The Centre plans to bring a "state-of-the-art" legislation in the Winter session of Parliament to deal with complaints of corruption against judges and ensure accountability in higher judiciary. The Judges Standards and Accountability Bill will cover the "entire judiciary" and would not be a "one sided affair". It would also provide appropriate protection to the judges so that "it will not be misused," says Law and Justice Minister M Veerappa...

Judges at India's Supreme Court have made public details about their financial assets and published the information on the court's website. Twenty one judges of the country's highest court presided over by Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan have declared assets owned by them and their spouses. The landmark move follows intense public debate about the importance of judicial accountability in India. The decision is likely to lead to some 600 high court...

Reacting to the proposal by the government to amend the Right to Information (RTI) Act, over a 100 civil society activists and academics have written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asking him to abandon the “ill-advised move.” An amendment in this landmark legislation would be a “retrograde step” at a time when there was a popular consensus to strengthen it through rules and better implementation. The Act and its use...

Reacting to the proposal by the government to amend the Right to Information (RTI) Act, over a 100 civil society activists and academics have written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asking him to abandon the “ill-advised move.” An amendment in this landmark legislation would be a “retrograde step” at a time when there was a popular consensus to strengthen it through rules and better implementation. The Act and its use...

The right to information act (RTI) which is hailed as a great leap forward in the direction of transparency in governance is under serious threat. The UPA government that showcased the historical act as one of its achievements in the last Lok Sabha elections now seems to be bowing down to the system’s high and mighty by proposing amendments which seem designed to take the sting out of the people’s...