-The Times of India Days after a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court said it was time to revisit jurisprudence behind imposition of death penalty, the apex court asked the Union government why provisions in some laws mandating compulsory death penalty as punishment be not struck down as unconstitutional. The question from a bench of Justices Aftab Alam and Ranajana Desai put additional solicitor general Siddharth Luthra in a piquant position for...

-The Indian Express The director of New Delhi Municipal Council, on deputation, has been served a notice by the Orissa government for her alleged involvement in the misuse of NREGS money while she was serving in the state. Mrinalini Darswal, of 2002 batch cadre, has been accused of being involved in the Embezzlement of Rs 2.53 lakh. The notice was served last week. The Orissa general administration department asked Darswal why no action should...

-The Indian Express For Kejriwal and his crew, political targets are guilty until proven guilty After launching a scorched-earth campaign against Law Minister Salman Khurshid, accusing his NGO of skimming off lakhs of rupees from funds for the disabled, and demanding nothing short of his immediate resignation, arrest and incarceration, Arvind Kejriwal has abruptly called off this round. His next event, a fresh set of “exposes”, has been set for October 17. For...

-The Guardian  Use of Sodium Pentothal to secure confessions – classified by some as torture – still common in certain regions of India It is the sort of scene that belongs in a film noir, not a 21st-century democracy: an uncooperative suspect being injected with a dose of "truth serum" in an attempt to elicit a confession. But some detectives in India still swear by so-called narcoanalysis despite India's highest court ruling...

-The Hindu Business Line   Reservations for SC/STs may not impact redistribution as much as they can alter social prejudices and hierarchies. June 5, 2012: This year, India celebrates the 20th anniversary of the 73rd amendment. One of the most striking aspects of the modern Panchayati Raj defined by the amendment is the systematic reservation of political positions (pradhans, sarpanchs, and ward members) for villagers from the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes (SC/ST)....