-The Hindu   Justice Markandey Katju, Chairman, Press Council of India, has issued the following clarification on his critical observations of the Indian media.   I have expressed my views relating to the media in several T.V. interviews I gave as well as in my articles in some newspapers. However, many people, including many media people, wanted clarification and amplification of some of the issues I had raised. Many media people (including several T.V. channels)...

The parliamentary panel examining the Lokpal bill is learnt to have formulated a five-stage mechanism that separates investigation from prosecution, and maintains “equilibrium in the holy trinity” of CBI, CVC and the proposed Lokpal. On the question of whether to include the prime minister in the Lokpal’s purview, opinion in the standing committee, sources said, has narrowed to two points of view: keeping the PM out and, including the PM with...

No error in High Court order in defamation case: Supreme Court In a setback to Times Now television channel, the Supreme Court on Monday declined to interfere with an interim order of the Bombay High Court that directed the Times Global Broadcasting Co. Ltd. to deposit Rs. 20 crore in cash and Rs. 80 crore as bank guarantee in the court in a defamation suit filed by the former Supreme Court...

-The Hindu   Greater the power to punish for contempt, higher the responsibility Fair reporting of court proceedings and fair comments on the legal issues do not amount to contempt, the Supreme Court has ruled. “The power to punish for contempt is inherent in courts of record and described as a necessary incident to every court of justice. The power is an alienable attribute of court and inheres in every court of record. This...

-PTI   The Supreme Court has declined to interfere with a Bombay High Court order that asked Times Global Broadcasting Company Ltd, owner of the Times Now TV channel, to deposit Rs20 crore in cash along with a bank guarantee of Rs80 crore before its appeal against a Pune trial court ruling awarding Rs100 crore in damages for defaming a former apex court judge PB Sawant could be heard. PB Sawant’s photograph was...