THE MERE suggestion of any amendment to the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005, sends civil society into a tizzy. Perhaps this level of anxiety is necessary to protect the common man’s most important tool to hold the government accountable. But what if the RTI is dying, not because of government intervention but negligence? The pendency of complaints and appeals in several states is on the rise, while the number of...

-The Hindu   Not a single person should die this winter from the freezing cold: Supreme Court Expressing concern over the lot of homeless persons during the winter, the Supreme Court on Monday directed Delhi and other States to ensure that adequate shelters were provided for night stay. The Bench observed that not a single person must be allowed to die from having to sleep on the pavement in the freezing cold. A Bench...

-The Hindu   Say youths, accused of involvement in Jaipur blasts, declared innocent now Two-and-a-half years ago, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot announced in a national conference on internal security in New Delhi that the horrifying case of serial blasts in Jaipur on May 13, 2008 — in which 69 persons were killed — stood resolved with the arrest of “radical youths” in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh as well as some Students Islamic...

The Supreme Court has held that it would not, under normal circumstances, interfere with judgments of acquittal in criminal cases, as these had the obvious trait of freedom having been granted to the citizen. A Bench of Justices Swatanter Kumar and Ranjana Desai said: “Unless the judgement in appeal is contrary to evidence, palpably erroneous, or a view which could not have been taken by the court of competent jurisdiction keeping...

-PTI   Government said a large number of complaints relating to implementation of its flagship MGNREGA scheme, including 61 cases related to underpayment of wages, have been received from all over the country.  Minister of State in the Rural Development Ministry Pradeep Jain 'Aditya' told Lok Sabha that 24 of the 61 complaints pertaining to under-payment of wages emanated from Uttar Pradesh alone.  The data showed that 14 such complaints were received from Rajasthan...