Last week, the Supreme Court granted bail to Binayak Sen, the doctor and civil rights activist who had been sentenced to life imprisonment by a court in Raipur on the charge of sedition. Sen was charged with being a Naxalite sympathizer, and of acting as a courier for the Communist Party of India (Maoist). The verdict of the lower court had been widely condemned. The proceedings were farcical; with no...

The Sirohi police have decided not to register FIRs over irregularities committed in Mahatma Gandhi National Rrural Employment Guarantee Schemes (MGNREGS) unless the complaint is backed by an audit report. Superintendent of police for Sirohi, Vipul Chaturvedi passed a written order to this effect for all police station in-charges in the district during a law and order meeting held on March 13, 2011. "Cases shall not be registered against people who...

India's Supreme Court has told states to "ruthlessly stamp out" the so-called honour killings. The court also warned that senior officials who failed to act against the offenders would be prosecuted. In recent times, there have been many cases where people have been ostracised or killed for defying age-old notions of tradition and family honour. Often these crimes are endorsed, or even encouraged, by village-based caste councils. Many of the victims are young couples...

A former bureaucrat has said that most business houses "maintain" MPs to influence government policies or decision making in their favour. "Some of the large industrial houses also fund politicians who are in the Opposition as a hedge to ensure that any decision that may be given in their favour is not opposed by them. They also treat such funding as a long term investment," writes former Economic Intelligence Bureau director...

A convicted rapist out on bail has been arrested along with his cousin for brutally beating his own aunt and another widow to death in the name of family honour. Tension prevails in the area while the accused is unrepentant. The two women were attacked at Ranila village in Bhiwani district late Sunday night. The horrific crime was committed in front of at least 200 villagers, including dozens of women, but...