A consultation here on Sunday threw up differences on bringing the Prime Minister under the ambit of the Lokpal Bill, being formulated by a 10-member joint drafting committee that includes five members from civil society. The round table, dominated by eminent Judges and lawyers, however, excused higher judiciary from the ambit of the proposed Bill and favoured a “separate mechanism” to make High Court and Supreme Court Judges accountable for misconduct. “When...

Home minister P Chidambaram on Saturday termed the higher judiciary "over ambitious" but applauded it for its activism which "enlarged the ambit of fundamental rights" of citizens. Delivering the inaugural K N Katju memorial lecture on 'What ails the Indian judiciary', he said that like any other institution that has reached a ripe and old age, the judiciary is under stress. ``Another cause of stress is that the judiciary, especially the higher...

Civil society member on the Lokpal Bill drafting committee Arvind Kejriwal said at a news conference here on Saturday that all the members on the panel were ready for an independent inquiry into allegations against them. Asked whether Mr. Shanti Bhushan had offered to step down from the panel at Saturday's meeting, he said, “Nothing is going to come out from his leaving the panel. We have offered ourselves to any...

Ruling on RTI activist's plea No abrogation of independence of judiciary or interference in judicial proceedings Furnish details of correspondence between Balakrishnan and Ministry on Dinakaran The Central Information Commission has directed the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO), Supreme Court, to furnish information on the action taken by the court Registry pursuant to the November 26, 2010 orders for constitution of a larger Bench to hear cases on declaration of assets by Judges. The...

Anna Hazare's fast puts Jan Lokpal on the nation's agenda, but doubts remain whether it will help root out corruption. A FUTURE historian who browses the archives of Indian newspapers and news websites from April 5 to 10 will be confused over how to characterise the groundswell of public support across the country for the “fast unto death” undertaken at Jantar Mantar, in New Delhi, by a social activist not...