-The Telegraph   Prior sanction shouldn’t be needed to prosecute any class of bureaucrats under any law, the parliamentary panel on the Lokpal bill has said in its report, which Team Anna dubbed a bid to “fool” people for ignoring its key demands. Another significant recommendation in the report, which was submitted today, is that the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) look into complaints of corruption against Group C & D employees alone. On including...

-The Indian Express   As indictments of the lower judiciary go, this one is pretty damning. Each and every sub-judge from Punjab and Haryana who sat for the qualifying exam for superior judicial service two months ago has flunked. Only two — one each from the general category and OBC — of 148 lawyers who appeared for the exam passed. All candidates — lawyers and sub-judges — were cleared in a preliminary test of...

-Express News Service   The parliamentary panel studying the Lokpal bill has recommended “appropriate representation” for the weaker sections in the search committee.   The standing committee on law and justice has, however, maintained that the choice of the ombudsman “has to achieve the selection of the best and the brightest at the entry point”. The committee, which adopted its final report this evening, has suggested that the search panel must include “certain sections of...

-PTI   The government is considering giving reservation to backward Muslims within the 27 per cent quota fixed for Other Backward Classes and a decision in this regard will be taken soon, law minister Salman Khurshid said on Thursday.  "Of the 27% OBC quota in jobs, the government is examining to fix a quota for backward Muslims," Salman Khurshid told reporters outside Parliament.  Khurshid said the decision on fixing a quota for backward Muslims...

Reservation for Muslims in jobs and education — feverishly anticipated over the past two years and expected to be announced ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections — might turn out to be a headache the Congress unthinkingly bought itself. As Muslim groups have been arguing, the route under the United Progressive Alliance government's consideration — a 6 per cent Muslim sub-quota within the 27 per cent OBC quota — would...