The Delhi High Court on Wednesday ruled that there could be no curb on the number of licences issued to cycle-rickshaw pullers as it would be against their right to earn livelihood and also hamper the “invaluable” linkage provided by rickshaws. The Bench headed by Chief Justice A P Shah and comprising Justices S Ravindra Bhat and S Muralidhar also took exception to the by-law authorising the police, the Municipal...

Though many migrant workers from south Madhya Pradesh have died of the incurable workplace disease called silicosis contracted from inhaling quartz dust in stone crushing factories in Gujarat, the public health system has carried out no comprehensive survey to identify the disease, which is often passed off as tuberculosis, many factories have not installed anti-pollution systems, and the NHRC has been sitting on the case since 2006 “He kept coughing…became more...

After taking the historic step of putting details of their assets and liabilities on the Supreme Court’s official website, some of the judges had to scurry for cover in the face of looming threat from cyber criminals and had to change their bank account numbers. Speaking at a national consultative meeting on launching of cyber law Enforcement programme on Sunday, Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan said, "We had put on...

In an attempt to crackdown on speculators and hoarders within the country, suspected to be in league with international operators in driving up the prices of pulses and other food items, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has taken up the investigation of the Rs 250-crore pulses scam with the agency questioning Naresh Jain, an alleged associate of international don Dawood Ibrahim. Jain was last month arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau...

Vice-President Hamid Ansari on Monday said challenges still remained in the electoral system. The real empowerment and participative governance at the third tier of the government was still a work in progress. He expressed the hope that the electoral process at the local self-government level would benefit from coordination and sharing of experiences and resources with the EC. He was addressing the diamond jubilee celebrations of the Election Commission of India. Similarly,...