The law is supposed to be enforced uniformly, and without sorting the guilty on the basis of their economic and social background. On Monday, however, the Supreme Court said that economic status of a murder convict needs to be taken into account to determine whether he should be awarded death penalty or life sentence even in respect of offences falling in the "rarest of rare" category. In an order that...

A man who claimed he accepted a supari (contract) of Rs 1 lakh to kill RTI activist Satish Shetty but backed out when he realised his target was “working for the benefit of the common man” led police in Pune to an advocate who has been arrested in connection with the Shetty murder case. Pune rural police today sought court permission for brain-mapping and a narco test on advocate Vijay...

KEY TRENDS  • In 2021 India had a total of 1,319 prisons housing 5,54,034 prisoners as of that year end. The actual capacity was 4,25,609, which means that Indian prisons were overcrowded by 30.2 percent in 2021. ## • In 2020 India had a total of 1,306 prisons housing 4,88,511 prisoners as of that year end. The actual capacity was 4,14,033. The over crowding in Indian prisons in 2020 was 18 percent. ## • In 2019 India had...

KEY TRENDS    • The total number of civilians killed and injured during police firing in 2016 was 92 and 351, respectively. The total number of civilians killed and injured during police lathi-charge in 2016 was 35 and 759, respectively #$   • In 2015, the NCRB recorded over 73 lakh complaints of cognizable crimes. Cognizable crimes are relatively serious offences for which police officers do not need a warrant from the magistrate to investigate, such...