To say that no one has elected Anna Hazare, Arvind Kejriwal and the rest to speak for ordinary citizens is to say the obvious. The mostly middle-class people and the chatteratti (film stars, celebrity cops and so on) who have rallied to Mr Hazare’s cause remind one of the people who held hands and lit candles after the November 2008 terrorist attack on Mumbai, saying, “Enough is enough”. TV stations...

The Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Judicial Reforms (CJAR) has requested President Pratibha Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to seek a Supreme Court reference for an inquiry into alleged misbehaviour by Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, Chairperson, National Human Rights Commission, and former Chief Justice of India, under Section 5(1) of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993. In identical letters written to them, the CJAR referred to alleged benami properties in...

In Tamil Nadu, untouchability is so deep-rooted that there are separate burial spaces for Dalits and upper castes even in some urban pockets. “Samarasam ulavum idame Nam vaazhvil kaanaa Samarasam ulavum idame… Jaathiyil melor enrum Thaaznthavar keezhor enrum bethamillathu Ellorum mudivil serndhidum kaadu Thollai inriye thoongidum veedu Ulaginile ithuthaan Nam vaazhvil kaanaa Samarasam ulavum idame…” (Here, in this place pervades equality Which one could not have seen ever in one's lifetime! Steering clear of caste discriminations Such as the high, the low and...

The Supreme Court on Monday granted four weeks to the Centre to take a clear stand regarding a CBI probe into alleged misuse of funds allocated to the States. The court was dealing with a petition alleging misappropriation of funds under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in Orissa. In an interim order on the writ petition filed by the Centre for Environment and Food Security, a three-Judge Bench,...

They move Supreme Court for implementation of reforms Lack of good governance violative of Article 21 (right to life and liberty) Form independent Civil Service Board both at Centre and in States In a rare instance, 83 former bureaucrats including retired Chief Election Commissioners, retired police officers, a former Governor, retired diplomats and retired Chief Secretaries have come together and moved the Supreme Court seeking implementation of the recommendations on administrative reforms. A Bench...