-The Indian Express Aadhaar legislation points to the need for a comprehensive privacy law. Most of the debate on the Aadhaar bill has centred on the right to privacy. All five amendments suggested by the Rajya Sabha, subsequently rejected by the Lok Sabha, had an element of this right within them. But the core deficiency rested not in the lack of protections in the Aadhaar bill but in the absence of a...

-The Times of India New Delhi: The government is working on a proposal to amend the code of criminal procedure (CrPC), restricting the powers of police to arrest when a person is available for interrogation by issuing notices, barring in cases of heinous crimes. A separate 'bail act' is also under consideration that would limit the discretionary powers of courts in granting relief to an accused. The law ministry is keen to...

-The Hindu The Aadhaar Bill has been passed with no public consultation about the privacy safeguards necessary for such a database and no provision for public or independent oversight. The rights to liberty and freedom of expression cannot survive if the right to privacy is compromised. The Central government has forced the Aadhaar Bill through Parliament in a week. Aadhaar has had an invasive and controversial presence well before the government’s attempt...

-Kafila.org The last few months have seen an unusual public engagement around questions of secularism, freedom of speech, sedition and the like, with furious debates everywhere from our campuses, streets and TV studios to the floor of Parliament. The budget session has been enlivened by scenes of high drama, with the leading lights of the Treasury benches bringing colour, sound and fury to their tutorials on patriotism and nationalism. While these high-decibel...

-The Indian Express Giving this information to the media here on Tuesday, D V Sadananda Gowda claimed that transparency “can be achieved even without it”. In a setback to transparency in higher judiciary, the Central government has decided against bringing appointments to the higher judiciary under the RTI Act’s purview. Giving this information to the media here on Tuesday, Union Law Minister D V Sadananda Gowda claimed that transparency “can be achieved...