-PTI The government today told the Supreme Court that “auction cannot be the only permissible method for disposal of natural resources” and a uniform policy on their distribution was “neither practical nor can it subserve the common good”. The Centre also said the allocation of natural resources was a policy matter and beyond the purview of judicial review. The submissions came in response to questions by the apex court on the Presidential Reference...

-The Hindustan Times Though the high courts in the country are supposed to deliver justice in Right To Information (RTI) cases, they are the very institutions that  make implementation of the law difficult, a study by a government institute has found. The study conducted by the Yashwantrao Chavan Academy of Development Administration, which evaluates the efficacy of the transparency law, finds that many high courts have prescribed rules for RTI in violation...

The proposal made by a Supreme Court Bench to have guidelines for legal reporting is seen as a serious threat to the freedom of the media. Paradoxes are not new to India. But the current challenges to the freedom of expression and the freedom of the media are sure to confound a future historian looking for explanations. The country is fortunate to have the best of historical circumstances that are conducive...

With the Supreme Court giving its nod reopening the probe into non-filing of proper accounts of election expenditure, vis-à-vis “paid news” against the former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, the Election Commission has fixed a fresh hearing for May 17. Most probably the EC will decide to have a daily hearing as Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi is demitting office on June 10, informed sources said. The issue was first exposed by The Hindu. Campaign advertisements in support...

Constitutional expert Fali S Nariman and former attorney general Soli S Sorabjee on Thursday told the Supreme Court that it would be judicial overreach if the Supreme Court framed coercive media guidelines on reporting ongoing criminal trials. The ominous warnings from Nariman and Sorabjee came on the concluding day of the over month-long deliberations by a five-judge bench comprising Chief Justice S H Kapadia and Justices D K Jain, S S...