-The Economic Times   All of us are bothered, or should be, about interminable delays in adjudication through formal Legal Systems. Gypsies are believed to have originated in India and there is a gypsy curse - may you have a lawsuit in which you are in the right. In 2010, there were 54,600 cases stuck in Supreme Court, 4.18 million in high courts and 27.89 million in lower (district and subordinate) courts. Pedantic...

The move to set aside 4.5% share for minorities, including Muslims, within an existing affirmative-action system for other backward classes (OBCs) is legally sound, Rajya Sabha deputy chairperson K Rahman Khan has said. Rahman Khan, whose “reservation” model for Muslims in Karnataka served as a model reference point for the government’s decision, however said declaring the entire community backward based on Sachar's findings alone, as demanded by many Muslims, was not...

This is the season to count blessings. India's greatest blessings are its adherence to the democratic system of governance, an independent judiciary, a free and fearless media, and an Election Commission that inspires confidence. I hope that soon India will have an independent and effective Lokpal, which will pave the way for a corruption-free India, a pre-requisite for a hunger-free India. The other major paradigm shift observed in recent years is...

The Union government has tabled two bills in the Lok Sabha in the last week of the winter session. Since one of them is the lok pal bill, it has hijacked virtually all the public attention. This is a pity for two reasons. First, there is considerable doubt whether the lok pal bill — in any form — can really be the magic solution that Team Anna would like us...

The year 2011 saw the highest number of cases disposed of in recent years, with more than 79,000 cases cleared under the leadership of Chief Justice of India S.H. Kapadia. In his Law Day address, Justice Kapadia rejected the allegation made in certain quarters about the huge pendency of cases and said: “There is a backlog of cases. However, it is not as big as is sought to be projected.” Seventy-four...