India's income tax department has ruled that illegal commissions were paid to an Italian businessman accused over an arms scandal which ended Rajiv Gandhi's term as prime minister 20 years ago. It found over $9m was paid as commissions to Ottavio Quattrocchi and an Indian arms dealer, Win Chadha. In 2009, India dropped a graft case against Mr Quattrocchi and withdrew his name from the Interpol "wanted list". The main opposition BJP has...

Many endosulfan sufferers in Kerala still not recognised NARAYANA Vokalliga from Belur village in Kasaragod breathed his last on November 20 just as his son was explaining how his father had suffered from exposure to endosulfan for 30 years. The former employee of the Plantation Corporation of Kerala used to spray the toxic pesticide manually in the corporation’s cashew plantations at Nanjamparamba estate. When the corporation switched to aerial spraying, Narayan prepared...

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar lags far behind his ministerial colleagues in his wealth, details of which were made public on Monday. Details of the assets of 30 Bihar ministers, including Kumar's were uploaded in the government websites as a step towards ending corruption and promised by the chief minister. Kumar's moveable assets include Rs 31,760 in cash, Rs 57,770 in bank account, a Santro car of 2003 model, an old TV...

At a time when ordinary money suits and cheque bounce cases are taking years for settlement, lok adalats in Tamil Nadu have set a new record this year by quietly disposing of more than 33,000 cases involving Rs 247 crore upto October 2010. The Tamil Nadu State Legal Services Authority (TNSLSA), headed by its executive chairman justice Elipe Dharma Rao, conducted a total of 4,579 lok adalats and heard more than...

The sentencing of Dr. Binayak Sen involves unverified charges, and unreasonable and unconstitutional findings. The constitutional validity of the charges of sedition and conspiracy that were used to implicate rights activists such as Binayak Sen merely for their anti-establishment political thoughts needs to be challenged. The action ridicules the constitutional guarantee of freedom of expression. The sections of the Indian Penal Code that deal with “conspiracy to wage war against the government”...