-Outlook Against the backdrop of the latest case of alleged honour killing, the Law Commission has recommended making it a non-bailable offence but disagreed with Supreme Court's suggestion that death sentence be applied to all such cases. The Commission had also asked the government to explore the possibility of a new law to prohibit unlawful caste assemblies (like Khaps) which take decisions to condemn marriages not prohibited by law. "No person or any...

-The Hindu Cleansing political parties and elections of illegal money is the first step towards tackling the evil of graft Corruption is nothing but a reflection of the distribution of power within societies. The country is where it is because the political system is self-perpetrating and no party is accountable to anyone except a coterie of people that dominates all decisions. Unless the political system is accountable, going after individual cases of...

-The Times of India Telecom minister Kapil Sibal says the Information Technology Act shouldn't be misused to "throttle dissent". But is he prepared to go the length to stop misuse? Consider the legal gloss Section 66A of the Act puts on assaults on free expression. Two incidents should suffice as examples. In April, a professor was arrested in Kolkata for forwarding a cartoon depicting Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee. More recently, a...

-The Hindu The cavalier approach of the police, especially in Delhi, to terror investigations has long hampered the country’s fight against terrorism. In many cases, the real culprits remain at large even as responsibility is wrongly fixed on persons who are either innocent or only peripherally connected to a particular incident. The terrible consequences of this unprofessionalism were revealed on Thursday when the Delhi High Court ordered the acquittal of two...

-The Hindu Act needs urgent amendments in order to plug loopholes in implementation: Union Minister The Union Government will bring in amendments to the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, during the Budget session of Parliament next year. Addressing a National Dalit Adivasi Sammelan at Ramlila Maidan here on Friday, Union Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment Kumari Selja said the Act needed urgent amendments in order to plug loopholes in...