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BHOPAL: Some important developments have taken place in Bhopal which might take the shape of confrontation between the Madhya Pradesh Government and the Central Government. One such development is the letter written by the state Governor Anandi Ben Patel to the Chief Secretary and Director General (DG) of Police.

Weekly Round-Up of Major Decisions of the Courts in India as also Legal Policy Developments

In a significant decision, the Bombay High Court has clarified the law on abortion in India. Abortion is legal in India. Every woman has a fundamental right to her sexual and reproductive autonomy and choose whether to retain her pregnancy or not. But this is not an absolute right, and is subject to certain exceptions in law, as prescribed in The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 (‘MTP’ Act).The MTP Act seeks to provide for the termination of certain pregnancies by registered medical practitioners. Section 3 of the Act provides that a registered medical practitioner can terminate a pregnancy up to 12 weeks, or two registered medical practitioners can terminate a pregnancy up to 20 weeks, if they are of the opinion that continued pregnancy would involve a risk to the pregnant woman’s life or cause grave injury to her physical or mental health, or there exists a substantial risk to the child’s health.The MTP Act further allows termination of pregnancy beyond twenty weeks, if the doctor opines that such termination is immediately necessary to save the life of a woman.

Power-hungry and ready to go to any lengths. The lame-duck Modi Government is going after political rivals with IT and CBDT. Modi, in an interview to a TV channel, said he cannot be blamed if there are skeletons in ‘Bhrast Nath’s’ cupboard, the simultaneous IT raids in Bhopal and Delhi is unearthing “cash” and “heads” of endangered wildlife.

Assam Gana Parishad (AGP), which is the state's major regional party born out of the Assam movement and forming state government in 1985 and 1996, is presently battling to stay relevant in state's politics. The party is contesting in three Lok Sabha seats — Dhubri, Barpeta and Kaliabor — in alliance with the BJP. It is to be mentioned that AGP had severed ties with the saffron party this year to register protest against the Citizenship Amendment Bill after it was passed in the Lok Sabha.

I am not in the business of predicting who will win and who lose before the elections are even held. The psephologists pore over detailed past data of wins and losses, constituency by constituency, then make sample surveys and probability calculations.

It is now almost certain that the BJP will return to power, but not with a majority of its own, which will make it head a less close-knit coalition than at present.

Is the Bharatiya Janata Party playing safe by calling its ‘Ghosna Patra’ – which by definition every political party manifesto released before an election is – ‘Sankalp Patra’? Are Narendra Modi and Amit Shah trying to bluff the people into playing another game of dice, heads you lose, tails we win? ‘Ghosna’ or Sankalp, what's common to 2014 and 2019 manifestos is both are a montage of promises. Line them up side by side and you’ll stumble on promises made and promise not kept; promises now made with a question mark.

MK Stalin sits pretty in Tamil Nadu with perception with him and opinion polls saying that the DMK will win the most number of Tamil Nadu Lok Sabha seats. There is also talk that Stalin will be king, and kingmaker, both. If DMK trumps in the assembly bypolls, and wins enough number of the them, which are to be held with the Lok Sabha polls, Stalin could become Chief Minister. He was once Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.

BHOPAL: It was less a Income tax raid and more a clash between Madhya Pradesh Police and CRPF. Income tax raids on several houses and offices of some close aides of Chief Minister Kamal Nath began from the early hours of Sunday which in the afternoon turned into a direct confrontation between CRPF and state Police. Platinum Plaza, a multi-storey residential and commercial building was the main target of more than 100 strong Income tax personnel. The raiding Income tax team was accompanied by more than 150 CRPF personnel.