Questioning the extent to which the Army can claim blanket immunity under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), the Supreme Court today said rape and murder committed by its personnel should be considered a “normal crime”, and that there is “no question of sanction” from the government before prosecution of offenders in such cases. Under AFSPA, prior approval is required before prosecution or any other legal action can be initiated...

-The Telegraph   Sonia Gandhi decried corruption in the rural jobs scheme as a “crime against the poor”, the words coming on a day the Supreme Court cancelled over 100 graft-tainted 2G licences. “We cannot ignore cases of corruption in this scheme. Corruption in MGNREGA is a crime against the poor people,” the Congress chief said at a programme organised here to celebrate the sixth anniversary of the scheme. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh...

-The Hindu Congress president, Prime Minister call for timely payment of wages Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday brought up the alleged embezzlement of funds meant for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme — an issue that has put the Mayawati government in the dock — at a function commemorating the completion of six years of the job entitlement scheme. Holding the State governments responsible for the shortcomings, Prime Minister Manmohan...

Sending a clear message that the 2G spectrum allocation of 2008 is a scam and not the result of a government policy decision, the Supreme Court today quashed the grant of 122 UAS licences and allocation of spectrum to 12 private companies. Even as the trial in the 2G case progresses in a Patiala House trial court in Delhi, a bench of Justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly held...

-The Indian Express   The cancellation of 2G licences by the Supreme Court has further exposed the big scam, Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy said today. He said the scam was a "collective failure" of the government, which "overlooked" warnings given by the CAG and the CVC on the issue. "Everyone had warned including the CAG and the CVC but the government overlooked it," Swamy said soon after the Supreme Court cancelled the 122...