-The Telegraph Mamata Banerjee today met Irom Sharmila Chanu, who has spent 11 years fasting to force Delhi to lift the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act from Manipur, and expressed “appreciation” for her protest. “Only appreciation?” asked Sharmila, who is being kept alive on a forced diet of liquid nutrition, inserted through a nasal pipe. At an election rally later, Mamata termed the army act a “draconian law” that should have long been...

-The Telegraph   The Supreme Court today slammed army authorities for stalling a criminal case initiated by the CBI against five officers involved in an alleged fake encounter in Jammu and Kashmir. “You don’t want to take over the case and initiate court-martial proceedings against them. You don’t allow the criminal justice system to go ahead,” the court said. “The victims cannot be remedy-less.” The court’s observations came after the counsel for the officers,...

The Supreme Court on Monday told the Army to not “play with the courts” and stop taking recourse to the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) to stall prosecution in the 2000 Pathribal encounter case in Jammu and Kashmir. The apex court asked the Army to come clean on whether they want to start court martial proceedings of eight officers accused of killing five persons in the encounter or let...

Custodial deaths on the rise, says report Deaths in Police Custody The 10 Worst States Maharashtra - 250 Uttar Pradesh - 174 Gujarat - 134 Andhra Pradesh - 109 West Bengal - 98 Tamil Nadu - 95 Assam - 84 Karnataka - 67 Punjab - 57 Madhya Pradesh - 55 Haryana - 45 *** Tamirul Haq had just stepped out to buy some cigarettes, and probably told his family he’d be back soon. But the 42-year-old from Bengal’s North Dinajpur district never returned home. On...

-The Hindustan Times   Reacting to complaints of schools flouting Right to Education (RTE) norms, the education department has served a showcause notice to four Delhi schools, which are run by the Armed Forces. Replying to a question raised in the assembly, Delhi education minister Arvinder Singh said the four schools — Army Public School, Delhi Cantonment and at Shankar Vihar, Air Force Gyanjyoti School, Palam and Naval Children Academy, Chanakyapuri —...