Judicial activism has faced several assaults from politicians and bureaucrats ever since the Supreme Court became affirmative. But the sad part is that it has had to also face onslaughts from within. When the public interest litigation movement was in its infancy, a bench of strict constructionists one morning brought up 10 questions that would have choked its growth in coils of conservative interpretation of the Constitution (Sudip Mazumdar vs Union...
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Irom And The Iron In India’s Soul by Shoma Chaudhury
SOMETIMES, TO accentuate the intransigence of the present, one must revisit the past. So first, a flashback. The year is 2006. An ordinary November evening in Delhi. A slow, halting voice breaks into your consciousness. “How shall I explain? It is not a punishment, but my bounden duty…” A haunting phrase in a haunting voice, made slow with pain yet magnetic in its moral force. “My bounden duty.” What could...
More »The medium, message and the money by P Sainath
The Assembly elections saw the culture of “coverage packages” explode across Maharashtra. In many cases, a candidate just had to pay for almost any coverage at all. C. Ram Pandit can now resume his weekly column. Dr. Pandit (name changed) had long been writing for a well-known Indian language newspaper in Maharashtra. On the last day for the withdrawal of nominations to the recent State Assembly elections, he found himself...
More »The climate coalition by Sunita Narain
The new alliance, with India as a 'deal-maker', will do little to cut emissions to anywhere near the desired levels As the clock ticks to Copenhagen, how low is the world prepared to prostrate to get climate-renegade US on board? Is a bad deal in Copenhagen better than no deal? The US’ intentions are not good for the climate. It has proposed that it will not take international commitments but...
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KEY TRENDS • In 2021 India had a total of 1,319 prisons housing 5,54,034 prisoners as of that year end. The actual capacity was 4,25,609, which means that Indian prisons were overcrowded by 30.2 percent in 2021. ## • In 2020 India had a total of 1,306 prisons housing 4,88,511 prisoners as of that year end. The actual capacity was 4,14,033. The over crowding in Indian prisons in 2020 was 18 percent. ## • In 2019 India had...
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