-The Hindu Encounter killings militate against the rule of law Cicero famously said, “We are in bondage to the law in order that we may be free.” John Adams said about the Massachusetts Constitution that it was intended to have a “government of laws not of men”. The rule of law has rightly been argued to be part of the basic structure of the Indian Constitution. It is an unqualified human good....

-TheWire.in Private moneylenders are a major source of loans across the region, and with the collapse of banking in rural areas, their role has only grown. Baliram Kadpe is critical of the Maharashtra government. “Farmers do not get the minimum support price [for their crops, from the state],” he says with concern. “And it is tedious for them to acquire crop loans.”  Kadpe believes if the state ensures that farmers have access...

-Hindustan Times In his election nomination papers for the state Legislative Council, chief minister Yogi Adityanath reveals he owns a 2014 model Toyota Fortuner and a Toyota Innova. Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh’s saffron-clad ascetic chief minister Yogi Adityanath owns a licensed revolver and rifle, a sport utility vehicle, wears a gold earring and a chain with rudraksha beads around his neck, and has movable assets worth Rs 95.98 lakh. Also, the 45-year-old priest-politician is...

-The Economic Times blog Finance minister Arun Jaitley was correct when he stated in April that constitutional constraints do not empower his government to tax agricultural income, implying that he is not constrained from amending the Income-Tax Act. B R Ambedkar, in framing the Constitution, was vehemently critical of British land revenue system, the foundation for which was laid during the Mughal period, and strengthened by the East India Company, which...

-The Hindu The Supreme Court’s verdict that ordinances are subject to judicial review, and do not automatically create enduring effects, places a timely check on a power rampantly abused by governments On January 2, in one of many judgments delivered on its first working day of the year, the Supreme Court, in Krishna Kumar Singh v. State of Bihar, made a series of pronouncements with potentially huge implications for the future of...