Abstract

This Article examines the ways in which India’s centralized powers in response to the COVID-19 pandemic revealed both law and politics in transition. It traces the constitutional logic of the central safety valves that enabled a rapid response to the pandemic, but also carry considerable costs for federalism and civil liberties. The deployment of intensive, decisive action through state and national lockdowns and health and economic measures went hand in hand with assertions of state power over public health and contests over federalism and with tensions between the exercise of emergency powers and the need for democratic accountability in public decision-making. It was Digital technology also became part of a further battlefield concerning privacy and data protection and sovereignty issues in response to this new form of crisis management. constitutional solutions, including an adaptable legal regime and robust public health infrastructures in states emerged as key challenges of the pandemic era. This Article concludes by underscoring the work that needs to be done for perfecting cooperative federalism, restoring and reorienting public health systems and providing for transparent, accountable governance as we face the next national emergency.

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