Indians with undisclosed foreign Assets and offshore bank accounts will be in for a shock this Budget if the finance ministry clears a proposal empowering income tax authorities to reopen assessments up to 16 years as against 6 years now.  The proposed amendment, the ministry feels, may not only act as a deterrent, but also put pressure on people to declare their wealth stashed away in Swiss banks and tax havens.  In...

Justice A K Ganguly, who was part of the bench that monitored the CBI probe into the 2G spectrum scam and retired soon after pronouncement of the explosive judgment ordering cancellation of telecom licences, wants the Supreme Court to follow what it has prescribed for the high courts - no judgment should remain reserved for more than three months.  Justice Ganguly said litigants develop a grudge against the justice delivery system...

-BBC   Half a billion children could grow up physically and mentally stunted over the next 15 years because they do not have enough to eat, the charity Save the Children says in a new report. It says much more needs to be done to tackle malnutrition in the world's poorest countries. The charity found that many families could not afford meat, milk or vegetables. The survey covered families in India, Bangladesh, Peru, Pakistan and...

The Supreme Court has asked the Centre to apprise it on the action taken against former Chief Justice and NHRC chief KG Balakrishnan in the disproportionate Assets case against him. The court has asked the government to reply by March 12 on the actions that it has taken or intends to take against the former CJI. "We want to know what was done on the representation (before the government against ex-CJI)...

-The Hindu The Madhya Pradesh Vishesh Nyayalaya Adhiniyam (Madhya Pradesh Special Courts Bill) 2011 has received the presidential assent and will come into force on February 15, 2012. The anti-corruption act equips the government with wide-ranging powers to weed out corruption, including the power to confiscate illegally earned properties of corrupt officials and use them as public Assets. A similar law is already in force in Bihar. Under the Act, special courts dealing...