-Newsclick.in The threat to right to information is not only from the government but from within the Central Information Commission (CIC) as well. Several activists and scholars, including former information commissioners, have recently expressed concern over the government’s dilution of the Right to Information Act (RTI). However, the threat to right to information is not only from the government but from within the Central Information Commission (CIC) as well. Under the Right to...

-Frontline.in The draft Bill on land leasing in Punjab is aimed at promoting the interests of agribusiness corporations. It will have devastating consequences for peasants in the State. THERE is no doubt that agricultural land leasing laws in India should be amended to make land leasing lawful and easier. The NITI Aayog Report (2016) proposed, on the grounds of efficiency and equity, a formal model law on leasing (Model Agricultural Land Leasing...

-Down to Earth Chhattisgarh government reinstates the role of the forest department to coordinate claims that are to be filed by communities, according to the basic structure and procedures laid out in law     “There is no doubt that this order is against the law and betrays the FRA 2006 in its letter and spirit. The state government of Chhattisgarh is bound to take this illegal order back. The rollback of this...

-The Indian Express Justice Srikrishna said that the guidelines cannot be considered as having sufficient legal backing to make the use of Aarogya Setu mandatory. Former Supreme Court Judge B N Srikrishna, who chaired the committee that came out with the first draft of the Personal Data Protection Bill, termed the government’s push mandating the use of Aarogya Setu app “utterly illegal”. “Under what law do you mandate it on anyone? So far...

-The Hindu They amount to an inhuman and illegal treatment, say journalists’ bodies A public interest petition was filed on Thursday in the Supreme Court that certain media organisations have issued termination notices, imposed wage cuts and unpaid leave to their employees during the COVID-19 pandemic. A joint petition filed by National Alliance of Journalists, the Delhi Union of Journalists and the Brihanmumbai Union of Journalists said this amounted to an “inhuman and...