The Supreme Court has struck a blow against a menace “as old as human civilisation”, saying courts cannot sanction encroachments even if the land-grabbers are poor. In a ruling last week in a case that went back over 40 years, a two-judge bench said it was “necessary to remember” that no amount of vigil could stop unauthorised occupation of public land by “unscrupulous” elements who “act like vultures”. Justices G.S. Singhvi and...

At least two cases of hunger deaths have been reported from Jabalpur district of MP and Chittorgarh district of Rajasthan in the past few weeks. The two states are run by different political parties-- the BJP and the Congress-- but there is quite a lot common in the victims’ circumstances. Both families were among the poorest in their villages but were not included in the BPL list and both the...

As he juggles between attending phone calls and giving interviews to television journalists promising to put him on prime time ‘live’ on Tuesday evening, Subhash Chand Agarwal, 60, recalls a short trip on a rickety DTC bus from Mall Road to Red Fort in 1967 as a young engineering student. “I had an ugly spat with the bus conductor who refused to give me a ticket for the 20 paise...

In a landmark verdict against the Supreme Court, the Delhi High Court on Tuesday held that the office of the Chief Justice of India comes within the ambit of the Right to Information law, saying judicial independence is not a judge's privilege but a responsibility cast upon him. The 88-page judgment is being seen as a personal setback to CJI K G Balakrishnan, who has been opposed to disclosure of...

BERHAMPUR: Justice seems to be eluding a 78-year-old woman, Padma Maharana, of Komand village under Rabha police station in Ganjam district. The senior citizen has become a destitute in her own land. She was ‘driven’ away from her village in 2002 by a group of miscreants who eyed her wealth. Having no way-out she moved to Bhubaneswar to continue her legal battle against the miscreants. The miscreants had also allegedly looted her...