The first public consultation on the Lokpal Bill failed to reach a consensus on whether the office of the Prime Minister should be under the purview of the corruption watchdog but agreed that a different mechanism needed to be evolved for the judiciary in the nature of the National judicial commission. The day-long consultation at the India International Centre was attended by senior judicial officials of the country, top legal luminaries...

Three pronouncements made on three consecutive days this month by the Supreme Court of India have brought relief to different groups of economically and socially deprived people. The beneficiaries include children sold out by poor parents to work in circuses as child labour; young men and women determined to get married crossing caste barriers and harassed for that very reason by ‘khap panchayats'; and the hungry poor across the country...

Home minister P Chidambaram on Saturday termed the higher judiciary "over ambitious" but applauded it for its activism which "enlarged the ambit of fundamental rights" of citizens. Delivering the inaugural K N Katju memorial lecture on 'What ails the Indian judiciary', he said that like any other institution that has reached a ripe and old age, the judiciary is under stress. ``Another cause of stress is that the judiciary, especially the higher...

The search for a lily-white reformer could trip the reform itself. This is a dilemma the Bhushans need to confront THE LEGENDARY samurai have a code of being that is difficult to attain: they must be ready to do battle no matter the odds, they must have no fear of consequence, they must value honour and pride above all else, they must be benevolent and they must have no interest in...

Ruling on RTI activist's plea No abrogation of independence of judiciary or interference in judicial proceedings Furnish details of correspondence between Balakrishnan and Ministry on Dinakaran The Central Information Commission has directed the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO), Supreme Court, to furnish information on the action taken by the court Registry pursuant to the November 26, 2010 orders for constitution of a larger Bench to hear cases on declaration of assets by judges. The...