From hypocrisy and secrecy to arrogance, nepotism and plagiarism, all bedevil the higher judiciary, said former Supreme Court Justice Ruma Pal today in one of the most scathing indictments of the higher judiciary by one who has been part of it. With sitting and retired judges of the Supreme Court and Delhi High Court listening, Pal, delivering the fifth V M Tarkunde Memorial LecTure on ‘An Independent Judiciary’, Turned the searchlight...

Jharkhand has produced more rice than it needs this season, thanks to the monsoon bounty after three consecutive years of drought, enabling the state to set up procurement centres in all 24 districts for the first time. Till now dependent on Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh for its annual requirement of around 20 lakh tonne of par boiled, or usna, rice, Jharkhand is likely to log a bumper harvest of 35-37...

These lend weight to journalist's affidavit to Supreme Court on meeting with the police officer The call records of Gujarat IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt and former BBC correspondent Shubhranshu Chaudhary show they spoke to each other in Ahmedabad thrice on the evening of February 27, 2002, just before Mr. Bhatt says he went off to attend a meeting at the Gujarat Chief Minister's residence in which Narendra Modi allegedly asked police...

-Economic and Political Weekly   The media does need to look at its nexus with business interests; injured innocence will not do. Recent remarks by the new chair of the Press Council of India, Justice (retired) M Katju, have sparked off some-thing of a debate in the media. Katju’s comments on the intellectual capabilities of journalists and his low opinion of their abilities have predictably led to indignant protestations by media bodies. But...

Judges are fierce in using the word [“independence”] as a sword to take action in contempt against critics. But the word is also used as a shield to cover a multitude of sins, some venial and others not so venial. Any lawyer practising before a court will, I am sure, have a rather long list of these. I have chosen seven. The first is the sin of “brushing under the carpet”,...