Commentaries by Sahil Najar | IN

Jailed Six Years Without a Verdict, Two Indian Activists Test the Right to a Speedy Trial

Jailed Six Years Without a Verdict, Two Indian Activists Test the Right to a Speedy Trial

Sahil Najar | IN

October 12, 2026 04:41:48 pm

On September 30, a Delhi High Court bench dismissed the latest bail appeals of Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, the third such rejection for Khalid and the second for Imam. The bench did not weigh the evidence against them afresh. It held, in its own words, that it was “bound by judicial discipline” to follow [...]

THIS DAY @ LAW

Congress set minimum federal sentences for drug offenders

On November 2, 1951, President Harry Truman signed the "Boggs Act" into law, setting minimum federal sentences for drug offenders.

Read Richard J. Bonnie and Charles Whitebread, The Forbidden Fruit and the Tree of Knowledge: An Inquiry Into the Legal History of American Marijuana Prohibition, 56 Virginia Law Review (1970).

Balfour Declaration issued

On November 2, 1917, British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour issued the United Kingdom's formal statement regarding Jewish people in Palestine. The Balfour Declaration was later endorsed by the World War I Allied Powers. It stated the British intention to support a national homeland for Jewish people and became a cornerstone of the Zionist movement.

Read the full Balfour Declaration as well as other documents regarding Israeli-Palestinian relations from the BBC.