-The Hindu In the Bhullar case, the Supreme Court has created a category of ‘terrorists' among those sentenced to death without providing a constitutional basis for it Writing on extra-judicial killings in the Economic and Political Weekly in March 1996, K.G. Kannabiran narrated a very interesting anecdote from his experience on the Civil Rights Committee appointed by Jayaprakash Narayan to investigate fake encounters orchestrated during the Emergency against naxalites. While interacting with...

-The Indian Express Stating that all security forces personnel accused of crimes against Civilians will not necessarily be tried only by their courts, the Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that criminal courts can also have jurisdiction in such cases. Setting aside the orders of a lower court and high court in Jammu and Kashmir, a bench led by Justice C K Prasad Thursday ordered that the trial of two BSF personnel, accused...

-The Hindu Business Line While violence against women continues unabated in India, our crime investigation and justice systems offer no comfort. The Capital has erupted once again over the gruesome kidnapping and rape of a five-year-old girl child. This time, the protests are more political with the presence of volunteers from organisations such as the Aam Aadmi Party, the ABVP, etc. But matters have come to such a head vis-à-vis the gender...

-The Times of India Jharkhand not only fared as the state with the highest incidence of Naxal violence in the first quarter of this year, but it also further consolidated its lead over Chhattisgarh with twice the incidents and thrice the deaths reported by the latter. According to the latest statistics of Red terror compiled by the Union home ministry, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Bihar together account for over 80% of Left-wing extremist...

-The Hindu   The Supreme Court's reasoning in the Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar case reveals an unfortunate determination to sanction judicial execution because it involved a terrorist offence. If there is one principle that emerges from the judgment of Justice G.S. Singhvi and Justice S.J. Mukhopadhaya, it is that prolonged delay in disposal of a mercy petition, until now considered a possible constitutional limitation on carrying out an execution, will not be...