-The Hindu But don’t lose sight of judicial independence, he tells govt Chief Justice of India S.H. Kapadia, while making it clear that the judiciary was not afraid of Laws to make judges accountable, cautioned the government not to tinker with its independence. “I would request the government that accountability be balanced with judicial independence.” In enacting Laws, the concept of judicial independence should not be lost sight of. For, “decisional independence and...

-The Times of India When it first circulated a draft Bill in 2010 to amend the rape law, the home ministry stuck to the traditional notion that men alone could commit sexual assault. But when the Cabinet cleared the Bill last month for introduction in Parliament, the offence turned "gender neutral", as revealed by a government press release.  Welcome to the brave new world of gender neutrality, in which Laws increasingly no...

-The Hindustan Times The Ministry of Tribal Affairs will ask the Supreme Court to review its interim order on declaring core and buffer areas in 41 tiger reserves in India after reports of tribals and forest dwellers being harassed in the name of implementation of the court order.   Seven states have notified core and buffer areas in tiger reserves since the Supreme Court, in July, asked them to create the distinction and...

-The Hindu Urging the government not to lose sight of the concept of judicial independence in enacting Laws to make judges accountable, Chief Justice of India S.H. Kapadia also called for judicial restraint among judges while delivering judgments. While interpreting the Article of a fundamental right, “we must also keep in mind that there is [an] institutional structure and architecture of the Constitution which provides for checks and balances. Sometimes in our...

-The Times of India In what will set the bar for India's nuclear contracts, Russia's plea that two reactors planned at Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu — apart from units 1 and 2 — be exempted from provisions of the tough nuclear liability law may not be accepted.  Reactors 1 and 2 that are to go on stream soon are not covered by the 2010 liability law that makes suppliers of a nuclear...