The Supreme Court on Tuesday cautioned the Centre against “politicising” the Haj subsidy for Muslims, saying that any such attempt was fraught with serious consequences for the country’s secular fabric.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in South Africa for the fifth IBSA summit, sent a strong message to the Opposition and Team Anna from foreign soil on Tuesday that the “result of one byelection cannot be seen as a reflection on the government’s performance”.

The Central Vigilance Commission, concerned at attempts by the government to dilute its mandate to check corruption in the higher bureaucracy, has asked the Centre to ensure its recommendations on penal action against officials be implemented without delay. It says action should be taken and the matter not be referred to yet another panel of top officials.

Security concerns and global economic issues will top the agenda at the fifth IBSA summit in Pretoria on Tuesday. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who arrived here Monday evening, will raise India’s concerns on these matters, as well as piracy. The leaders of India, Brazil and South Africa will issue a joint declaration.

A person cannot be held guilty of an offence unless it is proved he had either the intention to commit it or the knowledge of committing it, a city court has said, while letting off a couple of the charges of assaulting a pregnant woman, thereby causing her miscarriage.

One of the most successful efforts to rehabilitate villagers from a tiger reserve is now being conducted at Madhya Pradesh’s Kanha park: 28 villages in the core reserve area have already been relocated and another 17 on the periphery are in the process of being shifted out.

A city court rebuked the police for its “lopsided” probe into recovery of headless bodies near Tihar jail four years ago after the alleged serial killer sought his discharge in one of the cases, saying the victim was not the one for whose murder he was being tried.

Several areas in West Delhi plunged into darkness on Tuesday evening after a major transformer caught fire in the area, forcing authorities to shut a 220KV transmission line.

The United States has deployed hundreds of troops along the Paki-stan-Afghanistan border near the tribal North Waziristan Agency as fears grow of an attack on the Haqqani network, security sources said.

Notorious carjacker Manoj Bakkarwala, who escaped from police custody, again dodged the city police on Monday morning. Few rounds were also fired in a high-voltage car chase between him and the police. According to the police, a team