In a system where half the litigants must necessarily lose their cases and where most complaints against judges are frivolous, the Bill, if implemented, would mark the beginning of the end of the judiciary. The last two decades have marked the extraordinary rise of India. This has however been tinged with cynicism about our major democratic institutions and a pessimism about their future. The judiciary, which till now has been looked...

The Guwahati high court, Imphal bench has issued a notice of motion returnable within four weeks in response to the writ petition filed by 14 Job card holders of Naoriya Pakhanglakpa Gram Panchayat for non payment of unemployment allowance despite the fact that the Ombudsman, MGNREGS, Imphal West district had issued an award in this regard. A statement issued by the Human Right Law Network (HRLN) in this connection said that...

Representatives of Swan Telecom, Reliance, Airtel and Unitech also told to appear before it The Public Accounts Committee (PAC), headed by Murli Manohar Joshi, has summoned corporate lobbyist Niira Radia and Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata for questioning on April 4 on purported irregularities in the grant of telecom licences. The PAC has also asked representatives of Swan Telecom, Reliance, Airtel and Unitech to appear before it. A Tata spokesperson said Mr....

Collector, Senior Superintendent of Police transferred following reports of torching of villages A large group comprising Special Police Officers (SPOs) of the Chhattisgarh police and members of the Salwa Judum attacked social activist Swami Agnivesh on Saturday as he attempted to deliver relief to a village allegedly torched by security forces in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district. On March 23, The Hindu published reports and photographs alleging that SPOs had torched about 300 homes,...

Why are the erstwhile RTI campaigners so alarmed five years after it became law? Why so many dharnas, rallies, conventions and hunger-strikes all over again? Part of the reason is that the silent revolution that the RTI has spawned needs to be defended from surreptitious alterations and manipulations, and partly because the RTI activists are being threatened, harassed and assaulted by the corrupt and the powerful, often with the connivance...