-TheWire.in The proposed amendments not only make approaching the information commission more cumbersome and legalistic but also defy the diktat of the Supreme Court. The RTI Act has undoubtedly been one of the most empowering Legislations for Indians. According to estimates, four to six million information applications are filed every year, making the Indian RTI Act the world’s most extensively used transparency Legislation. National assessments have shown that a large number of...

-The Indian Express When announcing the decision on November 8, the government had said the then Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes would cease to be legal tender and this would cleanse the system of black money. A Parliamentary panel has come down heavily on demonetisation, describing it as one that not just inconvenienced the poor but also affected the manufacturing sector. “It was an effort to combat corruption, tax evasion and...

-Deccan Herald The last fig leaf of ‘voluntariness’ in Aadhaar dropped when the Lok Sabha passed the Finance Bill 2017 on March 22. The Finance Bill should never have been able to change Aadhaar, but we must remember that it was the same “money bill route” that gave birth to the Aadhaar Act a year ago. Classifying Aadhaar as a money bill was a brazen, unconstitutional and undemocratic strategy used to take...

-The Indian Express The rights-based approach departs from the ‘assurance-based approach’ of the new National Health Policy, which essentially perpetuates the status quo, explains The Indian Express. Since the time the Mental Health Bill was introduced in Rajya Sabha in 2013, decriminalisation of suicide has been its calling card. However, the Legislation travels beyond just that colonial era relic, assuming a rights-based approach to mental healthcare, and creating circumstances for removal of...

-PTI Senior advocate Shanti Bhushan said that even though the Lokpal Bill came into effect in 2014, the Lokpal is not being appointed by the government deliberately. New Delhi: The Supreme Court Tuesday reserved its verdict on a batch of pleas seeking the appointment of Lokpal in the country. A bench headed by Justice Ranjan Gogoi said, “We have heard the arguments of all the parties. Judgement (is) reserved.” During the hearing,...