The Law Commission recommends making Section 498A, IPC, compoundable, and women's groups say that would affect women's interests. A REPORT of the Law Commission of India on “Compounding of (IPC) Offences” suggesting that Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code, which prescribes punishment for a husband or his relatives for subjecting a woman to cruelty, be made compoundable with the permission of the court, is fraught with several implications. The report...

-The Telegraph The cabinet secretariat has issued a circular instructing all ministries at the Centre to “mandatorily” consult the national commissions for SCs and STs on any policy concerning the two sections. The Centre seems to have woken up to the wanton violation of this rule by its own ministries and the states. The circular, issued on February 16, said: “The ministries/departments are advised to ensure that the National Commission for SCs or...

Conservation measures have taken away the traditional livelihoods of nomadic tribes in Karnataka. AT a short distance from the world famous monuments at Hampi is the village of Hulihaidar in the fertile region of the “rice bowl of Karnataka” in Gangavathi taluk in Koppal district. Local residents say it was an important town in the Vijayanagara empire (1336-1646 C.E.) and the seat of a local lord. Today it is home to...

The alleged incident of two quarry workers in Tamil Nadu's Villupuram district being forced to swallow faeces draws attention to larger issues. NORMALLY the villages and hamlets in and around Thiruvakkarai in Tamil Nadu's Villupuram district are woken up by the loud noise and vibrations caused by the blasting of rocks and the pounding of boulders with sledge hammers, apart from the rattling sound of tipper lorries transporting stones from 40-odd...

-The Times of India   The Supreme Court on Wednesday said its final decision on the correctness of the Delhi High Court judgment -- which decriminalized Section 377 of Indian Penal Code covering a sexual act in private between consenting adults -- could have far reaching impact on several sexual offences listed in the penal laws. A bench of Justices G S Singhvi and S J Mukhopadhaya requested the counsel for parties to...