Year 2010 could go down in history as a watershed for undertrial prisoners, who for long have been the silent victims of apathy of the police, prosecuting agencies, prison authorities and judiciary. The UPA government is setting a six-month deadline, starting January 26, for the release of 1.25 lakh of the 1.7 lakh undertrials languishing in jail though booked for petty offences and despite having served a major part of...

With the Delhi high court ruling that the office of the Chief Justice of India comes within the ambit of the Right to Information Act, a long-drawn-out debate will now hopefully find amicable resolution. The ruling of the three-judge bench was on an appeal by the Supreme Court registry against the high court’s single-judge verdict in September. The challenge to the September verdict was that such liberal interpretation of the...

In a landmark verdict against the Supreme Court, the Delhi High Court on Tuesday held that the office of the Chief Justice of India comes within the ambit of the Right to Information law, saying judicial independence is not a judge's privilege but a responsibility cast upon him. The 88-page judgment is being seen as a personal setback to CJI K G Balakrishnan, who has been opposed to disclosure of...

The Delhi High Court Tuesday upheld its single bench order that the office of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) comes within the purview of the Right to Information (RTI) Act and details of judges assets should be revealed under that. A bench comprising Chief Justice A.P. Shah and Justices S. Muralidhar and Vikramjeet Sen said, "Higher the judiciary, higher is the accountability towards the public at large". Emphasising the importance of...

While finalising a new law to check corruption and increase accountability in the higher judiciary, the Union Law Ministry has also decided to include a comprehensive code of conduct for judges of the Supreme Court and the High Courts. Sources told The Indian Express that this was being done as voluntary attempts by the higher judiciary to lay down a code of conduct had not yielded the desired result. According...