Synopsis– Faulty understanding of the triple talaq law i.e., Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act of 2019, as well as the Islamic law on divorce is leading to misuse of the act. 

Introduction-  In the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act of 2019, a Supreme Court Bench led by Justice D Y Chandrachud observed that mother-in-law of the second respondent (wife) cannot be accused of the offence of pronouncement of triple talaq under the Act as the offence can only be committed by a Muslim man (husband). It clearly shows that the act is being misunderstood.  

Background of the anti-triple talaq law-  

• Anti-women divorce customs prevalent in pre-Islamic Arabia had been given a severe blow by the teachings of  great social reformer Prophet Muhammad.  
• On the basis that “old habits die hard”, unscrupulous men innovated ways and means to circumvent the Prophet’s noble teachings.  
• One of these was the practice of triple talaq — repeating the word “talaq” thrice — which was believed to effect instant dissolution of marriage leaving no room for any reconsideration or reconciliation.  
• Instead of defeating this innovation, law men of the time called it talaq-ul-bidat and declared it to be “sinful but effective”.  
• This concept remained in Muslim societies for centuries across the globe.  
• But due to its devastating effects on families and societies, country after country in Asia and Africa gradually abolished by legislation the detestable practice of triple talaq. 

Situation in India- 

India took a much longer time to follow suit. During British rule, courts kept this law alive as a  “sinful but effective” form of divorce after calling it a concept “bad in theology but good in law.”  

Post– Independence, some High Court judges like VR Krishna Iyer of Kerala and Baharul Islam of Assam tried to awaken the custodians of state authority to the need for its abolition.  

Finally, the practice of triple talaq was outlawed in the Shayara Bano case of 2017. The anti-triple talaq Act of 2019 was the outcome of this judicial reform. 

How provisions of Triple Talaq law are often misunderstood

• Misuse of Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (cruelty to a woman by her husband or his relatives) was once acknowledged by the apex court and formalized some measures. But under feminist pressure, the measures were withdrawn.  
• Anti-triple talaq law together with Section 498A is proving destructive for the families.  
  • • For Instance, in one triple talaq case in Kerala, a lawyer of a woman included her husband’s mother in the FIR filed against her husband in reference to the said IPC provision.  
• Kerala High Court had refused bail to the accused husband’s mother. The case went to SC where SC highlighted the faulty applications os the act, that

• • • There is no specific provision in Section 7(c), or elsewhere in the Act, making Section 438 inapplicable to an offence punishable under the Ac 

• Section 7 of the 2019 act is particularly misunderstood. Many lawyer misbelief that it overrides the general provision for anticipatory bail under Section 438 of the Criminal Procedure Code.  

• • • For example, after enactment of the act, a man accused in the Triple talaq case sought anticipatory bail in the Bombay High Court. Lawyer argued that the non-obstante clause in Section 7, makes CrPC provision inapplicable.  
    • However, Court rejected the argument and granted bail to the person. 

• For understanding the common-sense fact that this Act is meant to discipline erring husbands only, the learned lawyers needed a learning session with the apex court. 

Conclusion

The verdict of SC is a significant step towards preventing the misuse of the anti-triple divorce law.

Synopsis: Conflicts like the one in Kerala over the power to summon the state legislature, will only add up to the already dismal performance of sessions of state legislatures.   

Issue of summoning the sessions in state legislature: 

The events in Kerala and Rajasthan are an abnormality.  

• Kerala Event: Lately, Kerala government recommended governor for summoning the state’s legislature for a one-day session to discuss the issue of farmers’ protest, but recommendation was turned down by governor on the ground that there is no emergent situation to meet the assembly on such short notice. 
• Event in Rajasthan: The Rajasthan governor had rejected the recommendation of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s government to call a session for proving the majority of his government.  
• Constitutional Provision: The state government is constitutionally empowered to call a session of the legislature. 
  • The dates and the duration of the session is decided by the council of ministers.  
  • Governor is communicated of their decision, who is constitutionally bound to act on most matters on the aid and advice of the government. 
  • The state legislature is then summoned by governor to meet for a session.  

Such conflicts between the governor and the government are hurdles in the functioning of state legislators, which are already suffering from dismal performances. 

Performance of state legislatures 

The data as follows depicts the dismal performance of the state legislature in their functioning; 

• Number of assembly meetings: In the last 20 years, state assemblies across the country, on average, met for less than 30 days in a year. But states like Kerala, Odisha, Karnataka are an exception.  

• • The Kerala Vidhan Sabha, for example, has on average met for 50 days every year for the last 10 years. 

• Performance of state legislatures: Legislatures meet for longer budget sessions at the beginning of the year. Then for the rest of the year fewer meetings are held just to meet the constitutional requirement that there should not be a gap of six months between two sessions of a legislature. 

What are the reasons for decline in the sitting days of the state legislature? 

The blame for the decline in the sitting days of the state legislatures rests with the government. 

• Interest of government: Legislatures are grounds for debate and giving voice to public opinion. As accountability institutions, they are responsible for asking tough questions to the government and highlighting uncomfortable truths.  

• • So, it is in the interest of a state government to organize lesser sittings of the legislature and bypass their inquiry. 

• Not enough time: Lesser number of sitting days also means that state governments are free to make laws through ordinances and when they assemble legislatures, there is little time for MLAs to inspect laws brought before them. 

What can be done? 

Continuous and close scrutiny by legislatures is essential for improving governance in the country. 

• Increasing the number of working days for state legislatures is a first step in increasing their effectiveness. One way to do that is by assembling legislatures to meet all around the year.  
• In many mature democracies, a fixed calendar of sittings of legislatures, with breaks in between, is announced at the beginning of the year. It allows the government to plan its calendar for bringing in new laws.  
• It also has the advantage of increasing the time for debate and discussion in the legislative assembly. And with the legislature sitting throughout the year, it gets rid of the politics surrounding the convening of sessions of a legislature. 

Synopsis: Recent controversy on recent farm laws highlights the importance of following parliamentary procedure not just in letter but in spirit as well. 

Introduction  

There are many benefits attached to the new farm laws for farmers and economy as well, still farm bills are facing heavy opposition. This situation could have been avoided by using parliamentary processes properly.   

Even though request for an actual vote was made, 3 bills were passed by Voice vote, without any discussion with the opposition.  

What are the benefits attached to farm laws?  

There are strong indications that the new law is desirable and will bring in much-needed market reforms in the overregulated farm sector. 

• Role of market forces: The benefits of relaxing the non-agricultural sector of the economy in 1991 established that, in the end, market forces cannot be ignored.  
• No contrary evidence:  There is no contrary evidence that the new proposals will adversely affect farmers in the long run. 
• No justification for MSP:  There is no justification for a minimum support price regardless of demand and supply. 

• For instance, A pharmaceutical company doesn’t need to be assured of a minimum price for essential medicines that it produces, irrespective of whether the quantity produced far exceeds the demand. 

• Experience with over-regulation: Under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, several control orders were passed on products such as cement and steel, and these were planned to ensure their availability at fair prices. 

• The result was just the opposite: Severe shortages, a huge black market and massive corruption. 

How the parliamentary process is being neglected?  

• Even though a request for an actual vote was made, 3 bills were passed by Voice vote, without any discussion with the opposition. 
• Participation of opposition: though government has a clear majority in Parliament, the Opposition is also a part of parliament. Its involvement is necessary for parliamentary procedures. 
• laws are supposed to represent the “wisdom of the legislature” that involves a careful examination of their provision by select committee and members. But In fact, fewer and fewer bills are being referred to as Select Committees.  
• While 71 percent of the bills were referred to a Select Committee in the 15th Lok Sabha (2009-14), only 25 percent were so referred in the 16th Lok Sabha (2014-19). 

Significance of Parliamentary Process  

Parliament is at the heart of a constitutional democracy based on the Westminster model and following parliamentary procedures builds trust among the different stakeholders, other than the following benefits.  

• Expertise of Select Committee: Referring the bills to a Select Committee provides assurance of scrutiny to citizens and serves the following purposes:  

• A detailed deliberation on the Bill, It remains aloof from the sometimes, surcharged atmosphere prevailing in both Houses of Parliament. 
• The Select Committee can, and often does, get the views of experts on the impact, particularly economic, of a proposed law. 

• Preserves Constitutional morality: As per Dr. B.R.Ambedkar, the essence of constitutional morality is respect and adherence to constitutional conventions. 
• Tackle the vested interests: Following constitutional conventions always pays dividends. It benefits the nation and preserves the dignity of Parliament.  

• The delay that arises by following parliamentary procedures acts as a proof that the new law is apt and those opposing it have placed their short-term vested interests ahead of the national interest. 

What are the steps should be taken? 

• The best way to demonstrate the beneficial effects of the laws is to implement them in select states or districts for a year, before countrywide implementation.  

• It is worthwhile considering the implementation of a controversial law on a trial basis. The feedback can finally prove whether the new law can achieve its objects and is beneficial to the nation. 
• It can also reveal flaws in the new law. For instance, if GST had been implemented on a trial basis for select products, it would have revealed the serious technological deficiencies and the nation would have benefitted by delaying its implementation. 

Source: Click here

News: Government has decided to cancel the Winter session of Parliament, citing fears over a surge in cases due to covid-19 pandemic.

Facts:

• Constitution on Summoning of Parliament: The summoning of Parliament is specified in Article 85 of the Constitution.Like many other articles, it is based on the provision of Government of India Act,1935.
• Power to convene Session: The power to convene a session of Parliament rests with the Government.The decision is taken by the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs which is formalised by the President, in whose name MPs are summoned to meet for a session.
• Parliamentary Calendar: India does not have a fixed parliamentary calendar.By convention (i.e. not provided by the Constitution), Parliament meets for three sessions in a year.
  • The longest, Budget Session(1st session) starts towards the end of January and concludes by the end of April or first week of May. The session has a recess so that Parliamentary Committees can discuss the budgetary proposals.
  • The second session is the three-week Monsoon Session, which usually begins in July and finishes in August.
  • Winter Session(3rd session) is held from November to December.

Additional Facts:

Terms associated with Sessions of Parliament:

• Adjournment: Termination of the sitting of the House which meets again at the time appointed for the next sitting.
• Adjournment sine die – Termination of a sitting of the House without any definite date being fixed for the next sitting.
• Prorogation: It means the termination of a Session of the House by an order made by the President under article 85(2)(a) of the Constitution.  The Prorogation of the House may take place any time even while the House is sitting.However, prorogation usually follows the adjournment of the sitting of the House sine die.
• Dissolution: It means the end of the life of the Lok Sabha either by an order made by the President under article 85 (2) (b) of the Constitution or on the expiration of the period of five years from the date appointed for its first meeting.Dissolution puts an end to the representative character of the individuals who at the time compose the Lok Sabha.

Context: The Karnataka’s cow protection bill, like similar laws in other states affects rural economy.

Background

• Recently, Karnataka state’s Vidhan Sabha passed the contentious cattle protection bill that had been passed by the state assembly 10 years ago which could not enter the statute book because the governor refused assent.

What are the issues involved?

• Lack of debate: The Speaker did not give the opposition adequate time to voice their opinion.
• Disturbs existing network: The relationship between the farmer and the butcher is threatened as witnessed in similar stares like Uttar Pradesh.
• Indiscriminate powers to law agency: The proposed law stipulates a prison term of three to five years and fines ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 5 lakh for purchasing or disposing of cattle for slaughter and gives the police sweeping powers to search premises and vehicles.
• Affects farmers whose livelihood is dependent on Livestock: the cow becomes virtually uneconomical for the farmer after eight years when its milk output falls. Also, such animals along with male cattle not required for draught and breeding purposes.
• Misuse of law: As observed by Allahabad High Court, The Act is being used against innocent persons.

Context: The Uttar Pradesh government has cleared an ordinance that enables the state to police and punish inter-faith marriages with “the sole intention of changing a girl’s religion”.

Discuss the issues associated with the law against love jihad.

• Law against fundamental rights: By clearing the ordinance, the state government has trespassed the fundamental right to marry guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.
• Problem with this law: Neither clan council nor khap panchayat, and certainly not a democratic government, has the licence to vet personal choices as right or wrong.
• “Love jihad” ordinance is being peddled as measures taken for the security and “respect” of women.
• Law can be abused: Allowing the police to examine subjective “intentions” of men and women entering a marriage sets the law up for widespread abuse.
• It legitimises a rank communal fantasy: It continues the pessimistic politics that seeks to organise Hindu unity by fuelling the anxieties about the ‘Muslim Other’ and treasures it in law.
• Patriarchal fear: The law’s scrutiny is specially focussed on a woman’s change of faith reveals the patriarchal fear behind it.
• An attempt to police women’s lives: The pretentiousness of protection, indeed, masks a fear of female sexuality that will not be contained by caste and clan barriers.
• It is used to police women’s lives and choices, often by violence, as is evident in the history of “honour killings”.

Way forward

• The government must withdraw the proposed law as in the eyes of law men and women are not only members of religions, but individuals with “free will and choice”.

Context –Impact of Andhra Pradesh decentralization and inclusive development of all regions bill, 2020.

What is Andhra Pradesh Decentralization and Inclusive Development of All Regions Bill, 2020?

It is an act of Andhra Pradesh Legislature containing provisions relating to the decentralization of governance in the state of Andhra Pradesh so that establishments for additional two capitals can be made at any place outside Amaravati.

This law paves the way for three capitals for the state.

1. Amaravati– legislative capital.
2. Visakhapatnam– executive capital.
3. Kurnool– judicial capital.

The proposed three-capital plan claims to achieve the following-

• Equal development of different regions– The state government claims that it would allow an even development of the state. It would ensure justice to everyone and every region.
• Decentralization- It also claims it’s a good idea to decentralize power across the state as there have been several imbalances among the regions which had often led to agitations. Three capitals will lead to equitable development.
• Growth perspective– Furthermore, it would be a boost to urbanization and then economic development. In India, cities contribute anywhere between 59% and 70% of the GDP.

Why implementing this idea will be difficult?

1. Coordination and logistics fear: Coordinating between seats of legislature and executive in separate cities will be easier said than done, and with the government offering no specifics of a plan, officers and common people alike fear a logistics nightmare.
2. Hamper administrative efficiency – Executive capital Visakhapatnam is 700 km from judicial capital Kurnool, and 400 km from legislative capital Amaravati. The Amaravati-Kurnool distance is 370 km. The time and costs of travel will be significant.

• Infrastructure requirements: It will need constructing new buildings in the new capitals.

3. Environmental impact- Unrestrained real estate interests can co-opt local State institutions and sabotage environmental interests.
4. Impact on farmers– the Andhra government had acquired around 30 thousand acres of land approximately from the farmers in and around the Amaravati region. So the decision of changing the capital may affect most of the farmers living out there.

Way forward-

• The success of distributed development depends on a well-developed infrastructural network linking the growth centres.
• The ongoing processes of preparing the Master Plan and Strategic Plan for the Visakhapatnam Metropolitan Region are an opportunity to address environmental challenges.
• The bill is thin in details but offers hope in its broad contours of pursuing inclusive development through Zonal Planning and Development Boards.

Departmentally Related Standing Committees (DRSCs)

News: In the current Lok Sabha, 17 Bills were referred to committees.

Parliamentary Committees are established to study and deal with various matters that cannot be directly handled by the legislature due to their volume.

• Constitutional Provision: Indian Constitution mentions two kinds of parliamentary committees under Article 118 (1) of the constitution-
  • Standing Committees
  • Ad Hoc Committees

• Departmentally Related Standing Committees:
  • These are committees that examine bills, budgets and policies of ministries. DRSCs were first formed in 1993.
  • There are 24 such committees and between them, they focus on the working of different ministries.
  • Each committee has 31 MPs, 21 from Lok Sabha and 10 from Rajya Sabha.
  • They have a tenure of one year, then they are reconstituted and their work continues throughout the term of a Lok Sabha.
  • These members are to be nominated by the Speaker of Lok Sabha or the Chairman of Rajya Sabha respectively.
  • Ministers are not members; key committees like those related to Finance, Defence, Home etc are usually chaired by Opposition MPs.
  • Functions: DRSCs perform three important functions: examine Bills referred to them; select specific topics related to the ministries and examine implementation by the Government; and examine the budgetary outlays of the departments.
• Joint Parliamentary Committees (JPC): They are constituted for a specific purpose, with MPs from both Houses.
• Select Committee: They are formed for examining a particular Bill and its membership is limited to MPs from one House. Example: In 2019, Rajya Sabha referred the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2019 to a Select Committee of 23 of its MPs from different parties.

Functions of Departmentally Related Standing Committees (DRSCs)

1. DRSCs help Parliament in managing its business better. A committee of 30 is in a better position to examine a topic in-depth than by an assembly of 700.
2. They enable input from experts and those who may be directly affected by a policy or legislation. For example, the DRSCs often invite comments from the public and call people to testify.
3. Members can discuss issues and reach consensus in the committees without worrying about constituency pressures as it is outside direct public glare.
4. Anti-defection law does not apply to committees — therefore, decisions can be made out of the party lines.
5. Finally, due to specified areas members are able to build their expertise in that, which helps them scrutinise issues more thoroughly.

• When does a committee examine a Bill? A bill can reach a committee for examination in three ways:
  • When the minister piloting the Bill recommends to the House that his Bill be examined by a Select Committee of the House or a joint committee of both Houses.
  • If the minister makes no such motion, it is up to the presiding officer of the House to decide whether to send a Bill to a departmentally related Standing Committee.
  • A Bill passed by one House can be sent by the other House to its Select Committee.
• Result of sending a bill to a Committee:
  • The committee undertakes a detailed examination of the Bill. It invites comments and suggestions from experts, stakeholders and citizens. It then provides a report recommending measures to strengthen the bill.
  • The report of the committee is of a recommendatory nature.

Performance of the Parliament

In news: The decision to drop “Question Hour” during the Monsoon Session of Parliament, evoked serious concerns about the democratic functioning of the institution.

Brief Overview of the Indian Parliament:

The Parliament is the legislative organ of the Union government. The Indian Parliament comprises of the President and the two Houses – Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and Lok Sabha (House of the People). The President of India is the constitutional head of the executive. The Constitution describes the structure of parliament in Article 79.

Important Constitutional Provisions:

• Article 79: Constitution of Parliament.
• Article 80: Composition of The Council of States
• Article 81: Composition of The House of The People

Performance of the Parliament:

Lok Sabha:

• Parliament Sittings: Over the years, there has been a decline in the number of sittings of the Parliament. The Lok Sabha met for an average of 130 days in a year during the 1950s. However, these sittings reduced to 70 days in the 2000s.
• Question Hour: It allows Members of Parliament (MPs)to pose questions to ministers relating to government policies, and hold the government accountable for its actions. Between 2009 and 2014, Question Hour functioned for an average of 42% of its scheduled time. Between 2015 and 2019, the Lok Sabha could use just 61% of its total allotted time for Question Hour.
• Less time spent on discussing budgets and bills: the time spent on discussing the Budget has reduced from an average of 123 hours in the 1950s to 39 hours in last 10 years.
  • Debates and Motions: MPs raise issues of public importance in Parliament, and examine the government’s response to problems being faced by citizens through two methods:
  • Debate: The number of debates has decreased over the years. (Check infographic)
• Motion: There is a declining trend of these motion being effectively used by the opposition. (See infographic)
• Disruptions: Between 2012-2016, disruptions resulted in loss of 30% of the time in the Lok Sabha and 35% of the time in the Rajya Sabha. In last budget session, the number of productive hours was 53 hourse.

Rajya Sabha:

• Sittings: From 2014 to 2019, it held 18 sessions and 329 sittings and passed 154 Bills — which comes to less than one Bill in two sitting
• Legislative Output: In 2009-2014, it cleared 188 Bills and in 2004-09 it cleared 251 Bills.
• Question hour: The Rajya Sabha in 2015-19, used only about 40% of the total time available for question hour.

Performance of Parliamentary Committees

• Decrease in Sittings: Over the year, sittings of most of the Departmentally Related Standing Committees (DRSC) have decreased.
• Attendance of Members: Success of the Committee system depends on the participation of Members. Between 2009 and 2014, in the 16 DRSCs serviced by the Lok Sabha, on average, only 49% members were present for meetings.
• Referring of Bills: During the period of 16th Lok Sabha only 27% Bills were referred to Committees. This number is significantly lower than previous two Lok Sabhas.
• Other issues impacting the performance:
  • Politicisation: Over the last few years, committee members have been following strict party lines in committee meetings.
  • Lack of inclusion of experts: Committees examine issues that are technical in nature. However, at present committees lack expertise and research support.
  • Tenure for members: At present, the members are nominated to a Standing Committee for one year. This hinders development of technical expertise on a particular subject and better deliberation.

Synopsis: The report released by the Royal Institute of International Affairs (UK) recommends an arm’s length relationship with India due to rise of religious intolerance. 

Back ground 

• Recently, the Royal Institute of International Affairs (UK) have proposed a blueprint titled “Global Britain, Global Broker”, for Britain’s future foreign policy after Brexit. 
• As a matter of concern for India, the report has paid less attention to India’s role in the futuristic vision of a “Global Britain”. 
• The report has classified India as one of the “difficult four” countries along with Russia, Turkey and Saudi Arabia. India will be counted among the UK’s “rivals” or “awkward counterparts”. 

What was the reason given in the report for classifying India as one of the “difficult four” countries? 

The report highlights two major issues for that 

• First, according to the report the rise of Hindu nationalism in India is weakening the rights of Muslims and other minority religious groups. 

• This rise in intolerant majoritarianism is damaging the vision of a secular, democratic India envisioned by Nehru. 

• Second, the report labels India as a half-hearted supporter of liberal democracy and a country with mixed approaches to human rights abuses. 

Why the report’s criticism towards India is meaningless? 

Criticism of India over growing religious intolerance and the suppression of critique and dissent is not a surprise. Most of the diplomats from various countries have consented regarding this. For example, the Canada has voiced against the Kashmir internet shut down.  

But second criticism is particularly pointless. Despite being the world’s largest democracy, labelling India as a half-hearted supporter of liberal principles and institutions abroad is not correct, because, 

• India for long been unwilling to step up on the global stage to the responsibilities of “committed democracies” due to uneven playing field in today’s international order. 
• The 21st century Global order produces unevenly distributed rights, obligations, and burdens for post-colonial nations and the principle of equality and sovereignty of states still remains as a myth. 
• Even today, the post-colonial states such as India, do not enjoy full political and economic independence on how they make decisions at home, nor in their efforts to shape the agendas of international institutions. 

Thus, 2nd criticism of India can be precisely summarised in the words of Former Indian foreign secretary and national security advisor Shivashankar Menon. He said, “Encouragement by western international partners for India to “behave responsibly” usually means doing what they would like us to do”. 

 What is the way forward for India? 

• First, India need not look into the issue of UK distancing from India too seriously. No nation today can move forward without factoring in India. Even the report has highlighted this. 
• Second, India’s high-profile international activity in the next 2 years as elected member of the UN Security Council and as host of the 2023 G20 Summit should be effectively used to leverage India’s positions of influence in the international sphere.  
• Third, India needs to build on the critical and normative resources to inspire greater equality, legitimacy and inclusivity in the international sphere.  

Synopsis:  The Supreme court (SC) has stayed the implementation of farm laws. The decision is a case of violation of separation of powers.  

Background  

• Recently, the SC has stayed the implementation of three farm laws until further orders. 
• The SC has also given direction to set up a four-member committee to break the deadlock between farmers and the Centre. 
• Many experts opine that by this judgment the supreme court has encroached into political and administrative management without any legal basis and seen as a violation of the separation of powers. 

Are the reforms necessary? If yes, why it has been opposed? 

According to many agricultural experts, agriculture needs serious reform for achieving the following objectives. 

• To improve farmers’ incomes and well-being. 
• To increase crop diversification. 
• To make agriculture more environmentally sustainable. 

• To make subsidies less counterproductive.  
• To keep food inflation down, and ensure that nutrition reaches all. 

The government was right to think reforms were necessary. However, the government failed to gain the trust among Farmer communities by prioritising the wrong reforms.  For example, “choice of traders,” which did not tackle the underlying issues, but created more uncertainty. 

What are the negative implications of recent Supreme Court decision? 

The Supreme court (SC) decision has been criticised on the following grounds; 

• First, SC’s involvement in Farm bill issue will give a misleading impression that a distributive conflict can be resolved by technical or judicial means.  
• Second, by setting up a four-member committee to hear farmers’ grievances the SC has invaded into political territory. The role of judiciary is to determine unconstitutionality or illegality of law rather than mediating a political dispute.  
• Third, the court has lost its neutrality by seeking to break the momentum of a social movement.  

• • • Rather than facilitating the orderly and law-bound expression of protest the court has acted to defuse the genuine democratic protest by shifting the onus on the farmers to stop their protests. 

• Fourth, the court’s action will disrupt the normal political give and take in a democracy between the government and people. 

• Fifth, the court has redefined the function of mediation the court by violating the first rule of mediation. i.e., The mediators must be acceptable to all parties and appointed in consultation with them. Whereas the SC has Suo Moto appointed a four-member committee without any consultation with farmer groups. 
• Finally, the court has also positioned itself as an arbiter of national security. It admitted the Attorney General’s contention that farmers’ protests may be the vehicle for the Khalistan movement. 

What is the way forward? 

• In principle, any mediation to break the stalemate is welcome. But the mediation has to be a political process between the government and the people and it is the responsibility of the Parliament to fix the issue. 
• What the farmers need is clarity of law and the right to make their demands heard through the political process and civil society not the paternalism of the court 

The court, in the process of saving the government from being on the political back foot the court, has forfeited the very thing it needs most, the repository of trust among its citizens.

This article has been developed based on the Indian Express Article ‘Once upon a failed coup’.

Synopsis: Recent coup attempt in the US Capitol Building has been caused by several factors.

Why Capitol building coup failed in the US?

January 6 coup attempt by rioters in US Capitol hill refutes the traditional wisdom that coups take place in developing countries.

It was not a usual Military led coup, but a coup led by executive i.e. an executive coup led by President Donald Trump himself. It was aimed at forcing two Houses of Congress to overturn the presidential election results, lost by Trump.

Election system of US

• Election administration process of the US is very complicated. Unlike India, the US doesn’t have an independent election commission.
• States form an electoral college to certify the final outcome of the election process after people have cast their votes.
• At the final stage, the outcome certified by the states is finally accepted by US legislators. This was the stage ongoing on January 6.
• The vice-president presides over the process in US legislators. Mike pence (vice-president) refused to overturn the election on demand of Trump.
• At the completion of the process, the victory of Biden was ratified and he is set to take oath on Jan. 20^th.

What were the possible reasons behind coup attempt in the US?

2 main hypothesis are formulized to understand possible reasons for Trump behind this coup attempt:

1. First is the ideological reason, his commitment to restoring white supremacy was visible in his policies. Many rioters in the mob were carrying Confederate flags, which represent pre-civil war southern states, which stood to preserve slavery.
2. Second is a personal reason, Trump fears persecution for tax frauds, corruption, abuse of power and the latest one is for Abetting an insurrection.

Why scholars believe, coup happens in poor countries?

Scholar believes that coups happen only in poor countries due to the following reasons.

Poor democracies

1. In poor countries, oversight institutions like election commission or other bodies taking care of democratic processes are weaker and not able to go against the mighty politicians.
2. Government here are mighty and has much to lose. Their control on economy and society makes them subject to imprisonment and coercion, once out of power.

Developed democracies

3. In richer democracies, firstly government doesn’t control all sectors of society, thus not subject to imprisonment later.
4. Moreover, politicians have many opportunities after politics, thus they are not concerned about their well-being after government.

Coup in presidential vs parliamentary democracies

Coup in parliamentary democracies is less likely compared to Presidential.

• In Presidential democracies, the executive and the legislature are independently elected. If they are from different parties, clashes are possible between them.
• Whereas in parliamentary democracies both executive and the legislature are interlinked. Prime Minister is selected based on the majority in Parliament. Thus clashes between the executive and parliament are less likely.

What are the reasons behind the failure of coup attempt in US?

1. Firstly, military support was absent, thus mob failed to occupy the Capitol building. In richer democracies, armies rarely help leaders in electoral disputes.
2. Secondly, Even the Republican governments officials did not bow to the coup attempt of Trump.
   1. • In a leaked tape of Trump’s phone call to Georgia’s Secretary, he asked Secretary to “find 11,780 votes”. But he did not agreed to follow and declined to act on this.
3. Third, American Courts played a constructive role in ensuring the fair play in the election process.  Trump’s campaign filed more than 60 legal challenges from state courts to the Supreme Court but failed to secure any big gain.
   1. • During his term, Trump appointed many judges and expected them to secure decisions in his favor but they followed the law and made their decisions on this basis only.

A coup attempt in the history of US proves that no country in the world is safe from these types of challenges. It is only through the integrity of the established institutions in the country that this attempt could not succeed to turn around the democratic process of the country.

Thus, the transparency and integrity of institutions should not be undermined and kept at the highest level.

Context – With various issues arising, there is an opinion that democracy takes a hit and policymakers must take note of the drift. 

What are the areas of concern for India? 

1. Recession – The Indian economy is in recession and is among the worst performing among major nations
2. Cyber security attack– India ranked second only to the US among the countries most impacted by the ransom ware

• Ransom ware is a form of malware that encrypts a victim’s files. The attacker then demands a ransom from the victim to restore access to the data upon payment.

3. Concerns with India’ foreign relation–

• India-china dispute– China unwillingness to reach a reasonable settlement along the Line of Actual Control.
• India-Pakistan relations– China and Pakistan have signed a new military memorandum of understanding to boost their already close defence relationship.

4. West Asia– India has to balance its ties with all regional power in west Asia

• India’s close relation with Israel is another sore point with west Asia.

What are the Internal actions seem like threatening democracy in India? 

1. Revoking of Article 370- The government abolished the article that gives special status to Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcate the state into two separate union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
2. The anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act- The CAA is disturbing because it makes problematic distinctions between different groups of people based on religion and is pursuing a divide and rule policy
3. Electoral wins at any cost- Winning at any cost has become the sole motif of certain parties.

• Election are turning into conflict zones, they have become tinderboxes for communal, caste, political and other forms of violence.
• Majority versus the minority have become the stock-in-trade of some parties.

4. Constitutional protection and principles of natural justice as also freedom of the individual are at risk

• Love jihad– UP Cabinet cleared a draft ordinance against forceful inter-faith conversions — or the so-called “love jihad”.

5. Restrictions on Social media freedom- India is beginning to clampdown on social media platforms and enacts draconian laws.
6. Farmer’s protest- Latest example of imposing a measure without due discussion and acceptance of farmer and opposition.

Way forward-

• Policymaker needs acknowledge public fears and reassure people, especially in periods of uncertainty.

Democracy works on the principle of checks and balances. It is these checks and balances that prevent democracy from turning into majoritarianism.

What does the word Preamble mean?

Preamble is an introductory statement to any formal document in general, Statute and Constitution in particular. It contains the Philosophy and objectives of a document.

Which is the first country to have Preamble in Constitution?

When the USA got independence in 1775, The USA becomes the first country to have the written Constitution in the world. Apart from that the USA is also the first country to have Preamble in Constitution, Fundamental Rights in Constitution etc.

When the United Nations was formed in 1945, it took reference to the USA’s Preamble and released an UN Charter with reference to UN’s objectives.

Precursor to Indian Preamble:

Ever since the objective of freedom fighters to frame a Constitution for our free India, the idea of Introduction of Preamble into our Constitution gets stronger and stronger.

With this in the background an “Objective Resolution” was drafted by Jawaharlal Nehru in 1946 and unanimously adopted by the Constituent Assembly on 22 January 1947.

Preamble of Indian Constitution:

Indian Preamble is based on this Objective Resolution. By reading our Preamble we can understand the intention of our forefathers, the history behind its creation, and the core values and Principles of the nation.

Fun Fact: Even though Preamble is placed before all the Articles, It was drafted last, to ensure that it was in conformity with the Constitution.

What are the ingredients of Indian Preamble?

• The preamble basically gives the idea of the following things:
  • Source of the Constitution (From the people of India)
  • Nature of Indian State: Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic, Republic
  • Objectives of Constitution: Justice, Liberty, Equality and Fraternity
  • Date of its adoption: 26 Nov 1949

Fun Fact: From 2015, the date of adoption (26 Nov) of our Constitution is celebrated as Constitution Day of India.

Is our Preamble be a part of Constitution?

This is an interesting question for a debate itself.

• In Berubari Union Case of 1960 Supreme Court held “Though Preamble is the key to open the mind of the makers, Preamble is not a part of Constitution” and stated reasons such as,
  • Removing Preamble from Constitution does not affect the Values of Constitution
  • Preamble does not offer any Rights or Obligation on any organs of State
  • Preamble’s nature of non-justiciable (cannot enforceable in court of law) character
• The same question came up in the famous Kesavananda Bharati Case of 1973. But this time Supreme Court reversed its stance and held “Preamble is an integral part of Constitution” and stated reasons such as
  • Preamble plays an important role in the interpretation of statutes and provisions of the Constitution
• In Union of India vs LIC of India case 1995, Supreme court once again held “Preamble is an integral part of Constitution”

The amendments to Preamble:

• Since Preamble became part of Constitution, the Government of the day got the power to amend the Preamble.
• Preamble is amended only once so far. It was amended in 1976 by 42^nd Constitutional Amendment Act.
  • The amendment added the terms ‘Socialist’, ‘Secular’, and ‘Integrity’ in to the Preamble (though these were implicit in the Constitution the amendment made them explicit).

Ideals in the Preamble:

• Sovereign: The term means that India as an own independent State. Neither dependent on any external State nor a dominion of external State.
• Socialist: It means that the State aims to achieve socialist ends by democratic means. (i.e., both private and public sectors co-exist).
  • Supreme Court in Nakara Case 1982, stated “Indian socialism is a blend of Marxism and Gandhism, leaning heavily towards Gandhism”. This clearly defines the term Socialist in Preamble is by democratic mean.
• Secular: This term means that State gives Equal treatment to all the religions (Sarva Darma Sama Bhava) and India as a State have No religion.
  (For Ex, Pakistan declared themselves as Islamic State and Bhutan declared themselves as Tibetan Buddhist State)

• Democratic: The term simply means People ruling themselves through representatives.
• Republic: The term indicates that the political sovereignty is vested in people which means, head of the state (President) is elected by the people.
  • The term also indicates that the absence of any privileged class (All public offices opens to all).

Aspirations of Preamble:

Constitution always aim towards minimum interference by State, to ensure and maintain harmony throughout the nation. Preamble contains certain aspiration to achieve the same. They are:

• Justice: The word Just means The term Justice in Preamble is ensured to people through the provisions of Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles of State Policy.
  • The ideals of Justice comprise of social, economic, and political justice. The concept has been taken from the Russian Revolution (1917).
  • Social Justice – It aims to create a society without discrimination on any grounds like caste, colour, race, sex, religion, etc.
  • Economic Justice – It simply means non-discrimination between people on the basis of economic factors like their income, wealth, economic status etc.

Fun Fact: A combination of Social and Economic justice denotes Distributive Justice.

• Political Justice – It implies that all the people have an equal political right in various domains such as access to political offices, voice in government, etc.

• Equality: It implies absence of any special privileges to any section of society and all the people will have equal opportunities without any discriminations.
  • Like Justice, Equality also comprises of Civic, Political and Economic equality.
• Liberty: ‘Liberty’ in simple term means Freedom for people to choose their way of life, political views, profession, behaviour in society, etc. Liberty does not mean absolute freedom to do anything, there are few checks and balances set by the law, which every citizen has to follow.
• Fraternity: The term implies a sense of brotherhood and an emotional attachment with the country and the people.

• Liberty, Equality and Fraternity are called as Unity of trinity. It is so called because all three will act harmoniously to bring out the best and one cannot act without another.

Preamble as a whole:

By reading Preamble one will get the comprehensive understanding about the Nature of Indian society, our ideals and aspirations as a nation and also as an individual.

That is why N.A.Palkhiwala, a notable Jurist and Constitutionalist have described “Preamble as the identity card of the Constitution”. Not only him various other political thinkers, Constitutionalists and Jurists have also praised Preamble similarly.

Context- The elected must protect all the unelected instruments of democracy- – judiciary, media and civic organizations.

What is check and balance in the democracy?

Checks and balances, principle of government under which separate branches are empowered to prevent actions by other branches and are induced to share power.

• Democracies have developed systems of efficient checks and balances — elected and unelected institutions. Such a balance is critical to their success.
• Democracies can be harmed if the rulers succeed in jeopardizing the other pillars like the judiciary and free press.

What were Aristotle [ancient Greek philosopher] views on different models of government?

According to Aristotle-

• Monarchies were for the benefit of the monarchs.
• Oligarchies for the benefit of men with means.
• And democracies were for the benefit of men without means.

What were Mahatma Gandhi and Ambedkar views on democracy?

1. Gandhi’s View

• He was a firm believer of Ahimsa based stateless ruled based on self-regulation by individual. He considered democracy as a means to achieve his “Ram Rajya”. While this would make the country an ideal state, the notion was utopian.
• He believed in decentralization of power and self sufficiency of villages which shall be brought in by democracy.
• And laid stress on the individualism provided by democracy. Individualism was important encouraging the individual to surrender to society to achieve his selfless society.

2. Amdedkar’s views–

• He belonged to a backward caste and from his early childhood faced various forms of discrimination in the society.
• For him democracy was not limited to only political spheres but extended to social, religious, economic spheres of life as well, that no person should be arbitrarily discriminated against and for this he fought for his entire life.

For Gandhi, democracy meant the weak getting the same chance as the strong and for Ambedkarji, it was about giving voice to voiceless.

3. For successful democracy – Both believed that the parliamentary majorities need to be restrained through constitutional ethics and public morality.

• Constitutional ethics is about leaders respecting constitutional order, conventions and institutions.
• Gandhi’s final message to the congress to convert itself into a lok Sevak Sangh and work at the grassroots for social, economic and moral independence.

Conclusion-

• India’s democracy, as envisaged by the makers of the constitution, thrived essentially because of the respect of the leaders for the ethical constitutionalism and moral activism of the grassroots activists.
• Indian democracy has been immensely benefitted from such diverging viewpoints. The core values which our freedom fighters stood for are still the basic structure on which our constitution proudly stands.

Context: Problems faced by the leading democracies in the world.

What are the issues that are threatening the Democracies?

• Identity crisis: The issues of identity, or threats to identity, are becoming an important issue in elections, across democracies.
• Menace of Fake news: Manipulation of grievances by using psychometric techniques and use of ‘deep fakes’ made possible through Artificial Intelligence, further enhances the threat to current notions of democracy.
• Terrorism is resurfacing with renewed vigour: The IS, that was thought to be defeated following the victories achieved in Syria and Iraq towards the end of 2018, has recently carried out attacks in France (Paris, Nice) and in Austria (Vienna).It reminds of the transnational character of the threat it poses to democratic countries.
• Informational autocracy: There is a growing concern across the globe about increasing efforts to manipulate information in order to perpetuate power. For example, the efforts made by the U.S. President, Donald Trump, to negate the verdict of the recently held presidential elections

What are the Problems specific to European democracy?

• Economic uncertainty: With a resurgent COVID-19 pandemic, an uncertain Brexit will further damage the prospects of both the United Kingdom and Europe.
• Threat to secularism:
• The recent wave of terrorist attacks, beginning with the beheading, recently, of a Paris schoolteacher by an Islamic State (IS) supporter, followed by IS violence in Nice, have raised questions on long-held secular beliefs.
• French President Emmanuel Macron and French leaders have been openly harsh against radical Islam

What are the Problems specific to   Indian democracy?

• Polarisation: The enactment of Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the National Register of Citizens have created a deep religious divide among its citizens.
• Challenges to Internal security: With growing tensions in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), Pakistan’s efforts to push terrorists in larger numbers is leading to large scale casualties especially among the Indian Army and security forces personnel.
• Failure of India’s bargaining strategy: India has been left out of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), world’s biggest trade bloc which covers almost a third of the world’s economy.
• International isolation: Provocation by Pakistan by holding of Assembly elections in Gilgit-Baltistan and India’s steady marginalization in Afghanistan where the control of the Taliban is increasing confirms India’s isolation in international arena.

In news: The passing away of Kesavananda Bharati, led to a debate on the famous doctrine of basic structure propounded by the Supreme Court.

What is the Basic Structure Doctrine?

• The “Basic Structure” doctrine is a doctrine made from judicial innovation specific to Indian context. The doctrine prescribes that certain features of the constitution are essential for the functioning of the state. Such features are beyond the limits of the amending powers of the Parliament.
• The word “Basic Structure” is not mentioned in the Constitution of India. The concept developed gradually with the tussle between the Parliamentary power to amend the constitution and judiciary’s power to review such amendments.

The concept was recognised for the first time in the Kesavananda Bharati case in 1973.

Evolution of the Basic Structure Doctrine

• 1951: The First Constitution Amendment Act, 1951: It was challenged in the Shankari Prasad vs. Union of India case. The Supreme Court held that the Parliament, under Article 368, has the power to amend any part of the constitution including fundamental rights.
• 1964: Sajjan Singh v. State of Rajasthan: The Constitution has “basic features” was first theorized in 1964, by Justice J.R. Mudholkar in the case of Sajjan Singh v. State of Rajasthan. He questioned whether the ambit of Article 368 included the power to alter a basic feature or rewrite a part of the Constitution.
• 1967: Golak Nath vs State of Punjab case: The Supreme Court overruled its earlier decision. The Supreme Court held that the Parliament has no power to amend Part III of the constitution as the fundamental rights are transcendental and immutable.
• 1971: The Parliament passed the 24th Constitution Amendment Act. The act gave the absolute power to the parliament to make any changes in the constitution including the fundamental rights.
• 1971: The 25th Amendment to the Indian Constitution curtailed the right to property, and permitted the acquisition of private property by the government for public use, on the payment of compensation which would be determined by the Parliament and not the courts
• 1973: in Kesavananda Bharti vs. State of Kerala case, the Supreme Court upheld the validity of the 24th Constitution Amendment Act by reviewing its decision in Golaknath case. The Supreme Court held that the Parliament has power to amend any provision of the constitution, but doing so, the basic structure of the constitution is to be maintained.
• 1981: Waaman Rao case: The SC adhered to the doctrine and clarified that the doctrine would apply to constitutional amendments after April 24^th

Important Supreme Court Judgements and List of Basic Structure Elements:

Synopsis: The Allahabad high court’s recent decision to strike down the provisions of the Special Marriage Act, 1954 that make it mandatory for couples to publish a 30-day public notice of their intent to marry is a significant and much-needed correction.

About the Special Marriage Act

• • The Special Marriage Act was originally enacted in 1872 to provide a framework for inter-caste and inter-religious marriages.
  • The Act allows the solemnization of marriages (performing the public ceremony/rites of marriage) without any religious customs or rituals. The law solemnizes marriages by the way of registration.
  • As per Section 5 of the Special Marriage Act, marriages irrespective of the religion of the couple require parties to give a 30-day public notice of their intention to marry before solemnizing their marriage
  • The provision of mandatory 30 days’ notice period ended up giving vigilante groups, families hostile to inter-faith and inter-caste unions with disproportionate powers to police young couples.
  • The Act is applicable to all Indian citizens and Indian nationals who live in abroad.
  • Allahabad High Court observed the Special Marriage Act as ‘one of the earliest endeavors towards Uniform Civil Code.

About the case 

Recently, in response to a writ petition filed, Allahabad High Court gave a judgment that would have far-reaching impacts.

• • In its conclusion, the HC stated, though the couple wanted to marry under the Special Marriage Act, the mandatory provision for 30-day notice, under section 5 of the act, compelled them to take the easier route of religious conversion.
  • Thus, Section 5 acting as a barrier to inter-faith couples, willing to marry under the secular SMA rather than taking religious conversion routes.
  • On this basis, the Court allowed couples not to publish the mandatory 30-day notice of their intention to marry.
  • Also, the court allowed the individuals, who desire to have more information about their counterparts, to opt for publication of notice under Section 6 of the Act. Such publication of notice under free will not be a violation of fundamental rights due to free choice.
  • The court also noted that when marriages under personal law do not require a notice or invitation for objections, such a requirement for inter-faith couples’ is obsolete in secular law and cannot be forced on a couple.

• • As a result, many preferred to convert and marry under personal laws, rather than under the Special Marriage Act, 1954 to prevent themselves from harassment.

Why the Allahabad high court’s decision is regarded as a significant step?

The high court’s ruling against the mandatory need for couples to publish a 30-day public notice has been praised for the following reasons,

• • First, the decision comes at the right time where the anti-conversion ordinances in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have endorsed the state intrusions on inter-personal relationships.  The decision will protect the primacy of individual autonomy.
  • Second, the HC ruling is in line with The Law Commission of India report in 2012 that recommended keeping a check on the unnecessary interference by caste assemblies in sagotra, inter-caste or inter-religious marriages.
  • Third, The HC judgment reaffirms the constitutional protection to minorities as even today a minuscule of minority of marriages are, inter-faith unions.
  • Fourth, it is in line with a series of landmark Supreme Court judgments that are against societal and state interference in personal affairs and firmly establishes personal liberty and privacy to be fundamental. For example,

• • • Puttaswamy v Union of India, that recognise the right to privacyas a fundamental right
    • The Hadiya case,right to choose one’s partner.
    • In Navtej Singh Johar case: The ruling that decriminalised homosexuality.

• • It will be a body blow to Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020 which have provisions such as

• • • Declaring conversion of religion by marriage to be unlawful
    • Mandating a 60-day notice to the District Magistrate
    • Requiring the Magistrate to conduct a police inquiry to know the real intention behind the conversion.

• • As the Special Marriage Act is a central legislation, couples across the country seeking to marry under the law will benefit from the liberal ruling of the provisions.
  • It paves way for abolishing and cleansing obsolete Victorian-era protectionist provisions in other laws as well.

The Allahabad High Court judgement is a reminder and a warning that the constitution remains the bulwark against an overreaching state policy such as the anti-conversion ordinance in UP and MP.

Synopsis:  The Supreme court (SC) has stayed the implementation of farm laws. The decision is a case of violation of separation of powers.  

Background  

• Recently, the SC has stayed the implementation of three farm laws until further orders. 
• The SC has also given direction to set up a four-member committee to break the deadlock between farmers and the Centre. 
• Many experts opine that by this judgment the supreme court has encroached into political and administrative management without any legal basis and seen as a violation of the separation of powers. 

Are the reforms necessary? If yes, why it has been opposed? 

According to many agricultural experts, agriculture needs serious reform for achieving the following objectives. 

• To improve farmers’ incomes and well-being. 
• To increase crop diversification. 
• To make agriculture more environmentally sustainable. 

• To make subsidies less counterproductive.  
• To keep food inflation down, and ensure that nutrition reaches all. 

The government was right to think reforms were necessary. However, the government failed to gain the trust among Farmer communities by prioritising the wrong reforms.  For example, “choice of traders,” which did not tackle the underlying issues, but created more uncertainty. 

What are the negative implications of recent Supreme Court decision? 

The Supreme court (SC) decision has been criticised on the following grounds; 

• First, SC’s involvement in Farm bill issue will give a misleading impression that a distributive conflict can be resolved by technical or judicial means.  
• Second, by setting up a four-member committee to hear farmers’ grievances the SC has invaded into political territory. The role of judiciary is to determine unconstitutionality or illegality of law rather than mediating a political dispute.  
• Third, the court has lost its neutrality by seeking to break the momentum of a social movement.  

• • • Rather than facilitating the orderly and law-bound expression of protest the court has acted to defuse the genuine democratic protest by shifting the onus on the farmers to stop their protests. 

• Fourth, the court’s action will disrupt the normal political give and take in a democracy between the government and people. 

• Fifth, the court has redefined the function of mediation the court by violating the first rule of mediation. i.e., The mediators must be acceptable to all parties and appointed in consultation with them. Whereas the SC has Suo Moto appointed a four-member committee without any consultation with farmer groups. 
• Finally, the court has also positioned itself as an arbiter of national security. It admitted the Attorney General’s contention that farmers’ protests may be the vehicle for the Khalistan movement. 

What is the way forward? 

• In principle, any mediation to break the stalemate is welcome. But the mediation has to be a political process between the government and the people and it is the responsibility of the Parliament to fix the issue. 
• What the farmers need is clarity of law and the right to make their demands heard through the political process and civil society not the paternalism of the court 

The court, in the process of saving the government from being on the political back foot the court, has forfeited the very thing it needs most, the repository of trust among its citizens.

News: The Supreme Court has stayed the implementation of Three Farm Laws until further Orders.

Facts:

Summary of the Supreme Court Order:

• Stay on Farm Laws: Implementation of three farm laws namely The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act and The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act have stayed.
  • • The stay on their implementation means the Centre cannot, for the time being, proceed with any executive actions to enforce the laws.
• No Retrospective Action: No farmer must be dispossessed or deprived of his title as a result of any action taken under the laws.
• Committee Formed: The court formed a four-member committee of experts to listen to the grievances of the farmers on the farm laws and the views of the government and make recommendations. The Committee shall be provided with a place at Delhi and Government to bear its expenses and give it secretarial assistance
• Functions of Committee: The representatives of all the farmers’ bodies whether they are holding a protest or not and whether they support or oppose the laws shall p Supreme Court stays  farm laws articipate in the deliberations of the Committee and put forth their viewpoints. The Committee should file the report within 2 months before the Supreme Court.

Article Source

Further Reading on Farm Laws: https://blog.forumias.com/issue-of-farm-bills/

Synopsis: The issue of public consultation in the project development process should not be underestimated.

Introduction

In the recent judgment of the Supreme Court, Rajeev Suri v. Delhi Development Authority, Court granted its approval to the proposed redevelopment of the Central Vista in the national capital. 

What are the changes proposed?

• In 2009, the Central Vista was considered as a Grade-I heritage precinct after extensive public consultation, which meant that any development inside the area had to be “regulated and controlled” without damaging its impressive style.
• However, the Redevelopment plan includes taking down a number of post-Independence buildings, including the National Museum.

Read more:

• Issues with Central Vista Project
• Central Vista Judgment

Issues in the judgment on central Vista project

Following were 2 issues in the Central Vista Judgment, as per Suhrith Parthasarathy, the advocate of Madras High Court;

• Court refused to acknowledge the existence of a right to public participation, a right, which ought to be seen as fundamental in a democracy.
• Delhi Development Act, 1957 mandated opportunity to the public to place their objections on the record. Although objections were invited from the public, a mere three-days’ notice was given for the hearing on those complaints
  • However, majority judgment ruled that the law does not make personal hearings mandatory.
  • Issues: 2 issues are involved in this case:
    1. In the past SC itself held that arbitrary state action violates fundamental rights under article 14 i.e. sufficient time should be accorded to the public if any big change is being introduced to imp. Acts like DDA.
    2. For Public to scrutinise the project, authentic technical information on the project was available in the public domain.

Issues in general in the public projects

Public participation and architectural services procurement are 2 of several areas that are in urgent need of improvement; 

The issue of public Participation 

• Horizontal accountability ensures check on government, by creating connected state organizations such as heritage committees and environmental regulators. 
• Vertical accountability requires citizen oversight. Citizens are asking for an improved participatory process.  

• • • Government argues that horizontal accountability is in place. Provisions for consultation although are not absent, but the process of consultation is vague. 
    • Judgment in central Vista is also not clear on the matter of public participation. 
    • Development of Land Acquisition act provides a few lessons that have spelt out consent required from a minimum number of landowners. 

Process of architectural services procurement 

• The process of choosing a designer for a public project needs improvement as there is a lack of evaluation criteria and standards for design. Also, weightage is given to lower fees instead of better designs. 
• The architecture firms face entry barriers as their expertise is judged on the basis of their company’s turnover. The unreasonable revenue conditions make it difficult for many firms to qualify and also reduce the pool of choice. 

Way Forward

• First, according to the dissenting judge, the most basic principles of procedural fairness require the state to make adequate and intelligible disclosures. It becomes more important as the project will have permanent and irreversible consequences.

• Second, for improving consultation, regulations and process have to clearly state what prior disclosures are required, when meetings have to be held and reasons for accepting and declining suggestions should be listed properly. 
• Third, the government adopted the Quality and cost based selection (QCBS) for choosing designers. This method specifies requirements for consultants, places higher weightage on their technical capability and lower weightage on financial proposals. 
• Fourth, in order to reduce the entry barrier, one can consider the suggestions made by the Architects’ Council of Europe. It suggests dropping turnover requirements and emphasized qualitative selection criteria. 

• • Weightage given to design value has to be clear and fixed as more than 65% of the registered architects in India are below 35 years and many firms are medium-sized, such changes are all the more required. 

News: The Bombay High Court has held that the sale of items, claiming that they possess miraculous or supernatural powers via television advertisement is illegal.

Facts:

What was the matter?

• A petition was filed seeking a direction and injunction to prevent advertisements on television channels that promote the sale of articles like Hanuman Chalisa Yantra.
• The petitioner had come across advertisements in 2015 on TV claiming special, miraculous and supernatural properties/qualities in Hanuman Chalisa Yantra prepared by one Baba Mangalnath who had achieved ‘siddhi’ (supernatural powers) and was blessed by Lord Hanuman.

What is the Judgement?

• The court held that using the name of any God and claiming that it has supernatural qualities is “illegal” and falls under the Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Act.
• The court observed that the objectives quoted in the Black Magic Act can be achieved mainly through education.
  • Section 3 of the Black Magic Act prohibits not only commission of acts of black magic, evil practices but also propagation and promotion of such practices and magic. Section 3(2) of the Act provides that abetment of such propaganda is also an offence.
• Quoting the fundamental duty to develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry, the Court said that the reformists like Mahatma Phule and Babasaheb Ambedkar who worked to remove evil practices and spread awareness against superstition, were born on this soil.

Article Source

Supreme Court pronounced 2-1 judgment and cleared the Central Vista Redevelopment Project.

Petition challenging the Centre’s change-of-land-use notification of March 2020 for 86 acres of land was filed in SC.

Following statements were put forward by the majority judgment and dissenting judge:

More about judgment

SC Court in its judgment held that it found no issues in the following orders and found them as per laws and procedures.

• “No Objection” by the Central Vista Committee (CVC);
• “Approval” by the Delhi Urban Art Commission (DUAC) as per the DUAC Act, 1973;
• “Prior approval” by the Heritage Conservation Committee (HCC) under Building Byelaws for Delhi, 2016.”
• Exercise of power by central government under DDA (Delhi Development Authority) Act, 1957.
• Environmental Clearance (EC) recommendation for the project by the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC).

SC in its judgment also made a statement regarding the limits on its powers. As per the bench, development policies of the Government of the day must be debated in the Parliament. The role of the Court is limited to examining their constitutionality and not to govern.

Further, it asks for the creation of smog towns and deployment of smog guns to mitigate the pollution from construction materials and directs that waste management at the site be subjected to constant monitoring. 

What were the issues raised in the petition challenging Central Vista Project?

Supreme Court was hearing the petition on the following main grounds, put forward by the petitioner:

1. Change of land use: DDA in its notification made changes in the land use to facilitate the use of public open spaces such as a district park and children’s play area for the use of government office.
2. Violations of municipal law: consultation with Delhi Urban Commission (DUAC) had to be completed at the plan conception stage itself.
   1. In the absence of a comprehensive consultation, the approvals were granted without proper application of mind.
3. Violations of environmental law: Parliament building was granted environmental clearance from the Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change without any Environment Impact Assessment (EIA).
4. Change in heritage Status: Heritage Conservation Committee allowed the demolition of post-independence constructions by redefining the ‘Heritage status’.
5. Central Vista Committee(CVC): As per the petitioner, CVC was set up to rush the approvals and it consists of the members, who were proponents of the central vista project. Thus, there is an apparent conflict of interest. 

For more Info. on Issues: Issues with Central Vista Project

What is Central Vista and Central Vista Redevelopment Project?

History of Central Vista development

• Britain’s King George V on December 12, 1911, at his coronation announced the transfer of the seat of the Government of India from Calcutta to the ancient Capital of Delhi.
• This 20 years-long project of Central Vista development was led by architects Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker. It was completed in 1927 and inaugurated by Viceroy Lord Irwin.
• Central Vista is 3.2 kilometre area in Delhi housing Parliament House, Rashtrapati Bhavan, North and South Blocks, Rajpath, India Gate, National Archives and the then princes’ houses around India Gate.
• In the 1962 Master plan of Delhi, site was declared a heritage precinct as an “important site to meet the aspirations of a rich culture”.

About the Central Vista Redevelopment Project

• Project was announced by Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs in 2019 as a redevelopment project to give a new identity to the ‘power corridor’ of India.
• Redevelopment project includes
  • Construction of a new parliament next to existing one,
  • Prime minister and vice-president’s residences along with 10 building blocks that will accommodate all government ministries and departments.
  • Revamping of the 3-km-long Rajpath — from Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate.
• Project will change the structure of the 86-acre area in Lutyens’ Delhi that shows off India’s iconic buildings such as South and North blocks of Central Secretariat, Parliament House, and Rashtrapati Bhavan.
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  Parliament Complex

• Complete project is estimated to cost around Rs. 20,000 crores. Of this amount, around Rs. 1000 crores is allocated for construction of Parliament Building.
• It will be a triangular-shaped Parliament building and spans across over 64,500 square metres.
• It will be able to accommodate 336 more Lok sabha members and 139 more Rajya Sabha members than the current capacity i.e. 888 Lok Sabha members and 384 Rajya Sabha members.
• Building is projected to complete by 2022, for which Tata Projects won at Rs. 861.90 crores.

Why the Central Vista redevelopment Project has been planned?

• Firstly, the Current Parliament was built in 1927 to house the legislative council and was not intended to house a bicameral legislature that the country has today. The current building will be under more stress when the number of seats to Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha are raised.
• Secondly, the present Parliament House signifies an imperial origin, whereas India is a successful citizen-led democracy. Thus, the present parliamentary building is not in accordance with the aspirations of independent Indian citizens and the new building will stand out as an institution created by 130 crore citizens.
• Thirdly, there are international examples of building new parliamentary structures after gaining independence.
  • The Capitol Building in the USA was constructed within 25 years of the country’s independence.
  • In Brazil, the National Congress Building was constructed, almost 70 years after Independence, in 1960. 
• Fourthly, Present Parliamentary complex was built by the British on their own patterns and designs. New building’s design and interiors will capture Indian values and the rich diversity of our regional arts, crafts, textiles, architecture, and culture.
• Fifthly, World history proves that Public infrastructure projects playing a key role in reviving economies in distress. For ex; the Tokyo Tower in Japan, built after World War II, provided employment to thousands of workers, instilled a greater sense of nationalism, and contributed to the resurgence of the Japanese economy.
• Sixthly, the existing building does not conform to fire safety norms and is not earth quake proof. Water and sewer lines are also haphazard and this is damaging its heritage nature. 2001 Parliament attack is a fit example questioning the safety.

Although SC has given a green light to Central Vista Project, it also underlined the need for the significance of transparency i.e. if the relevant information is not placed in the public domain, public will be ill-equipped to understand the need and rationale behind such projects.

Government should become more transparent and try to bring in a consultation process at the initial stage of the project developments to maintain a level of confidence among people of the country.

Synopsis– India’s bail system is facing in urgent need of reforms. 

The refusal to grant of bail violates right to liberty of individuals undergoing criminal prosecution by confining them in jails without trial and conviction.  

What is bail? 

The bail is the security given by the defendant, it acts like a surety or guarantee for the defendant to show up in the court at a later date when summoned  

• The surety may be cash, the papers giving title to property, or the bond of private persons of means or of a professional bondsman or bonding company.

What are the concerns regarding granting of bail in India? 

• First, routine rejection of bail by subordinate courts for the simplest of an offence.  

• • • Moreover, the majority of people arrested under excise laws belong to marginalized communities. More than two-thirds of the inmates are undertrials from Dalit, Adivasi and OBC communities, often accused of minor offenses. 

• Second, Pending bail pleas– The Courts should decide regular bail application within a maximum time period of 7 days from filing. Sadly, in practice, it is observed accused languish in jails for months waiting for disposal of his bail application. 

• • • The pendency of bail applications has increased during the pandemic due to the shutting down of courts and the exacerbation of arrests for minor offences by the police. 

• Third, High sureties to secure freedom– The bail amount in session courts, even for petty offences is a minimum of ₹10,000 and ₹30,000 in the case bail before the High Courts and the Supreme Court. 

• This is a form of injustice when a majority of regular wage workers, 57% Indians earn less than ₹10,000 per month.  
• Common citizens without the means or resources to move the High Courts or the Supreme Court were languishing in jails as under–trials. 

• A bogey of middlemen has also emerged due to these high bail amounts. 

Example of absurd bail conditions- 

• CASE – The Gwalior Bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court has granted bail to two accused in a criminal case on the condition that they install a non-China made LED TV screen at the Gwalior District Hospital. 
• The same single-judge bench had directed the petitioners to register themselves with the district magistrate concerned as ‘COVID-19 Warrior’ so that they are assigned suitable work taking all prescribed precautions.  

Grant of bail on the condition to deposit cash relief fund is improper and unjust. 

Way forward 

• The courts while granting/disposing of bail applications ideally should draw a fine balance between the individual liberty and the interest of the society without compromising on either. 

• While granting bail the court must also look at the socio-economic plight of the accused must also have a compassionate attitude towards them. 

Synopsis: Supreme Court in its recent judgement Saurav Yadav versus State of Uttar Pradesh, has cleared the Issue of eligibility of candidates belong to Horizontal reservation to compete for the open category seats.

The issues arise due to the difference in the implementation of horizontal reservation among different states in the open category states.

There are 2 types of reservations; 1) Vertical reservation, 2) Horizontal reservation

Vertical reservation: It is a class of reservation which provide reservation in terms of caste i.e. SC, ST, OBC and General Category.

Horizontal reservation: It is a class of reservations under Article 15(3) and 16(1), which cuts across all the caste based categories including reservation for women, differently-abled persons, freedom fighters, army veterans and other categories.

What are the Horizontal Reservation issues?

Basic issue is the assumption of critics of reservation that reservations per se are opposed to merit and compromise efficiency in public service. Therefore open category seats must be available only to the candidates belong to non-reserved categories.

• Upholding the assumption above, few state governments excluded reserved category women from consideration in the general category.
• This policy in effect declare the open category as a reserved category for upper castes.
• Further, matter was worsened by the contrary judgments of High Courts:
  • Rajasthan, Bombay, Uttarakhand and Gujarat high courts approved the eligibility of horizontal reservation against ‘open or general category’.
  • Allahabad and Madhya Pradesh High Courts held that candidates from reserved categories can be adjusted only against their own categories and not against the ‘open or general category’.
• Reservation is an instrument for identifying merit in individuals from historically marginalised communities. By excluding OBC women against general category seats, government is excluding a meritorious candidates.

Indra sawhney case

• In Indra Sawhney case 1992, Supreme Court held that in case a reservation has been made under Article 16 (4) for the backward class and the candidate belonging to such back ward caste can compete for non-reserved post.
• As such candidates are appointed on the basis of their own merit, their number will not be adjusted against the quota to their backward category i.e. the entire reservation quota will be intact and available in addition to those selected under open competition category.

Saurav Yadav versus State of Uttar Pradesh

• In this case, there were 3,295 constable posts in UP in the General Category (GC) of which 188 went to women.
• 21 applicants in the OBC female category scored more than the last female candidate selected in General Category. But in filling up of 188 GC women seats, OBC women (who scored higher) were not considered.
• Judgment: In this case three judge bench led by Justice Uday U Lalit, ruled against the government order that candidates belonging to reserved categories like SCs, STs, and OBCs can be appointed under open or general category, if they qualified on their own merit.

Justice Ravindra Bhat’s judgment

• Justice Bhat also made a concurring judgment, in a similar case.
• Justice Bhat in his judgment held that there is no rule, or direction which prohibits the adjustment of socially reserved categories of women in the general category or “open category”. Therefore, the open category is not a ‘quota’, but rather available to all women and men alike.

Anil Kumar Gupta v/s State of Uttar Pradesh

• In its judgment, the Court had made it clear that horizontal reservation ought to be generally understood in compartmentalised terms, as a nod to recognition of inequalities within each vertical category.

Vertical and horizontal reservations are methods of ensuring representation in public services. It should not be used as a tool to close the doors to open general category, even for the meritorious candidates, for which she would have been eligible without reservation.

Context: Supreme Court in its recent order stated that farmers have a constitutional right to continue with their protest.

More about judgment

• Petition: Order was delivered on the petitions seeking removal of farmers protesting at the borders of Delhi.
• Order and suggestions
  • Supreme Court in its order upheld the farmer’s right to continue their protest in a peaceful manner as a constitutional right subject to public order.
  • No restriction will be placed in the exercise of such rights as long as it is non-violent and does not result in damage to the life and properties of other citizens.
  • SC suggested farmers to engage in talks with the government for positive conclusion and formation of an “impartial and independent committee” of experts in agriculture to hear both farmers and the Union government on the laws.

A few examples of important peaceful protests in India  

• Power of peaceful protest was taught to the country by the father of the Indian nation, Mahatma Gandhi, against the mighty British Empire.
• People not only signed writ petitions but staged dharnas, held large public meetings, peaceful protests and demonstrations and even, for instance in Gandhi’s satyagraha, launched civil disobedience movements.
• After Independence, many peaceful protest took place, but one of the biggest were protests during emergency in 1970s when democracy in India was threatened due to authoritarianism of government.
• Movements such as Chipko movement (1973) in the upper Alaknanda valley took place for forest conservation.
• During movement of Anna Hazare against corruption, thousands participated in the peaceful protests.

What are the Constitutional provisions ensuring right to protest?

The right to protest, to publicly challenge and force the government to answer, is a fundamental political right of the people that flows directly from a democratic reading of various provisions of Article 19.

Right to Protest are protected under Article 19(1) (a), Article 19(1) (b) and Article 19(1) (c) of the Indian Constitution.

1. Article 19(1) (a) guarantees the freedom of speech and expression;
2. Article 19(1) (b) assures citizens the right to assemble peaceably and without arms.
3. Article 19(1) (c) assures right to form associations or trade unions

Reasonable restrictions: However, like other fundamental rights, right to protest is also not absolute and also subject to reasonable restrictions mentioned under Article 19(2) and 19(3) on the following grounds;

1. In the interests of the sovereignty & integrity of India,
2. The security of the State,
3. Friendly relations with foreign States,
4. Violation of Public order,
5. Decency or morality or in relation to Contempt of court, defamation or incitement of an offense

The grounds of restrictions based on Violation of public order can be reasonable only when there is evidence that protesters will incite lawless or disorderly acts and that such acts are likely to occur.

Section 144 and right to protest in India

• Time and again, to suppress the voice of citizens or for the legitimate reasons like controlling the violent protest, government has kept on using various tools available against protests and section 144 of Cr.PC has been biggest such tool.
• Section 144 authorises executive magistrates to pass “prohibitory orders” that restrict people from assembling at particular places to prevent breaches of public order, or the triggering of violence.
• Although law has been enacted to implement the reasonable restrictions, however Section 144 is framed in such broad and vague terms that it can be imposed by the executive anywhere to prevent the expression of dissent through public demonstrations and protests.
• Judgments
  • In the 2012 Ramlila Maidan case, the court held that the “perception of threat to public peace and tranquility should be real” for Section 144 to be used. The trigger cannot be “imaginary or a mere likely possibility”.
  • In Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan v Union of India, the Supreme Court held although recognised the right to protest and asked the government and police to frame guidelines but also held that the order to impose section 144 was not unconstitutional.

Supreme Court Judgements on Right to Protest:

• Ramlila Maidan Incident vs Home Secretary, Union of India (2012): The Supreme Court had stated that citizens have a fundamental right to assembly and peaceful protest which cannot be taken away by an arbitrary executive or legislative action.
• Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) vs Union of India(2018): In this case SC upheld the fundamental right to assembly and peaceful protest but ordered it to be regulated in such a way that they do not cause inconvenience to residents from Jantar Mantar road or the offices located there.
• Shaheen Bagh Judgement:
  • The court upheld the right to peaceful protest against a law but made it clear that public ways and public spaces cannot be occupied and that too indefinitely.
  • The right to protest in a public place should be balanced with the right of the general public to move freely without hindrance.
  • Fundamental rights do not live in isolation. The right of the protester has to be balanced with the right of the commuter and has to co-exist in mutual respect.

What is the significance of right to protest?

• Firstly, Right to protest is an essential element of democracy to bring about reforms and lead to the development of the country.
• Second, Protesting against injustice is not only a constitutional right of the citizens, but also their moral duty.
• Third, Active exercise of Right to protest ensures people’s role as watchdogs that constantly monitors government’s acts and ensure fairness in them.
• Fourth, it is the biggest weapon of people when government in a democratic country becomes unresponsive and refuse to listen to them.

Peaceful protest is a fundamental right and the lifeline of democracy, without which there would be very less accountability left with the ruling government and every citizen has to wait for the election to vent out their anger against it. But reasonable restrictions are also very important so that peaceful protests do not turn into violent and lead to loss of lives and property.

However, it should not be made an excuse to suppress every form of protest as it is the prime duty of every government to protect the ideals of constitution.

Context: Inadequacies in the justice delivery system extends beyond the Supreme Court.

What are the various issues faced by the judiciary?

• Spending on judiciary: It is equated with a call for increasing the salaries of judges and providing better court infrastructure. Such perceptions are unfortunate.
• Issues under The Legal Services Authority Act of 1987: Under this law, all women, irrespective of their financial status, are entitled to free legal aid.
  • Free legal aid: Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and children too are entitled to free legal aid. This means that a significant proportion of the population falls under a free legal aid regime.
  • Lack of well-trained individuals: There has been little effort on the part of successive governments to provide a task force of carefully selected, well-trained and reasonably paid advocates to provide these services.
  • The system of legal aid in the U.K. identifies and funds several independent solicitor offices to provide such services.
• The judge-population ratio: It provides one of the most important yardsticks to measure the health of the legal system.
  • The U.S. has about 100 judges per million population. Canada has about 75 and the U.K. has about 50.
  • India has only 19 judges per million population. Of these, at any given point, at least one-fourth is always vacant.
  • Hardly any attention is focused on this gaping inadequacy in lower courts which is where the common man first comes into contact with the justice delivery system.
  • In All India Judges Association v. Union of India (2001), the Supreme Court had directed the Government of India to increase the judge-population ratio to at least 50 per million population within five years from the date of the judgment. This has not been implemented.
• Other issues:
  • Increasing tribunalisation of the justice delivery process;
  • the extortionate court fees payable to access justice in civil suits in some States; and
  • the poor integration of technology into the system are some issues that readily come to mind.

What can be done?

• Access to justice: Though ‘access to justice’ has not been specifically spelt out as a fundamental right in the Constitution, it has always been treated as such by Indian courts.
  • In Anita Kushwaha v. Pushpa Sadan (2016), the Supreme Court held clearly that if “life” implies not only life in the physical sense but a bundle of rights that make life worth living, there is no justice or other basis for holding that denial of “access to justice” will not affect the quality of human life.
  • Further, the court pointed out important components of access to justice:
    • Existence of adjudicatory mechanisms.
    • Conveniently accessible in terms of distance and
    • The process of adjudication must be speedy and affordable to the disputants.
  • National policy: The executive, judiciary and the legislature are yet to draw out a national policy and road map for clearing backlogs and making these concepts real.

Synopsis: The Allahabad high court’s recent decision to strike down the provisions of the Special Marriage Act, 1954 that make it mandatory for couples to publish a 30-day public notice of their intent to marry is a significant and much-needed correction.

About the Special Marriage Act

• • The Special Marriage Act was originally enacted in 1872 to provide a framework for inter-caste and inter-religious marriages.
  • The Act allows the solemnization of marriages (performing the public ceremony/rites of marriage) without any religious customs or rituals. The law solemnizes marriages by the way of registration.
  • As per Section 5 of the Special Marriage Act, marriages irrespective of the religion of the couple require parties to give a 30-day public notice of their intention to marry before solemnizing their marriage
  • The provision of mandatory 30 days’ notice period ended up giving vigilante groups, families hostile to inter-faith and inter-caste unions with disproportionate powers to police young couples.
  • The Act is applicable to all Indian citizens and Indian nationals who live in abroad.
  • Allahabad High Court observed the Special Marriage Act as ‘one of the earliest endeavors towards Uniform Civil Code.

About the case 

Recently, in response to a writ petition filed, Allahabad High Court gave a judgment that would have far-reaching impacts.

• • In its conclusion, the HC stated, though the couple wanted to marry under the Special Marriage Act, the mandatory provision for 30-day notice, under section 5 of the act, compelled them to take the easier route of religious conversion.
  • Thus, Section 5 acting as a barrier to inter-faith couples, willing to marry under the secular SMA rather than taking religious conversion routes.
  • On this basis, the Court allowed couples not to publish the mandatory 30-day notice of their intention to marry.
  • Also, the court allowed the individuals, who desire to have more information about their counterparts, to opt for publication of notice under Section 6 of the Act. Such publication of notice under free will not be a violation of fundamental rights due to free choice.
  • The court also noted that when marriages under personal law do not require a notice or invitation for objections, such a requirement for inter-faith couples’ is obsolete in secular law and cannot be forced on a couple.

• • As a result, many preferred to convert and marry under personal laws, rather than under the Special Marriage Act, 1954 to prevent themselves from harassment.

Why the Allahabad high court’s decision is regarded as a significant step?

The high court’s ruling against the mandatory need for couples to publish a 30-day public notice has been praised for the following reasons,

• • First, the decision comes at the right time where the anti-conversion ordinances in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have endorsed the state intrusions on inter-personal relationships.  The decision will protect the primacy of individual autonomy.
  • Second, the HC ruling is in line with The Law Commission of India report in 2012 that recommended keeping a check on the unnecessary interference by caste assemblies in sagotra, inter-caste or inter-religious marriages.
  • Third, The HC judgment reaffirms the constitutional protection to minorities as even today a minuscule of minority of marriages are, inter-faith unions.
  • Fourth, it is in line with a series of landmark Supreme Court judgments that are against societal and state interference in personal affairs and firmly establishes personal liberty and privacy to be fundamental. For example,

• • • Puttaswamy v Union of India, that recognise the right to privacyas a fundamental right
    • The Hadiya case,right to choose one’s partner.
    • In Navtej Singh Johar case: The ruling that decriminalised homosexuality.

• • It will be a body blow to Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020 which have provisions such as

• • • Declaring conversion of religion by marriage to be unlawful
    • Mandating a 60-day notice to the District Magistrate
    • Requiring the Magistrate to conduct a police inquiry to know the real intention behind the conversion.

• • As the Special Marriage Act is a central legislation, couples across the country seeking to marry under the law will benefit from the liberal ruling of the provisions.
  • It paves way for abolishing and cleansing obsolete Victorian-era protectionist provisions in other laws as well.

The Allahabad High Court judgement is a reminder and a warning that the constitution remains the bulwark against an overreaching state policy such as the anti-conversion ordinance in UP and MP.

Context:

The recent WhatsApp privacy policy attracted widespread criticism among various sections of society for its latest privacy policy. Due to severe protests, WhatsApp has issued clarification related to its policy. But there is a wider concern about data protection in India.

Click here to read about the new Whatsapp privacy policy

What is the clarification WhatsApp has issued?

In its latest clarification, WhatsApp is trying to differentiate between “messages with friends or family” and “messages with a business”.

Whatsapp says that the latest changes only affect the “messages with a business”. Policy regarding “messages with friends or family” will remain the same.

In its clarification WhatsApp has issued the following statements:

• • Personal messages are protected by end-to-end encryption and neither accessed nor heard by WhatsApp or Facebook.
  • No log of personal messages or calls has been maintained due to “privacy and security risk”.
  • Location shared by users are also protected by end-to-end encryption and cannot be seen by WhatsApp or Facebook.
  • Any user’s contact is not shared with Facebook or any other App.
  • All the communications within WhatsApp groups are end-to-end encrypted and are not shared with Facebook for Ads.

How business messages are different?

• • Businesses on Facebook will be able to create Facebook shops to create an online store and interact with the users through WhatsApp.
  • WhatsApp will soon offer businesses with Facebook’s hosting services to manage their communication with users.
  • On these hosting services, Businesses will soon be provided with the facilities to manage WhatsApp chats with their customers, answer questions and send information like purchase receipts.
  • Businesses will be allowed to use the above information for their marketing, including ads on Facebook.
  • However, Businesses using Facebook’s hosting services will be labelled, to make the user aware of what follows.
  • If the users are interacting with the businesses on WhatsApp for shopping or other purposes, their shopping activities will be shared with Facebook to personalise their experience on the related ads on Facebook and Instagram.

What is the Privacy Policy in EU?

• • Privacy policies of different countries put different types of restrictions on businesses. EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) provides much more control to the users on their personal information shared on the online platforms.
  • While in the EU also, WhatsApp privacy policy talks about sharing information with Facebook, but users have an additional right “Managing and Retaining Your Information”.
  • As per WhatsApp’s own policy for EU, Users there can access, rectify, port, and erase their information.
  • They can not only restrict or object to a certain type of information used by the platform but also can withdraw their consent to WhatsApp for processing of data.

How data is protected in India?   

In Puttaswamy v India (2017) case, privacy was established as a fundamental right. In other cases, MP Sharma v. Satish Chandra (1954) and Kharak Singh v. Uttar Pradesh (1962), as well, Privacy rights were upheld by SC.

As India has not implemented the Personal Data Protection Bill, there is no control over how user data will be processed by tech companies.

Click here to read about the challenges of Personal Data Protection Bill.

Apart from this IT Act 2000, and its amendment in 2008 deal with data protection to some extent.

• • Information Technology (Reasonable Security Practices and Sensitive Personal Data or Information) Rules, 2011 issued under the Information Technology Act, 2000, provides a measure of legal protection of personal information
  • Breach of data privacy is punishable under Section 72-A of the IT Act. The Act Penalises the offender for three year imprisonment or a maximum fine of Rs 5 lakh.
  • But this provision is only applicable to corporate entities not to individuals.
  • Rules are restricted to sensitive personal data — medical history, biometric information, and sexual history, among other things.

Way forward:

Justice BN Srikrishna committee report talks about three approaches to data protection and a draft data protection bill.

1. 1. The US model of laissez-faire approach: The USA does not have an overarching data protection framework.
   2. European Model of GDPR: Provides control of personal data in the hands of the data generators (Users)
   3. China’s model of protecting National interests: China created a national law in 2017 which contains top-level principles for handling personal data.

Though WhatsApp’s privacy policy is relaxed to some extent it is not perfect. This might be the first of many such privacy guidelines by the companies operating in India. The solution lies in the faster enactment of the Personal Data Protection Bill and the successful implementation of the Act. It is high time the government should enact the same.

News: WhatsApp has updated its terms of service and privacy policy on Wednesday for users in India.Users have till February 8,2021 to accept these in order to continue using the platform.

Facts:

Key Features of the Policy:

• End-to-End Encrypted: The messages on WhatsApp are end-to-end encrypted which means nobody can see your messages or share it with anyone.
• Information Sharing with Third Party Services: When users rely on third-party services or other Facebook Company Products that are integrated with our Services, those third-party services may receive information about what you or others share with them.
• Hardware Information: WhatsApp collects information from devices such as battery level, signal strength, app version, browser information, mobile network, connection information (including phone number, mobile operator or ISP) among others.
• Deleting the Account: If someone only deletes the WhatsApp app from their device without using the in-app delete my account feature, then that user’s information will remain stored with the platform.
• Data Storage: WhatsApp mentions that it uses Facebook’s global infrastructure and data centers including those in the United States to store user data. It also states that the data in some cases will be transferred to the United States or other parts where Facebook’s affiliate companies are based.
• Location: Even if a user does not use their location-relation features, Whatsapp collects IP addresses and other information like phone number area codes to estimate your general location (city, country).
• Businesses interacting with users: WhatsApp says that any businesses that users interact with may provide the platform with information as well. The content shared with a business on WhatsApp will be visible to several people in that business.
• Payment Services: WhatsApp says that if anyone uses their payments services they will process additional information about you, including payment account and transaction information.

Article Source

Introduction  

The year 2021 is the centenary year of the “Communal” Government Order (GO) in Madras Presidency. It introduced reservations based on castes and communities.

GO was the acknowledgment of the social inequalities prevalent in the society, by the British.

Reservation became one of the most divisive public issues, dividing them into ‘reserved’ and ‘general’ categories. The reservation was seen as the opposite of a merit system.

Reservation, the especially caste-based reservation has been established as bad, whereas the reservations in the name of ‘Merit Stream’ for the wards of employees or alumni of universities and colleges is seen as right and justified.

• For example; some of the colleges reserve postgraduate seats for the students enrolled in their own undergraduate honors programs. But officially this system is called the ‘Merit Stream’.

However, now with the EWS quota and entry of reserved category students in unreserved categories this difference is getting blurred.

Are the merit system and caste-based reservation, mutually exclusive?

• If not segregated by the ideological differences, all reservations use merit-based criteria for the selection of eligible candidates. Thus, they are not mutually exclusive.
• Even in the merit-based system, reservation like arrangements has been established that built exclusionary access. merit is achieved by a mix of ability, effort, and social capital and the social capital plays the most crucial role in it.
  • For example; expensive private schools or coaching institutes are affordable for the rich only, thus ability and effort only cannot get a student admission in them.
• Most recent judgment in the Saurav Yadav vs. State of Uttar Pradesh case, reiterate the judgment of Mandal judgment, that un-reserved category must be open to all and selection should be merit-based, including for those belonging to categories entitled to reservations.
• Thus, the reserved candidates making their way into the unreserved categories by the competition with the unreserved candidates should be appreciated.

Synopsis– Present data-based technological development and Personal Data Protection Bill 2019 presents a unique challenge to the privacy of individuals.  

Introduction Personal Data Protection Bill 2019   –

By Puttaswamy v India (2017) case, privacy was established as a fundamental right. In other cases, MP Sharma v. Satish Chandra (1954) and Kharak Singh v. Uttar Pradesh (1962), as well, Privacy rights were upheld by SC.  

However, the development of global technology and implementation of the Aadhaar biometric programme in India have diluted the effect of these rulings. Now there is an urgent need to take a new look at the legal position of privacy in India. 

As depicted by Aadhaar based technology and global social media platforms, data has become a new oil i.e., it has become a tool for economic and political gain. It created a stream of data protection legislations, globally. India is also trying to join the league by Personal Data Protection Bill 2019 (DPB).   

In India, the Personal Data Protection Bill 2019 (DPB) is currently under consideration by a parliamentary committee. There are various issues in this bill that go against the privacy rights of individuals. 

Commercial and Political consequences of the Data Protection Bill (DPB): 

Data Collection related issues  

• First- Bill will negatively impact the emerging technologies market of India dealing in creation, use, and sale of data that is valued at $1 trillion by 2025.  
• Second- The bill requires digital firms who want to operate in India to obtain permission from users before collecting their data.  
• Third– Bill also declares that users who provide data are, in effect, the owners of their own data and may control its usage or request firms to delete it.  
  • • European internet-users are able to exercise a “right to be forgotten” and have evidence of their online presence removed. 
• Fourth– The bill allows the government to use “critical” or “sensitive” personal data, related to information such as religion, to protect national interest. 

• Fifth– Open-ended access to government could lead to misuse of data. Mr. B N Srikrishna, the chairmen of the drafting committee of the original bill, warned that government-access exemptions risk creating an “Orwellian state”.

Issues related to Establishment of Data Protection Authority (DPA)  

• Bill aims to establish a Data Protection Authority (DPA), which will be charged with managing data collected by the Aadhaar programme. 
  • • Authority will consist of chairperson and six committee members,  
    • Members will be appointed by the central government on the recommendation of a selection committee.
    • Members will be selected from senior civil servants, including the Cabinet Secretary. 
• The government’s power to appoint and remove members at its discretion provides it an ability to influence the independence of agency.
• Unlike similar institutions, such as the Reserve Bank of India or the Securities and Exchange Board, the DPA will not have an independent expert or member of the judiciary on its governing committee.
• The UIDAI, for its part, has a chairperson appointed by the central government and reporting directly to the Centre.

Issues related to government use of data for surveillance

There are instances that suggest, India is acquiring some features of a surveillance state. 

• As stated by the Union Home minister recently, police used facial recognition technology to identify people after the anti-CAA protests and the Delhi riots. 
• There is a high possibility that police was matching the video offstage with the database of Election Commission and e-Vahan, a pan-India database of vehicle registration.

Issue related to safety of data 

There are instances of controversy where government has shown casual approach towards data safety and privacy of its citizens:  

• First, Safety concerns were raised during aadhaar data collection, which stores biometric data in the form of iris and fingerprints which is a violation of right to privacy.  
• Second instance was of Aarogya Setu contact-tracing app which was allegedly not able to protect the data provided by citizens.  

Way Forward 

• The Data Protection Bill is a unique opportunity for India, a country with some 740 million internet users.  It would be a standard setter for privacy of individuals. 
• Inclusive debate needs to take place in the Joint Parliament Committee and then in Parliament to examine the Data Protection Bill and promote transparency.

Synopsis– Uttar Pradesh recently passed an ordinance which criminalizes inter­faith marriages, which is against the exercise of the free will of individual citizens in India. 

Introduction-  

• UP ordinance which criminalizes inter-faith marriages has set an extreme example, being followed by other states like MP.  
• In these states’ other laws on slaughter of cattle, marriage, and religious conversions have been enacted targeted at minorities of the state.  
• In Uttarakhand, a recent divergent view attracted an enquiry over a press release by district social welfare department that highlighted a scheme incentivizing  inter-faith and inter-caste marriages. 

How interfaith marriages were seen in the past  

• First, Nehru’s view– Chaudhary charan singh in 1994, Sends a proposal to Prime Minister Nehru to pass a law that would ensure only those youth who married outside, or were prepared to marry outside, their caste be recruited in gazetted government services. 
• Charan singh believed the intractable issue of caste required drastic measures to start the process of its disintegration.  

• • • But Nehru disagrees with his proposal on account of freedom of choice of individuals to choose their life partner. 

• Second, Kusubh Chandra sen’s view– The very first debate for legal marriage in India dates back to the 1860s, when the colonial State received a petition signed by Keshub Chandra Sen of Brahmo Samaj, to legitimise marriages amongst the members of Brahmo Samaj. The motive was to provide the Samaj the right to freely marry as per their ‘rites of conscience’. 
• Third, Special Marriage Act, 1954– SMA is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted to provide a special form of marriage for the people of India and all Indian nationals in foreign countries, irrespective of the religion or faith followed by either party. 

However, States such as Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh framing laws that target inter-faith marriage. 

The procedural requirements of the SMA such as the need to give prior notice, and allowance for objections, seem to be undermining its original intent by opening the doors to violent moral policing by vigilante groups. 

What are the issues related to these new laws? 

Interference by the State in an adult’s right to love and marry has a ‘chilling effect’ on freedoms

• First, against personal liberty- These new laws intervene in the citizens’ personal liberty by interfering with the choice of their spouse.  
• Second, Against the Right to Privacy– The level of state interference in a civil union, which is a solemnization of a relationship between two individuals, breaches the basic structure of the Constitution.  
• Third, Hinder the individual’s Right to choose faith– According to Articles 25 to 28, an Indian citizen is guaranteed the freedom to practice any religion of his or her choice. The ordinance is a conflict with these rights as it limits the choice of the religion of a prospective spouse. 
• Lastly, Patriarchal Roots- This shows the law has deep-seated patriarchal roots, wherein women are infantilized, placed under parental and community control, and denied the right to take life decisions, should those decisions not be agreeable to their guardians.

Constitution of India offers high principles for citizens to aspire for. Citizens may not have been lived up to these principles but it was the intent that individual try to achieve those principles by doing better to the society. Laws in questions are doing exact opposite by going against these principles.

Way forward-

Based on the judicial pronouncements it is clear that the Right to marry a person belongs to another faith is a Fundamental Right 

• It is for the court to suo motu strike these laws down if it wants to preserve the basic structure of the constitutional edifice.

Synopsis: After UP, MP has also promulgated an ordinance related to anti-conversion laws. But UP’s anti-conversion law itself is fraught with many challenges.

Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religious Ordinance, 2020:

• Law prohibits conversion from one religion to another by “misrepresentation, force, fraud, undue influence, coercion, allurement or marriage”.
• Marriage will be declared “shunya” (null and void) if the “sole intention” was to “change a girl’s religion”
•  The persons forced the girl to change religious conversion may face jail term of up to 10 years if the girl is minor, a woman from the Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe, if the person involved religious conversion on mass scale. For the rest of the cases, the jail term ranges from 1 to 5 years.
• The law also provides for the way to conversion. The person willing to convert to other religion would have to give it in writing to the District Magistrate at least two months in advance.
• The burden to proof would be on the person who caused the conversion or the person who facilitated it. If any violation is found under this provision, then she/he will face a jail term from 6 months to 3 year
• If any person reconverts to his immediate previous religion, then it shall not be deemed to be a violation of the ordinance.

Read more – What is the term ‘Love Jihad’ or ‘Romeo Jihad’? |ForumIAS Blog

Rationale behind the enactment of anti-conversion laws: 

• Firstly, the threats of forceful conversion: Force not solely embody physical force to convert a person belongs to one faith to a different one however additionally it includes mental force like the “threat of divine displeasure”. For example, assume if a missionary informs a person that only Christians are allowed entry into heaven – a core part of the faith – that could also be construed as “force”. 

• • The Orissa High Court in Yulitha Hyde v. the State of Orissacase upheld this interpretation of “force” (Physical and mental). 

• Secondly, the problem of Inducement or allurement: Odisha’s anti-conversion law mentions allurement or inducement as an offering of any gift or gratification, either in cash or in-kind, and also includes a grant of any benefit, which is pecuniary or otherwise. In Rev. Stanislaus vs State of Madhya Pradesh (1977) case the court upheld this definition. 
• Thirdly, Religious conversion is not a Fundamental Right: Supreme Court in Rev. Stanislaus vs State of Madhya Pradesh (1977) case held that the conversion isn’t a fundamental Right and so could be regulated by the state. Both Odisha and Madhya Pradesh laws were upheld. This act as the legal basis for other such laws created by other States. 
• Fourthly, the aim of all anti-conversion laws enacted by various States are same, such as to constrain the ability of communities and individuals to convert from their own religion to another in the name of protecting those sectors of society—namely women, children, backward castes and untouchables etc. 

Issues with anti-conversion laws

1. The Ordinance route taken by the government for promulgating this law is controversial as the law is not containing any specific urgency for this route.

• • For promulgating an ordinance, 3 conditions must be satisfied
    • State Legislature should not be in session;
    • circumstances should exist for promulgating an ordinance 
    • Circumstances must warrant immediate action.
  • However, disclosing the circumstances and urgency for the same is not mandatory.

2. Police do not require a special law to prevent a fraudulent or coercive inter-faith marriage. It can do so under normal circumstances too as in the case of child marriages.
3. Section 7 authorises the arrest of a person by a police office on receipt of the information that a religious conversion is taking place.
   1. Arrest doesn’t require a magistrate order or warrant.
   2. Information can be a false news as seen in some of the recent cases.
4. In case, a person want to convert but not marry, she/he require to inform a DM 2 month in advance. Then DM requires the police to inquire the real purpose of conversion and file a report.
   1. It leaves the scope of heavy pressure on the person from all around i.e. police and right groups.
5. Section 12 of the article puts the burden of proof that it is not through coercion or fraud, on the person causing conversion through marriage or by any other way.
6. This law through all the above methods is encroaching upon the right to privacy and violates the right to life, liberty and dignity of the consenting adults.
7. These laws promotes patriarchal mind-set, where an adult women is unable to make her own choice in the matters of religion or marriage.

How to deal with the issues?

• Firstly, the need for uniformity, Article 18 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights mentions everyone has the right to freedom of religion including changing their faith. That is included in the State laws but there is a wide variation in the state laws such as prison terms, burden of proof, the procedure to get converted, etc. Since the conversion falls within the “State list”. Central can frame a model law like Model law on contract farming etc. 
• Secondly, State while enacting anti-conversion laws should also respect their Freedom to get convert and should not put any vague or ambiguous provisions for the person who wanted to convert of his own will. 
• Thirdly, awareness to the people: People also need to be educated about the provisions and ways of Forceful conversions, Inducement or allurement, etc. 

• Fourthly, disclosing circumstances leading to adopting the ordinance route should be made mandatory at both state level and central level.

• Fifthly, according to the USCIRF (United States Commission on International Religious Freedom), some observers note that “anti-conversion laws create a hostile, and on occasion violent, environment for religious minority communities since they do not require any evidences to support such accusations of wrongdoing.  
  • So, the anti-conversion laws also need to include a provision to mention the valid steps for conversion by minority community institutions. 

Way forward: 

Conversion in India is legal but not the conversion made using force/allurement/inducement to convert people. Various Court judgments have made conversion laws a legal one but not the laws which have whimsical/fanciful/arbitrary laws by State. So, there is a clear limit for the State to intervene in the religious conversion, this can be further demarcated by small but significant steps such as model law, enhancing awareness, etc. 

Synopsis– India’s bail system is facing in urgent need of reforms. 

The refusal to grant of bail violates right to liberty of individuals undergoing criminal prosecution by confining them in jails without trial and conviction.  

What is bail? 

The bail is the security given by the defendant, it acts like a surety or guarantee for the defendant to show up in the court at a later date when summoned  

• The surety may be cash, the papers giving title to property, or the bond of private persons of means or of a professional bondsman or bonding company.

What are the concerns regarding granting of bail in India? 

• First, routine rejection of bail by subordinate courts for the simplest of an offence.  

• • • Moreover, the majority of people arrested under excise laws belong to marginalized communities. More than two-thirds of the inmates are undertrials from Dalit, Adivasi and OBC communities, often accused of minor offenses. 

• Second, Pending bail pleas– The Courts should decide regular bail application within a maximum time period of 7 days from filing. Sadly, in practice, it is observed accused languish in jails for months waiting for disposal of his bail application. 

• • • The pendency of bail applications has increased during the pandemic due to the shutting down of courts and the exacerbation of arrests for minor offences by the police. 

• Third, High sureties to secure freedom– The bail amount in session courts, even for petty offences is a minimum of ₹10,000 and ₹30,000 in the case bail before the High Courts and the Supreme Court. 

• This is a form of injustice when a majority of regular wage workers, 57% Indians earn less than ₹10,000 per month.  
• Common citizens without the means or resources to move the High Courts or the Supreme Court were languishing in jails as under–trials. 

• A bogey of middlemen has also emerged due to these high bail amounts. 

Example of absurd bail conditions- 

• CASE – The Gwalior Bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court has granted bail to two accused in a criminal case on the condition that they install a non-China made LED TV screen at the Gwalior District Hospital. 
• The same single-judge bench had directed the petitioners to register themselves with the district magistrate concerned as ‘COVID-19 Warrior’ so that they are assigned suitable work taking all prescribed precautions.  

Grant of bail on the condition to deposit cash relief fund is improper and unjust. 

Way forward 

• The courts while granting/disposing of bail applications ideally should draw a fine balance between the individual liberty and the interest of the society without compromising on either. 

• While granting bail the court must also look at the socio-economic plight of the accused must also have a compassionate attitude towards them. 

Synopsis: Supreme Court in its recent judgement Saurav Yadav versus State of Uttar Pradesh, has cleared the Issue of eligibility of candidates belong to Horizontal reservation to compete for the open category seats.

The issues arise due to the difference in the implementation of horizontal reservation among different states in the open category states.

There are 2 types of reservations; 1) Vertical reservation, 2) Horizontal reservation

Vertical reservation: It is a class of reservation which provide reservation in terms of caste i.e. SC, ST, OBC and General Category.

Horizontal reservation: It is a class of reservations under Article 15(3) and 16(1), which cuts across all the caste based categories including reservation for women, differently-abled persons, freedom fighters, army veterans and other categories.

What are the Horizontal Reservation issues?

Basic issue is the assumption of critics of reservation that reservations per se are opposed to merit and compromise efficiency in public service. Therefore open category seats must be available only to the candidates belong to non-reserved categories.

• Upholding the assumption above, few state governments excluded reserved category women from consideration in the general category.
• This policy in effect declare the open category as a reserved category for upper castes.
• Further, matter was worsened by the contrary judgments of High Courts:
  • Rajasthan, Bombay, Uttarakhand and Gujarat high courts approved the eligibility of horizontal reservation against ‘open or general category’.
  • Allahabad and Madhya Pradesh High Courts held that candidates from reserved categories can be adjusted only against their own categories and not against the ‘open or general category’.
• Reservation is an instrument for identifying merit in individuals from historically marginalised communities. By excluding OBC women against general category seats, government is excluding a meritorious candidates.

Indra sawhney case

• In Indra Sawhney case 1992, Supreme Court held that in case a reservation has been made under Article 16 (4) for the backward class and the candidate belonging to such back ward caste can compete for non-reserved post.
• As such candidates are appointed on the basis of their own merit, their number will not be adjusted against the quota to their backward category i.e. the entire reservation quota will be intact and available in addition to those selected under open competition category.

Saurav Yadav versus State of Uttar Pradesh

• In this case, there were 3,295 constable posts in UP in the General Category (GC) of which 188 went to women.
• 21 applicants in the OBC female category scored more than the last female candidate selected in General Category. But in filling up of 188 GC women seats, OBC women (who scored higher) were not considered.
• Judgment: In this case three judge bench led by Justice Uday U Lalit, ruled against the government order that candidates belonging to reserved categories like SCs, STs, and OBCs can be appointed under open or general category, if they qualified on their own merit.

Justice Ravindra Bhat’s judgment

• Justice Bhat also made a concurring judgment, in a similar case.
• Justice Bhat in his judgment held that there is no rule, or direction which prohibits the adjustment of socially reserved categories of women in the general category or “open category”. Therefore, the open category is not a ‘quota’, but rather available to all women and men alike.

Anil Kumar Gupta v/s State of Uttar Pradesh

• In its judgment, the Court had made it clear that horizontal reservation ought to be generally understood in compartmentalised terms, as a nod to recognition of inequalities within each vertical category.

Vertical and horizontal reservations are methods of ensuring representation in public services. It should not be used as a tool to close the doors to open general category, even for the meritorious candidates, for which she would have been eligible without reservation.

Context – The Sixth Schedule was incorporated to protect the rights of the minority tribals living within a larger state dominated by the majority.

More in news

• Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) an influential students’ body in Meghalaya has put up banners labelling all Bengalis in the state as Bangladeshis.
• It is also spearheading an agitation for an Inner Line Permit (ILP) to regulate outsiders coming into the state.

What is Inner Line Permit? 

• The Inner Line Permit is an official travel document that allows Indian citizens to stay in an area under the ILP system. The document is currently required by visitors to Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland and Mizoram.
• The ILP is issued by the concerned state government .The permits issued are mostly of different kinds, provided separately for tourists, tenants and for other purposes.

What is the Sixth Schedule?

• The Sixth Schedule consists of provisions for the administration of tribal areas in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram, according to Article 244 of the Indian Constitution.
• Passed by the Constituent Assembly in 1949, it seeks to safeguard the rights of the tribal population through the formation of Autonomous District Councils (ADC).
• The ADCs are like miniature states having specific powers and responsibilities in respect of all the three arms of government: legislature, executive and judiciary.
• The governors of these states are empowered to reorganize boundaries of the tribal areas.

How Sixth Schedule discriminates against the non-tribal resident?

The Sixth Schedule, has faced opposition as it infringes upon the rights of non-tribals and discriminates against them in various ways-

Violating many of the fundamental rights granted to citizens under the Constitution like-

• The right to equality before law (Article 14).
• Right against discrimination on the grounds of caste, race, sex, place of birth or religion (Article 15).
• Right to equality of opportunity in public appointment (Article 16).
• Right to settle anywhere in India (Article 19).

What were the impacts of Sixth Schedule of the Constitution on non-tribal people of Meghalaya?

1. Forces migration– the KSU have driven many non-tribals out of the state,

• The share of population of non-tribals dwindling from 20 per cent in 1972, when the state was carved out of Assam, to 14 per cent in 2011.

2. Nearly no jobs for non-tribal population– The new State also promptly implemented near total reservation of jobs for its tribal population.
3. Non-tribal people were barred from acquiring property in Meghalaya.
4. The state’s abject failure to provide protection to the minority non-tribals or punish those responsible for violence against them.
5. 90 per cent of the Assembly seats (55 out of 60 in Meghalaya) reserved for the tribals.

What is the way forward?

• The Sixth Schedule undermines social harmony, stability and economic development of the state and the region.
• Indeed, it is now the rights of minority non-tribals that need protection.

News: The National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) has announced that it will offer a free IDN (Internationalized Domain Name) in any of their preferred 22 official Indian languages along with every IN domain booked by the registrar.

Facts:

• NIXI: It is a not for profit Organization established under section 8 of the Companies Act 2013 in 2003.
• Purpose: It was set up for peering of ISPs among themselves for the purpose of routing the domestic traffic within the country, instead of taking it all the way to US/Abroad thereby resulting in better quality of service (reduced latency) and reduced bandwidth charges.
• Objectives:
  • To promote the Internet.
  • To set up, when needed, in select location(s)/parts/regions of India Internet Exchanges/Peering Points.
  • To enable effective and efficient routing, peering, transit and exchange of the Internet traffic within India.
  • To continuously work for enhancing and improving the quality of Internet and Broadband services.
  • Set up. Internet Domain Name Operations and related activities.
• Managed by: NIXI is managed and operated on a Neutral basis, in line with the best practices for such initiatives globally.
• India’s Country Code: “.IN” is India’s Country Code Top Level domain (ccTLD).The Govt. of India delegated the operations of INRegistry to NIXI in 2004.

Article Source

News: Union Minister for Consumer Affairs has attended the 74th foundation day celebration of the Bureau of Indian Standards(BIS).

Facts:

Initiative launched during the event:

• Toy Testing facilities: Government has recently brought “Toys” under mandatory BIS certification. Hence, the test facilities will act as an enabler for about 5000 industrial units including micro & small ones for implementing the standards.

Bureau of Indian Standards(BIS):

• BIS: It came into existence in 1986 under BIS Act,1986 and was established as the National Standard Body of India under the BIS Act 2016.
  • The organisation was formerly the Indian Standards Institution (ISI) set up under the Department of Industries and Supplies and was registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860.
• Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution.
• Mandate: BIS has been providing traceability and tangibility benefits to the national economy in a number of ways: providing safe reliable quality goods; minimizing health hazards to consumers; promoting exports and control over proliferation of varieties through standardization, certification and testing.
• Governing Council: The Bureau is a Body Corporate consisting of 25 members representing both Central and State governments, Members of Parliament, industry, scientific and research institutions, consumer organizations and professional bodies with Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution as its President.
• Headquarters: New Delhi
• Collaboration with international standards bodies: BIS is a founder member of International Organisation for Standardization(ISO). It represents India in the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and the World Standards Service Network (WSSN).

Article Source

Context- The role of the Finance Commission as a neutral arbiter in the Centre-state relation in achieving the delicate balance.

What are the key highlights of the latest report?

The Fifteenth Finance Commission led by Chairman N. K. Singh submitted its report for the period 2021-2026 to President of India.

Title of the report – ‘Finance Commission in COVID Time’s and the scales are used to represent the balance between the States and the Union.

Significance of report-

1. The report will determine how India’s fiscal architecture is reshaped.
2. And how Centre-state relations are reset as the country attempts to recover from the COVID-19 shock

What are the key points in the report that can impact states revenue share?

1. The 15th Finance Commission, in its interim report had said, ‘There is merit in ensuring funds for defence and internal security and this will receive appropriate consideration in our final report.’

• This had led to speculation that states will have to contribute to such a fund, in turn leading to a drop in their share of central government’s taxes.

2. Southern Indian states complaining their efforts to control population would go against them. This is because the terms of reference of the 15th Finance Commission included using the 2011 census to suggest devolution of taxes to states.

• The 15th FC has considered the 2011 population along with forest cover, tax effort, area of the state, and “demographic performance” to arrive at the states’ share in the divisible pool.

What are the States issues?

Recommendation of 14^th Finance commission– The commission had recommended for an increase in the share of the States in total tax revenues from 32% to 42%. However, states’ share never touched 42 per cent of tax collections due to-

• Dominance of Centre– The Centre is trying to claw back the fiscal space ceded to the states and assert its dominance over the country’s fiscal architecture. Central government spending has risen on items that lie in the state and concurrent lists.
• Shrinking of divisible pool– Centre has reduced the pool of funds to be shared with the States by shifting from taxes to cesses and surcharges, revenue from which is not shared with the states.

Way forward-

• Finance Commission has to play an important role in achieving the delicate balance in the conflicting domain of finance by addressing the concerns of both the players.
• The Centre can reduce States’ fears by tabling the report without delay, and address any apprehensions it may give rise to.

Context – The Fifteenth Finance Commission led by Chairman N K Singh, submitted its Report to the President of India.

What are the key highlights of the latest report?

The Fifteenth Finance Commission led by Chairman N. K. Singh submitted its report for the period 2021-2026 to President of India. As per the Terms of Reference (ToR), the Commission was mandated to give its recommendations for five years, i.e., 2021-2026.

• Title of the report – ‘Finance Commission in COVID Times’and the scales are used to represent the balance between the States and the Union.
• The report is divided into four volumes.
• The Report is devoted to the Union Government and contains key departments in greater depth, with the medium-term challenges and the roadmap ahead.
• After the report is tabled in the Parliament, it will be available in the public domain.

Which issues are addressed in the report?

1. The Commission submitted its report on vertical and horizontal tax devolution, local government grants, disaster management grant, incentives for States in many areas such as power sector, adoption of DBT, solid waste management etc.
2. The Commission also submitted its report on whether a separate mechanism for funding of defence and internal security ought to be set up and if so how such a mechanism could be operationalized.

What are the key points in the report that can impact states revenue share?

1. The Commission has addressed all its unique terms of reference such as considering a new non-lapsable fund for financing national security and defence spending, and offering performance incentives for States that deliver on reforms.
2. The Fifteenth Finance Commission has considered the 2011 population along with forest cover, tax effort, area of the state, and “demographic performance” to arrive at the states’ share in the divisible pool of taxes.

States issues-

• Cutbacks in devolution – Centre has systematically cut the share of States in taxes raised by the Union government.
• Shrinking of divisible pool- Centre has reduced the pool of funds to be shared with the States by shifting from taxes to cesses and surcharges.

Way forward-

The Centre can reduce States’ fears further by tabling the report soon so that any anxieties can be debated and laid to rest, and States can also plan upcoming Budgets with less uncertainty.

Context: Comparison between Indian U.S. Federal Election Commission and Indian Election commission

What are the Issues pertaining to the functions of U.S. Federal Election Commission?

Vacancies:

• The Commission has hardly been able to function in the last year because of resignations.
• The Commission haven’t passed a single order since August 2019, owing to lack of quorum, for which at least four members are needed.
• As a result, several hundred matters lie pending before the Federal Election Commission.

Lack of consensus:

• The six posts of Commissioner are supposed to be equally shared by Democrats and Republicans.
• This has created a situation where decision making was often divided on partisan lines.

Powerless:

• During the recent Presidential election, when there are allegations over election process the President decided to appeal only to the U.S. Supreme Court without any reference to the Federal Election Commission.

How different is U.S. Federal Election Commission compared to Indian Election commission?

• Origin: The Federal Election Commission was established recently in 1975, with the special mandate to regulate campaign finance issues. Whereas Election commission of India came in to force on 25th January 1950.
• Members: The Federal Election Commission is led by six Commissioners. Whereas Indian Election commission consists of one Chief Election Commissioner and two Election Commissioners.
• Scope: Federal Election Commission has a much narrower mandate than its Indian equivalent. In India, by virtue of being the custodian of the electoral roll, all matters related to keeping the roll updated, fall under the ECI’s domain and ECI enjoys enormous power.
• Role of Judiciary: In India the role of the judiciary is limited post the election period. Our constitutional makers were clear that if election-related petitions were entertained during the course of the election process, it would impede the process and delay election results.
• Scope of Postal ballot: In the 2016 U.S. election, almost a quarter of the votes counted arose from postal ballots. In India we have confined postal ballots to only a few categories, of largely government staff, the police or armed forces.

Ever since our first election in 1951-2 our political parties, both losers and winners, have invariably accepted the results declared by the Election Commission of India, allowing the transfer of power  to be passed on in a smooth manner.

Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG)

• It is a constitutional body established under Article 148 of the Constitution of India.
• Purpose: CAG audits all receipts and expenditure of the Government of India and the state governments, including those of bodies and authorities substantially financed by the government.
• Appointment: CAG is appointed by the President of India following a recommendation by the Prime Minister.

BARC was established as an autonomous ‘not for profit’ body duly registered under the Companies Act, 2013.

BARC was constituted comprising representatives from all relevant industry associations being Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF), Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA) and Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI).

BARC India owns and manages a transparent, accurate, and inclusive TV audience measurement system.

Whereas Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) has 60% stake holding, Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA) and Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) both have 20%-20% stake holding.

How BARC came into existence?

In 2000s, there were two rating agencies Television Audience Measurement (TAM) and INTAM in India providing data for TRPs. There were major mismatch and disputes in the data provided by both agencies.

TAM bought over the INTAM in 2001, leading to cartelisation in the TRP system, killing any possibility of scrutiny of the figures provided by TAM.

As a result, despite having 35 out of the top 50 programmes in all TV homes, none of the Door darshan channels was present in the top 50 slots in the C&S (Cable & Satellite) homes category, as per the data of TAM.

In another such controversy, a news channel with just 4 per cent prime time news was declared as number 1(“sab se Tez”) by TAM instead of DD National with 92 per cent share in prime-time news.

Data was collected on the basis of 2,000 “BAR-O-meters” installed one each in a house, on the back cover of the TVs.

The controversy was raised in the parliament in 2008. Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) asked the Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRAI) to frame policy guidelines for rating agencies.

TRAI recommended for self-regulation through an industry-led body, the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC). Thus, BARC came into existence.

In Jan. 2014, MIB notified Policy Guidelines for Television Rating Agencies and in 2015 BARC was accredited to television ratings in India. In 2016, TAM exited TV viewership measurement, not BARC is the sole TV rating service provider.

Synopsis: Tussle between the Puducherry CM and LG Kiran Bedi is one of the examples of increasing frictions between constitutional functionaries. In today’s article we are listing the causes of frictions between them.  

Background 

• Recently, Puducherry Chief Minister (CM) V. Narayanasamy staged a three-day protest against Lieutenant Governor (LG) Kiran Bedi. 
• The CM accused LG of “functioning in an autocratic manner” and adopting an “obstructionist attitude” in ensuring the progress and welfare of people and asked the Centre for the recall of the Lt Governor.  
• Whereas, LG defended herself by stating that the Lt Governor’s secretariat is ensuring just, fair and accessible administration, within the legal limits.  

What are the causes of friction between Puducherry LG and CM? 

Both have been in friction over issues such as; 

• The appointment of the State Election Commissioner, an office critical to holding elections to local bodies in the Union Territory.  
• The implementation of direct benefit transfer in the public distribution system using cash, instead of free rice, being given to beneficiaries.  

How experts are seeing this issue? 

• First, the Assembly elections are likely in April or May. The protest of CM leading the protest against the Lt Governor was seen as an act of political mobilisation. 

• Second, experts opine that LG should also take into account the legitimate requirements of an elected government and try to accommodate Mr. Narayanaswamy’s views on important matters such as the free rice scheme.  

• Even the Centre itself did not see any benefit in the DBT mode when it decided to give additional food grains (rice or wheat) free of during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Now the responsibility lies with the Centre to step in and restore the breakdown of communication between the Lt Governor and the Chief Minister in the interest of smooth administration.

Context- Importance of Centre-States coordination to deal with the emerging challenges of inter-state water governance.

How the two bills on water can attend the longstanding issue of inter-state externalities

1. The Interstate River Water Disputes Amendment Bill 2019– The bill seeks to improve the inter-state water disputes resolution by setting up a permanent tribunal supported by a deliberative mechanism, the dispute resolution committee.
2. The Dam Safety Bill, 2019– The bills provides for the surveillance, inspection, operation, and maintenance of specified dams, with the help of a comprehensive federal institutional framework comprising committees and authorities for dam safety at national and state levels.

• It also provides for an institutional mechanism to ensure the safety of such dams.

However, these two bills were passed by Lok Sabha and are pending in Rajya Sabha.

What is the importance of Jal Jeevan Mission JJM?

• The chief objective of the Mission is to provide piped water supply (Har Ghar Jal) to all rural and urban households by 2024.
• The Jal Jeevan Mission will converge with other Central and State Government Schemes to achieve its objectives of sustainable water supply management across the country.
• The central assistance through JJM is an opportunity to open a dialogue with the States to address federal water governance gap.

Why a coordinated response from the Centre and states is vital?

1. Systematic federal response– Emerging concerns of long-term national water security and sustainability, the risks of climate change, and the growing environmental challenges, including river pollution needs systematic federal response where the Centre and the states need to work in a partnership mode.
2. For implementation of current national projects– Centre-States coordination is also crucial for pursuing the national projects. For example Ganga river rejuvenation or inland navigation or inter-basin transfers.
3. Critical for Jal Jeevan Mission’s success.
4. To pursue development and sustainability goals–

What is the way forward?

1. Absence of authoritative water data- Data systems related to water in the country are limited in their coverage, robustness and efficiency. The sector suffers from the following key data problems-
2. Limited coverage,
3. Unreliable data
4. Limited co-ordination and sharing.

Therefore, the Centre can work with the states in building a credible institutional architecture for gathering data and producing knowledge about water resources.

2. Jal Jeevan Mission presents an opportunity to get states on board for a dialogue towards stronger Centre-states coordination and federal water governance ecosystem.

Context- The role of the Finance Commission as a neutral arbiter in the Centre-state relation in achieving the delicate balance.

What are the key highlights of the latest report?

The Fifteenth Finance Commission led by Chairman N. K. Singh submitted its report for the period 2021-2026 to President of India.

Title of the report – ‘Finance Commission in COVID Time’s and the scales are used to represent the balance between the States and the Union.

Significance of report-

1. The report will determine how India’s fiscal architecture is reshaped.
2. And how Centre-state relations are reset as the country attempts to recover from the COVID-19 shock

What are the key points in the report that can impact states revenue share?

1. The 15th Finance Commission, in its interim report had said, ‘There is merit in ensuring funds for defence and internal security and this will receive appropriate consideration in our final report.’

• This had led to speculation that states will have to contribute to such a fund, in turn leading to a drop in their share of central government’s taxes.

2. Southern Indian states complaining their efforts to control population would go against them. This is because the terms of reference of the 15th Finance Commission included using the 2011 census to suggest devolution of taxes to states.

• The 15th FC has considered the 2011 population along with forest cover, tax effort, area of the state, and “demographic performance” to arrive at the states’ share in the divisible pool.

What are the States issues?

Recommendation of 14^th Finance commission– The commission had recommended for an increase in the share of the States in total tax revenues from 32% to 42%. However, states’ share never touched 42 per cent of tax collections due to-

• Dominance of Centre– The Centre is trying to claw back the fiscal space ceded to the states and assert its dominance over the country’s fiscal architecture. Central government spending has risen on items that lie in the state and concurrent lists.
• Shrinking of divisible pool– Centre has reduced the pool of funds to be shared with the States by shifting from taxes to cesses and surcharges, revenue from which is not shared with the states.

Way forward-

• Finance Commission has to play an important role in achieving the delicate balance in the conflicting domain of finance by addressing the concerns of both the players.
• The Centre can reduce States’ fears by tabling the report without delay, and address any apprehensions it may give rise to.

Context – The Fifteenth Finance Commission led by Chairman N K Singh, submitted its Report to the President of India.

What are the key highlights of the latest report?

The Fifteenth Finance Commission led by Chairman N. K. Singh submitted its report for the period 2021-2026 to President of India. As per the Terms of Reference (ToR), the Commission was mandated to give its recommendations for five years, i.e., 2021-2026.

• Title of the report – ‘Finance Commission in COVID Times’and the scales are used to represent the balance between the States and the Union.
• The report is divided into four volumes.
• The Report is devoted to the Union Government and contains key departments in greater depth, with the medium-term challenges and the roadmap ahead.
• After the report is tabled in the Parliament, it will be available in the public domain.

Which issues are addressed in the report?

1. The Commission submitted its report on vertical and horizontal tax devolution, local government grants, disaster management grant, incentives for States in many areas such as power sector, adoption of DBT, solid waste management etc.
2. The Commission also submitted its report on whether a separate mechanism for funding of defence and internal security ought to be set up and if so how such a mechanism could be operationalized.

What are the key points in the report that can impact states revenue share?

1. The Commission has addressed all its unique terms of reference such as considering a new non-lapsable fund for financing national security and defence spending, and offering performance incentives for States that deliver on reforms.
2. The Fifteenth Finance Commission has considered the 2011 population along with forest cover, tax effort, area of the state, and “demographic performance” to arrive at the states’ share in the divisible pool of taxes.

States issues-

• Cutbacks in devolution – Centre has systematically cut the share of States in taxes raised by the Union government.
• Shrinking of divisible pool- Centre has reduced the pool of funds to be shared with the States by shifting from taxes to cesses and surcharges.

Way forward-

The Centre can reduce States’ fears further by tabling the report soon so that any anxieties can be debated and laid to rest, and States can also plan upcoming Budgets with less uncertainty.

What is Cess?

• • A cess is an earmarked tax that is collected for a specific purpose and ought to be spent only for that.
  • Cess may initially go to the CFI but has to be used for the purpose for which it was collected.
  • Cess collections are supposed to be transferred to specified Reserve Funds that Parliament has approved for each of these levies.
  • Every cess is collected after Parliament has authorised its creation through an enabling legislation that specifies the purpose for which the funds are being raised.
  • Article 270 of the Constitution allows cess to be excluded from the purview of the divisible pool of taxes that the Union government must share with the States.

What is GST Compensation Cess?

• The Goods and Services Tax in India is a comprehensive, multi-stage, destination-based value-added indirect tax. It has replaced many central and state indirect taxes in India such as the excise duty, VAT, services tax, etc.
  GST compensation: As per the GST (Compensation to States) Act, 2017, states are guaranteed compensation for revenue loss on account of implementation of GST for a transition period of five years (2017-2022).
• The compensation is calculated based on the difference between the current states’ GST revenue and the protected revenue after estimating an annualised 14% growth rate from the base year of 2015-16.
• Any shortfall has to be compensated from the receipts of Compensation Cess imposed on selected commodities that attract a GST of 28 per cent.
• At present, the cess levied on sin and luxury goods such as tobacco and automobiles flow into the compensation fund.
• But the issue was created when during Pandemic govt. denied paying compensation cess due to low revenue collection.

Recently Punjab has denied implementing the Central Farm Laws in the state and has moved amendments to the legislations.

Previously, on the Issue of CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act), several state governments like Kerala denied the implementation of the same in their states.

Thus, the question arises, are states empowered to reject the central laws in their states? if yes, then under what circumstances?

Powers of the central government

Article 256 of the constitution of India provides for the obligation of States and the Union.

• The executive power of every State shall be so exercised as to ensure compliance with the laws made by Parliament and any existing laws which apply in that State, and the executive power of the Union shall extend to the giving of such directions to a State as may appear to the Government of India to be necessary for that purpose.
• Thus, under article 256 of the constitution, states are in obligation to Implement the laws framed by the central government.
• Article 257 (1) of the constitution of India provides that state governments shall not exercise their executive powers in a manner that will “impede or prejudice” the exercise of the executive powers of the Union.
• If a state is not implementing the act, Article 355 of the Constitution can be invoked to issue warning to the concerned state which states that the government of every State is carried on in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution.”
• If the state ignores the warning under Article 355 as well, the Centre can impose President’s rule under Article 356.

Rights available to the state government

• If any central law is Infringing upon the rights or powers of a state, then a state can move to the Supreme Court.
• Article 131 confers exclusive jurisdiction on the Supreme Court in disputes involving States, or the Centre on the one hand and one or more States on the other.
• Unlike individuals, State governments cannot complain of fundamental rights being violated thus cannot move to SC or High Courts under Article 32 or Article 226 of the Constitution.

Previous cases

• In 2011, in the State of Madhya Pradesh v. Union of India and Another, the court said that the Central laws can be challenged in the State High Courts and Supreme Court under Article 32 and held that the constitutional validity of a central law cannot be normally challenged under Article 131.
• In the State of Jharkhand vs. State of Bihar and (2014), the Supreme Court upheld Article 131 as an appropriate tool to test the constitutionality of central law. The court ruled that the condition for invoking the court’s jurisdiction under Article 131 was that the dispute should involve a question on the existence or extent of a legal right and not a political one.

Thus, presently, the States can move the Supreme Court under Article 131 if any legal right derived from any statue or the Constitution of India is infringed. Further states cannot question the legality of central law on a political or ideological basis.

Context – The Sixth Schedule was incorporated to protect the rights of the minority tribals living within a larger state dominated by the majority.

More in news

• Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) an influential students’ body in Meghalaya has put up banners labelling all Bengalis in the state as Bangladeshis.
• It is also spearheading an agitation for an Inner Line Permit (ILP) to regulate outsiders coming into the state.

What is Inner Line Permit? 

• The Inner Line Permit is an official travel document that allows Indian citizens to stay in an area under the ILP system. The document is currently required by visitors to Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland and Mizoram.
• The ILP is issued by the concerned state government .The permits issued are mostly of different kinds, provided separately for tourists, tenants and for other purposes.

What is the Sixth Schedule?

• The Sixth Schedule consists of provisions for the administration of tribal areas in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram, according to Article 244 of the Indian Constitution.
• Passed by the Constituent Assembly in 1949, it seeks to safeguard the rights of the tribal population through the formation of Autonomous District Councils (ADC).
• The ADCs are like miniature states having specific powers and responsibilities in respect of all the three arms of government: legislature, executive and judiciary.
• The governors of these states are empowered to reorganize boundaries of the tribal areas.

How Sixth Schedule discriminates against the non-tribal resident?

The Sixth Schedule, has faced opposition as it infringes upon the rights of non-tribals and discriminates against them in various ways-

Violating many of the fundamental rights granted to citizens under the Constitution like-

• The right to equality before law (Article 14).
• Right against discrimination on the grounds of caste, race, sex, place of birth or religion (Article 15).
• Right to equality of opportunity in public appointment (Article 16).
• Right to settle anywhere in India (Article 19).

What were the impacts of Sixth Schedule of the Constitution on non-tribal people of Meghalaya?

1. Forces migration– the KSU have driven many non-tribals out of the state,

• The share of population of non-tribals dwindling from 20 per cent in 1972, when the state was carved out of Assam, to 14 per cent in 2011.

2. Nearly no jobs for non-tribal population– The new State also promptly implemented near total reservation of jobs for its tribal population.
3. Non-tribal people were barred from acquiring property in Meghalaya.
4. The state’s abject failure to provide protection to the minority non-tribals or punish those responsible for violence against them.
5. 90 per cent of the Assembly seats (55 out of 60 in Meghalaya) reserved for the tribals.

What is the way forward?

• The Sixth Schedule undermines social harmony, stability and economic development of the state and the region.
• Indeed, it is now the rights of minority non-tribals that need protection.

Back to Village(B2V) programme

News: Jammu and Kashmir Government announced the third phase of ambitious Back to Village(B2V) programme.

Facts:

• Back to Village(B2V) programme: The programme aims to involve the people of the state and government officials in a joint effort to deliver the mission of equitable development. It also aims to energize Panchayats and direct development efforts in rural areas through community participation.
• Four main goals:
  • energising panchayats.
  • collecting feedback on the delivery of government schemes and programmes.
  • capturing specific economic potential.
  • undertaking assessment of needs of villages.
• Phases:
  • Phase I: To understand people’s grievances and demands.
  • Phase-II: It focused on the devolution of powers to panchayats and tried to understand how these panchayats are functioning and what are the grievances and demands
  • Phase-III: It has been designed on the format for grievance redressal.
• Features of Back to Village(B2V) programme.:
  1. As part of the programme, each gazetted officer will be assigned a gram panchayat where he/she will interact and obtain feedback from the panchayat representatives about their concerns, developmental needs and economic potential of the area.

 Read also :-Daily current affairs

The feedback obtained will help the government in needs assessment and subsequently to tailor the various central and state government schemes/programmes in improving the delivery of village-specific services and making the village life better in terms improved amenities and economic upliftment.

Synopsis- Theory of Arrow’s paradox and the impact of loss of concentration

Introduction-

• The mechanics of all elections are flawed. The mathematician Kenneth Arrow laid bare the flaws in elections.
• The internet helps the minority voice to instigate a large part of the populace. The recent U.S. presidential election is an example of this.

What is Arrow’s paradox?

The theorem is named after mathematician and Nobel laureate Kenneth Arrow, who demonstrated the theorem in his doctoral thesis in 1950.

He identified that in any electoral system where three or more options exist, a curious paradox comes into play. Views of the minority voice can dictate the broader choice. His finding is now called Arrow’s Paradox.

For example-

• A set of population has three preferences in the run-up to an election which pits binary choices against each other – A= go to war or B= Don’t go to war.
• the voters will be distributed along three lines as follows:
  • • The minority – The hawks, those who want to go to war.
    • The majority of voters but are roughly equally split.

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. The doves, who prefer not to go to war under any circumstance.
            2. The realists, who don’t want to go to war unless it’s absolutely necessary.

• The minority hawks have the ability to dictate the outcome by convincing the realists by prevailing on the realists that war is actually needed.
• Arrow’s Paradox can cause an election which should have a predictable outcome to become a farce since the outcome can be gamed to allow minority factions to prevail.

How arrow paradox theory swayed US elation result?

People now generally lose concentration after eight seconds, highlighting the affects of an increasingly digitalized lifestyle on the brain.

• The recent events such as Proposition 22 in US elections have proved this phenomenon.

Proposition 22

• Uber, Lyft and other gig industries poured money into their ‘Yes on Proposition 22’ campaign, raising over $200 million and the courts to preserve their business model by keeping drivers from becoming employees eligible for benefits and job protections.
• Misleading campaigns- 58% of more than 11 million voters choosing to keep drivers classified as independent contractor, without the additional steps needed after that to get to the truth.
• The outcome was a defeat for labor unions that had pushed for a state law aimed directly at Uber and Lyft, mandating they provide drivers with protections like minimum wage, overtime, health insurance and reimbursement for expenses.

It is certain that there will be future attempts at influencing elections using both intense messaging which takes advantage of our shortened attention spans as well as the setting of agendas of electoral choice which Arrow first described.

Synopsis:  EC should ensure ‘Free, fair and safe’ upcoming elections in the states of Kerala, Tamilnadu, West Bengal, Assam and Pondicherry (UT). 

 Background 

• Since the pandemic broken, Millions of people have exercised their political right to vote in more than 34 countries, including India (In Bihar).   
• With the reappearance of a variant of covid virus in countries like Britain, human beings exposing themselves to the risk of getting and spreading infection through this exercise of franchise is immense. 
• So, it becomes crucial that when elections are announced ECI should pay equal attention to both the election (democratic process) as well as the constitutional rights “right to life” as enshrined in Article 21 and “right to lead a healthy life” as held by SC in Sunil Batra vs. Delhi Administration. 
• But as a life with liberty will be pure theory if a person’s life itself is placed in danger. Thus, there is a need for taking additional measures while announcing elections. 

What are the precautions that needs to be taken while conducting elections in these states? 

As the upcoming elections in Kerala (140 seats), Tamil Nadu (234), Puducherry (30), West Bengal (294) and Assam (126) are scheduled in the coming months. Following steps should be taken to ensure the people’s right to health life; 

• First, the senior citizens who are more vulnerable to infections should be enabled to vote in the first three hours of the voting using a separate queue-lane.   
• Second, Personnel scheduled to be drafted for election duty including security staffs needs to be identified as a priority category for getting vaccinated. 
• Third, every voter entering a booth must be asked to wear mask like the mandatory requirement of Voter Identity card. 
• Fourth, ECI needs to repeat the precautions that were taken during Bihar elections such as reducing the numbers of voters per booth, increasing the number of booths, thermal testing each voter and making postal votes available to senior voters above the age of 80. 

Commitment to political freedom and a compliance with pandemic mitigation measures are an unavoidable contradiction It is the constitutional duty of the state to protect and reduce the risks of pandemic hazard to as near zero as possible while allowing citizens towards their constitutional entitlement of universal adult franchise. Elections during the pandemic must be made safe from the virus to protect the Democracy. 

Source: Click here

News: Karnataka High Court has held that Member of Legislative Council(MLC) Vishwanath stands disqualified under the anti-defection law and hence cannot be inducted into the state cabinet.

Facts:

• Background: A petition was filed in the court alleging that AH Vishwanath had been appointed as member of the Legislative Council(MLC) for the sole purpose of making him minister despite the fact that he had lost the bye-polls.
  • The petitioner argued that he was still disqualified as per the Supreme Court judgement which upheld former Assembly Speaker’s orders for disqualification.
  • The plea maintained that a disqualified member can become eligible to hold the position of a minister only if they win the bye-elections from the same constituency.
• What was the judgement: The Karnataka High Court has held that AH Vishwanath has incurred disqualification under Article 164(1B) and Article 361 B of the Indian Constitution.

Additional Facts:

• Article 164(1B): It states that any member of the Legislative Assembly either the house or the council, belonging to any political party, if disqualified as a member of the Assembly, shall also be disqualified to be appointed as a Minister for the period of their disqualification.
• Article 361B– It states that a member of a House belonging to any political party who is disqualified for being a member of the House under Tenth Schedule shall also be disqualified to hold any remunerative political post for duration of the period commencing from the date of his disqualification till the date on which the term of his office as such member would expire or till the date on which he contests an election to a House and is declared elected whichever is earlier.
• Anti-defection law: It is contained in the 10th Schedule of Constitution.It was enacted by Parliament in 1985.It lays down the process by which legislators may be disqualified on grounds of defection by the Presiding Officer of a legislature based on a petition by any other member of the House.

Context: Prediction of Election outcome through Exit polls and opinion polls have not been accurate.

Some examples where election prediction has miserably failed?

• The example of the Venezuelan recall referendum of 2004: The exit poll that predicted Hugo Chávez to be recalled however, Hugo Chávez won in the Venezuela Referendum
• In recent Bihar elections: The exit polls, mostly predicted a Rashtriya Janata Dal victory with huge margin however the NDA proved exit polls are wrong.
• US presidential elections 2016: Hillary Clinton consistently led Trump in national polls in 2016 however Trump won the election.

What are the reasons for such failures?

• Principles of statistics ignored: Pollsters do not follow the statistical principles properly in designing, sampling, and analyzing their data.
• Lacks holistic coverage: They do not cover remote corners of the country and cover sensitive booths for their surveys.
• No scope for Margin of error: The standard requirements of 3 percentage points as margin of error is not adhered.
• Selection bias: The samples selected by them does not maintain the proportions across gender, age, income, religion, caste, and other important factors.
• Issues in method of sampling: Non responses are not properly tackled and the aspect of ‘random’ sampling is not given adequate importance.

Electoral System of India :Power of Election Commission Of India

Context: Power of Election commission of India to enforce poll norms and clean campaigns.

Background of the issue

• Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister, Kamal Nath, while campaigning for a by-election to the Madhya Pradesh Assembly recently used the derogatory word “item” for a BJP woman candidate.
• Following this, the ECI revoked the star campaigner status for Kamal Nath.
• The Supreme Court has recently stayed the order issued by the Election Commission of India (ECI) revoking Kamal Nath’s status as the star campaigner of the Congress party.

What is star campaigner status?

• It is a privilege given to few candidates. The expenditure incurred on the campaign by those from the list of star campaigners is not included in the expenditure of the candidate concerned.
• It ensures that some leaders can charter helicopters and travel extensively to cover more territory and constituencies without breaching any individual candidate’s spending limit.

Why the court stayed ECI’s order?

• Section 77 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which relates to a candidate’s election expenditure, empowers the political party to decide itself who its “leaders” are and list of ‘star campaigners’ to the election authorities.
• It is against the right to campaign without incurring electoral expenditure on the candidates’ account.
• Stating that the EC has no power to withdraw the status of star campaigner submitted by political parties the Supreme court stayed the Election Commission’s order.

What were the arguments made by ECI?

• The ECI has cited the clause in the MCC (non statutory) that bars candidates from resorting to “criticism of all aspects of the private life, not connected with the public activities” of other leaders and party workers.
• Also, the ECI has made reference to the Supreme Court’s observation that when laws are absent, the ECI can invoke its residuary power to meet an infinite variety of situations that cannot be foreseen by lawmakers.

What is the way forward?

• The ECI needs to be empowered to revoke the status of a campaigner, if there is an apparent breach of campaign norms or the Model Code of Conduct.
• ECI’s power to enforce poll norms and clean campaigns should not be

Supreme Court stayed EC decision on Star Campaigner Status.

Supreme Court in a recent judgment stayed the Election Commission’s October 30 order, canceling the ‘star campaigner’ status of former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath.

Before cancellation of the status Election Commission had issued a written warning to the former CM for his remarks on an opposition leader.

About the SC judgment

SC in its judgment said the Election Commission had no power to determine who should be ‘star campaigner’ of a political party.

As per the petition, Section 77(1) of the Representation of People Act, 1951 read with Guidelines for Star Campaigners issued by the Election Commission, from time to time, makes selection/revocation of ‘star campaigners the sole prerogative of the political party.

Who is a star campaigner?

A star campaigner is a famous personality campaigning in an election for a political party, who can be a politician, or even a film star, and is famous among the general public.  There is no law governing who can or cannot be made a star campaigner.

They are nominated by the concerned political parties specifying their constituencies and duration of the status.

Is there any law or guidelines governing star campaigners?

There is neither any strict law governing who can or cannot be made a star campaigner nor the definition of ‘star campaigner’. However, EC after the announcement of polls issues guidelines for the Model Code of Conduct that regulate poll campaigns by candidates.

Under Section 77 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, the word ‘leaders of a political party’ has been used for the same.

As per guidelines:

• A ‘recognized’ party declared as such by the Election Commission – can nominate a maximum of 40-star campaigners.
• An unrecognized political party can nominate a maximum of 20 star campaigners.

Recently EC revised the guidelines for star campaigners in view of COVID safety norms. As per the revision:

• The maximum limit on the number of star campaigners for recognized National/State political parties has been reduced to 30 in place of 40.
• For unrecognized registered political parties, the number has been limited to 15 from 20.

Read the Official EC document here

Model Code of Conduct (MCC)

• The model code refers to a set of norms laid down by the Election Commission of India, with the consensus of political parties.
• MCC bears no statutory backing and remains unenforceable.
• It spells out the dos and don’ts for elections. Political parties, candidates, and polling agents are expected to observe the norms, on matters ranging from the content of election manifestos, speeches, and processions, to general conduct, so that free and fair elections take place.
• The MCC is operational from the date that the election schedule is announced till the date that results are announced.

Read – All about Model Code of Conduct

Read – All about election Commission of India

Why political parties appoint star campaigners?

As per the popular belief, star campaigners attract a large no. of voters compared to ordinary campaigners, but it has more to do with the poll expenses than the fame of star campaigners.

The Election Commission keeps a tab on expenditure incurred by individual candidates during campaign Rs 70 lakh for most states in one constituency by each candidate.

As per Section 10A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, An incorrect account or expenditure beyond the cap can lead to disqualification for up to three years.

Expenditure incurred on electioneering by the star campaigner is not added to a candidate’s poll expenditure giving him/her more leeway.

According to the Representation of People’s Act, these expenses will be borne by the political parties. But there are few guidelines that are required to be followed:

• The star campaigner has to stick oneself to general campaigning for the political party.
• Entire campaign cost except expenditure incurred on traveling will be added to the candidate’s election expenses if star campaigner shares the stage with a candidate. This applies even if the star campaigner seeks vote for the candidate taking his or her name.
• The expenditure incurred on the rally will be shared equally by the contestants if more than one candidates share the stage with the star campaigner
• If the candidates are not present but their posters or photographs have been displayed in their constituencies where a star campaigner holds a poll rally, the entire expense will be added to the election expenses of the contestants.

Guidelines for PM acting as a ‘star campaigner’

• The MCC guidelines say when a prime minister or a former prime minister is a star campaigner, the expenditure incurred on security including on the bullet-proof vehicles will be borne by the government and will not be added to the election expenses of the party or the individual candidate.
• However, if another campaigner travels with the prime minister or a former minister, the individual candidate will have to bear 50 percent of the expenditure incurred on the security arrangements.

Read more – Issue of star campaigners during Delhi elections

Synopsis: Tussle between the Puducherry CM and LG Kiran Bedi is one of the examples of increasing frictions between constitutional functionaries. In today’s article we are listing the causes of frictions between them.  

Background 

• Recently, Puducherry Chief Minister (CM) V. Narayanasamy staged a three-day protest against Lieutenant Governor (LG) Kiran Bedi. 
• The CM accused LG of “functioning in an autocratic manner” and adopting an “obstructionist attitude” in ensuring the progress and welfare of people and asked the Centre for the recall of the Lt Governor.  
• Whereas, LG defended herself by stating that the Lt Governor’s secretariat is ensuring just, fair and accessible administration, within the legal limits.  

What are the causes of friction between Puducherry LG and CM? 

Both have been in friction over issues such as; 

• The appointment of the State Election Commissioner, an office critical to holding elections to local bodies in the Union Territory.  
• The implementation of direct benefit transfer in the public distribution system using cash, instead of free rice, being given to beneficiaries.  

How experts are seeing this issue? 

• First, the Assembly elections are likely in April or May. The protest of CM leading the protest against the Lt Governor was seen as an act of political mobilisation. 

• Second, experts opine that LG should also take into account the legitimate requirements of an elected government and try to accommodate Mr. Narayanaswamy’s views on important matters such as the free rice scheme.  

• Even the Centre itself did not see any benefit in the DBT mode when it decided to give additional food grains (rice or wheat) free of during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Now the responsibility lies with the Centre to step in and restore the breakdown of communication between the Lt Governor and the Chief Minister in the interest of smooth administration.

Context: Recently, US President Donald Trump exercised his powers under the Constitution to pardon Michael Flynn, his former National Security Advisor

What is the extent of the US President’s power to pardon?

• Constitutional right: The President of the US has the constitutional right to pardon or commute sentences related to federal crimes.
• No restriction: The US Supreme Court has held that this power is “granted without limit” and cannot be restricted by Congress.
• Discretionary power: Clemency is a broad executive power, and is discretionary. The President is not answerable for his pardons, and does not have to provide a reason for issuing one.

What are the limitations?

• Article II, Section 2 of the US Constitution says all Presidents shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.
• The power only applies to federal crimes and not state crimes.
• Those pardoned by the President can still be tried under the laws of individual states.

What is the frequency of usage of pardoning power during different Presidents?

• In 2017, Trump pardoned former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was found guilty of being in contempt of court for ignoring a federal judge’s order to stop arresting immigrants solely on the suspicion that they were residing in the US illegally.
• In four years, Trump has granted pardons to 29 people (including Flynn) and 16 commutations.
• President Barack Obama had, during his eight-year tenure, issued 212 pardons and 1,715 commutations.
• The only other President who can be compared with Trump for infrequent use of the power is George H W Bush, who granted 77 clemency requests during his one-term tenure.
• The highest number of clemency grants by a US President (3,796) came during Franklin D Roosevelt’s 12-year tenure, which coincided with World War II.

How Indian President pardons?

• Not discretionary: the President has to act on the advice of the Council of Ministers while deciding mercy pleas. These include Maru Ram vs Union of India in 1980, and Dhananjoy Chatterjee vs State of West Bengal in 1994.
• Article 72: the President shall have the power to grant pardons, reprieves, respites or remissions of punishment or to suspend, remit or commute the sentence of any person convicted of any offence where the sentence is a sentence of death.
• Article 161: the Governor too has pardoning powers, but these do not extend to death sentences.
• Executive power with defined procedure: The President cannot exercise his power of pardon independent of the government. The mercy plea is forwarded to the Home Ministry, seeking the Cabinet’s advice. The Ministry forwards this to the concerned state government based on the reply, it formulates its advice on behalf of the Council of Ministers.
• Final decision making: Article 74(1) empowers President to return cabinet’s advice for reconsideration once. If the Council of Ministers decides against any change, the President has no option but to accept it.

Context – The Kerala cabinet recommended to the Governor the promulgation of the ordinance to insert Section 118 (A) into the Act.

What is Kerala’s new 118A law?

The new Section 118A has been introduced in the Kerala Police Act, 2011.

According to the new law– The state government recommendation to amend the police act says that if the government finds any media platform including social media producing, publishing or propagating content that could threaten, insult or harm an individual

• The amendment proposes three years in prison and a fine of up to ₹ 10,000 for those found guilty.
• The state officials said this would give law enforcers more teeth to prosecute the guilty, media houses said the law could be used to gag them.

Why the law being criticized?

1. Threat to free speech– It is being seen as an attempt to stifle not only dissent but also freedom of speech and expression.

• In 2015, the Supreme Court in the  Shreya Singhal case had struck down Section 66A of the Information Technology Act and Section 118D of the Kerala Police Act, finding both provisions unconstitutionally vague and thus violative of free speech rights. [Article 19].

2. Vulnerable to misuse– The law is unspecific and indistinct and can be indiscriminately misused by individuals or even the government and the police.
3. Granted the police untrammelled authority– It empower police to suo motu interpret and deal with “offensive” communication and make arrests without a warrant.
4. Though the Kerala government claims it is to fight cyber-crimes against women, that has not found any mention in the law either.

What is the way forward?

The amendment would reverse the course of media freedom, muzzle free speech and undermine civil liberties.

• The greatest danger of such legislation is that if the Ordinance is not withdrawn by the Kerala government, it will act as an example to other states to frame similar laws of their own.

Synopsis: The state and central government can learn from the good practices of Rajasthan on dialogue and deliberation with beneficiaries while policy making to transform from mere governance to good governance.

Background

• The recently enacted Farm laws were passed without any consultation with the farmer community.
• Even when policies are made in good principles, for effective programme implementation, consultations and deliberations are needed during the initial stages of law making.
• If the farm laws were made by taking consultations from the relevant stakeholders especially from the farming community, we could have avoided the ongoing Farmers protest in Delhi.
• The case of Rajasthan, that has a healthy tradition of consulting with worker groups and civil society organisations during the initial stage of policy formulation and to take continuous feedback from the field to carry out periodic midway course corrections serves as a shining example for effective policy making.

How Rajasthan shines as a text book example for effective policy making?

• The example of the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in Rajasthan can illustrate this better.
• Though MGNREGA wages are now directly credited from the central government to a worker’s bank account this system faces the Issue of payment rejections. There are numerous reasons for rejection, for example,
  • • There are instances where block level data entry operators make errors in entering the account or Aadhaar details of workers.
    • There are instances where money does not get credited due to technical issues, for example, the issue of ‘Inactive Aadhaar’. This happens when the linkage of the worker’s Aadhaar and their bank account is broken in the software maintained by the NPCI.
    • Sometimes banks are not able to transfer money as the beneficiary account remains

How the Rajasthan government was able to solve the Issue of payment rejections?

• To resolve payment rejections, the Department of Rural Development of the Government of Rajasthan has held numerous discussions which resulted in conducting periodic workshops with the relevant stake holders.
• Through workshops the worker groups and civil society organisations interacted directly with the aggrieved workers, administrative officers from the village level to the State level, and bankers.
• Through Continuous dialogues with aggrieved workers, they were able to finalise a detailed guideline with well-defined responsibility, clear timelines, and monitoring and protocols to be followed by officials to resolve the issue.
• This has resulted in a significant reduction in payment rejections in Rajasthan. Within a period of 1 year, the Rajasthan government was able to clear ₹380 crore worth of payments to workers that were earlier stuck due to rejections.
• By resolving the payment issue through dialogues, deliberations and constant feedback, the government ensured that every person who has worked, gets their full payment on time
• There is also another case of Jan Soochna Portal similar to MGNREGA where government through a ‘digital dialogue’ involving government officials and numerous civil society organisation have designed and formatted each scheme of Jan Soochna Portal.
• Jan Soochna Portal was launched to facilitate The Right to Information (RTI) Act that was obscured by issues such as ill-defined formats, inaccessibility
• The JSP is a single platform in the public domain providing information across 60 departments of over 104 schemes. The JSP makes disclosure of information accessible for all.

Federalism and good governance require constant constructive engagement between people and officials through Deliberation and debate. A constitutionally committed government should listen to the voices of the marginalised before making welfare policies.

Synopsis– Present data-based technological development and Personal Data Protection Bill 2019 presents a unique challenge to the privacy of individuals.  

Introduction Personal Data Protection Bill 2019   –

By Puttaswamy v India (2017) case, privacy was established as a fundamental right. In other cases, MP Sharma v. Satish Chandra (1954) and Kharak Singh v. Uttar Pradesh (1962), as well, Privacy rights were upheld by SC.  

However, the development of global technology and implementation of the Aadhaar biometric programme in India have diluted the effect of these rulings. Now there is an urgent need to take a new look at the legal position of privacy in India. 

As depicted by Aadhaar based technology and global social media platforms, data has become a new oil i.e., it has become a tool for economic and political gain. It created a stream of data protection legislations, globally. India is also trying to join the league by Personal Data Protection Bill 2019 (DPB).   

In India, the Personal Data Protection Bill 2019 (DPB) is currently under consideration by a parliamentary committee. There are various issues in this bill that go against the privacy rights of individuals. 

Commercial and Political consequences of the Data Protection Bill (DPB): 

Data Collection related issues  

• First- Bill will negatively impact the emerging technologies market of India dealing in creation, use, and sale of data that is valued at $1 trillion by 2025.  
• Second- The bill requires digital firms who want to operate in India to obtain permission from users before collecting their data.  
• Third– Bill also declares that users who provide data are, in effect, the owners of their own data and may control its usage or request firms to delete it.  
  • • European internet-users are able to exercise a “right to be forgotten” and have evidence of their online presence removed. 
• Fourth– The bill allows the government to use “critical” or “sensitive” personal data, related to information such as religion, to protect national interest. 

• Fifth– Open-ended access to government could lead to misuse of data. Mr. B N Srikrishna, the chairmen of the drafting committee of the original bill, warned that government-access exemptions risk creating an “Orwellian state”.

Issues related to Establishment of Data Protection Authority (DPA)  

• Bill aims to establish a Data Protection Authority (DPA), which will be charged with managing data collected by the Aadhaar programme. 
  • • Authority will consist of chairperson and six committee members,  
    • Members will be appointed by the central government on the recommendation of a selection committee.
    • Members will be selected from senior civil servants, including the Cabinet Secretary. 
• The government’s power to appoint and remove members at its discretion provides it an ability to influence the independence of agency.
• Unlike similar institutions, such as the Reserve Bank of India or the Securities and Exchange Board, the DPA will not have an independent expert or member of the judiciary on its governing committee.
• The UIDAI, for its part, has a chairperson appointed by the central government and reporting directly to the Centre.

Issues related to government use of data for surveillance

There are instances that suggest, India is acquiring some features of a surveillance state. 

• As stated by the Union Home minister recently, police used facial recognition technology to identify people after the anti-CAA protests and the Delhi riots. 
• There is a high possibility that police was matching the video offstage with the database of Election Commission and e-Vahan, a pan-India database of vehicle registration.

Issue related to safety of data 

There are instances of controversy where government has shown casual approach towards data safety and privacy of its citizens:  

• First, Safety concerns were raised during aadhaar data collection, which stores biometric data in the form of iris and fingerprints which is a violation of right to privacy.  
• Second instance was of Aarogya Setu contact-tracing app which was allegedly not able to protect the data provided by citizens.  

Way Forward 

• The Data Protection Bill is a unique opportunity for India, a country with some 740 million internet users.  It would be a standard setter for privacy of individuals. 
• Inclusive debate needs to take place in the Joint Parliament Committee and then in Parliament to examine the Data Protection Bill and promote transparency.

Source: The New Indian Express

News: Directorate of Estates, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has launched a new Web Portal and Mobile App named “e-Sampada”.

Facts:

• e-Sampada: It is a mobile application that provides a single window for all services including allotment for over one lakh government residential accommodations, office space allotment to government organisations among others.
• Significance: This will promote ease of living for Government of India officers / Departments as all services can be availed online on a single window with a live tracking of applications.The automated processes will also minimize human intervention and will lead to greater transparency.

Synopsis: The governance structure of public universities must be reformed on an urgent basis as it may help them become world class universities.  

55 central universities, endowed with prime land and extensive central grants, are crown jewels of the Indian academic system.  

However, lately, these universities are facing governance-related challenges. Six vice-chancellors (VCs) of central universities have been sacked and another five have been charge-sheeted. 

Need for Public universities 

• There are some important public universities, where cross-disciplinary research to solve complex modern problems take place, with the focus on all the major branches of learning.  
• Locus of innovation has been switched towards innovative private universities which have failed to develop into broad-based universities with the full range of humanities, social and natural sciences and the professional disciplines.  

Thus, central universities must be saved to save the academia. 

What is the governance structure in public universities? 

As each of the 55 central universities is governed by a separate Act, there are difference in governance structures, but broadly it is as follows: 

• VC: President of India is the Visitor of the university. On his behalf, Ministry of Education appoints chancellor.  

• For that purpose, Ministry appoints search committee to interview multiple candidates and to come up with the list of 3 candidates. From the list ministry appoints a VC. 

• Senate or court: It is chosen through different process and constituted of nominees from various stakeholders, including the government, faculty, students, and citizens.  

• Technically, this is the governing council (GC) of the university. 

• Executive council: Council carry on the university work. It is chaired by VC and appoints the registrar. 
• Finance committee: Finance committee is appointed to maintain financial checks and balances. It is headed by a chief finance officer.  

What are the issues in governance structure in public universities? 

• GC has no say in the selection of the VC and meets only once a year. In theories, it approves the annual plan of the university, presented by VC. But in reality, plan is approved without discussions or questions.  
• After approval there is very minimal direction or monitoring from the GC throughout the year. 
• Size of the GC is very big to organise any fruitful meeting. For example; GC of Delhi University has 475 members.  

Best Practices  

Example of IIM 

• In contrast to the general Governance structure, IIM structure is much better version.  
• It has set a limit on the members of GC at maximum of 19. All of them are expected to meet s certain standard i.e. eminent citizens with broad social representation and an emphasis on alumni.  
• Functions of GC includes: 

• Selection of Director,  
• Providing overall strategic direction,  
• Raising resources, 
• Monitoring the performance of director 

Example of Harvard 

• Until 150 years ago, Harvard was also a government university and was on verge of collapse.  
• It only became what it is today after governance reform by creating an empowered board comprising its most successful alumni. They brought dynamism, oversight, and resources with them and made it a world-class university. 

Way forward 

• Thus, it is apparent that the governing councils of all central universities IITs, and all other central institutions is restructured by an Act of Parliament. 
• Boards of these universities should comprise of their most eminent alumni.  
• Recently the billion-dollar endowment campaign announced by university is being spearheaded by its most successful alumni, many of them created Unicorns, or billion-dollar companies. If alumni like them invited to GC, they may help it become a world-class university like Harvard. 

Source: The Hindu

News: Cabinet has approved the merger of four government-run film and media units — the Films Division, the Directorate of Film Festivals, the National Film Archives of India and the autonomous body Children’s Film Society with the National Film Development Corporation(NFDC).

• Significance of Merger: The merger of Film Media Units under one corporation will lead to convergence of activities and resources and better coordination, thereby ensuring synergy and efficiency in achieving the mandate of each media unit.It will also lead to reduction in duplication of activities and direct savings to the exchequer

Facts:

• Films Division: It was established in 1948 and is the oldest of the four units created primarily to produce documentaries and news magazines as publicity for government programmes and to keep a cinematic record of Indian history.
• National Film Archives of India: It was established in 1964 with the primary objective of acquiring and preserving Indian cinematic heritage.
• Directorate of Film Festivals: It was set up in 1973 to promote Indian films and cultural exchange.
• Children’s Film Society: It is an autonomous body founded in 1955 with the specific objective of providing children and young people value-based entertainment through the medium of films.
• National Film Development Corporation of India(NFDC): It was established in 1975 to encourage high quality Indian cinema.
  • It functions under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India.
  • The primary goal of the NFDC is to plan, promote and organise an integrated and efficient development of the Indian Film Industry and foster excellence in cinema.
  • Headquarters: Mumbai

Context: The COVID-19 pandemic has put governance under a stress test which exposed how poorly prepared the world’s governments were. 

What was the response of the world leaders to the pandemic? 

The world’s most powerful leaders failed to do their duty to protect the citizens. 

• In Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro irresponsibly refused to get vaccinated, even as his own government has launched a national vaccination campaign. He even remarked that the vaccine might turn people into crocodiles. 
• In India, lockdowns of limited effectiveness, the sight of migrants desperately walking back to their villages and having the second largest number of cases, dented Prime Minister Modi’s popularity. 
• In Russia, Vladimir Putin has hardly spoken even as the virus wraths unchecked across Russia. Further, the citizens are against a vaccine whose ability and safety are inadequately understood because of the opacity of Russia’s protocols. 

Then why people of their country have not held their leaders accountable for the failure in handling this situation? Answer lies in the following propositions that shape the view of general public towards their leaders. 

What are the limits of political accountability exposed during the pandemic? 

Three propositions frame this analysis: 

• Prospective Accountability: It is often understood that the voters vote retrospectively, i.e., give their judgement in the elections by voting based on the incumbent’s record. Instead, they vote prospectively, i.e., against candidates who the voters fear would put the opponents to a disadvantage. 
• Underestimation of collective action: Second, disease, unlike war, does not offer a clear enemy to target. Public health advice that stressed the need for personal responsibility to stay home, wear a mask, washing hands. It underestimated the challenge of collective action predicted on millions of individual responses. 
  • It emphasises person’s responsible for own health, then getting sick is also his own fault. It absolves the govt. off the responsibilities.  
• Poverty of collective empathy: Third, the coronavirus pandemic reveals our inability to empathise with what we do not see. For example, thousands of deaths due to pollution and road accidents go unnoticed, unlike thousands of deaths by COVID-19;  

What is the way forward? 

• Prolonged economic suffering demands government remedy more immediately as without some measure of accountability, democracy loses its power, and so do the people. 

Source: Click here

News: As many as 2927 complexes across India have been connected so far by a high-speed Wide Area Network(WAN) under e-Courts Project.

What is e-court project?

It is an Integrated Mission Mode Project under implementation since 2007 as part of National e-Governance Plan.

• The project is based on the National Policy and Action Plan for Implementation of Information and Communication Technology in Judiciary-2005.
• Aim: To provide designated services to litigants, lawyers and the judiciary by universal computerisation of district and subordinate courts in the country by leveraging Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for improved justice delivery.
• Implementation: The project is monitored and funded by the Ministry of Law and Justice.

Source : Click here

News: The Urban Governance Index 2020 has been released.

Facts:

• Published by: The index has been published by Praja Foundation, a Mumbai-based think tank.
• Purpose: The index ranks states to indicate where they stand in terms of real empowerment of grassroot democracy and local self government.
• Themes: The ranking is based on these main themes— how empowered elected city representatives and legislative structures are; how empowered the state’s city administration is; how empowered the citizens are and finally the fiscal empowerment and financial autonomy of the state.

Key Takeaways:

• Topped by: Odisha was ranked first in the index followed by Maharashtra, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
• Worst States: Jharkhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur and Nagaland performed the worst in the index.

Context:  Untroubled by factuality and diversity, privilege and power are shaping public opinion in troubled democracies.

What is the relation between truth and politics?

• “Factual truth”: It is a reference to observations by living subjects of constantly changing reality. But factual truth was always prone to challenge as being no more than opinion.
• “Formal truths”: On the contrary, it is a part of the received wisdom, such as the proposition that two and two made four.
• Truth and politics: Both of them had always been “on rather bad terms with each other” and “truthfulness” was never counted “among the political virtues”.
• This was a reality with a deep bearing on the practice of politics, since “facts and events”, the outcome of the collective life of humanity, were the “very texture of the political land”.

How is truth altered by deception?

• Factuality:The lie in normal circumstances is “defeated by reality”. However large the tissue of falsehood, even when twisted with the help of computers, it would be inadequate to “cover the immensity of factuality”.
• Radical destruction:A fact could be removed from the world if a sufficient number of people believe in its non-existence.
• But this would require a process of “radical destruction”, an experiment that totalitarian regimes had undertaken with frightening consequences, though without the intended result of “lasting deception”.

What is the role of social media?

• The role of social media: Earlier modes of harvesting attention and securing assent for a particular perception of reality have been transformed in this intensely networked situation.
• Since the events of 2016, notably the United Kingdom’s Brexit referendum and Donald Trump’s election as the U.S. President, social media has come in for intense scrutiny for its ability to create bubbles of political misinformation.
• The economist, Raghuram Rajan, and the philosopher, Michael Sandel, have in recent times pointed out how daily lives in the U.S. today are increasingly about sameness, less about exposure to diversities of culture and social perception.
• It is a context that enables particular population units to pretend that other worlds do not exist, that their perceptions, fortified in regular “check ins” with social media, are all that matter.
• Customary deliberative processes have been dispensed with: Parliament sessions conclude without the Question Hour and consultative meetings across party lines over significant legislative initiatives have been scrapped.

Way forward

• Public opinion in democracies is now fashioned within cocoons of privilege and power, untroubled by factuality or diversities in perception. The U.S. seems to have tapped the sources of countervailing power to neutralise this drift towards a world of alternative truths.

Context: Analysing the need for common global governance

What are the impediments to international cooperation in the 21st century?

• USA & China: The rivalry between the world’s two largest economies has intensified spreading the fears of a new cold war breaking between them.
• India – China: The militaries of the two most populous countries of the world has been engaged in a tense standoff for the past seven months.
• India and Pakistan: Endless state of confrontation between the armies of two nuclear-armed countries.
• West Asia: Civil wars in Syria, Iraq, Libya and Yemen that are externally instigated.
• Brazil: Fire in parts of the Amazon forest, the world’s largest sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide has been a global concern
• USA- Russia nuclear disarmament: Uncertainity over the extension of the only remaining nuclear weapons control pact between the US and Russia, the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty which is set to expire on February 5, 2021.

What are the Other common challenges?

• Ensuring affordable availability of the COVID vaccine to the entire global population.
• Making the world economy inclusive, equitable and sustainable for complete eradication of poverty.
• Achieving time-bound climate action to protect the planet.
• Preventing the militarisation of oceans, outer space and other global commons.

How can we tackle this problem?

• Need to establish democratic world government: Since, Non-discriminatory and justice-promoting governance is necessary for creating a more united, safer and better world. So, this concept must be brought to the centre of global discourse and action.
• Principle of shared sovereignty: Exclusive national sovereignty has become the greatest barrier to human unity and fraternity. The concept of national sovereignty is invoked many times to threaten peace, well-being and development. In the age of globalisation, we must embrace the virtues of shared sovereignty, in which connectivity (physical, digital, cultural and people-to-people) takes priority over the territorial sovereignty.
• New laws of global governance: Where militarisation of international disputes must be criminalised.
• Disarmament: The world community must compel all nations, to destroy all their weapons of mass destruction and to reduce their military expenditures.
• Reform and strengthen United Nations: To gradually evolve into a future world government body. As a key element of UN reforms, permanent membership of its security council must be abolished and nations that wage offensive wars or have failed to resolve disputes with their neighbours should stand disqualified/suspended from UNSC membership.
• Making governance more broad-based and participatory: Technology and mobility have made it possible for artists, professionals, environmentalists, disempowered communities etc, to collaborate by transcending national barriers. Therefore, their empowered participation in global governance is a must.
• People’s Movement: Rally the people of all nations, races and religions around a new democratically governing body to address the issues caused by myopic, self-centred and unaccountable national governments.

The solution to polarisation is reform of government and state institutions in a way that they work for all citizens without discrimination and injustice. Societies are healed when governance becomes fair and compassionate.

Context: Foreign Contribution Regulation rules, 2011 have been amended by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) with the notification of new FCRA rules.

• New rules require any organization that wants to register itself under the FCRA to have existed for at least three years.
• should have spent a minimum of Rs. 15 lakh on its core activities during the last three financial years for the benefit of society.
• Office bearers of the NGOs seeking registration under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act must submit a specific commitment letter from the donor indicating the amount of foreign contribution and the purpose for which it is proposed to be given.
• Any NGO or person making an application for obtaining prior permission to receive foreign funds shall have an FCRA Account.

What is FCRA (Foreign Contribution Regulation Act)?

• Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act: It is an act of Parliament enacted in 1976 and amended in 2010 to regulate foreign donations and to ensure that such contributions do not adversely affect internal security.
• Coverage: It is applicable to all associations, groups, and NGOs which intend to receive foreign donations.
• Who cannot receive foreign donations?
  • Members of the legislature and political parties, government officials, judges, and media persons are prohibited from receiving any foreign contribution.
  • However, in 2017 the FCRA was amended through the Finance Bill to allow political parties to receive funds from the Indian subsidiary of a foreign company or a foreign company in which an Indian holds 50% or more shares.
• Registration: It is mandatory for all such NGOs to register themselves under the FCRA. The registration is initially valid for five years and it can be renewed subsequently if they comply with all norms.
• Purpose of Foreign contribution: Registered associations can receive foreign contributions for social, educational, religious, economic, and cultural purposes. The filing of annual returns on the lines of Income Tax is compulsory.
• Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) New Rules:
  • In 2015, the MHA notified new rules which required NGOs to give an undertaking that the acceptance of foreign funds is not likely to prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India or impact friendly relations with any foreign state and does not disrupt communal harmony.
  • It also said all such NGOs would have to operate accounts in either nationalized or private banks which have core banking facilities to allow security agencies access on a real-time basis.

Key provisions of FCR(Amendment), Act 2020:

• Prohibition to accept foreign contribution:
  • Include certain public servants in the prohibited category for accepting foreign contribution: These include: election candidates, editor or publisher of a newspaper, judges, government servants, members of any legislature, and political parties.
  • The Bill adds public servants to this list. Public servant includes any person who is in service or pay of the government or remunerated by the government for the performance of any public duty.

• Transfer of foreign contribution: Under the Act, foreign contribution cannot be transferred to any other person unless such person is also registered to accept foreign contribution.
• FCRA account: The Bill states that foreign contribution must be received only in an account designated by the bank as FCRA account in such branches of the State Bank of India, New Delhi. No funds other than the foreign contribution should be received or deposited in this account.
• Definition of persons: The FCRA 2010 allows the transfer of foreign contributions to persons registered to accept foreign contributions. The term ‘person’ under the Bill includes an individual, an association, or a registered company.
• Regulation: The Act states that a person may accept foreign contributions if they have obtained a certificate of registration from the central government or obtained prior permission from the government to accept foreign contribution. The bill makes Aadhaar mandatory for registration.
• Restriction in utilisation of foreign contribution: The Bill gives government powers to stop utilisation of foreign funds by an organization through a “summary enquiry”.
• Reduction in use of foreign contribution for administrative purposes: The bill decreases administrative expenses through foreign funds by an organisation to 20% from 50% earlier.
• Surrender of certificate: The Bill allows the central government to permit a person to surrender their registration certificate.

Need for such amendments:

• To monitor Misuse of funds: In Parliament, the government alleged that foreign money was being used for religious conversions. For instance, in 2017, the government barred American Christian charity, Compassion International.
• To prevent loss to the GDP: An official report quantifying the GDP losses allegedly caused by environmental NGOs was prepared during the NPA period, indicating a foreign conspiracy against India.
• To enhance transparency and accountability: The annual inflow of foreign contribution has almost doubled between the years 2010 and 2019, but many recipients of foreign contribution have not utilised the same for the purpose for which they were registered or granted prior permission under the said Act.
• To regulate NGO’s: Many persons were not adhering to statutory compliances such as submission of annual returns and maintenance of proper accounts.

Concerns associated with the recent amendments

• Over-regulation of NGO: New regulations put excessive conditions on civil society organizations, and educational and research institutions that have partnerships with foreign entities.
• Lack of Consensus: The amendments were not discussed with the stakeholder and passed with limited discussion in Parliament.
• Against Constitutional rights: According to the International Commission of Jurists, the new law is incompatible with international obligations and India’s own constitutional provisions on rights.
• Incompatible with international laws: The United Nations Human Rights Council resolution on protecting human rights defenders says that no law should criminalize or delegitimize activities in defense of human rights on account of the origin of funding.
• Discourage social work: Thousands of NGOs serve extremely disadvantaged sections. Only presumption of guilt against them all, followed by control, restricts their scope of voluntary actions.
• Selective barriers: The over-regulation appears to be towards selected categories of global ideas and ideals such as environmentalism, human rights, and civil liberties.
• Reduce investments and technology flow: As a growing economy, India has been proactive in seeking global capital and technology. Strict rules governing FCRA will impact investments.
• Against Indian cultural ethos: Prime Minister has often cited the ancient Indian ethos of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam as the framework for its global engagement. New rules do not go well with India’s legitimate ambitions to be a global player.
• Additional cost of compliance: Every FCRA-registered NGO will have to open an FCRA-marked bank account with a designated branch of State Bank of India in New Delhi. Around 93% of FCRA NGOs are registered outside Delhi, and will now have to open a bank account in the capital.
• Lowering the cap on administrative expenses: The micro-management and cost structures vary from project to project. It is difficult for NGOs whose work revolves around advocacy rather than projects. In 2018-19, there were 1,328 NGOs whose administrative expenses exceeded 20% of their total foreign funds.

What can be the way forward?

• Delink religious propagation and conversions from the question of foreign funding.
• There are adequate laws against conversion by inducement. It cannot be decided against the touchstone of the source of funds, native or foreign.
• Seamless sharing of ideas and resources across national boundaries is essential to the functioning of a global community.
• The government must commit itself to the ancient Indian ethos of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam as the framework for its global engagement and should not be hostile against the NGOs who criticize the government for their work.

Civil society’s supplements government works and works at the grass-root level. Civil societies should not be discouraged unless there is reason to believe the funds are being used to aid illegal activities.

In News: Recently, Foreign Contribution Regulation (Amendment) Bill 2020 was introduced in the Lok Sabha. The Bill amends the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010.

What is FCRA?

• Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act: It is an act of Parliament enacted in 1976 and amended in 2010 to regulate foreign donations and to ensure that such contributions do not adversely affect internal security.
• Coverage: It is applicable to all associations, groups and NGOs which intend to receive foreign donations.
• Who cannot receive foreign donations?
  • Members of the legislature and political parties, government officials, judges and media persons are prohibited from receiving any foreign contribution.
  • However, in 2017 the FCRA was amended through the Finance Bill to allow political parties to receive funds from the Indian subsidiary of a foreign company or a foreign company in which an Indian holds 50% or more shares.
• Registration: It is mandatory for all such NGOs to register themselves under the FCRA. The registration is initially valid for five years and it can be renewed subsequently if they comply with all norms.
• Purpose of Foreign contribution: Registered associations can receive foreign contributions for social, educational, religious, economic and cultural purposes. Filing of annual returns on the lines of Income Tax is compulsory.
• Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) New Rules:
  • In 2015, the MHA notified new rules which required NGOs to give an undertaking that the acceptance of foreign funds is not likely to prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India or impact friendly relations with any foreign state and does not disrupt communal harmony.
  • It also said all such NGOs would have to operate accounts in either nationalised or private banks which have core banking facilities to allow security agencies access on a real time basis.

Key provisions of Foreign Contribution Regulation (Amendment) Bill 2020:

• Prohibition to accept foreign contribution:
  • Include certain public servants in the prohibited category for accepting foreign contribution: These include: election candidates, editor or publisher of a newspaper, judges, government servants, members of any legislature, and political parties.
  • The Bill adds public servants to this list. Public servant includes any person who is in service or pay of the government, or remunerated by the government for the performance of any public duty.
• Transfer of foreign contribution: Under the Act, foreign contribution cannot be transferred to any other person unless such person is also registered to accept foreign contribution.
• FCRA account: The Bill states that foreign contribution must be received only in an account designated by the bank as FCRA account in such branches of the State Bank of India, New Delhi. No funds other than the foreign contribution should be received or deposited in this account.
• Definition of persons: The FCRA 2010 allows transfer of foreign contributions to persons registered to accept foreign contributions. The term ‘person’ under the Bill includes an individual, an association, or a registered company.
• Regulation: The Act states that a person may accept foreign contribution if they have obtained a certificate of registration from central government or obtained prior permission from the government to accept foreign contribution. The bill makes Aadhaar mandatory for registration.
• Restriction in utilisation of foreign contribution: The Bill gives government powers to stop utilisation of foreign funds by an organisation through a “summary enquiry”.
• Reduction in use of foreign contribution for administrative purposes: The bill decreases administrative expenses through foreign funds by an organisation to 20% from 50% earlier.
• Surrender of certificate: The Bill allows the central government to permit a person to surrender their registration certificate.

Need for such amendments:

• To monitor Misuse of funds: In Parliament, the government alleged that foreign money was being used for religious conversions. For instance, in 2017, the government barred American Christian charity, Compassion International.
• To prevent loss to the GDP: An official report quantifying the GDP losses allegedly caused by environmental NGOs was prepared during NPA period, indicating a foreign conspiracy against India.
• To enhance transparency and accountability: The annual inflow of foreign contribution has almost doubled between the years 2010 and 2019, but many recipients of foreign contribution have not utilised the same for the purpose for which they were registered or granted prior permission under the said Act.
• To regulate NGO’s: Many persons were not adhering to statutory compliances such as submission of annual returns and maintenance of proper accounts.

Synopsis- Central orders, three IPS officer from Bengal to serve central deputation to as part of an exercise to fix responsibility for the alleged lapses.

Background-

• The Centre has asked for the three IPS officers to be sent on deputation with the Government of India following an attack on BJP president J P Nadda’s motorcade outside Kolkata, these officers were in charge of security. 
• But Bengal government refused to send three IPS officers on central deputation. The state government in its refusal has cited a shortage of IPS officers.  

Why Centre’s decision is not legitimate? 

The Centre’s decision not only reeks of vengeance but goes against the norms governing deputation of officers to the Centre. 

• First, putting blame on the three IPS officers for the attack without even a perfunctory inquiry goes against the norms of justice. 
  • A formal enquiry should have taken place, then the penal actions.

• Second, forcibly deputed to central organization- The concerned IPS officers have been assigned new responsibilities at Centre: Bholanath Pandey has been deputed as SP, Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD), Praveen Tripathi as DIG, Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and Rajeev Mishra as IG, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).

• • The forceful deputation can demoralize the serving office which eventually affects their service performance as they go with the perception that they have been deputed on grounds of inefficiency or as a punishment.

What is the process of deputation in India? 

The movement of officers from the state to the Centre and back is of mutual benefit to the states and the government of India on the one hand and to the officers concerned, on the other. 

• • First, in normal case, officers willing to be deputed to the Centre are asked to apply through the States.  

• • A panel of selected officers is prepared after which they are deputed to various Central Armed Police Forces [CRPF, ITBP, SSB etc.]  and Centre police organization on the basis of merit.

• Second, in case of disagreement between Centre and State–Rule 6(1) of the Indian Police Service (Cadre) Rules, 1954 says about deputation: In case of disagreement between Centre and state over deputation of an IPS officer, the Centre’s will shall prevail.

Why government reducing the CDR of IPS officers? 

Central government proposes 50 percent cut in the IPS central deputation quota because– 

• First, the state governments do not spare their IPS officers for central deputation and more than 60 per cent posts remain vacant. 

• • It is observed that at present only 428 IPS officers are working on Central Deputation against the authorized strength of 1075 officers.

• Second, most officers avoid Central deputation as they enjoy better perks and powers in the States. 
• Third, Central deputation could mean a posting in the Northeast or in a Left-Wing Extremism-affected State. 

Thus, Centre decision to call West Bengal IPS officer to serve in central deputation seems absurd and such arbitrary decision must be avoided.

News: The Union Cabinet approved the Mission Karmayogi – National Programme for Civil Services Capacity Building (NPCSCB).

Facts:

• Mission Karmayogi: It is a nationwide programme to lay the foundation for capacity building of civil servants so that they remain entrenched in Indian Culture while they learn the best practices across the world.
• Aim: To prepare Indian civil servants for the future by making them more creative, constructive, imaginative, proactive, innovative, progressive, professional, energetic, transparent and technology enabled.
• How will Mission Karmayogi unfold?
  • iGOT Karmayogi: The mission will be delivered by Integrated Government Online Training-iGOT Karmayogi Platform. It will act as a launchpad for National Programme for Civil Services Capacity Building to enable a comprehensive reform of the capacity building apparatus at the individual, institutional and process levels.
  • Human Resources Council: It will be set up under the Chairmanship of the Prime Minister comprising select Union Ministers, Chief Ministers who will provide strategic direction to the task of Civil Services Reform and capacity building.
  • Coordination Unit: It will be headed by Cabinet Secretary consisting of select secretaries and cadre controlling authorities.
  • Capacity Building Commission: It will include experts in related fields and global professionals. This commission will prepare and monitor annual capacity building plans and audit human resources available in the government.
  • Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV): It will be a “not-for-profit” company under Section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013. It will own and manage iGOT-Karmayogi platform to create and operationalise the content, market place and manage key business services of iGOT platform.
• Funding: To cover around 46 lakh central employees, a sum of Rs 510 crore will be spent over a period of 5 years from 2020-21 to 2024-25. The expenditure is partly funded by multilateral assistance to the tune of $50 million.

Read Also :-Daily Current Affairs news for upsc

What are the major deficiencies in India Policing?

1. The police-population ratio – The Indian police force is at only 77 per cent of its sanctioned strength. India has 144 police personnel for one lakh population, is less than what is recommended by UN i.e. 222 policemen per lakh population.

• Unfilled vacancies– One in every five posts sanctioned in the Indian Police Service remains vacant. In low and middle rank positions, the vacancies of 5.28 lakh personnel account for nearly one-fourth of the total sanctioned strength of over 22 lakh.
• Low numbers of Women police –Women are grossly underrepresented in our police force. They constitute less than 7 per cent of our total police strength.

2. Untrained police personnel- The existing police personnel are also not adequately trained. Less than 7 per cent police get in-service training. Gujarat scores the lowest, with less than one per cent having received any in-service training.
3. Overburdened police force- Understaffing in turn results into overburdening of work that not only reduces the effectiveness and efficiency of the police personnel (leading to poor quality of investigation) but also leads to psychological distress  and contributes to Pendency of cases.

What are the reforms required?

1. Sensitization of Police Forces– The police need to be sensitized about their role in society. There has to be promptness of action and decency when dealing with public especially during sensitive issues like rape.

• They need to be trained in body language and strictly advised to refrain from abusive behaviour.
• The sensitization module should aim at bringing about attitudinal change, especially pertaining to gender and power relations and police behaviour.

2. Police accountability – As per the police laws, both the Central and State police forces come under the superintendence and control of political executives. Police priorities are frequently altered based on the will of political executives.

• Enhancing accountability will improve police legitimacy and increase public confidence, which, in turn, will reinforce the integrity of the system.
• The police, as the custodian of maintenance of law and order, must stay away from agenda-driven politics.

3. Improvement in police-population ratio- The police-to-people ratio should be improved by at least 50 per cent to meet the challenges faced by the force.

• Women policing– With the increase in the number of gender crimes, it has become a necessity to augment the strength of police by recruiting more and more women police personnel.

4. Dharma-Vira Commission recommendation– The top police leadership should be selected by apolitical representatives and an impartial body. It was a strong antidote to opportunistic appointments and transfers.

Way forward-

• The challenge of India is to restore the culture of rule of law, and make police and justice accessible, effective and credible.
• A new role and new philosophy have to be defined for the police to not only make it a capable and effective body but also one accountable to the law of the land and to the people whom they serve.
• Police needs to be made accountable, and freed from grip of politics

Source: The Hindu

Syllabus: Gs2: Role of Civil Services in a Democracy

Context: To improve the functioning of the police force, the supreme court has spelt out various directives which are not been implemented yet.

Recent examples on police brutality?

• The thrashing of a Dalit Ahirwar couple by the police in Guna district of Madhya Pradesh.
• The brutal torture of J. Benicks and his father P. Jayaraj in Sattankulam town in Thoothkudi district of Tamil Nadu
• The encounter of Vikas Dube by the Uttar Pradesh police in Kanpur looked like the law had been subverted.

What is Prakash Singh case?

• The first serious attempt to reform the police forces was made when the National Police Commission (NPC) was set up in 1977.
• The NPC submitted its recommendation in eight reports to the Ministry of Home Affairs.
• None of the recommendations was implemented by states as they felt that the report was unduly critical of the political system and the functioning of the police force.
• In 1996, demand for the implementation of the NPC’s recommendations came through a retired IPS officer, Prakash Singh who filed a PIL in court.
• The landmark verdict of PIL came in 2006, the Supreme Court issued a slew of directives on police reform. (Prakash Singh Case)

Status on Implementation of Supreme court directives?

• One of the recommendations was to Set up a State Security Commission (SSC) in each State to arrest the political leader’s access to unbridled power.
• According to the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, of the States that constituted an SSC, only Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka have made SSC recommendations binding on the State government.
• Only six States provided a minimum tenure of two years to the Director General of Police (DGP).
• Many States have not implemented a single directive of the Supreme Court.

What is the reason for the  poor implementation of police reforms?

• Politicians-criminals-police nexus: According to a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (2018), there were 1,580 MPs and MLAs facing criminal charges.

With fourteen years passed by, the Court has to take strict actions on the States and the Centre to ensure that its directives are implemented effectively else the country will witness an upheaval of the kind that the U.S. saw following the death of George Floyd.