-PTI The Supreme Court has termed as "serious" the plight of tribal undertrials, lodged in various central jails in eight Naxal-affected states, but sought factual details for passing any judicial order. "These are very serious matters. You (PIL petitioner) are only relying on the media report. The data can be collected. You complete facts. We cannot pass order on generalised data. "If you want this court to entertain this petition, at...
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Khaki death squads-Darshan Desai
-The Hindu Extraordinarily, more than a dozen senior police officers in Gujarat are in jail or facing prosecution, in connection with cold-blooded murders dressed up as encounter deaths. Darshan Desai traces the hand of politics in the extrajudicial killings. At a recent function in the state capital, Gandhinagar, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi warned the Central Bureau of Investigation against becoming a tool in the hands of the Congress-led union government. He...
More »Freebies affect ‘free and fair’ polls: SC
-The Telegraph New Delhi: Any promise of freebies such as television sets or laptops by political parties affects the level playing field and "shakes the root of free and fair elections", the Supreme Court has held. The court, however, clarified that such promises cannot be labelled "corrupt practice" under the existing laws and dismissed a petition challenging the competitive distribution of freebies by the AIADMK and the DMK during elections in Tamil...
More »Lethal surveillance versus privacy-Shalini Singh
-The Hindu There has been no public debate on the level of watch citizens can be put through, and on what the red lines should be while using intrusive mechanisms The tussle between government agencies' need for a better, faster and real-time interception, surveillance and monitoring mechanism through the Central Monitoring System (CMS), on the one hand, and demands by privacy, civil rights and free speech activists, for ensuring higher privacy for...
More »New mental health bill bans electric shocks without anaesthesia, gives right to treatment
-IANS The right of mentally-ill patients to decide their mode of treatment, decriminalising suicide for them and a ban on electric shock treatment without anaesthesia are some of the progressive provisions of the new mental health bill proposed by the government. "The bill was passed by the union cabinet last week," Health Secretary K. Desiraju told IANS. Once passed by parliament, the bill will repeal the Mental Health Act, 1987. If passed, it will...
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