-The Hindustan Times West Bengal's Dum Dum Central Jail could put the notorious Abu Ghraib in a shade going by some of the disturbing incidents which have taken place there recently. A mere request for better food earned Bikram Mahato, undergoing trial for murder, a severe beating after which he was handcuffed and kept naked in a cell. And this is not an isolated incident in this jail. When Mahato had...

-Live Mint Preventing entry of Dalits, tribespeople to places of worship should be made a punishable offence, says NAC Preventing Dalits and tribespeople from entering places of worship will be made a punishable offence under legal changes proposed by the National Advisory Council (NAC), which sets the social policy for the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. Obstructing members of such groups from using community resources will also be made an offence under...

-The Hindu In carrying out Afzal Guru’s death sentence, the government deliberately ignored the view of the Supreme Court and courts across the world that hanging a person after holding him in custody for years is inhuman The execution of Afzal Guru on February 9, 2013 was an inhumane act by the Government of India. Afzal Guru was hanged seven years after the Supreme Court’s pronouncement of the death sentence on him...

-The Indian Express In a criminal trial, if a juvenile girl can be judged on the basis of her assumed mental and physical developments, why should a juvenile accused be let off by giving benefits that he was less than 18 years of age on the date of the incident? While a debate rages over the trial of a Delhi gangrape accused who has been declared a juvenile, a Delhi court has...

-The Times of India Undertrials languishing in jails for long years because of their inability to secure bail may soon be released following the Centre directive to all states and Union Territories to review such cases. Saying only the poor and indigent continued to be in jails for long periods and that too for minor offences, the Centre has asked states to release all such undertrials who have completed half the maximum...