While the challenge mounted by individuals and NGOs to the Delhi High Court judgment decriminalising gay sex is still pending in the Apex Court, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has set in motion a move to take same-gender sex out of criminal jurisprudence. A communication from the MHA to the Ministry of Law and Justice, sent earlier this week, asked the latter to prepare a draft of an amendment Bill to the Indian Penal Code, the most striking feature of which is that Section 377 would no l...

Lt. Colonel Shrikant Prasad Purohit, arrested in November 2008 for his active role in the Malegaon blasts, is likely to be sacked by the Army soon. Though Purohit is facing proceedings in a civilian court for the blasts, apart from being questioned in some other cases, the Army’s own court of inquiry (CoI) held under the Lucknow-based Central Command has reportedly recommended that his services be terminated with immediate effect. “The CoI report is being considered by the Army he...

In a serious indictment of the Maharashtra government’s handling of the anti-north Indian agitation by MNS, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on March 18 asked the state government to pay Rs 5 lakh each to the families of two migrants who died in the violence meted out to them by MNS hooligans in 2008. Vinod Singh, a security guard in Jindal Company, lost his life in violence at Nasik on February 13. Amba Das died after being injured during stone pelting by a mob on a bus carr...

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh may have to step in to break the logjam over the Equal Opportunities Commission after turf issues threaten to shrink the ambit of the proposed body from deprived groups to just minorities. Sources said if the Group of Ministers (GoM) looking into the issue fails to break the deadlock, with various ministries objecting to EOC treading on the toes of other functional commissions, the issue may have to be resolved by the Prime Minister. In its two meetings, the GoM ...