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Date: 19th May, 2026
The Bench Vs Its Benchmarks: In Umar Khalid’s Case, Court In Contempt Of Its Own Judicial Logic?
The Fact: The Supreme Court on Monday criticised its own ruling that denied bail to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in January this year. A two-judge bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan, while hearing a case of another UAPA accused who had been in jail since 2015, stated that if a trial gets prolonged, it can be a ground for bail even under stringent anti-terror laws like the UAPA. The bench stated that the January order dilutes the binding precedent that was laid down in the 2021 Union of India v K.A. Najeeb judgement. The landmark ruling held that prolonged incarceration and delay in trial justify bail even in UAPA cases.
The Context: In January, a Supreme Court bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N.V. Anjaria had refused to grant bail to Khalid and Imam. The two have now spent nearly six years in prison without a trial. At that time, the court had said that delay alone cannot be used as a "trump card" for bail. The January bench also held that there was incriminating material that prima facie shows the two having a "central role" in the 2020 Delhi riots. Section 43D(5) of the UAPA makes bail difficult in such a situation. This, in turn, has turned their pre-trial detention into a punishment in itself.
The Peek Insight: Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, like any other citizens of this country, deserve a fair trial. If, after that trial, they are proven guilty, due punishment must follow. But their long incarceration without trial goes against the constitutional principle that “bail is the rule, jail is the exception”. Under the label of a “larger conspiracy”, Khalid and Imam have remained incarcerated. Yet, the very same court recently granted relief to politicians like Anurag Thakur and Parvesh Verma over speeches linked to the same 2020 riots. The fact is that Umar Khalid’s case has become a metaphor for the nearly 75% prisoners in Indian jails who are undertrials. And when the Supreme Court has itself said that the conviction rate in UAPA cases is as low as 3%, why punish the accused before the trial even begins? With the Supreme Court’s rebuke to its own judgment, the big question is, will constitutional morality and justice delivery in India now depend on which judge your case goes to?
Dutch PM’s ‘Red Flags’ For India Before The Red Carpet For PM Modi
The Fact: Dutch PM Rob Jetten reportedly expressed concerns over the declining press freedom and the rights of minorities in India hours before meeting PM Narendra Modi. As per Dutch newspaper, De Volkskrant, PM Jetten said that the rights of minority and the media in India are "under severe pressure". This, as per him, is a cause of concern for the Netherlands and other European Union countries.
The Context: This comes just weeks after India's ranking dropped to 157 out of 180 in this year's World Press Freedom Index. It is a 6-place fall from last year's 151. The Indian government has meanwhile strongly opposed the reported comments. Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Secretary (West) Siby George said that this statement comes from a "lack of understanding" about India. George further defended the "vibrant democracy" of India and stated that since independence, the minorities have thrived in the nation, with them growing to more than 20% in the last 70-odd years. At the same time, he also admitted that he hadn't read the very statement he countered.
The Peek Insight: While the criticism itself is significant, what's truly notable is this episode's timing. PM Modi’s foreign visits are usually carefully choreographed exercises for his image-building. But this time, that narrative was disrupted by the host country itself. The remarks, many say, have cast a shadow on the PM’s crucial Europe visit. And what carries further significance is PM Rob Jetten making these remarks. While under the BJP government, India has recorded two of its lowest-ever press rankings - 161 in 2023 and 157 this year- the Netherlands itself ranks second in the World Press Freedom Index. Moreover, according to independent foreign research groups, anti-minority hate speech in India has risen by 13%. Contrary to this, the Netherlands offers strong legal and social protections to minorities. The clearest example of that is Jetten himself, who became the country’s first openly gay PM.
No Third Umpire For Transparency: BCCI Is Officially Out Of The RTI Play
The Fact: RTI Watchdog Central Information Commission has officially ruled that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is not a "public authority" under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005. This verdict, delivered by Information Commissioner P R Ramesh, dismisses an appeal from a Delhi resident, Geeta Rani, who wanted to know the legal basis under which the BCCI selects players and represents India internationally. The ruling officially cancels out a past 2018 CIC decision that had briefly declared the BCCI a public body. The CIC has now made it clear that because the BCCI is technically just “a society registered under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act”, it cannot be forced to open its books or secrets to the public. The Commission said that simply being registered under a law does not mean you were created by the government.
The Context: The case resurfaced after the Madras High Court ordered the CIC to take a fresh look at the issue, keeping in mind past Supreme Court judgments over the world’s richest cricket council’s transparency and accountability. In her original application to the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, the applicant questioned why governments provide heavy infrastructure and security for cricket events if the BCCI is private. However, the CIC decided that the government holds no real sway over the cricket board's daily operations. The Commission said, “There exists no control of the Government over the functions, finance, administration, management, and affairs of the BCCI.” Furthermore, because the BCCI earns massive amounts of money on its own through media rights, ticket sales, and sponsorships, the CIC ruled that it is entirely self-sustaining. While critics point out that the BCCI receives massive tax exemptions and cheap land from the state, the Commission ruled that these incidental benefits do not count as "substantial financing" under the law unless the cricket board's actual existence depended on them.
The Peek Insight: While the CIC emphasised that in reality the BCCI controls a massive public monopoly, selects the national team, and runs the country's most popular sport, it said that this is legally irrelevant for the RTI Act. The Act does not include 'public function' as a criterion for determining a public authority. This reveals why the BCCI is the ultimate power goldmine for politicians and their close allies. It allows them to control a sport that holds the entire nation's attention, wield massive economic power, and act on behalf of "India" on the world stage, all while hiding behind a legal shield from accountability. The CIC pointed out that making the BCCI transparent would require the government to pass a specific law. While the BCCI claims to be a fiercely independent entity, its machinery runs smoothly because of massive state support funded by taxpayer money. Whether it is the free land for its stadiums, sweeping tax exemptions, state-provided security, or the diplomatic and broadcasting privileges it enjoys, the board relies heavily on state support. Can a body that wields such absolute, state-supported power truly justify shutting its doors to public scrutiny over a mere legal technicality?
When Wedding Vows Become Death Notices: The Tragic Fate Of Two Noida Brides
The Fact: Two disturbing cases of suspected dowry death and alleged harassment by in-laws have emerged from Noida within a span of a few days. On May 12, 31-year-old former model Twisha Sharma was found dead at her in-laws’ house in Bhopal. She got married just five months ago, in December. Her family has accused the in-laws and her husband of dowry pressure. The husband, Samarth Singh, is absconding. In the second case, a 24-year-old newlywed, Deepika, allegedly died by suicide after she jumped from the terrace of her building in Greater Noida's Ecotech-III area. The husband, Ritik, and his father, Manoj, have reportedly been arrested in this case.
The Context: In the Twisha Sharma case, the police have registered an FIR against the husband and the her mother in law, who also happens to be a retired judge. She was granted anticipatory bail earlier this week. The Indian Express reports that Twisha was mentally and physically harassed by her in-laws. The prosecution also alleged that her family had paid Rs 2 lakh after Twisha's marriage, giving in to dowry demands from the accused. A Special Investigating Team has been formed to investigate the case further. In the second case too, the woman was allegedly facing dowry-related harassment by her husband and in-laws. Further investigations are underway.
The Peek Insight: Marriage in a country like India functions as a site of negotiations, extraction, and control over women, rather than equal partnership. In both cases, not much time had passed since the marriage of the two women. In both cases, there were allegations of sustained pressure inside the matrimonial homes to a point where death seemed the only escape. In the Twisha Sharma case, a bitter irony emerges. Her mother-in-law, Giribala Singh, is a retired judge. Her alleged involvement in the dowry case collides with the so-called image of a modern, empowered woman. At the same time, this also raises fear that the influence of the family may act as a hindrance to fair investigation. As per the latest NCRB data, Uttar Pradesh sees the highest number of dowry-related deaths. If marriage continues to be treated as a monetary transaction, these numbers will only keep rising.
The Great Indian Cutback: Delhi Government Clips Official Wings After PM’s Austerity Alarm
The Fact: The Delhi Government has launched a major austerity and fuel rationing drive across its departments to drastically cut down petroleum consumption. This comes amid the global energy disruption from the West Asia crisis, aligned with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s national appeal for energy security. Key measures include a complete ban on all foreign travel, official and personal, for Delhi government officers until further notice, a mandatory weekly "No Car Day", enforced carpooling for official inspections, and an aggressive push to shift to virtual meetings. Operationally, infrastructure-heavy wings are being overhauled. The Delhi Jal Board has been ordered to replace its fleet of 200–250 water tankers with electric ones, the Public Works Department (PWD) must swap out diesel-operated emergency drainage pumps for permanent electric stations, and the Delhi Police has ordered all units to optimise vehicle deployment to eliminate avoidable movement.
The Context: This follows PM Modi’s post-election call to citizens to cut back on non-essential luxuries to protect the nation's financial reserves. The Prime Minister explicitly appealed to the public to shift to public transport, utilise pandemic-era "work from home" practices, and even "defer gold buying in view of the prevailing global situation". He warned that “we must make every effort to reduce the use of imported products and avoid personal activities that involve spending foreign currency,” noting that a massive amount of India's foreign exchange is drained by importing precious metals and fuel to deal with the West Asia crisis.
The Peek Insight: Delhi Government is using its own massive bureaucratic machinery as an economic shock absorber during a global crisis. By targeting things like administrative travel, diesel water pumps, and police patrolling routes, the government recognises that its own operational footprint is a drain on energy. Before asking citizens to sacrifice their daily comforts and shift to public transport, the political leadership must enforce visible, top-down discipline on the bureaucracy to build moral authority and turn geopolitical survival into a collective, civic duty. Critics, however, say that this risks being limited to a PR exercise as opposed to an actual austerity drive.
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