-The Hindustan Times Indian high Courts were supposed to deliver justice in Right To Information (RTI) cases. But, they have themselves enforced rules that make implementation of the transparency law --- RTI Act --- difficult.     A study done by a government institute ---- Yashwantrao Chavan Academy of Development Administration --- aimed at evaluating efficacy and reasonableness of rules prescribed under RTI Act finds that many high Courts have prescribed rules to...

In Kalyan a Muslim youth Bilal Shaikh was slaped with a non boilable cognizable offense (May 2012) under section 333, after he jumped the traffic signal. He was assaulted brutally by the police for having arguments with them, suffered a fracture in right arm and was in jail for eight days. The policemen who beat him up got released with the non cognizable warrant. Another Muslim youth Mohammad Amir Khan, age...

-The Hindustan Times Culture and tradition have always been cited as the bedrocks on which our superior family values are founded. But like so many elevating qualities that we feel we are endowed with, this too is largely a myth. A recent survey by Child Rights and You found that one-third of Delhi feels that children should work as hard as adults and that they should be paid less. The invisibility...

Jharkhand has proved it is both willing and able where disposing complaints related to physical disability is concerned. In the past three years (2008-11), the state received 10,095 complaints and disposed of 9,414 cases, a feat that has impressed none other than Mukul Balkrishna Wasnik, Union minister for social justice and empowerment. A two-day meet in New Delhi’s Vigyan Bhavan, hosted by Union social justice and empowerment ministry, and starting from tomorrow,...

India Inc. was aghast at the recent report of a parliamentary committee that recommended that a new draft land acquisition law limit occasions when the government may intervene to acquire land for use by private firms. But in a paper published in the Economic and Political Weekly last month, Delhi University economics professor Ram Singh laid out data that supports the committee’s recommendations. Mr. Singh argues that government-driven land acquisition is generally...