-The Indian Express Shiv Sena has called for a bandh in Palghar, in the adjoining Thane district, on Wednesday in protest against the suspension of police officers who had arrested two girls over a Facebook post, criticising shutdown during Bal Thackeray's funeral. Shiv Sena MLA from Thane Eknath Shinde said the call for the bandh was given by the party's local unit. Criticising the suspension of the two police officers, he said, "The...

-Outlook Against the backdrop of the latest case of alleged honour killing, the Law Commission has recommended making it a non-bailable offence but disagreed with Supreme Court's suggestion that death sentence be applied to all such cases. The Commission had also asked the government to explore the possibility of a new law to prohibit unlawful caste assemblies (like Khaps) which take decisions to condemn marriages not prohibited by law. "No person or any...

-Outlook Former Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi and transparency activist Aruna Roy today moved the Supreme Court, seeking a review of its verdict on appointment of people from judiciary in information panels. They submitted that information commissions are not judicial tribunals and its members are not required to be judicially and legally trained. "The judgement has the potential of seriously impairing the RTI Act. The commissions are not judicial tribunals as they are not...

-Outlook Mumbai: The Maharashtra government today suspended two police officers, including a Superintendent of Police, following the row over the arrest of two girls from Palghar in neighbouring Thane district for a Facebook post on the shutdown in Mumbai for Bal Thackeray's funeral. SP (Thane rural) Ravindra Sengaonkar and senior police inspector Shrikant Pingle have been suspended in the case, state's Home Minister R R Patil told reporters. He said action has been...

-The Indian Express The debate about Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, is growing heated. As more cases of its abuse surface, even Communications and IT Minister Kapil Sibal has begun to mull changes to the act. The key question to be probed is whether individual actions booked under the provision are isolated instances of abuse or the section itself flawed. For that, we need to first explore how...