Team Anna complains that the Lokpal has no administrative control over the CBI and its investigation wing but CBI officials feel that the agency now could be subject to the whims of new master — the three-member Lokpal panel. Besides the elevation of the status of its Director — the Prime Minister, the Leader of Opposition and the Chief Justice or a Judge appointed by him are now on the selection...

-EPW Despite curative measures and judgments, undertrials who are poor continue to rot in jails. The public debate over bail to the 2G spectrum accused and the controversy over the parole granted to murder convict Manu Sharma has unfortunately sidestepped a much more pressing concern – the plight of poor undertrial prisoners who have spent years inside jail without being convicted of any offence. A series of Supreme Court judgments over the...

-The Economic Times   The Supreme Court has asked courts to send accused persons to jail only after conviction. In a landmark judgement on bail, which will have a major impact on the several thousands of undertrials languishing in various jails, the Supreme Court on Monday said denial of bail to an accused for an indefinite period impinged on the Fundamental Right to life and personal liberty.  "The courts owe more than verbal...

-EPW   With laws like the AFSPA, when will truth and justice prevail in Jammu and Kashmir? Like all Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) chief ministers after the dreadful years of president’s rule from 1990 to 1996, Omar Abdullah too stands discredited, especially in the wake of the 2010 uprising of the “stone pelters” which was later brutally suppres­sed. A widely held opinion in the Kashmir Valley is that the chief minister, whether of...

The government is in a dilemma as it grapples with the expanded scope of India’s proposed privacy law: Should it scrap all existing provisions on lawful interceptions and fold them under the new legislation, or strengthen the various laws under different ministries so their turfs remain undisturbed? The right to privacy Bill aims to uphold the right of all Indians against any misuse of their personal information, interception of personal communication,...