-The Indian Express While crimes against Dalits are increasing, the state has time and again let them down, with little action against the perpetrators. Atrocities against Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are a regular feature of the caste-based Indian society and distressingly, of late, they have begun increasing. What is ironical is that only recently, the country commemorated the 125th birth anniversary of B .R. Ambedkar, the icon of the...

-The Hindu The human rights of prisoners in death row are grossly violated, shows Death Penalty India Report “I left my sleeping child at home because the police called me to sign documents. I never got home after that,” said Akira. She is among the 136 prisoners on death row who claimed to have not been informed of the reason for their arrest, a constitutional right. To prepare the Death Penalty India Report,...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Out of every 100 death sentences that trial courts pronounce, less than five are upheld by higher courts. About 30% of the remaining prisoners are Acquitted, and the sentence is commuted for the rest. What happens to all the people trapped in the maws of criminal justice system, condemned to death? No ministry or agency has a record of how many people India has executed since...

-Kafila.org News reports are indicating that an FIR has been registered with respect to a public meeting organized on the JNU campus on the evening of 9th February. These reports claim that the meeting was about the hanging of Afzal Guru, and it is alleged that during its course, some people raised incendiary slogans. According to reports, the FIR has been registered under Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code (sedition),...

-The Indian Express Jaipur: Kanwar Lal, BJP MLA from Aklera who allegedly beat up members of a civil society group during an accountability march last month, has 20 criminal cases registered against him at two police stations in his constituency. He was also arrested once. Of these, in nine investigations, most involving breaking into houses and tearing up copies of a religious book, his name was later removed, six are pending in courts,...