Many Congress leaders feel that it was improper for Anna Hazare and his group to act as the sole conscience keepers of the civil society. The leaders are wondering if Anna Hazare’s letter to Sonia Gandhi, asking her to rein in Kapil Sibal and Digvijay Singh, was prompted by a perception that the Congress duo were expressing views on subjects the activists had monopolised on. Sibal had apparently said in an informal...

A lawyer today petitioned the Supreme Court to scrap the government notification on the joint committee for drawing up the Lok Pal Bill, saying the long-pending legislation couldn’t be “handed over to five people for redrafting”. The public interest petition came nine days after the government issued the April 9 notification announcing the panel of five ministers and five activists in a tactical compromise in the face of mushrooming support for...

Family members and friends hail Supreme Court order granting bail to rights activist Friends, family members and Union Ministers on Friday hailed the Supreme Court order granting bail to rights activist Binayak Sen, with his lawyer Ram Jethmalani saying the verdict was an endorsement of the right to freedom of speech as “a principle of democracy.” Union Minister Salman Khurshid expressed happiness over the court decision to release Dr. Sen, who was...

Union Law and Justice Minister M. Veerappa Moily said on Friday that an overarching law premised on the “right to justice” could soon be a reality. He said the first draft of the Bill was ready though it was still to be circulated for feedback. Mr. Moily's promise of a new law on justice came at a seminar, “Towards knowledge, development and peace,” organised by the Institute of Objective Studies (IOS)...

Eight days after Gandhian Anna Hazare called off his fast demanding a stronger Lokpal law, the joint committee to draft the bill met on Saturday for the first time amid a controversy over a CD allegedly involving eminent lawyer and panel co-chairman Shanti Bhushan. The meeting chaired by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee was held at North Block and attended by Ministers P Chidambaram, Kapil Sibal, M Veerappa Moily and Salman Khurshid...