-The Hindu   Liberal bail system adopted by courts Only 3.2 per cent of the people arrested for various crimes are in prison given the “liberal bail system” adopted by courts, according to the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D), New Delhi. Making a presentation on ‘Problems of overcrowding in prisons in India' at an all-India conference of DG/IG of Prisons here on Saturday, B.V. Trivedi, Deputy Director, BPR&D, said: “As much as...

-Economic and Political Weekly Strict implementation of NHRC guidelines for investigation into fake “encounters” is a must. The killing of five suspected bank robbers in Chennai on 23 February by police officers tasked with apprehending them looks suspiciously like yet another case of a fake “encounter”. News reports following the killing have brought out various inconsistencies in the claim of the police that they fired in self-defence.   After directives from the National Human...

-The Indian Express CBI director Amar Pratap Singh declared today that “if the king is immoral, so will be his subjects”, and sought “ethics in governance” while addressing an Interpol anti-corruption programme. In a hint at scams involving ministers, Singh said: “I am prompted to recall a famous verse from ancient Indian scriptures, which says ‘Yatha raja tatha praja’.” Singh said $ 500 billion (nearly Rs 24 lakh crore) had been stashed away...

At least 30 hardcore Criminals and mafia dons are contesting this year's assembly elections from jails, which is high even by Uttar Pradesh's standards. What's different, however, is that this time merely two people with criminal records are contesting as mainstream party candidates; the rest are nominees of fringe outfits.  Top among the dons are Prem Prakash Singh aka Munna Bajrangi from Madiyahon (Jaunpur) on an Apna Dal ticket; he is...

A man from Vasna who had filed an application under the Right to Information Act seeking to know why police stations in the city did not display essential information for the benefit of RTI applicants has alleged police are using intimidatory tactics, summoning him for hearings at short notices and making him sit with Criminals. Manish Benani, who owns a small printing press, had requested former police commissioner of Ahmedabad Sudhir...