-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: The environment ministry has said the consent of tribal and forest-dwelling populations isn't necessary before deciding on diversion of forest land for projects, possibly putting the government on a collision course with the Supreme Court. The ministry's move seems to ignore the court's April 2013 order making it mandatory to obtain such consent before diverting forest land. It also seems to infringe upon the authority of the...

-The Indian Express Bhopal: The Madhya Pradesh government on Monday issued an ordinance to amend a law related to the ceiling on agricultural holdings, which will allow industrialists and private developers to easily purchase as much agricultural land as they want for non-agricultural activities. The Madhya Pradesh Ceiling on Agricultural Holdings (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015 was notified a month after the special Assembly session concluded, and just two months before the monsoon session...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Supreme Court has ruled that an MLA or MP who enters into a business contract with the government stands automatically disqualified, upholding the disqualification of BJP legislator Bajrang Bahadur Singh who won the 2012 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections from Pharenda constituency. The apex court rejected Singh's argument that the disqualification would arise only if a contractor having a subsisting contract contests an election, not when a legislator...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: As the NDA government's land bill remains stuck in a logjam with the opposition stonewalling it in Rajya Sabha, it's the UPA's 2013 law that has for now benefitted a section of landowners in Delhi. In a series of judgments pronounced in recent months (as late as March), the Delhi high court has scrapped acquisition of several acres of land in Delhi by government agencies, some...

-PTI NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court today agreed to hear on Monday the plea of farmers' organisations challenging legality of the fresh promulgation of the land acquisition ordinance by the Narendra Modi-led government. "We will have it on Monday," a bench comprising Chief Justice H L Dattu and Justice Arun Mishra said, when senior advocate Indira Jaisingh, appearing for farmers' organisations sought urgent hearing of the petition. The farmers' organisations, in their plea...