-The Economic Times One month after demonetisation, the Supreme Court is hearing several public interest petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the “demonetisation notification”, which declared that Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes would no longer be legal tender post midnight on November 8, 2016. The preamble to the notification stated that its objective was to eliminate fake currency used for financing terrorism and to address the problem of “unaccounted money” in...

-The Hindu Affidavit in SC denies any lack of preparedness in implementing the demonetisation policy Curb on money transactions, including withdrawals and wedding expenses, are “only reasonable restrictions” imposed on the rights of the public for a limited time, the government said in its latest affidavit. “Cancellation of legal tender of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes is only a reasonable restriction and regulatory in nature. Merely because there is a restriction on...

-The Hindu Framers of the Constitution were clear that we must move to a common personal law, the Union Law Minister says. Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has said the Centre’s affidavit on the triple talaq issue, which is being heard in the Supreme Court, was based on the principles of assuring gender justice, gender equality and dignity. The Minister stressed that the right to freedom of religion did not enjoin...

-The Hindu “Fundamental Rights and human rights of people, however they may be placed, cannot be ignored only because of their adverse circumstances” Blaming Delhi for paying “little or no attention” to the Fundamental Rights of under trials and convicts, the Supreme Court said it is “not only tragic but also pathetic” to find that prisons in the national capital, along with half a dozen States across the country, are overcrowded by...

-Hindustan Times The first decadal study conducted after the Right to Information (RTI) Act has revealed that over 1.75 crore applications have been filed with one-fourth being requests to the Centre. The study, conducted by Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, reveals that 27.2% (47.66 lakh) of the total RTIs filed between 2005 and 2015 were to the different ministries and departments under the Centre. This is a conservative estimate because many departments...