Even five years after the enactment of the pioneering Right to Information Act (RTI), penalties for delays in providing what has been sought under the law are imposed in less than 4% of the cases, an independent audit shows. The Act, which empowers citizens to demand information from the government, provides for the imposition of penalties by the Central or State Information Commission in case of delays without reasonable cause. The landmark...

The First Bench of Orissa High Court comprising Chief Justice V. Gopal Gouda and Justice BN Mohapatra today hearing a matter related to animal sacrifice during the Sulia festival by the tribals of Bolangir district of Orissa suggested the petitioners advocate to file contempt application in the case, in view of animal sacrifice despite a court ban. The High Court since the last four years has been issuing orders to the...

Bench had sought an apology for his interview alleging corruption in judiciary With advocate Prashant Bhushan — facing contempt of court charges for his interview alleging corruption in judiciary — making it clear that he would not tender an apology, the Supreme Court on Thursday decided to proceed with the case on merits. On December 7, 2010, a Bench of Justices Altamas Kabir, Cyriac Joseph and H.L. Dattu, hearing a contempt petition...

The Manmohan Singh government is digging an even bigger hole for itself by claiming there was no loss of revenue from the sweetheart sale of 2G spectrum to favoured corporate houses. “Milord,” cunning lawyers have argued in countless Hindi movies, “how can there have been a murder when there is no dead body?” I was reminded of this line when I heard Kapil Sibal — who has been performing as an...

The trial court judgment holding Binayak Sen guilty of sedition has led to widespread outrage. IN India's legal history, no trial court judgment in a criminal case has perhaps caused as much international outrage as the December 24, 2010, judgment of the Second Additional District and Sessions Judge of Raipur, B.P. Verma, did. In his 92-page judgment, Judge Verma convicted Dr Binayak Sen, the well-known human rights activist and medical...