-The Hindu The Union government on Monday told the Supreme Court that the Cabinet had cleared the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Bill, 2012. On August 24, the court pulled up the government for its callousness in not enacting a law to ban manual scavenging despite repeated assurances that it would come out with law to eliminate this heinous practice. The court wanted Additional Solicitor General Harin Raval to...

-The Hindu The parliamentary stalemate continues on one of the greatest corruption scandals in Indian history. Allocation of natural resources has been a subject matter of public debate in the last two decades, particularly with the entry of the private sector in infrastructure development. Minerals are an important natural resource. The private sector has a great role to play in development of mineral-based industries. However, the policy of allocation of these...

-The Hindu The ongoing peaceful protest against the Kudankulam nuclear power plant (KKNPP), which began in the early 1980s intensified after the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. The protests revolve around fears over public safety and health arising from the existence and operation of the nuclear facility. The protesters, the men, women and children of Idinthakarai and surrounding villages, have consistently demanded transparency and honest public consultation. They do not need high...

-The Indian Express In a reference to the row over the allocation of coal blocks, Chief Justice of India S H Kapadia today questioned whether the Centre should have the power to “override” policies framed by state governments. Making it clear that he was not commenting on the merits of the case, Justice Kapadia said scams needed to be analysed through the Constitutional principles of federalism and centre-state relations. In this context,...

-PTI Chief Justice of India S.H. Kapadia on Saturday said judges should not govern the country or evolve policies, and they should apply the enforceability test on some verdicts like making sleep a fundamental right. Doing some frank introspection on the judiciary’s functioning, he wondered what would happen if the executive refused to comply with its directives that might not be enforceable. “Right to life, we have said, includes environmental protection, right to...