Law-making

The Supreme Court on Friday trashed a PIL seeking a direction to the Centre to digitally monitor MPs and MLAs round the clock for better governance, saying "there is something called right to privacy also". A bench comprising Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, Justice J P Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra asked whether the court can put a "chip" in the body of the lawmakers to track their movement round the clock. At the outset, the CJI cautioned petitioner Surinder Nath Kundra, a Delhi resident, that he should be ready to pay Rs 5 lakh as a fine for misusing the judicial time on such an issue. "If you argue and we do not agree with you then a cost of Rs 5 lakh will be recovered from you as land revenue. This is public time and this is not about our ego," the bench said. "Do you realise what you are arguing? You want 24/7 monitoring of MPs and MLAs... This is done only for a convicted felon who can flee justice. There is something called right to privacy and we cannot digitall

Court is not an institution to sermonise society on morality and ethics and rather, it is bound by the rule of law while taking decisions, the Supreme Court has said. The top court made this observation while ordering premature release of a woman convicted for murder of two children. The woman had an affair with a man who used to often threaten her. So she decided to commit suicide along with her children. She bought pesticides meant for plants and administered poison to her two children. Thereafter, when she poured the pesticide in a tumbler to consume it herself, her niece pushed it down. Unfortunately, the two children were declared dead on arrival in the hospital and an FIR under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code was lodged. The trial court convicted the woman under IPC sections 302 (murder) and 309 (suicide) and sentenced her life imprisonment besides a fine. The high court partly allowed her plea by acquitting her under Section 309 while upholding the conviction under Sec

Last year saw a 26 per cent drop in the passage of new laws, but prospects this year may be worse