This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Jayashree Arunachalam and Anand Vardhan are joined by Dhanya Rajendran, editor-in-chief of The News Minute and Anupam Manur, professor at the Takshashila Institution. 

The conversation kicks off with a discussion on the acquittal of Malayalam film star Dileep in the Kerala actor assault case. 

Abhinandan asks Dhanya whether Dileep was too powerful for the courts to act, or whether the investigation was so flawed that a conviction was never possible. Dhanya responds by explaining where the prosecution’s case fell apart. She highlights that in conspiracy cases, the entire chain – motive, communication, execution, and payment – must be established. With key witnesses turning hostile, that chain didn’t hold.   

Commenting on the wider implications of the case, Jayashree notes that it has sparked conversations on workplace sexism, misogyny, and gender justice. She adds that Kerala, often perceived as progressive on gender issues, remains deeply patriarchal in reality, with gender being the area where it has made the least progress – “at times matching the worst examples of misogyny and violence seen elsewhere in India”.

The conversation then shifts to the recent IndiGo crisis, which left thousands of passengers stranded after mass flight cancellations. 

Anupam Manur notes that India’s aviation industry duopoly is the result of years of airline collapses, mergers, and policy decisions that gradually concentrated market power, raising serious concerns for consumers and regulators alike.

He further adds, “For an airline that prides itself on efficiency and foresight, claiming it failed to anticipate new duty-time rules is hard to believe. Either this was poor planning – or a calculated gamble that passengers ultimately paid for.”

This and a lot more. Tune in!

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