-The Times of India NEW DELHI: "Touching a Dalit or tribal woman in a sexual manner without consent" or "acts/gestures of sexual nature" against them would invite the stringent provisions of the Prevention of SC/ST Atrocities Act (POA). The Centre has decided to amend the POA along the lines of UPA's ordinance, with the objective of strengthening the special law by including more crimes under the head of "atrocities". In an important addition,...

-IIM Ahmedabad This paper captures the policy processes leading to the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (RFCTLARR) ordinance, 2014. It maps the role and the influence of the three primary stakeholders - Government, industry and landowners - at various stages of the evolution of the land acquisition law in India. Land acquisition has remained a controversial issue in India resulting in conflicts between social,...

-PTI Ahmedabad: Gujarat government issued a notification in Ahmedabad on making voting compulsory for people of the state during elections to local self governing bodies. Incidentally, the bill was introduced when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was Chief Minister of Gujarat. The notification would mean that people have to compulsorily vote from now onwards during elections held for municipal corporations, municipalities, and all village panchayats. The Act has also made provisions to penalise those who...

-The Hindu After sitting on a key Bill to strengthen the law against atrocities on people belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, the Modi government now appears keen on pushing it through during the Monsoon Session of Parliament, possibly with an eye on the forthcoming Bihar Assembly elections. The United Progressive Alliance government had promulgated the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment ordinance on March 4,...

-Business Standard Letting states pass their own law could come in conflict with provisions in the land law of 2013 The Union government's proposal for states to have their own land acquisition laws that may pull down any or all the four pillars of the 2013 Land Acquisition Act could run in to an unprecedented legal hurdle. The 2013 law the United Progressive Alliance government had passed hinges on four pillars - consent,...