'Under Justice Gogoi's tenure, the Supreme Court has gone from an institution that was at least formally committed to the protection of individual rights as its primary task, to an institution that speaks the language of the executive, and has become indistinguishable from the executive,' warns Gautam Bhatia.
India and Indians can ignore Pakistan, but that cannot be said of other nations in the neighbourhood, where New Delhi's 'Neighbourhood First' policy constantly reverberates. Four of the eight SAARC member-nations are Muslim -- Afghanistan and Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Maldives. The rulers decide the nation's India or anti-India policy in the first two, and street-opinion contributes to the same in the latter two, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
However, it said the high-speed facility which was restored on a trial basis in central Kashmir's Ganderbal and Jammu region's Udhampur on August 16 would continue till this month-end as there has been no report of its misuse in the two districts.
Here's a recap of events that occurred in India in the past 24 hours.
Independent MLA Engineer Rashid, who a hosted beef party at MLA hostel on Wednesday, was beaten up by BJP MLA Ravinder Raina in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly on Thursday.
Seven years after he disappeared from the heart of Srinagar, Mehran Latief's family has not let go of Hope. Hope that they will see their son again. Soon.
To avoid mediapersons, he left by a side exit and straightaway went to meet eminent lawyer Ram Jethmalani.
I got to know that every referred case for angiography and angioplasty got a kickback of Rs 5,000 and Rs 15,000 respectively. Seeing this trend, doctors started paying referring doctors Rs 1 lakh in advance and adjusting it as and when patients came in. This menace slowly spread its tentacles all over the medical field, including radiological diagnostics and biochemistry laboratories. For every test ordered, 20 per cent of the bill was given back to the referring doctor. This led to doctors recommending unnecessary tests. The pharmaceutical companies also saw burgeoning business. Acclaimed doctors were given televisions sets, refrigerators, air conditioners and cars depending upon the prescriptions. General practitioners would prescribe unnecessary drugs, and were given returns in cash. A fascinating excerpt from Dr Upendra Kaul's When The Heart Speaks.
The best thing we can pray for is that the courts give a quick judgment in favour of Fundamental Rights so that the government can worry about other things than what it will not let young women wear, hopes Aakar Patel.
While Sharif and his daughter, Maryam, have been sent to jail on corruption charges, a designated terrorist, Saeed, is not only free but actively seeks votes for the elections while targeting India and the United States.
The bill also makes it mandatory for the Delhi government to take the opinion of the L-G before any executive action.
This could impact their books in the third quarter of the current financial year.
'It is especially discouraging for young people in the development sector. I've noticed that many of them are actively considering other career options to escape this atmosphere.' Geetanjali Krishna reports.
He, however, praised Indian High Commissioner Ajay Bisaria as a good person, but criticised the Indian government's actions.
A Delhi government-appointed magisterial probe did not find any evidence of Jawaharlal Union leader Kanhaiya Kumar raising anti-India slogans at a controversial event in the university, allegations based on which he was slapped with sedition charges by police.
Relatives of the three youths, belonging to Dhar Sakri village in Kotranka of Rajouri area in Poonch, had lodged a written missing persons report in the local police station after they lost contact with them on July 17. The three were working as labourers in apple and walnut orchards in Amshipura.
Jadhav, a retired Indian Navy officer, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and terrorism in April 2017. Weeks later, India approached the ICJ against Pakistan for denial of consular access to Jadhav and to challenge the death sentence.
'The government is doing away with crucial laws such as the Forest Conservation Act and the Environment Protection Act which had helped safeguard our forests.' 'The President has to show that she will stand in favour of tribal rights.'
He also slammed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for holding a meeting with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi in Paris, saying it has hurt the sentiments of 'Kashmiri Muslims'.
Officials said Bilal Ahmed Kuchey had allowed the terrorists to use his house as a hideout and also provided them with high-end mobile phones.
The apex court lashed out at the law enforcing agencies for allowing the 'instigators of violence' to get away and said they should act as per law without waiting for somebody's nod.
Addressing Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray, Ranaut posted a video message saying his 'ego will be destroyed' the way her Bandra home was demolished.
Trial against suspected top Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorist Abu Jundal, an alleged mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, should be conducted through video conferencing as he faces threat to his life, NIA told a Delhi court on Friday.
He said he was shocked to know about his dismissal after being earlier asked to prepare pension and retirement documents.
The perpetrators of the 2008 Mumbai attack, who shot dead 166 people, had confessed to details that should have been enough to hang him, but Pakistan enjoyed his anti-India rhetoric and let him spread his tentacles. A revealing excerpt from Khaled Ahmed's Pakistan's Terror Conundrum.
Zahid Rasool Bhat, 19, a truck assistant had received 74 per cent burn injuries with another person on October 9 when a Kashmir-bound truck was attacked by a mob protesting against the beef party hosted by an independent MLA in the summer capital of Srinagar.
Home ministry officials told the parliamentary panel that those detained under the PSA can challenge their detention in a designated tribunal.
'We will raise our voice against AFSPA,' the JNUSU president said at an event.
'Anglo-Indians have played a significant role at the forefront, meeting every challenge to the security of the motherland.' A fascinating excerpt from Barry O'Brien's The Anglo-Indians: A Portrait of a Community.
While India's High Commissioner Bisaria is in Islamabad, his Pakistani counterpart Moin-ul-Haq is yet to take charge in New Delhi.
Deepa Gahlot lists the most popular Yash Chopra films -- the ones he directed, not produced (yes, so that means no DDLJ) -- that can be watched on OTT.
'Gandhi has not become out of date, we have.'
The Delhi high court on Friday dismissed a Public Interest Litigation seeking enactment of a law prohibiting slaughter of cows and sale of beef and such products across the national capital region, terming it as "misconceived".
The crime branch of the Jammu and Kashmir Police, probing the gang rape-and-murder case, sent a sample of her viscera to a forensic laboratory earlier this month to examine the effect of "mannar" candies (believed to be local cannabis) and Epitril 0.5 mg tablets, administered to the girl by her captors.
A Supreme Court bench, while granting bail to Chidambaram, asked him not to make any public comment in connection with the case.
The sessions court in Pathankot had on Monday sentenced Sanji Ram, Deepak Khajuria and Parwesh Kumar to life and the three dismissed policemen -- Anand Dutta, Tikal Raj and Surinder Singh -- to five years in jail.
Proceedings related to terror masterminds Yasin Bhatkal and Abdul Karim Tunda in 2013 hogged the limelight in Delhi courts, which brought down the curtains in the Batla House encounter case by giving life term to a suspected terrorist of the Indian Mujahideen module.
