A person attempts suicide in depression He needs help, not punishment The Supreme Court on Monday recommended to Parliament that it consider the feasibility of deleting Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code (attempt to commit suicide) from the statute. Making this recommendation, a Bench of Justices Markandey Katju and Gyan Sudha Misra said though a Constitution Bench in Gian Kaur's case had held Section 309 IPC constitutionally valid, “the time has come...

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has admitted in Parliament that he made an "error of judgement" when he appointed the head of India's anti-corruption watchdog. Mr Singh said he accepted full responsibility for appointing PJ Thomas as anti-corruption chief last year. Mr Thomas was forced to resign by the Supreme Court last week. The court overturned his appointment on the grounds that he himself faced corruption charges dating from 1992. Mr Thomas denies the...

Social priorities have received scant fiscal attention There is good reason to feel let down by this year’s budget for the advancement of social sectors. The disappointment is more given that the Union finance minister opened his speech by stating that “we are reaching the end of a remarkable fiscal year” and followed it up by immediate assertions that “growth in 2010-11 has been swift and broad-based”, that “the economy...

There was a lot of apprehension before budget day regarding what the Union finance minister will do to reduce the deficit. Will he roll back the tax concessions implemented a couple of years ago as part of a fiscal stimulus package? Will he announce populist social sector spending in view of the major state polls coming up this year? Will he be too timid and not take any bold steps...

Sweeping changes in the rules to enforce the law governing foreign contributions can make it easier for the government to put advocacy groups on a tight leash. Easily branded as having a political nature, they will have to run to the home ministry every time they want to receive foreign funds. The rules drafted by the ministry cover NGOs that comment on “political activities” and “habitually” employ common methods of political...