Advocate Harish Salve told a Supreme Court constitution bench, which is thinking of framing guidelines for the reporting of court cases, that it was within the court’s powers to define the extent of freedom of speech and expression when it came in conflict with the right to life. Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia asked Salve on Wednesday: “If not guidelines, then what do we call them?” “This is a declaration of the law,”...

-The Telegraph A government report on the Niira Radia Tapes that was submitted to the Supreme Court today mentioned discrepancies between the original recordings and the conversations broadcast by the media, suggesting they may have been tampered with. The report was submitted in a sealed cover to the bench of Justices G.S. Singhvi and Asok Kumar Ganguly. It was not made public but Justice Singhvi read out parts of it that said...

-PTI   In a significant disclosure, the Union government on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that the Radia Tapes broadcast by media organisations were tampered with and the government agencies were not responsible for its leakage.  Placing a confidential report in a sealed envelope before a bench headed by Justice G S Singhvi, the government said there were eight to ten agencies, including service providers, involved in the tapping of telephonic conversation of...

Despite criticism of the appointment process, and pendency , the Supreme Court appears to enjoy public confidence like no other institution As the Supreme Court of India approaches its final week of hearings for the year, a look back shows it has dominated the national consciousness by ruling on myriad issues. The court was conceived by the framers of the constitution to deal mainly with fundamental questions of law. But India’s top...

‘There is no such thing as self-regulation, every institution is accountable to the people.' We publish here an edited excerpt from a clarification issued by Press Council chairman Markandey Katju. The full text of his clarification can be read at www.thehindu.com. ‘No doubt, the media should provide some entertainment also to the people. But if 90 per cent of their coverage is devoted to entertainment, and only 10 per cent...