Following the guilty verdict handed down to Anand Jon, Indiatime looks at the other bad apples who at times use the crutch of desi-desi-bhai-bhai to excuse their crimes.

There can be a debate on differing standards of evidence in case of terror suspects and other procedural issues, but there can be no debate on that they deserve a fair trial. By refusing to represent suspects and worse, by preventing others from doing so, the lawyers are subverting the legal system. They are neither upholding the Indian constitution nor national interest.

Rohit at Retributions strongly defends the provision of public defenders to terror suspects. Due Process is something we are willing to give up easily and fail to understand that it is the cornerstone of a civilized society.; moreover ’suspect’ is the keyword here.

Where this will happen: At the sub-registrar’s office. Each area has one assigned, and you can do it in the area where you live, or, if you got married in Bangalore, in the area in which you got married. The complete list is available at: www.karigr.org.

Following on the heels of Bongopondit’s passport travails, Inkspillz makes things easy for those looking to register their marriage in Bangalore. Having gone to the ordeal in Bhubhaneshwar few months ago, it definitely helps to have local assistance.

Lekhni has a good analysis of the Niketa Mehta case. She summarizes the case that has been causing controversy, lays out the arguments for and against the abortion, and presents her take:

1.  Who is more important, the mother or the foetus? The crux is, can we force a mother to:
(i) carry an unwanted foetus to term, with possible medical complications to the mother during delivery or childbirth,
(ii) endure postpartum blues, and
(iii) post-birth, force her to care for an infant that she does not want, all this just because we believe the foetus is a living creature and is therefore considered a citizen?

The picture changes, however, if the comments on a blog are moderated: if a blog’s owner chooses to take on the responsibility of not allowing nasty comments, then they will be liable if any appear. The result is that absurdly enough, the less care you take, the less liable you are.

Law Matters examines the liability issue regarding nasty comments on your blog and unearths some surprising results.

First, the State Government cannot invoke the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act merely because a member of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe is insulted or humiliated. It can only be invoked when a member of Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe has been insulted or humiliated only on account of he being a member of Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe.

Vivek Reddy at Law and Other Things examines the arrest of journalists for writing op-eds against a political leader who also happens to be Dalit from legal perspectives [hat tip: Abi].

Sujai is happy with the recent Delhi High Court verdict  that quashed criminal proceedings against MF Husain for allegedly hurting public sentiments by painting “obscene” pictures of Hindu goddesses.He expresses his happiness in his two part post. Part-1 Part-2

It comes as a reprieve to some of us Indians, who are free thinkers, and whose number is dwindling with each generation. The onslaught of the irrationality is dimming the light of rational thought in this country. But with this decision it is clear that reason has NOT left India completely; that there are still some sane minds who are ready to reason, who are not caught up in the mass hysteria of irrationality that is sweeping this country; that there are some people out there in the right places that are NOT high on opium of the masses called religion and the heroin of the masses called nationalism.

The hard answer is that Indians are not quite as human as Americans. Dow paid $10m to settle out-of-court with an American child damaged by Dursban, a pesticide so dangerous that it has been banned for domestic use in the US. But Dow employees were found to have bribed Indian Ministry of Agriculture officials to license Dursban as safe for home use in India. If an Indian child dies I doubt if there’ll be $10m or even $10,000.

Indra Sinha speaks out strongly against apathetic attitude toward environmental contamination and compensation and explains why he joined the Bhopal Hunger Strike [hat tip: Mekhala].

In light of the charges against Avnish Bajaj, the former MD of Bazee.com in the Delhi MMS case, Law Matters looks at the Indian laws that deal with obscenity and pornography.

So basically, all knives, box-knives, nailcutters and perhaps even nail polish are banned on flights—unless you’re a Sikh, in which case your religious beliefs trump all other considerations. I find this caveat immensely disturbing.

Amit Varma comments on the seemingly useless policy of banning all knives and sharp objects except kirpans. Wouldn’t a smart terrorist simply dress up as a Sikh to carry a weapon?