-The Hindu     Young offenders above a certain age who commit violent crimes should be prosecuted as adults On August 31, 2013, the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) ordered that the boy who raped Nirbhaya, brutalised her with an iron rod, pulled out her intestines and then cleaned up the bus and made tea would go virtually free by sentencing him to only 28 months in a remand home as eight months of the...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: A legislation to protect rights of persons with mental illness and ensure people with such disabilities are treated humanely by banning practices like tonsuring or chaining of patients was introduced in Rajya Sabha on Monday. The bill allows adults to make an "advance directive" or decide on a course of action regarding how they wish to be treated in case they develop a mental ailment. The advance...

-Outlook The Uttar Pradesh government today reluctantly admitted before the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that illegal sand mining was going on in the state and not even a single environmental clearance granted for it in Gautam Budh Nagar district. "We (UP government) have not caught anyone till now. It's there Lordship. Yes it (illegal sand mining) is going on," the counsel, appearing for Uttar Pradesh government and its Chief Secretary, said. A five-member...

-The Hindu Unlike many countries that have passed laws to protect citizens' privacy, the Indian state is collecting more and more information about private individuals under various pretexts and restricting their right to access their own information Does a serving employee of a premier intelligence agency have the right to inspect his own biodata which that agency handed over to another public authority? Then again, does a former employee of that agency...

-The Hindu The Supreme Court's timidity in dealing with the law on prior sanction for prosecuting public servants has offered protection to the murderous and the corrupt While the encounter murders in Pathribal and their cover up are yet another blot on India's record in Kashmir, the legal issues they raise on accountability to the law affect the entire country. They touch the very core of the rule of law that is...