and the alarming failure of accountability mechanisms.
Brainstorming Sessions for Upcoming SPIR
On June 24, 2025, an online brainstorming session took place to begin work on the next edition of the Status of Policing in India Report (SPIR), which will focus on cybercrimes, digital security, and the role of the police. Mr Nandkumar Saravade, IPS (Retd); Mr Sanjay Sahay, IPS (Retd), Mr Ramanjit Singh, Global Cybersecurity Lead at Access Now; Ms Namrata Maheshwari, Senior Policy Counsel and Ms Anushka Jain, Research Associate at Digital Futures Lab, participated in the session and provided valuable inputs on the matter.
On June 25, Mr Apar Gupta, co-founder of the Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF), helped the SPIR team understand the nuances of the matter and the data sources related to the issue at hand.
On July 3 and 4, similar sessions took place online. Ms Merrin Muhammad Ashraf, a technology law and policy researcher at IT for Change, and Mr Mukul Singh, reporter at Jist, joined the online meeting. Ms Merrin focused on the misuse of technology for crimes against women in cyberspace, whereas Mr Mukul provided insights into the police’s inability to deal with cybercrimes.
These sessions were conducted by Dr Vipul Mudgal, Director, Common Cause, and Ms Radhika Jha, Project Lead (Rule of Law). Mr Mohd Aasif and Mr Vinson Prakash, both Research Executives at Common Cause, attended the session and assisted as and when required.
Seminar on Cybersecurity Challenges in Governance and Industry
July 5, 2025: Ms Radhika Jha attended a seminar on ‘Emerging Cybersecurity Challenges for India’s Governance, Trade and Industry’, organised by the Indian police Foundation and Jain International Trade Organisation (JITO). The discussion focused on growing threats posed by cybersecurity breaches, cybercrime, and digital financial fraud to the integrity and future of India’s industrial and financial ecosystem.
Seminar on Organisational Maturity in the Development Sector
July 12, 2025: Ms Radhika Jha participated in a conversation and dramatised seminar with Prof Vijay Padaki on “Exploring Maturity in Human Organisations”. The event, organised by Development Alternatives, was a unique and thought-provoking session on using knowledge from behavioural sciences to work towards organisational maturity in the development sector.
Representation Challenging Discriminatory Recruitment Criteria for Legal Professionals
April 21, 2025: Common Cause; submitted a formal representation to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) challenging the recruitment notification dated March 19, 2025, for the engagement of “Young Professionals (Law)”. The notification restricts eligibility exclusively to law graduates from National Law Schools (NLUs), which the organisation argues is unconstitutional and discriminatory. We contend that the exclusion of graduates from other recognised law institutions lacks reasonable classification and violates the principles of equality before the law and equal opportunity in public employment.
The representation emphasises that any classification in public employment must be based on intelligible differentia and should have a rational nexus to the objective. It argues that the NLU-only criterion fails both tests and constitutes arbitrary executive discretion. Furthermore, the submission highlights the broader social impact of such exclusion, noting that only a small fraction of law graduates come from NLUs, thereby marginalising capable candidates from underprivileged and remote regions.
Common Cause urges the Ministry to revise the eligibility criteria to include all law graduates from institutions recognised by the Bar Council of India and/or UGC. It also requests that the current selection process be paused until the criteria are amended to reflect constitutional values of inclusivity, fairness, and meritocracy. Dr Vipul Mudgal, Director and Chief Executive of Common Cause, signed the representation.
Review Contribution to Legal-Ethical Discourse
May 2, 2025: : Ms Radhika Jha from Common Cause reviewed an article by Mr Vernon Gonsalves and Mr Arun Ferreira for publication in the Indian Journal of Medical Ethics. The article, titled “Where Constitutional Protections need protection: Much needed light on first production of accused in Magistrates’ Courts”, was a review of a 2024 study conducted by Project 39A on first production and remand in Delhi courts.
Timely Tabling of CAG Reports
April 30, 2025: Common Cause had a meeting with Mr Govind Bhattacharjee on a possible petition for CAG reports to be tabled before Parliament within a specific time frame. This was followed by RTIs to the Governor’s Office and the Legislative Assembly Secretariat to further furnish the information.
Meeting on Credit Card Interest and CIBIL Dispute Concerns
June 3, 2025: The legal team at Common Cause met with Mr Mayur Shah, Founder and CEO of Awaaz, an NGO working on financial rights and consumer protection. The discussion centred around the pressing issue of exorbitant interest rates levied on credit card users and the adverse impact of CIBIL scores during dispute resolution processes. The meeting explored potential legal remedies and advocacy strategies to address these concerns, including regulatory interventions and public interest litigation.
Contributions to Judicial Data Collaborative’s Justice Definitions Project
During May–June 2025, Common Cause interns Mr Abdul Samad and Mr Siddharth made valuable contributions to the Judicial Data Collaborative’s Justice Definitions Project led by Daksh. The initiative aims to build a publicly accessible repository of key legal and justice-related terms through Wikipedia entries. Mr Siddharth finalized the draft for the term “Statelessness”, providing a nuanced understanding of its implications in the Indian legal context. Mr Abdul Samad completed the draft for “E-Sewa Kendra”, detailing its role in enhancing digital access to judicial services. Their work supports the broader goal of democratising legal knowledge and making justice-related information more accessible to the public.
RTI on the Formation of the Expert Committee for Domestic Workers
As part of its ongoing advocacy for inclusive legal reform and labour rights, the organisation submitted RTI application to four key ministries—Women & Child Development, Labour and Employment, Social Justice and Empowerment, and Law and Justice. The RTI application seeks to ascertain whether the committee has been formed, its composition, and the progress made toward fulfilling the Court’s directive following the Supreme Court’s judgment in Ajay Malik v. State of Uttarakhand & Anr.
The application specifically requests details on the committee’s membership, inter-ministerial correspondence, meeting minutes, and the roadmap for preparing the mandated report.
Lokniti’s 17th Summer School on Survey Method
Mr. Vinson Prakash from Common Cause participated in Lokniti’s 17th Summer School on Survey Method for Understanding Indian Politics, held from 22 to 29 June 2025 at NITTE Meenakshi Institute of Technology, Yelahanka, Bengaluru. The program was designed to convene young scholars and enhance their proficiency in designing survey-based research studies and conducting empirical analysis, with a particular emphasis on quantitative data techniques using SPSS software.
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