{"id":32651,"date":"2026-09-20T07:51:08","date_gmt":"2026-09-20T07:51:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.legalserviceindia.com\/Legal-Articles\/?p=32651"},"modified":"2026-09-20T07:59:45","modified_gmt":"2026-09-20T07:59:45","slug":"when-the-party-defects-the-tenth-schedules-blind-spot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.legalserviceindia.com\/Legal-Articles\/when-the-party-defects-the-tenth-schedules-blind-spot\/","title":{"rendered":"When the Party Defects: The Tenth Schedule&#8217;s Blind Spot"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h1 id=\"h-when-the-party-defects-the-tenth-schedule-s-blind-spot\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"When_the_Party_Defects_The_Tenth_Schedules_Blind_Spot\"><\/span>When the Party Defects: The Tenth Schedule&#8217;s Blind Spot<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi is expected to resign his Lok Sabha seat and his National Conference membership on November 3, the twenty-sixth death anniversary of his father, Aga Syed Mehdi, who was killed in a landmine blast in 2000. He didn&#8217;t pick that date by accident. For months now he has been saying, more bluntly each time, that his own party has quietly walked away from the one promise that actually won it the 2024 election: restoring Jammu and Kashmir&#8217;s special constitutional status under Articles 370 and 35-A.<\/p><div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_88 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #0c0c0c;color:#0c0c0c\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #0c0c0c;color:#0c0c0c\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.legalserviceindia.com\/Legal-Articles\/when-the-party-defects-the-tenth-schedules-blind-spot\/#When_the_Party_Defects_The_Tenth_Schedules_Blind_Spot\" >When the Party Defects: The Tenth Schedule&#8217;s Blind Spot<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-2' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.legalserviceindia.com\/Legal-Articles\/when-the-party-defects-the-tenth-schedules-blind-spot\/#The_Political_Dispute_And_The_Legal_Question\" >The Political Dispute And The Legal Question<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.legalserviceindia.com\/Legal-Articles\/when-the-party-defects-the-tenth-schedules-blind-spot\/#What_The_National_Conference_Promised_In_2024\" >What The National Conference Promised In 2024<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.legalserviceindia.com\/Legal-Articles\/when-the-party-defects-the-tenth-schedules-blind-spot\/#The_Alleged_Shift_In_Party_Position\" >The Alleged Shift In Party Position<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.legalserviceindia.com\/Legal-Articles\/when-the-party-defects-the-tenth-schedules-blind-spot\/#How_the_Tenth_Schedule_Works\" >How the Tenth Schedule Works<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.legalserviceindia.com\/Legal-Articles\/when-the-party-defects-the-tenth-schedules-blind-spot\/#The_Blind_Spot_In_The_Anti-Defection_Law\" >The Blind Spot In The Anti-Defection Law<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/www.legalserviceindia.com\/Legal-Articles\/when-the-party-defects-the-tenth-schedules-blind-spot\/#When_Party_Loyalty_And_Voter_Mandate_Collide\" >When Party Loyalty And Voter Mandate Collide<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.legalserviceindia.com\/Legal-Articles\/when-the-party-defects-the-tenth-schedules-blind-spot\/#Resignation_And_Tenth_Schedule_Disqualification_Are_Different\" >Resignation And Tenth Schedule Disqualification Are Different<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/www.legalserviceindia.com\/Legal-Articles\/when-the-party-defects-the-tenth-schedules-blind-spot\/#Why_The_Sequencing_Of_Resignation_Matters\" >Why The Sequencing Of Resignation Matters<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/www.legalserviceindia.com\/Legal-Articles\/when-the-party-defects-the-tenth-schedules-blind-spot\/#What_Subhash_Desai_Adds_To_The_Analysis\" >What Subhash Desai Adds To The Analysis<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-11\" href=\"https:\/\/www.legalserviceindia.com\/Legal-Articles\/when-the-party-defects-the-tenth-schedules-blind-spot\/#A_Narrow_Reform_To_The_Anti-Defection_Law\" >A Narrow Reform To The Anti-Defection Law<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-12\" href=\"https:\/\/www.legalserviceindia.com\/Legal-Articles\/when-the-party-defects-the-tenth-schedules-blind-spot\/#The_Larger_Constitutional_Question\" >The Larger Constitutional Question<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a letter to party president Farooq Abdullah, he put it plainly \u2013 the party is now asking people to settle for statehood as the ceiling of their political ambition, and he isn&#8217;t willing to be part of what he calls surrender dressed up as realism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-the-political-dispute-and-the-legal-question\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Political_Dispute_And_The_Legal_Question\"><\/span>The Political Dispute And The Legal Question<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Whether Ruhullah is right about the politics is a separate argument and a more contested one. What interests me here is the legal question sitting underneath it, because it has almost nothing to do with which side of the Article 370 debate one is on and everything to do with a structural gap in how India&#8217;s anti-defection law is built.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-what-the-national-conference-promised-in-2024\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_The_National_Conference_Promised_In_2024\"><\/span>What The National Conference Promised In 2024<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The National Conference&#8217;s 2024 manifesto, released in Srinagar on August 19, wasn&#8217;t vague on this point. It committed the party to striving for the restoration of autonomy, Article 370 and Article 35-A, alongside full statehood, repeal of the Public Safety Act, and an attempt to have the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, itself reworked. Read it any way one likes; this was a manifesto organised around undoing August 2019, not making peace with it. The party won the largest bloc of seats on that platform and formed the government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><th>2024 National Conference Manifesto<\/th><th>Key Commitment<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>Article 370<\/td><td>Strive for restoration.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Article 35-A<\/td><td>Strive for restoration.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Jammu and Kashmir Statehood<\/td><td>Seek restoration of full statehood.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Autonomy<\/td><td>Work towards restoration of autonomy<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Public Safety Act<\/td><td>Seek repeal<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019<\/td><td>Attempt to have the law reworked<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-the-alleged-shift-in-party-position\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Alleged_Shift_In_Party_Position\"><\/span>The Alleged Shift In Party Position<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What happened next, on Ruhullah&#8217;s account, was a slow retreat. Article 370 stopped being said out loud. Statehood took its place as the more &#8220;achievable&#8221; demand. He hasn&#8217;t minced words about what he thinks this is, a broken written promise, and he has made the fair point that even the BJP&#8217;s 2024 manifesto acknowledged Article 370&#8217;s constitutional weight in a way his own leadership now seems to want to avoid discussing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Whether that shift counts as pragmatism or capitulation is a matter of political judgement. But as a factual claim, Ruhullah&#8217;s charge holds up: the party campaigned on one document and is governing off another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-how-the-tenth-schedule-works\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_the_Tenth_Schedule_Works\"><\/span>How the Tenth Schedule Works<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Tenth Schedule, inserted by the 52nd Amendment in 1985, disqualifies a legislator who voluntarily gives up membership of the party that got them elected or who defies a party whip without permission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When the law&#8217;s constitutionality came up in <em>Kihoto Hollohan v. Zachillhu<\/em>, 1992 INSC 53, a five-judge bench upheld it on the theory that unprincipled floor-crossing was a real evil Parliament was entitled to legislate against, whatever the cost to individual free speech inside the House.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Underneath that reasoning sits an assumption that has held up remarkably well over three decades of case law: the legislator&#8217;s primary loyalty runs to the party, because it was the party&#8217;s symbol the voter actually chose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-the-blind-spot-in-the-anti-defection-law\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Blind_Spot_In_The_Anti-Defection_Law\"><\/span>The Blind Spot In The Anti-Defection Law<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That assumption only runs in one direction. The law disciplines the member&#8217;s loyalty to the party. It has nothing to say about the party&#8217;s loyalty to the platform it asked voters to trust in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A manifesto has no legal force in India; the courts have always treated it as a statement of intent rather than a contract, so there is simply no forum where a party answers for abandoning a core manifesto promise once it is in office. The Election Commission&#8217;s guidance on manifestos deals with fiscal disclosure. It is silent on a party quietly reneging on its central pitch to voters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-when-party-loyalty-and-voter-mandate-collide\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"When_Party_Loyalty_And_Voter_Mandate_Collide\"><\/span>When Party Loyalty And Voter Mandate Collide<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Put those two facts next to each other and something uncomfortable falls out. The Tenth Schedule can end a career for leaving a party that has redefined itself around the member. It has nothing to say about a party leaving its own voters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ruhullah is not crossing over to another party, and he is not chasing a ministership, which is the actual corruption this law was written to stop. He is leaving a party he believes already left the mandate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On the bare text of &#8220;voluntarily giving up membership&#8221;, though, that distinction does not exist. Principled exit and opportunistic horse-trading read identically to the statute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-resignation-and-tenth-schedule-disqualification-are-different\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Resignation_And_Tenth_Schedule_Disqualification_Are_Different\"><\/span>Resignation And Tenth Schedule Disqualification Are Different<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One point is worth getting precise, because the way this episode is usually described overstates the disqualification risk a little. Ruhullah is not just quitting the party; he is resigning his Lok Sabha seat outright.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Once the Speaker accepts a resignation under Article 101(3)(b) and the applicable Rules of Procedure, that member has left Parliament through resignation, not through Tenth Schedule disqualification. These are two legally distinct exits, and only one of them carries the stigma of a defection finding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-why-the-sequencing-of-resignation-matters\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_The_Sequencing_Of_Resignation_Matters\"><\/span>Why The Sequencing Of Resignation Matters<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The anti-defection machinery becomes relevant in the gap before that resignation is formally accepted. If the party moves first and files a disqualification petition the moment a member&#8217;s break with the leadership becomes public, the Speaker could end up adjudicating a Tenth Schedule complaint before ever getting to the resignation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The threshold for that is not high. <em>Rajendra Singh Rana v. Swami Prasad Maurya<\/em>, 2007 INSC 139, held that even a letter expressing support for a rival formation counts as voluntarily giving up membership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Add to that the fact that Speakers have a documented history of sitting on disqualification petitions for months or years, which is exactly what the Court tried to fix in <em>Keisham Meghachandra Singh v. Speaker, Manipur Legislative Assembly<\/em>, 2020 INSC 65, by ordering that such petitions ordinarily be decided within three months, and the sequencing here starts to matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Whether the party or the member moves first decides whether Ruhullah leaves on his own terms or gets expelled on the party&#8217;s. That choice belongs entirely to the leadership. The law never asks it to account for the manifesto in return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-what-subhash-desai-adds-to-the-analysis\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_Subhash_Desai_Adds_To_The_Analysis\"><\/span>What <em>Subhash Desai<\/em> Adds To The Analysis<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Subhash Desai v. Principal Secretary, Governor of Maharashtra<\/em>, 2023 INSC 516, is worth bringing in here too, for a slightly different reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the Shiv Sena split, the Court had to work out which faction got to speak as &#8220;the party&#8221; under the Tenth Schedule, and it rejected the idea that a breakaway group, however many MLAs it carried, could claim legitimacy just by insisting it was the &#8220;real&#8221; Shiv Sena.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Control of the whip and the leadership, as recognised by the party&#8217;s own internal structures, settled the question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Read that alongside Ruhullah&#8217;s situation, and the pattern becomes clear: the Tenth Schedule keeps deferring to whoever runs the party machinery, regardless of who is actually standing closer to what the electorate voted for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is a law built to stop members from betraying party discipline. Nobody built it to ask whether the discipline still serves the mandate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-a-narrow-reform-to-the-anti-defection-law\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"A_Narrow_Reform_To_The_Anti-Defection_Law\"><\/span>A Narrow Reform To The Anti-Defection Law<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">None of this is an argument for scrapping the anti-defection law. The problem it was built to solve, legislators for sale, is still real, and Kihoto&#8217;s underlying worry has not gone stale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But a law that polices only one side of the party-voter relationship is an incomplete law, and the incompleteness is not neutral. It tilts, structurally, in favour of whoever controls the party machinery against whoever is trying to hold that machinery to its word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A workable fix would be narrow: recognise a limited defence where a member can show, on the record, that their exit follows a demonstrable and public reversal of a manifesto commitment that was central to the campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Require the reversal to be demonstrable and public.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Tie the defence to a manifesto commitment that was central to the campaign.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Base the assessment on the party&#8217;s own public statements rather than the member&#8217;s say-so.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Keep the standard sufficiently tight so that ordinary political disagreements do not become defection claims.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That kind of exit should not carry the same weight as floor-crossing for personal gain. Keep the standard tight, tied to the party&#8217;s own public statements rather than the member&#8217;s say-so, and this does not reopen the door the Tenth Schedule was built to shut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It simply stops the law from punishing the one person in this story who remembered what was promised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-the-larger-constitutional-question\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Larger_Constitutional_Question\"><\/span>The Larger Constitutional Question<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Whatever happens on November 3, most of the coverage will frame it as a story about one MP&#8217;s conscience colliding with his party&#8217;s internal politics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That is true enough, as far as it goes. But it is also a small, sharp example of an older design flaw in the Constitution&#8217;s anti-defection scheme, a law that assumes the mandate lives permanently inside the party symbol and never once asks what happens when the party is the one that lets go of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Written By: Sahil Najar.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-yoast-seo-related-links yoast-seo-related-links\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.legalserviceindia.com\/Legal-Articles\/india-anti-defection-law-voter-supremacy-electoral-mandate-reform\/\">India\u2019s Anti-Defection Law: Why the Voter Must Be Supreme<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.legalserviceindia.com\/Legal-Articles\/behind-bars-beyond-blame-when-mental-illness-leads-to-incarceration\/\">Behind Bars, Beyond Blame: When Mental Illness Leads to Incarceration<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.legalserviceindia.com\/Legal-Articles\/supreme-court-kapil-sibal-tenth-schedule-merger-exception\/\">Supreme Court Examines Anti-Defection Law: Kapil Sibal Challenges 10th Schedule Merger Exception<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.legalserviceindia.com\/Legal-Articles\/ethical-challenges-faced-by-the-lawyers-in-practice\/\">Ethical Challenges Faced By The Lawyers In Practice<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.legalserviceindia.com\/Legal-Articles\/justice-yashwant-varma-resignation-constitutional-crisis-impeachment-judicial-accountability-explained\/\">Justice Yashwant Varma Resignation: Constitutional Crisis, Impeachment &amp; Judicial Accountability Explained<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When the Party Defects: The Tenth Schedule&#8217;s Blind Spot Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi is expected to resign his Lok Sabha seat and his National Conference membership on November 3, the twenty-sixth death anniversary of his father, Aga Syed Mehdi, who was killed in a landmine blast in 2000. He didn&#8217;t pick that date by accident.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1491,"featured_media":32649,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"two_page_speed":[],"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"_joinchat":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[11058],"class_list":["post-32651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-constitutional-law","tag-constitutional-law"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v28.4 (Yoast SEO v28.5) - 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