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7ac1d Mains 365 Polity - 658118
7ac1d Mains 365 Polity - 658118
www.visionias.in
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Note: September and October material will be updated in November 1st week.
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IAS.
Table of Contents
1. CENTRE STATE RELATIONS _________________________________________________________ 5
1.1. Competitive Federalism _______________________________________________________________ 5
1.2. Inter-State River Disputes _____________________________________________________________ 6
1.3. Demand for Special Category Status _____________________________________________________ 8
1.4. New Framework for Grants ____________________________________________________________ 9
1.5. Inter-State Council Meeting ___________________________________________________________ 10
1.6. Article 370: Jammu & Kashmir_________________________________________________________ 11
1.7. Center-State Tussle: Case of Delhi ______________________________________________________ 12
2. ISSUES RELATED TO CONSTITUTION AND FUNCTIONING OF PARLIAMENT/ STATE LEGISLATURE 14
2.1. Freedom of Speech and Expression _____________________________________________________ 14
2.1.1. Criminal Defamation _________________________________________________________________________ 14
2.1.2. Section 295A OF IPC __________________________________________________________________________ 15
2.1.3. Freedom of Press ____________________________________________________________________________ 15
2.1.4. Ban on Murugan’s Book Reversed _______________________________________________________________ 16
2.2. Uniform Civil Code __________________________________________________________________ 16
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2.3. Money Bill Certification Issue _________________________________________________________ 18
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2.4. Revisiting Rajya Sabha _______________________________________________________________ 19
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2.5. Amendment in "Motion of Thanks" by Rajya Sabha _______________________________________ 19
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2.6. Monsoon Session of Parliament-Assessment _____________________________________________ 20
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2.7. Section 124A: Sedition _______________________________________________________________ 21
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3. EXECUTIVE ____________________________________________________________________ 23
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5.9. National Electoral Roll Purification 2016 (NERP 2016) ______________________________________ 51
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6. JUDICIARY _____________________________________________________________________ 52
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6.1. Issues in Judiciary ___________________________________________________________________ 52
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6.2. Appointment of Judges ______________________________________________________________ 53
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6.3. Independence of judiciary ____________________________________________________________ 54
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6.4. Judiciary under RTI __________________________________________________________________ 55
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7.1. Self-Certification____________________________________________________________________ 65
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9.2.2. The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 __________________________________________________________ 84
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9.2.3. Enemy Property Amendment bill ________________________________________________________________ 85
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9.2.4. CORPORATE GOVERNANCE: companies (amendment) bill 2016 _______________________________________ 86
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9.2.5. Transport and Road Safety Bill, 2015 _____________________________________________________________ 86
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10. PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTIONS _____________________________________________________ 89
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Rajasthan: In 2016, passed the Rajasthan Urban Land
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Competitive federalism follows the concept (Certification of Titles) Bill, 2016, which offers a state
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bottom-up approach as it will bring the change guarantee of title after a land purchase.
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from the states. Uttar Pradesh: In 2016, UP assembly approved the
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As a concept, competitive federalism originated Uttar Pradesh Information Technology & Start-Up
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in the western countries. Policy 2016 to encourage start-up growth.
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The meaning of competitive federalism as
espoused by the Liberty Foundation in the US Example- Labour reforms .ra
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entails a system that allows States to compete
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with each other over a broad range of issues to reforms, making it more difficult for utility workers to
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provide citizens with the best value goods and go on strike, reducing the time employees have to
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services at the lowest cost. seek redress for dismissal, and more.
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In India, the government replaced Planning be open longer, relaxes labour laws and stocking
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Commission by establishing NITI Aayog, with one limits, and also allows women to work at night.
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of the mandates to develop competitive Rajasthan: In Nov 2014 itself, Rajasthan govt. got
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federalism in India.
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centre for policy guidance and fiscal resources without taking the government's prior approval.
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completely.
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The centre has increased the share of states in central tax revenue from the earlier 32% to 42%.
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The government also declared that the states will have freedom to plan their expenditure based on their
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own priorities and the states are free to change centrally sponsored schemes.
However, the states should work within the context of shared national objectives.
Progress in terms of competitive federalism
The concept of competitive federalism is driving the Indian states to rush in for reforms to make processes
easy for doing business in their state and expediting the pending project clearances.
The concept of getting states to compete for investment is not a novel idea. We had observed this
phenomenon between Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, actively pursuing investors to help build out their
main technology hubs of Hyderabad and Bengaluru.
The progress of competitive federalism can be felt from the way states have competed for investments by
bringing various reforms in last one year.
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Supreme Court has directed the Punjab government to
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maintain status quo on land marked for the construction
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of SYL canal.
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However, going against the SC directive, Punjab assembly
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passed the Punjab Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal (Rehabilitation and Re-vesting of Proprietary Rights) Bill
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2016, which seeks to return land acquired for the canal’s construction to the original owners free of cost.
Cauvery River Dispute: .ra
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The Supreme Court recently directed the Karnataka government to release 15,000 cusecs of Cauvery
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water per day to Tamil Nadu to ameliorate the plight of farmers. This created widespread disorder in
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Reasons
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All rivers which flow across international and inter-state boundaries are a source of potential conflict.
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In India there are many inter-State rivers. The regulation and development of the waters of these rivers and
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Also After independence, demand for water had been increasing at an accelerated rate due to rapid growth
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of population, agricultural development, urbanization, industrialization, etc. These developments have led to
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Constitutional Provisions
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Article 262(1) of the Constitution lays down that “Parliament may by law provide for the adjudication of any
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dispute or complaint with respect to the use, distribution or control of the waters of, or in, any inter-State river,
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or river valley”. Parliament has enacted the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956.
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Issue of finality. In the event the Tribunal holding against any Party, that Party is quick to seek redressal in
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the Supreme Court.
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February 5, 2007, it was subjected to a challenge in the Supreme Court by the States of Karnataka and
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Kerala, on certain constitutional issues. The dispute remains unresolved.
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Control over water is considered a right which has to be jealously guarded. Compromise is considered a
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weakness which can prove politically fatal.
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Suggestions
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Inter-State Council (ISC) is a is a constitutional body with the mandate of enquiring into and advising upon
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disputes arising between the various states of India, to investigate subjects of common interest amongst the
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states, and to make recommendations upon such subjects for the better coordination of policy and action. It
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can play a useful role in facilitating dialogue and discussion towards resolving conflicts.
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Structural Changes: The Tribunal should be a multidisciplinary body, presided over by a Judge. It should
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Arbitration and negotiation methods: There is a need to look at arbitration and negotiation as methods of
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conflict resolution. One institutional arrangement that can be used is the River Basin Organization (RBO).
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RBOs can be set up under the River Boards Act of 1956 (RBA), legislated under article 56 of the Union list.
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These are empowered to regulate and develop inter-state rivers and their basins.
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Moving towards mediation: Mediation is a flexible and informal process and draws upon the
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multidisciplinary perspectives of the mediators. In the South Asian context, the World Bank played the role
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of mediator between India and Pakistan, which resulted in a successful resolution of the conflicts
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Supply Side Management: Many times such issues arise as a result of a focus on demand-side management
(managing the demand requirements). Many scholars have argued that supply-side management
(augmenting the water supply) might be one way of dealing with such issues.
Declaration of Rivers as National Property: One of the measures could be to declare all the major rivers as
national property, and national schemes under Central assistance should be launched for the development
of total command area of the concerned states. Establishment of separate corporations on the pattern of
the Damodar Valley Corporation may be immensely useful in this direction.
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Benefits to Special Category States (SCS)
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The nature of benefits to Special Category states create further demand by many states to crave for this status.
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The major benefits of SCS are
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A major portion of the Normal Central Assistance (56.25%) is distributed to 11 Special Category States and
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the remaining (43.75%) among 18 General Category States.
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Only Special Category States receive Special Plan Assistance and Special Central Assistance grants.
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The assistance for Externally Aided Projects (EAPs) flows to Special category States as 90 per cent grant
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The state share in Centrally Sponsored Schemes is usually lower for Special Category States as compared to
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Special-category states get a significant excise duty concession & other such tax breaks that attract
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There is no preferential treatment to SCS when it comes to sharing of the central tax revenue.
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There is no consensus
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allocation. Currently, there are 11 states with Special Category Status – Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand,
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Himachal Pradesh and all North Eastern states.
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Way ahead
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Granting special status to any new State may result in domino effect and lead to demands from other States.
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It is also not economically beneficial for States to seek special status as the benefits under the current
dispensation are minimal. .ra
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States facing special problems should try and seek a package from centre for focussed development. The
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packages provided by centre could be in tranches and incentive based after assessing the progress of states.
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Budget 2016–17 has made three important Provisions relating to central transfers to states.
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Background
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Government of India through NITI Aayog constituted a subgroup of chief ministers for rationalizing and
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It recommended that focus of the CSS should be on the schemes that comprise the National
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Development Agenda.
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It further recommended that the schemes be divided into “Core” and “Optional” schemes and amongst
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the Core Schemes those for social protection and inclusion should be called “Core of the Core”.
The subgroup further recommended that the investment levels in the Core Schemes should be
maintained so as to ensure that the optimum size of the programme does not shrink.
New Framework for Grants in Budget 2016-17
The government on the recommendation of the subgroup of chief ministers restructured the grants.
As per the decision of Government, the existing funding pattern of schemes defined as 'core of the core'
have been retained.
The funding pattern of 'core' schemes, which also form part of the National Development agenda, will be
shared 60:40 between the Centre and the States (90:10 for the 8 North Eastern States and 3 Himalayan
states).
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Minorities (a) Multi Sectoral Development ICDS)
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Programme for Minorities. (b) Education Scheme Member of Parliament Local Area Development
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for Madaras and Minorities. Scheme etc.
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Devolution of taxes post the Fourteenth Finance Commission (FFC) award
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Tax devolution has witnessed a major jump in the total resource transfers to states due to the increase
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in tax devolution to 42% of the divisible pool.
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Aggregate transfer to states2 in 2016–17 is ₹9, 18,093 crore as compared to ₹8, 18,034 crore in 2015–
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16.
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Effective outcome-based monitoring of implementation of schemes and doing away with the plan and
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non-plan expenditure distinction in the budget after the completion of the Twelfth Five Year Plan
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An exercise to rationalize Plan and Non Plan schemes of all Ministries and Departments had been
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undertaken.
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The existing programmes and schemes have been re-organized into outcome based Umbrella
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Why in News?
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Composition
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• Recently, the eleventh meeting of the Inter-State Prime Minister acts as the chairman of the council.
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What is ISC?
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• Article 263 provides the establishment of an Inter-State Council of Ministers nominated by the Prime
Council to effect coordination between the states and Minister.
between Centre and states. Chief Ministers of all states.
Chief Ministers of Union Territories having a
• It is not a permanent constitutional body for
Legislative Assembly and Administrators of UTs
coordination between the States of the Union. It can be not having a Legislative Assembly.
established 'at any time' if it appears to the President
that the public interests would be served by the establishment of such a Council.
First time it was set up on the recommendation of the Sarkaria Commission and established the ISC by a
presidential ordinance on May 28, 1990.
The ISC is proposed to meet thrice a year, but in 26 years, it has met only 11 times.
Issues discussed during 11th ISC Meeting: The following Agenda items were discussed during the meet:
Consideration of the Recommendations of the Punchhi Commission on Centre-State Relations.
Use of Aadhaar as an identifier for providing subsidies; benefits and public services.
Improving Quality of Education with focus on improving learning outcomes, incentivizing better
performance, etc.
Internal Security with focus on intelligence sharing and coordination for combating Terrorism/Insurgency
and Police Reforms & Police Modernization.
Need for further strengthening of ISC
Together, the FC and the ISC should operationalize again Part XI and XII of the Constitution that ensure
appropriate financial devolution and political decentralization.
It should be given the power to investigate the issues of inter-state conflicts which is mentioned in the
Constitution but dropped by the Presidential order creating ISC in 1990 (Based on Sarkaria Commission's
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Conclusion
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Though, there are other bodies such as the NITI Aayog’s Governing Council-it has a similar composition, including
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the prime minister, chosen cabinet ministers and chief ministers-that could address centre-state issues. But the
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ISC has constitutional backing, as against the NITI Aayog which only has an executive mandate. This puts the
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states on more solid footing-an essential ingredient in building the atmosphere of cooperation needed for
calibrating centre-state relations. .ra
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Background
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Jammu and Kashmir High Court (on 12 Oct 2015) has ruled that Article 370 has assumed place of
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permanence in the Constitution and the feature is beyond amendment, repeal or abrogation.
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The High Court also said that Article 35A gives "protection" to existing laws in force in the State. "Article 370
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though titled as 'Temporary Provision' and included in Para XXI titled 'Temporary, Transitional and Special
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The Supreme Court on 31 Oct 2015 said that only Parliament can take a call on scrapping Article 370 that
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Article 370 of the Indian Constitution is a 'temporary provision' which grants special autonomous status to
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Except for defence, foreign affairs, finance and communications, the Parliament needs the state
government's concurrence for applying all other laws.
Special Status to State
Legislative powers: The state's residents live under a separate set of laws, including those related to
citizenship, ownership of property, and fundamental rights, as compared to other Indians.
Territory: Indian Parliament cannot increase or reduce the borders of the state and Indian citizens from
other states cannot purchase land or property in Jammu & Kashmir.
Emergency Provisions:
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Centre cannot repeal Article 370 without the nod of J&K State.
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1.7. CENTER-STATE TUSSLE: CASE OF DELHI
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Background
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Since the time the AAP government has come to power in New Delhi in 2015 there have been fights
between the state government and the Central government. .ra
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The state government has blamed the central government of constantly interfering in its working via the
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Lieutenant Governor and robbing the democratically elected state government of its powers.
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The central government, on the other hand, has accused the state government of not respecting the rule of
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law and that it is trying to run the government in an unconstitutional manner by usurping the powers which
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The tussle between Chief Minister of Delhi and the LG is not a new altogether. Every successive government
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in Delhi has been asking for more power. But, since it is not a full-fledged state many powers lie with the
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central government.
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It is true that the Delhi Government is a democratically elected government with overwhelming majority.
But, the constitution and National Capital Region Act have laid down the framework within which the Delhi
governance has to be carried out. These laws clearly demarcate the powers that the elected government will
have and discretionary powers given to the Lt. Governor.
Thus, even though the morality of the actions of the central government could be debated, the legality is
more or less settled.
Delhi High Court in month of August held that National Capital Territory continues to be a Union Territory
and the Lieutenant Governor is its administrative head.
The bottom line is that there should be a harmonious functioning between the Lt. Governor and Chief
Minister. The previous governments have also faced similar issues but they have worked out their
differences within the four walls of the room.
In this fight, the ultimate loser is governance and people of Delhi. When the people of India have given
mandate to a government, they expect it to be carried out. It now rests with the government to figure the
way out.
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While NCT is the capital of Delhi and thus some control of central government would be desirable, majority
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of its areas are outside the central capital region. Thus, the central and state government should work out an
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arrangement. The real challenge is political will in this respect.
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Why in news?
Sections 499 and 500 of IPC prescribes two years’
The Supreme Court recently upheld the validity of imprisonment for a person found guilty of defamation.
the criminal defamation law. The court pronounced
its verdict on a batch of petitions challenging the
constitutional validity of sections 499 and 500 of the
Indian Penal Code providing for criminal defamation.
The court said though free speech is a “highly valued
and cherished right”, imprisonment is a proportionate
punishment for defamatory remarks.
Why it should be retained?
According to Supreme Court
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Reputation of an individual, constituent in Article 21 is
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an equally important right as free speech.
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Criminalization of defamation to protect individual
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dignity and reputation is a “reasonable restriction”
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Editors have to take the responsibility of everything they publish as it has far-reaching consequences in an
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individual and country’s life
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The acts of expression should be looked at both from the perspective of the speaker and the place at which
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Other arguments
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It has been part of statutory law for over 70 years. It has neither diluted our vibrant democracy nor
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Mere misuse or abuse of law can never be a reason to render a provision unconstitutional rather lower
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Monetary compensation in civil defamation is not proportional to the excessive harm done to the
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reputation
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The judgement raises reputation to the level of “shared value of the collective” and elevates it to the status
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They also use it to promote their political cause by pleasing a certain section of community at the cost of
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others.
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This is seen as a direct violation of Freedom of Speech and Expression guaranteed under A.19 (1) (a).
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It also goes against A. 51A of the Constitution that states that it is a “fundamental duty of every citizen of
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India to develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform”.
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Way forward
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The real issue is not the provision itself but its misapplication. The provision clearly states the requirement of
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‘malice’ or ‘bad intention’ on the part of the perpetrator. However, the police and the ruling class use this for its
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own personal benefits many a times. There is a need to read down the provision and give clear guidelines to the
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Why in news?
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On November 16, when the country celebrated the National Press Freedom Day, three newspapers in Nagaland were
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published with blank editorials to protest a notification from Assam Rifles that had the effect of muzzling the press
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freedom.
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The papers were instructed to refrain from publishing news related to Naga insurgent group NSCN-Khaplang
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[NSCN-K].
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The notice said that “any article which projects the demands of NSCN-K and gives it publicity is a violation
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under the Unlawful Activities [Prevention] Act, 1967 and should not be published by your newspaper.”
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Concerns:
Such notifications have implications for the freedom of the press.
India ranks at 136 among 190 nations on the World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters without
Borders.
This incident draws attention to the problems faced by the press in conflict zones, trapped as media persons
between the state armed with the law to enforce varying degrees of censorship, and militant groups who
use methods of intimidation to have their versions published.
Role of Press Council of India (PCI):
PCI has taken suomotu note of the case and served notices to the paramilitary force and the State
government.
Background
Perumal Murugan, an award-winning Tamil writer had come under sustained attack from local caste-based
groups for his fictional novel Mathorubhagan (translated into English as One Part Woman) for hurting their
sentiments.
He was forced to write an ‘unconditional apology’ at the instance of police, local officials and protestors. He
later publicly announced to give up writing.
The Madras HC has rejected the demand for banning the book or prosecuting the author.
High Court Verdict
It is a liberal and progressive judgment that emphasises and upholds the freedom of writers to write.
The HC lambasted the practice of self-appointed super censors in the society to decide on what the people
should read or watch. In Court’s opinion those professing to be hurt by a book should just avoid reading it.
This should set a precedent among others.
The Bench also reminded the state authorities, like police and the local officials, of their duty to secure
freedom of expression and not to succumb to mob demands in the name of preserving law and order.
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Issue of Judicial Censorship
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Indian Criminal law prescribes a two-step safeguard on freedom of speech in case of banning a book:
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First is the application of mind by the government when it bans a book under S.95 and 96 of the CrPC
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Second is the judicial review of the government’s move by a writ petition.
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The trouble is the frequent manner of straightway approaching the court for a ban. This by-passing of the
two-way safeguard is being increasingly entertained by the Courts. .ra
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This is an issue as a sole decision over the suitability of the book by the Court is not what the constitution or
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the law warrants. This form of analysis is heavily judge-centric, depending almost entirely on what an
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Thus, the courts must take care of this fact as well or there will be huge uncertainty over the status of
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Why in news?
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The note, prepared by the Law Ministry’s Legislative Department, Article 44 of the Constitution, which is
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recommends that the issue of Uniform Civil Code be referred to the one of the Directive Principles of State
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Law Commission to examine pertinent issues and make Policy, says: “The State shall endeavor to
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A Uniform Civil Code essentially means a common set of laws governing personal matters for all citizens of
the country, irrespective of religion.
Currently, different laws regulate these aspects for adherents of different religions. For example: A Christian
man has questioned a provision that requires a Christian couple to be judicially separated for two years
before getting a divorce, whereas this period is one year for Hindus and other non-Christians.
The role of article 14 and 25 in Uniform Civil Code
By the 42nd Amendment of 1976, India was declared a secular nation. As a result of this, and the
understanding of Article 25, the State and its institutions have not interfered with religious practices,
including in relation to various personal laws.
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Panchayats continue to give judgments that are against our constitution. Human rights are violated through
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honor killings and female feticide throughout our country.
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It will also help in reducing vote bank politics. If all religions are covered under the same laws, the politicians
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will have less to offer to communities in exchange of their vote.
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It will help in integration of India - A lot of the animosity is caused by preferential treatment by the law of
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certain religious communities.
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This could in time induce custodians of faith to look inwards and seek to codify and reform age-old personal
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laws in conformity with current modernizing and integrative tendencies or risk losing their flock.
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In other countries such as Germany, Italy, Egypt, Turkey, etc., having heterogeneous society, civil code
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The Union Law Ministry sees three chief impediments in adoption of the Uniform Civil Code — separatism,
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Clinging to the ideas of separatism generated and fostered for a long time under foreign rule.
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The note also shows that the government considers it “a challenge to reconcile legal uniformity with
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protection of minority rights” when it comes to having a common set of laws to regulate personal matters
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India has a strong and long history of personal laws and it cannot be given up easily.
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A broad consensus must be drawn among different communities to facilitate such a landmark step in India’s
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Congress RS MP Jairam Ramesh had filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court challenging the decision to treat
Aadhaar as a money bill which will be heard in SC in July first week.
Recently, the Aadhaar Bill and the Finance Bill were passed as Money Bills. This meant that the RajyaSabha
had only a recommendatory role while discussing these Bills.
Some observers argue that these bills have not met the strict criteria of money bill as laid out in the
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Constitution.
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Money Bills: Article 110 of the Constitution deals with the definition of money bills. It states that a bill is deemed to be
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a money bill if it contains ‘only’ provisions dealing with all or any of the following matters:
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1. The imposition, abolition, remission, alteration or regulation of any tax,
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2. The regulation of the borrowing of money by the Union government,
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The custody of the Consolidated Fund of India or the contingency fund of India, the payment of
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moneys into or the withdrawal of money from any such fund,
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5. Declaration of any expenditure charged on the Consolidated Fund of India or increasing the
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6. The receipt of money on account of the Consolidated Fund of India or the public account of
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India or the custody or issue of such money, or the audit of the accounts of the Union or of a
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state,
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Lack of remedy
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The Speaker, while certifying a bill as money bill, is in effect depriving the RajyaSabha of its legislative power
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to disapprove a bill.
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Thus, there is no remedy lying with RajyaSabha for wrong decision taken by speaker regarding certification
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of money bill.
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In 2014, the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly passed a Bill to amend the Uttar Pradesh Lokayukta and Up-
Lokayuktas Act as a Money Bill and did not send this to the Legislative Council.
The Act was challenged (Mohd. SaeedSiddiqui v State of U.P.) but the Supreme Court decided that the
decision of the Speaker “that the Bill in question was a Money Bill is final and the said decision cannot be
disputed nor can the procedure of the State Legislature be questioned by virtue of Article 212”.
Way Forward
Our Constitution also follows the British procedure that provides the speaker with the authority to certify a
bill as a money bill.
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Criticism of current functioning and composition of Rajya Sabha
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After the amendment to RPA in 2003 the domicile requirement has been done away with. Consequently it is
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now increasingly used by the political parties to park unelectable or defeated candidates. Thus, it is not the
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true representation of states.
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Control over few big states is more than enough to scuttle the voice of numerous smaller states with
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significantly less representation.
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Another significant criticism of current state of affairs is allotment of seats in Rajya Sabha to states on the
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basis of population. Such allotment of seats on the basis of population does great disservice to the federal
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With time, Rajya Sabha has become a place of lobbying for our moneybags as well.
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The very nature of the Rajya Sabha election process asks for underhand deals and backroom maneuvers. The
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last obstacle for moneybags was removed when the NDA government abolished the residency requirement
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Various political parties are using Rajya Sabha seats for generating funds. Large numbers of states have
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industrialists (not even remotely connected to the state) as their representative in Rajya Sabha. Corrupt and
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criminal politicians rejected by voters find their way in Rajya Sabha by use of connections and money power.
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Way Forward
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As seats in Lok Sabha have already been distributed on the basis of population of states, so there is little
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To bring small states in our political mainstream it is important for them to have equal representation in
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Rajya Sabha. Such scheme of equal representation for all states is already being followed in USA. Such a step
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This is the second time in two years that the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address has been
amended.
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In this address, the president outlines the policies and programmes of the government in the preceding year
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and ensuing year.
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This address of the president which is discussed in both the Houses of Parliament on a motion is called the
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‘Motion of Thanks’.
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At the end of the discussion, the motion is put to vote. This motion must be passed in Lower House.
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Otherwise, it amounts to the defeat of the government.
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2.6. MONSOON SESSION OF PARLIAMENT-ASSESSMENT .ra
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Why in news?
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The Monsoon Session of Parliament adjourned sine die on August 12, 2016.
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Both LS and RS functioned at near 100% productivity, signalling an improvement in the government-
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Significance
The monsoon session showed the maturity of the democracy that India has attained.
Irrespective of the major problems in Kashmir, there was due deliberation and debate on many important
bills including situation in Kashmir.
).
Argument against section 124A
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l.c
It stifles the democratic right of people to criticize the government.
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The police might not have the “requisite” training to understand the consequences of imposing such a
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“stringent” provision.
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It has been used arbitrarily to curb dissent. In many cases the main targets have been writers, journalists,
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activists who question government policy and projects, and political dissenters.
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The massive levels of poverty, poor health care, unemployment, malnourishment and poor policies leading
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to farmer's suicide - justifies expressing dissent and disenchantment against government openly.
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The draconian nature of this law—non-bailable, non-cognisable and punishment that can extend for life—
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The press should be protected so that it could bare the secrets of government and inform the people. Only a
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Legislation exists to deal with unlawful activities and armed movements. There is no need to criminalize
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Way Forward
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The guidelines of the SC must be incorporated in S.124A as well by amendment to IPC so that any ambiguity
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is removed.
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The state police must be sufficiently guided as to where the section must be imposed and where not.
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The provisions of the section should be so construed as to limit their application to acts involving intention
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or tendency to create disorder or disturbance of law and order, or, incitement of violence and there must be
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This will ensure that section 124 A of IPC strikes a balance between security and smooth functioning of state
with the fundamental right of freedom of speech and expression.
Implementing the Law Commission’s recommendations in this regard to include ‘acts against overthrowing
of judiciary’ also under it.
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Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment is the Nodal Ministry for celebration of Constitution Day.
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Why celebrate Constitution Day
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At a time when there are so many ideological clashes, growing inequality, suppression of women’s rights, it
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is the Constitution of our country that can bind everyone together
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The move would not only help resurrect memories of some of the tallest leaders who helped draft the
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document but also hopefully instill once again the spirit in which it was adopted .
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Constitution Day once again reaffirms our faith in the ideals of the Constitution.
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Way Ahead
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Ideals of constitution are needed to be incorporated in ways of living of citizens of India and also they should be
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made a part of learning process in schools so as the future citizens display these ideals in their day-to-day live.
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).
over the performance of these functions.
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The Delhi govt. argues that as Parliamentary Secretaries are not
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eligible for any remuneration or perks from the government,
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the post should be exempt from the office of profit.
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Recently, the Delhi HC quashed this appointment on the ground that it lacked the approval of LG.
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Who is a Parliamentary Secretary?
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Parliamentary Secretary is a member of the parliament in the westminster system who assists a more senior
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minister with his or her duties. Originally, the post was used as a training ground for future ministers.
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The post has been created in several states now and then like Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan etc.
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However, various petitions in the High Court have challenged the appointment of Parliament Secretary.
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In June 2015, Calcutta HC quashed appointment of 24 Parliamentary Secretaries in West Bengal dubbing it
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unconstitutional.
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Similar actions were taken by the Bombay High Court, Himachal Pradesh High Court, etc.
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At present, the posts do exist in various states such as Gujarat, Punjab and Rajasthan.
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Parliamentary secretary essentially goes against the principle of separation of powers between the
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While in theory, the legislature holds the government to account, in reality it is often noticed that the
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government controls the legislature as long it has a majority in the House. Thus posts like Chairmanships of
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Corporations, Parliamentary Secretaryships of various ministries, and other offices of profit are used as to
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appease and leverage legislators as way of buying peace for the government.
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The Parliamentary secretaries are appointed to aid the government and thus be more responsive to citizen's
needs. But this goes against the separation of powers principle as the role of MPs is to be a watchdog on the
government on behalf of citizens and not as government's agents
Appointment of parliamentary Secretaries goes against two important provisions the constitution
concerning the separation of powers issue:
Office of profit clause: Under Article 102(1)(a) and Article 191(1)(a) of the Constitution, a person shall
be disqualified as a member of Parliament or of a Legislative Assembly/Council if he holds an “Office of
Profit” under the central or any state government (other than an office declared not to disqualify its
holder by a law passed by the Parliament or state legislature).
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All offices involving executive decision making and control of public funds, directly deciding policy or
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authorizing or approving expenditure shall be treated as offices of profit.
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If a serving Minister is a member or head of certain organizations, where close coordination between the
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Council of Ministers and the organization is vital for the functioning of government, it shall not be treated
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as office of profit.
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Future Actions
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Now, the Election Commission of India has to decide whether the terms and conditions of appointment of
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The President’s decision cannot be challenged in any court as it is his executive power under the
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However, any decision taken by the ECI can be challenged before the Delhi High court by the aggrieved
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party. This means that the AAP can approach the court if the EC decides to disqualify the MLAs.
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Why in News?
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In 2014, the SC in the case of Shatrughan Chauhan vs UoI had increased the scope of judicial review of
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Presidential Pardon.
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The Court had said that an convict on death row is entitled to his fundamental rights till the execution of
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sentence.
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This judgment now was increasingly been used by the death row convicts asking for SC’s interference in the
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The Supreme Court explained that in cases where a prisoner twice condemned to life gets remission or his
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first life sentence is commuted, the second life sentence immediately kicks in and deprives him of the ability
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to enjoy the benefit of the remission or commutation of the first life sentence.
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In another case, if an offender is given life imprisonment coupled with 'term' sentences of fixed years, say
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seven or 10 years, the court laid down that in such cases the convict would complete his term sentence
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before graduating to his life sentence.
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The court finally held that instead of life terms running consecutively, they would superimpose over each
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other so that any remission or commutation granted by the competent authority in one case does not ipso
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Recently Supreme Court struck down the Tamil means 'concurrence'. This means that TN govt should have
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Nadu Government’s decision to release seven got the prior consent of the Centre before issuing its
February 19 order to remit the sentences.
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Gandhi.
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be robbed of their hope to be freed on prisoners of their statutory right to apply for remission was
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3.3. SUPREME COURT RULING ON AFSPA
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Recent SC Ruling
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Recently SC ruled that every death caused by armed
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forces in a disturbed area involving either a common
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person or an insurgent must be thoroughly enquired into
so as to find out whether the killing was extra-judicial or .ra
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not.
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SC has established that accountability is a facet of rule of law. It has established accountability on armed
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It has related the violations under AFSPA to the core principles of democracy. As per Hon’ble court indefinite
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deployment of armed forces in the name of restoring normalcy under AFSPA “would mock at our democratic
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process”, apart from symbolising a failure of the civil administration and the armed forces
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Rule of law has been restored. As per Court it does not matter whether the victim was a common person or
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a militant or a terrorist, nor does it matter whether the aggressor was a common person or the state. The
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Hundreds of armed forces personnel loss their lives every year at the hands of insurgents and militants. It is
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crucial to empower them. Withdrawal would result in poor morale.
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Way Forward
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Committee to Review the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act formed in 2004, in its report, recommended
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the repeal of the AFSPA, calling it “a symbol of oppression, an object of hate and an instrument of
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discrimination”.
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This act being in effect for about 50 years has not been able to achieve its desired objective.
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Thus the strategy to deal with issues of insurgency and militancy needs to be revised where people are not
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Background
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taken up first.
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Speaker.
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limited under A. 163- rest all he has to perform on the aid and advice of CoM
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A Governor can act in his own discretion if his actions are justified by or under the Constitution. But the
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Governor’s exercise of this discretion would be open to challenge where it can be shown to be perverse,
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capricious, fallacious, extraneous or for a motivated consideration
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He must act within the area allotted to him; he must not assume the role of an Ombudsman or conscience-
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keeper of the legislature
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No role to play in the disqualification proceedings of MLAs; no authority to interfere in the powers of the
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Speaker
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He must not be concerned about the activities of the political parties. He must remain aloof from any
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disagreement, discontent or dissension, within the party. These are beyond the concern of the Governor
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If there is any constitutional impropriety or political disturbance, his only duty is to report the same to the
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Criticism
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Anomaly on the scope of discretionary powers of the governor; A.163 specifies that in determining which
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matters fall within the discretion of the Governor, the Governor’s decision will be final. Thus, the scope is
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not narrow but wide. Further it is not the judiciary but the Governor himself who will decide upon the scope
l
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of discretionary power
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The judgment reduces the role of Governor as a mere figurehead at the apex of state administration. While
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political reality demanded such an interpretation, its definitiveness means that what is lost in the process is
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any possibility of the Governor acting as a bulwark against abuse of power by an elected State government
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(e.g. Speakers acting politically, not allowing a no-confidence motion to be tabled and minority governments
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).
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and met Governor, and sought the dismissal of the Uttarakhand government.
l.c
Although the Governor provided a deadline of 28 March for floor test but President’s rule was imposed a day
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before citing “constitutional crisis” in the state.
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According to Article 356, President’s rule can be imposed in a state if a situation has arisen in which the
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government of the state cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.
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3.5.1. ISSUE OF APPROPRIATION BILL IN THE CRISIS .ra
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The Appropriation Bill is intended to give authority to Government to incur expenditure from and out of the
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Being a money bill, failure of its passage amounts to no confidence of the legislature on the government and
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In case of Uttarakhand, on the 18th of March Appropriation Bill was presented in the Assembly. Of the 71
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member Assembly of which 67 were present, 35 voted against the Appropriation Bill and asked for division
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of votes.
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However, despite want of division of votes it was claimed that Appropriation Bill was passed by voice vote
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and the bill was not presented to the governor for his assent.
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The Appropriation Bill sanctioning expenditure from 1st April 2016 was not approved.
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Secondly, if the Appropriation Bill was defeated, the continuation of the Government subsequent to
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This prompted the rebel MLAs and the opposition to meet the governor who sought for dismissal of
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government following which the governor declared the house in suspended animation and gave the CM a
deadline of 28th March to prove his majority in the house.
The decision of the Speaker to go for a voice vote when majority members demanded a division.
In addition, declaring the Appropriation bill passed even when majority members voted in negative.
The decision of the speaker to disqualify members on ground of defection when the house was on
suspended animation, allegedly to change the composition of the house to enable the government to
survive the no confidence vote.
As per an eminent scholar and Sarkaria Commission some of the factors that could lead to such an
emergency are:
Breakdown of law and order machinery
Political instability as a result of defections in the state
Loss of public confidence in the majority
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Rampant corruption on part of the State government
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Where the party having a majority in the Assembly declines to form a Ministry and the Governor's
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attempts to find a coalition Ministry able to command a majority have failed.
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Danger to national integration or security of the State or aiding or a betting national disintegration
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Where a State Government fails to comply with the executive directions issued by the Union
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Supreme Case judgments related to imposition of President’s rule in state
S R Bomai vs Union of India
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Art. 356 should be used “very sparingly”, and not for political gains.
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The strength of the government should be tested on the floor of the house and not as per whims of the
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Governor.
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Court cannot question the advice tendered by Council of ministers but it can scrutinize the ground for
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that advice of imposition of President’s rule in the state and may take corrective steps if malafide
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intention is found.
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Use of Art 356 is justified only when there is breakdown of constitutional machinery and not
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administrative machinery.
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The governor’s report could not be taken at face value and must be verified by the council of ministers
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Article 356 should be used very sparingly, in extreme cases and only as a matter of last resort.
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The Commission also recommended that any imposition of Article 356 should be accompanied with a
report by Governor to the President with relevant facts and details.
No dissolution of Assembly till proclamation is ratified by the parliament
National Commission for Reviewing the Working of Constitution (2002)
A warning should be issued to the errant State, in specific terms, that it is not carrying on the
government of the State in accordance with the Constitution. Before taking action under Article 356, any
explanation received from the State should be taken into account.
The State Legislative Assembly should not be dissolved either by the Governor or the President before
the proclamation issued under article 356(1) has been laid before Parliament and it has had an
opportunity to consider it. Article 356 should be suitably amended to ensure this.
).
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Removal of speaker in the Arunanchal Pradesh Assembly case
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Deciding over Aadhar Bill as Money Bill
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This is a matter of concern for Indian democracy
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Recently, the Supreme Court while deciding over the issue of imposition of President’s rule in Arunanchal
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Pradesh discussed the role of Speaker at length.
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In this case a motion for removal of speaker was moved in the House. While this motion was pending the
speaker had disqualified certain MLAs. .ra
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The judgment, for the first time, sets down as a legal principle that the Speaker cannot proceed to disqualify
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Members of the House if an “intention” to remove him has already been moved, and that he would have to first
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Why?
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There always remains the possibility that the Speaker, under the threat of losing his position, may choose to
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disqualify the MLAs to alter the composition of the House in his favour. Thus, Article 179(c) provides that a
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Speaker (or Deputy Speaker) “may be removed from his office by a resolution of the Assembly passed by a
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majority of all the then members of the Assembly”. The judgment points to the phrase “all the then
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members of the Assembly” to conclude that the composition of legislators should remain the very same
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while deciding whether a majority in the House wants the Speaker to continue or not
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The principles of “complete detachment and perceivable impartiality” requires the Speaker to desist from
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using his power to disqualify the members until he passed the test of “constitutional confidence”. The
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It could provide an escape-route to the defectors; the possibility of removing the speaker by the defectors in
collaboration with opposition party and then installing their own speaker who might not act against the
defectors.
The Court must design a protective measure against such misuse.
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The tribal population among Kuki and Naga communities, whose land is protected under the 6th schedule on
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account of being a tribal people, believe that it’s a ploy by the Meitei dominated Manipur government to
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grab tribal land and marginalize their population. Tribal land in the state is governed by customary law and
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can only be sold to another tribal.
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Protection of Manipur Peoples Bill, 2015 puts the base year to identify non-indigenous people has been set
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to 1951 whereas the tribal Kukis, Mizos and Chins which mostly reside in hilly areas say that the tribal
councils have not kept records prior to 1971 so it may result in their exclusion..ra
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There is also an apprehension that the definition of “Manipur People” could be used in other Acts/Bills to
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deny services, facilities and amenities to the people of Manipur, especially the tribal people, in seeking
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government jobs, admission to schools, colleges or in case of State quota in medical and engineering
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admissions.
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Manipur merged with India on October 15, 1949. Before the merger, entry into the State was regulated by a
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This permit system known as Inner Line Permit (ILP) regulates the entry of non-domicile citizens into a
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restricted region. It was introduced by the British colonial government to protect its commercial interests
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Today, ILP is seen as a way to protect the demographic, cultural, political and social integrity of the small
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Currently there is no restriction on the entry by the citizen of India. The increase in the population has
caused a panic in the mind of the people of Manipur.
People of Manipur see outsiders as a threat to employment opportunities and their culture. Currently many
economic activities such as shops, small businesses are being done by migrants which poses threat to
interests of locals there.
Many times Illegal migration leads to communal conflict and violence.
Criticisms of ILPS
ILPS is against constitutional rights like Right to free movement across the country, right to equality, right to
reside peacefully within any part of the country.
).
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Way forward
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Experts will now re-examine the first two bills for a “reasonable conclusion” and in the case of the third bill,
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legal and constitutional experts will re-examine it for a “new legislation taking into consideration all aspects
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of the hill and valley people of Manipur.”
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There is a need for effective consultation between State government and the Hill Areas Committee to avoid
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any misunderstanding.
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Illegal Migration has more threats in terms of security of the state. Recent Bodo Muslim Clash in Assam was
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due to the fear of being marginalized and land alienated. So, there is need to protect interests of various
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Why in news?
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Recent disqualification of 9 rebel MLAs in Uttarakhand under anti- defection law once again brought back
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The anti-defection law was passed by parliament in 1985 and strengthened in 2002.
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The 52nd amendment to the Constitution added the Tenth Schedule which laid down the process by which
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A member of parliament or state legislature was deemed to have defected if he either voluntarily
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resigned from his party or disobeyed the directives of the party leadership on a vote. That is, they may
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Independent members would be disqualified if they joined a political party. Nominated members who
were not members of a party could choose to join a party within six months; after that period, they were
treated as a party member or independent member.
The law also made a few exceptions:
Any person elected as speaker or chairman could resign from his party, and rejoin the party if he
demitted that post.
A party could be merged into another if at least two-thirds (Initially one-third) of its party legislators
voted for the merger.
Positive Impacts:
The law succeeded in checking the regular phenomenon of unstable governments and horse-trading due
to floor crossing by legislators.
Centralisation of India's political parties; a legislator cannot question the sweet deals or alliances between
top party leaders.
Curtailed the freedom of legislators; This issue of freedom of speech was addressed by the five-judge
Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court in 1992 (Kihoto Hollohan vs Zachilhu and others). The court said
that “the anti-defection law seeks to recognise the practical need to place the proprieties of political and
personal conduct above certain theoretical assumptions.” It held that the law does not violate any rights or
freedoms, or the basic structure of parliamentary democracy.
Still however, it affects the freedom of legislators to an extent as now they cannot take a stand against
party leaders or defy the party whip, and use their conscience to vote on a Bill in the House due to fear
of losing their seat under the provisions of the Anti-Defection law.
Weakened legislative thinking and debates; it has led to disincentivising lawmakers from seriously thinking,
researching or even rifling for best practices to incorporate into legislation that is before the House for
consideration and focus their energies on procedural matters.
Changes required
Rationalization of whip- it should be limited to only matters that affect the stability of the government like
non-confidence motion, adjournment motion, money bill or financial matters
Power to decide not to speaker; As recommended by the Goswami Committee, the government should
consider giving the power to decide on disqualification under the Act to the President or the Governor, who
).
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shall act on the advice of the Election Commission (as is there under A. 103)
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Party loyalty to extend to pre-poll alliance; The rationale that a representative is elected on the basis of the
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party’s programme can be extended to pre-poll alliances. The Law Commission proposed this change with
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the condition that partners of such alliances inform the Election Commission before the elections
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Fair play, consumer protection and increasing efficiency
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CERC and TRAI
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AERB - Atomic Energy Regulatory Body
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DGCA - Directorate General of Civil Aviation
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RERA – Real Estate Regulatory authority
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Prevent Externalities .ra
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Standard setting: National Film certification board, Advertisements Standards council etc.
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To promote the public interest: Ensuring fair access, non-discrimination, affirmative action
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Support Pricing: Government offering to buy wheat or rice from farmers at a price which is higher than
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Public Distribution System: Supply of food grains at a price which is lower than the market price
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Free Distribution: Distribution of piped water and free power to agriculture (CERC), which is a regulatory
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NABARD and SIDBI are involved in various government schemes. For ex: Standup India, National Skilling
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mission.
NHB – National Housing Bank is involved in inclusive housing.
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Independence
This is a prerequisite for effective regulation that enables them to perform without political interference.
Also ‘state’ is a major market participant in many economic sectors.
Not all regulators are equally independent, since the laws establishing them do not follow a uniform
standard.
Independence in status (statutory authority), finances and administratively independent from the
government.
Discretion in how the regulator hires and manages personnel.
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In the 12th report titled, “Citizen Centric Administration”, the 2nd ARC noted: Regulation only where
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necessary.
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Judicial framework
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The increasing specialization in the
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administration of justice through the
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establishment of sector specific tribunals
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also has repercussions for the broader
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Transparency
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elections.
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law-making power.
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Suggested Reforms
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Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC) recommends physical, legal and administrative
separation of the regulator from the government, implying that regulators must have independent
infrastructure, personnel.
1. Financial independence, FSRLC recommends independent sourcing of finances from sources such as fees.
2. Strengthening accountability, FSLRC recommends that regulators
(a) Be given clear, precise regulatory objectives
(b) Explain their regulatory actions to the general public, and regulatory changes be made after prior
consultation with the public, and
(c) Report to Parliament on how they fared on pursuing their regulatory objectives, and the outcomes
achieved.
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become difficult for the statutory body to and dignity of individuals as guaranteed by the
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discharge its functions. constitution of India and international covenants.
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It consists of a Chairman and 4 members.Chairman
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Issues faced by NHRC should be a retired Chief Justice of India. Members
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should be either sitting or retired judges of the Supreme
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NHRC investigates matters related to human right
Court or a serving or retired Chief Justice of a High Court
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violations and then recommends remedial
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and 2 persons having practical knowledge in the field of
measures. However its recommendations are not
binding and thus not taken seriously by state
human rights. .ra
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Ex officio members are the chairpersons of National
authorities which results in no or delayed
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Paucity of resources – human, financial and Minorities and National Commission for Women.
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functioning.
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NHRC cannot investigate a case if complaint was made more than one year after the incident.
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The act does not extend to the state of Jammu & Kashmir. Hence NHRC cannot investigate incidents of
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NHRC powers with respect to investigating cases of human rights violation by armed forces are limited.
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Protection of human rights act 1993 does not categorically empower NHRC to investigate matters of human
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NHRC do not have any kind of contempt powers thus it cannot penalize authorities who do not implement
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Staff often involved in executing NHRC functions are not experts or experienced in the field of human rights
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Non-judicial posts are often filled by retired bureaucrats in place of relevant experts in the field.
Way Forward
The functioning of protection of human rights act needs to be revised as 15 years has passed since its
passage and current demands and challenges needs to be accommodated.
Various structural as well as functional changes need to be made so as to make NHRC’s functioning efficient
and effective.
The commission needs to be given more teeth (i.e. empowered) and its recommendations must be
implemented by the government in a time bound manner.
Independent recruitment and management of staff.
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education
l.c
It has failed in ensuring quality standards. According to QS Higher Education System Strength Rankings,
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India ranks 24th in higher education system strength out of 50 countries
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Under the UGC Act, all the regulations framed by the body require Parliamentary approval; but many of the
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UGC regulations as they exist today don’t have its approval.
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When UGC was formed there were only 58 universities none of which were private; now it is around 726.
.ra
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The regulation and coordination of all of them is a herculean task for one regulatory agency and it has failed
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to perform with increasing prevalent cases flouting of the norms and regulations by the private universities
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UGC’s entire functioning continues to be oriented more towards grant giving rather than regulation and
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Instances of delay in fellowships have become a regular affair, placing underprivileged research scholars in
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problem.
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thinner, and could be the nodal point for administration of the committee, headed by NitiAayog Vice
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proposed National Higher Education Fellowship Programme, Chairman Arvind Panagariya, to prepare
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without any other promotional or regulatory function. a road map for reforming the two
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NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Ayog replaced the Planning commission last year.
Its role and functions in the Indian economy and polity are still evolving.
There was a need to scrap the planning commission because it was presenting contradictions in the present
day economic scenario.
Firstly, its lack of relevance in a market economy.
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The second contradiction was between the centralised command over resource allocation and the
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developmental role of the states in a federal polity.
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In this light it is important that NITI keeps following principles in mind:
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Effort to incorporate the role of the private sector in policy making and not constraint it.
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Promoting cooperative as well as competitive federalism
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Role and functions of NITI
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The cabinet resolution lists 13 different tasks to it which may be grouped under four major heads, namely:
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Tackle the overlapping of legislative and executive functions in concurrent list e.g. energy, environment,
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poverty alleviation, education have been rough spots in past few years. Need for coordinated action and
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The need of central government to interfere in state list might also arise for reasons of national interest
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In the case of union subjects too, the states may be involved in implementation as agencies due to their
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NITI can facilitate exchange of information and experiences and promote healthy intergovernmental
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Rationalisation of centrally sponsored schemes. The government initiated the process by cutting down
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the number of CSS and also dividing them as Core and other schemes.
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The NITI has created sub-groups of Chief Ministers and various Task Force to foster cooperation.
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One of the major tasks assigned to NIti Aayog is strategic planning at both macro, sectoral and also
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grassroot levels. Perspective planning helps to make projections on the macro variables and keep the
policy perspective in view.
There is a need for bottom-up planning right from the village, block and district levels and these should
be harmonised with planning at the state level and national level.
NITI can provide a framework for preparing the plans to the states and the latter, in turn, to the lower
levels of government. It should also have a unit to advise and guide if any state is in need of such
assistance
It is reported that government might work on a 15-year vision plan with 3-years short terms plans.
Innovation and Knowledge Hub
Several legacy issues like significant role in designing and implementing specific purpose transfers which
cannot be given to any other body like Finance Commission.
Presence of parallel institutions in the state which need to be transformed to meet the new requirements.
The Constitution requires the establishment of district planning committees and metropolitan planning
committees. Their role in the new environment needs to be specified.
Inter-ministerial tussle with NITI as everyone would want to spread over its influence.
Danger of bureaucratisation of the Aayog.
Conclusion
The success of NITI depends to a large extent on the trust and confidence it receives from the States. The
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government must, thus, take every possible step to achieve this trust. Coordinating NITI with Inter-State Council
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would be a desirable step in this regard.
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4.5. REVAMPING CENTRAL BOARD OF FILM CERTIFICATION
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Why in news?
There are many Offensive and Outrageous
Government has set up a panel headed by Shyam Benegal to .ra
things which should not be shown in
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suggest measures for the revamp of the Central Board of films. For example:
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order)
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under the provisions of the Cinematograph Act 1952. Glorification of the ideology of terrorists
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Films can be publicly exhibited in India only after they have (Islamic or otherwise)
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been certified by the Central Board of Film Certification. Liberal use of vulgar words
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ads, and publications for exhibition, sale or hire in India Glorification of blind beliefs
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Issues with working of CBFC a duty to always keep a sharp eye on these
negative things.
There is a general feeling that the CBFC was not acting like the
certifying authority that it was, but as a censor board.
Ideally it needs to only issue film certificates based on the content (as the name suggests- Central Board of
Film Certification). Instead, what has been happening is dubious and irrational censorship based on Political
Interests, false Cultural Sensitivity, Hypocrisy, Prejudices & perverse Prudishness.
Some of the recent decisions taken by CBFC have renewed the ongoing debate with respect to balance
between one’s Freedom of Speech, art of creativity versus censorship. For instance, CBFC had asked makers
of Bollywood film “Udta Punjab” to remove all references to the state and its cities.
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Why in news?
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ASCI and Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) have signed an MoU to check misleading
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advertisements in the food and beverages sector.
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What is it?
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A self-regulatory voluntary organization of the advertising industry in India, founded in 1985.
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The three main constituents of the industry viz. advertisers, advertising agencies and media came together to
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form this independent NGO.
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The aim of ASCI is to maintain and enhance the public's confidence in advertising. Their mandate is that all
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advertising material must be truthful, legal and honest, decent and not objectify women, safe for consumers
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It deliberates upon individual complaints against any advertisements for its compliance with ASCI code and
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other laws.
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ASCI gets a suomotu monitoring mandate by FSSAI to process complaints against misleading advertisements
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The review will include violation of the Food Safety Standards Act 2006 and regulations related to
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ASCI would report to FSSAI about the non-compliance as per provisions of the FSS Act.
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Why in News?
The MCI's composition is opaque, and does not have diversified stakeholders and
council has only medical doctors.
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MCI is statutory body for establishing uniform and high standards of medical education in India.
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It registers doctors to practice in India, in order to protect and promote the health and safety of the public
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by ensuring proper standards in the practice of medicine.
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Supreme Court view
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Article 142 of Indian Constitution:
Agreeing with the view of Parliamentary Standing Committee
report of March 2016, the Supreme Court has used its rare and .ra
It empowers the Supreme Court to
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extraordinary powers under the Constitution (A.142) to set up a pass such decree or order as may be
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Committee will be headed by former Chief Justice of India R.M. in any cause or matter that is
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The Supreme Court defined the below mentioned functions for the Justice Lodha committee:
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It will have the authority to oversee all statutory functions under the MCI Act.
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All policy decisions of the MCI will require approval of the Oversight Committee.
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The Committee will function till the Central Government puts in place any other appropriate mechanism
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Background
Following the spot match fixing scandal in IPL and the issue of extreme political interference in the working
of BCCI, the SC had appointed a committee to look into the matter under the chairmanship of former CJI
justice RM Lodha
The Committee came out with its recommendations early this year and suggested sweeping reforms in the
troubled BCCI.
Further, the BCCI and some of the State cricket associations, former players and cricket administrators
approached the apex court asking to halt the implementation of Lodha panel recommendations. The court,
however, dismissed BCCI’s plea, and upheld the committee’s major proposals.
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Recommendations left to decision of parliament
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The SC left it to Parliament to decide whether the functioning of the BCCI can be brought under RTI as
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recommended by the Lodha panel.
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SC also left parliament to decide whether to legalise betting in cricket or not.
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Recommendations left to board
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Board to decide whether there is need for any change in the existing agreement relating to broadcasting
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rights.
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It left it to the Board to decide whether a franchise member should be in the Board to avoid any conflict of
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interest.
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Board to also decide the extent of funding of players association in the BCCI.
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SC requested the three-member Lodha panel, to oversee the transition of administrative structure in the
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The SC order effectively overhauls the BCCI’s organisational set-up, memberships and functioning for the
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Prima facie it looks like judicial activism, but considering the sad state of affairs in BCCI, SC order was need of
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The judgment has implications for sport in general. The BCCI is the best-run sports body in the country, and
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generates its own funds. Yet it needed straightening out. It sets a benchmark for all the sporting
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prolonged period of infancy, had begun to grow at over
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The FSSAI has also notified 12 referral
eight per cent a year.
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laboratories and 82 National
Food processing adds value to farm produce and helps to
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Accreditation Board for Testing and
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reduce wastage of perishable products, so such Calibration Laboratories-accredited
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regulations may affect farm sector badly. private laboratories.
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The industry maintains that the regulator cannot bring back the product approval system unless the law is
amended. .ra
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Recent actions of the FSSAI, including those against Nestle India's Maggi noodles, created a "fear psychosis"
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The basic objective of the FSSAI Act of putting in place a transparent and scientific system of food safety
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Way forward
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India's food regulation law, the FSSAI Act of 2006, in fact does not require a new product to be formally
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approved by the regulator if its ingredients are as per the law. Thus Food safety regulator must follow global
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The government is planning to appoint independent regulators for services such as medicine, law, chartered
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Presently these are regulated by statutory bodies like MCU, BCI, ICAI, ICSI
Problem with the existing structure
The existing structure of a regulator-cum-professional body for these services has resulted in several
alleged instances of conflict of interest.
This has also hurt the credibility and reputation of these bodies and hampered India’s attempts to secure
Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRA) with other countries to enable easier temporary movement of
skilled workers and professionals across borders.
The independent regulators will maintain distance from the professional bodies similar to the situation in
developed countries.
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principle of democracy. It will also be
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local elections are included there is always an election
consistent with the notion of collective
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taking place in our country.
responsibility of the government to the
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Economy
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House as mentioned in Article 75 (3) of
Reduce the huge economic burden of frequent elections.
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the Constitution.
Pace of economic development is hampered as Model
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Simultaneous elections are also held
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code of conduct is in operation wherein new welfare successfully in South Africa and
schemes and measures are usually not announced. Sweden..ra
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Challenges
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realities. Earlier dissolution, which breaches the principle of general elections to LokSabha should be
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The PM or CM advises the president or the governor, as In 1st phase, elections to almost half of
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the case may be, to prematurely dissolve the LokSabha or legislative assemblies should be held
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state assembly and force snap elections to gain electoral during the midterm of LokSabha and
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government or defeating the government’s confidence To hold early elections to state legislative
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356 by imposing the president’s rule in states ruled by motion must be passed by the House.
opposition parties and dissolving assemblies resulting in
premature elections.
According to Article 85 and Article 174, elections to LokSabha and Legislative assemblies have to be held
within six months (respectively) of dissolving either of them. This is not feasible if elections are held only at
fixed durations. Also, if elections are not held within six months, it would be a travesty of democracy.
Founding fathers of the Constitution envisaged a federal polity of a sui-generis nature. So, multi-party
system with elections is the most fundamental manifestation of this will of the popular sovereign.
Frequent elections bring the politicians back to the voters and enhance the answerability and accountability
of politicians to the public.
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Why in news?
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The Election Commission of India (ECI) has sought complete independence from government control in a
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recent meeting with government.
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At present only Chief Election Commissioner has security of tenure.
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Also its budget is not a charged expenditure, but is voted by the Parliament.
Demands made by ECI .ra
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Constitutional Protection
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It has demanded for constitutional protection for all three of its members as opposed to just one at present.
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Its two Election Commissioners can be removed by the government on the recommendation of the Chief
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Election Commissioner.
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It also demanded a provision either in law or by some government resolution that the senior most EC should
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be automatically elevated as CEC in order to instil a feeling of security in the minds of the ECs and that they
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It has also sought absolute financial freedom from the Law Ministry. Like the CAG and UPSC, the ECI wants
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its budget to be ‘charged’ to the Consolidated Fund as opposed to the current practice of being voted and
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approved by Parliament.
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It has also proposed an independent secretariat for itself with which it will not have to depend on DoPT to
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appoint its officers. If it is approved by the Law Ministry, the poll panel will be free to frame its own
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recruitment rules and shortlist and appoint officers on its own. It can then also draw competent
professionals and experts from the job market.
More teeth to tackle new challenges
The Election Commission of India sought amendment to RPA to include specific powers to postpone or
countermand polls on the grounds of use of money power.
At present, there is no specific provision in the law to this effect and commission has to resort to
extraordinary powers under Article 324 of constitution which, it feels should be used sparingly.
Clause 58 A empowers the Election Commission to cancel polls only if there is an evidence of booth-
capturing or use of muscle power. Thus, EC seeks a new clause ‘58 B’ in the Act for dealing with use of
money power in elections or amendment to this effect in the existing clause ‘58A’.
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5.3. THE NEW DELHI DECLARATION ON POLITICAL FINANCE
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REGULATION IN SOUTH ASIA, 2015
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Why in news?
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The two-day Regional Conference on ‘The Use of Money in Politics and Its Effects on People’s Representation’
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recently culminated with the New Delhi Declaration 2015 on Political Finance Regulation in South Asia.
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Salient points
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The Conference was jointly organized by the Election Commission of India, International IDEA (an
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intergovernmental body wherein India is one of the founding members) & India International Institute of
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The New Delhi Declaration on Political Finance Regulation in South Asia, 2015, is in response to the needs for
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strengthening the regulation of political finance (uneven access or use of money) across the South Asian
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region and elsewhere in the world which adequately ensures level playing among all political parties and
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comprehensive coverage, closing of monitoring gaps, coordinates efforts with stakeholders and agencies
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The overarching principles look at a holistic and integrated approach to regulation of political finance by
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closing gaps and loopholes in the implementation of the existing procedures and regulations.
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It also underscores the need to create uniformity for all political parties and candidates by creating an
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The declaration also has nine regulations and implementing guidelines on maintaining reasonable levels of
spending, regulation of private contributions, and provision of public funding for political parties, prevention
of abuse of state resources, public disclosure of political finance, the regulatory authority, compliance, and
enforcement among others.
These overarching principles and guidelines which are recommendation of the Declarations will be
disseminated to Election Management Bodies (EMBs) in South Asian region and elsewhere for appropriate
use as per local contexts in their jurisdictions.
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Election manifesto should not contain anything against ideals of constitution and should be consistent with
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the spirit of the Model code of conduct.
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In the interest of transparency, level-playing field and credibility of promises, it is expected that manifestos
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also reflect the rationale indicate the ways and means to meet the financial requirements.
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Trust of voters should be sought only on those promises which are possible to be fulfilled.
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Problems with this arrangement
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MCC is not enforceable by law.
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Section 123 of RPA makes bribery an offence – but giving free things to everybody without any condition of
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Supreme Court said Freebies shake the root of free and fair elections to a large degree as it affects the level
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playing field.
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Voters cannot be fooled and influenced easily through these freebies - once voter understands the fiscal
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Secrecy of ballot ensures that goodies does not impact decision making of voters. In fact, giving freebies
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is a dilemma for political parties as they can rarely figure out whom they voted for.
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some experiments have also shown no relation with likeliness to votes for a party and its promise of
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giving freebies
On economy
It puts heavy burden on public exchequer when party comes into power and limits the fiscal space.
The debt burden of states is increasing manifold and certain states have huge revenue deficit.
It diverts resources from essential services and development programmes.
On people’s welfare
Certain things announced like bicycles for school girls reduces dropout rates and giving laptops increases
opportunities for students
These freebies are actually delivered with much less corruption at ground levels which is rampantly seen
in the government welfare schemes
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things can be beyond their control for the fact that they are outsiders and may not know the local ways of
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distribution of cash, freebies and other irregularities.
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Panel had last year tabled its report in both Houses of Parliament which favoured holding simultaneous
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elections to the Lok Sabha and state assemblies.
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The Panel had, in an earlier report submitted three years ago, recommended reducing the time between
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enforcement of the model code and the day of polling which is yet to be implemented by Government.
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What is MCC? .ra
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It is a set of guidelines laid down by the Election Commission to govern the conduct of political parties and
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It is intended to provide a level playing field for all political parties, to keep the campaign fair and healthy,
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avoid clashes and conflicts between parties, and ensure peace and order.
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Its main aim is to ensure that the ruling party, either at the Centre or in the states, does not misuse its
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The Model Code of Conduct comes into force the moment an election is announced and remains in force till
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It applies to all political parties, their candidates and polling agents, the government in power, and all
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government employees.
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Why in news?
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Supreme Court has recently directed the government to take a final decision on introducing ‘totaliser’
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What is Electoral Trust?
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Electoral Trust is a company or a non-profit company created in India under Section 8 of the Companies Act
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for orderly receipt of the voluntary contributions from any person and for distributing the same to the
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respective political parties, registered under Section 29A of the Representation of People Act, 1951.
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Examples of Corporate Trusts: Bharatiya Socialist Republican Electoral Trust, Bajaj Electoral Trust and
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Jankalyan Electoral Trust, Progressive Electoral Trust (Tata), People’s Electoral Trust( Reliance Industries),
Janhit Electoral Trust, Satya Electoral Trust .ra
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Corporates are entitled for tax benefits with regard to electoral trusts subject to certain conditions.
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The benefits can be availed only if the trusts distribute 95% of the total contributions received in a particular
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These entities are barred from receiving donations in cash. Foreign citizens are not allowed to contribute
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Objective
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The objective of the Electoral Trust is not to earn any profit or pass any direct or indirect benefit to its
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members or contributors.
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The sole objective is to distribute the contributions received by it to the political party concerned.
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This is a mechanism for bringing transparency and sanity in the political party funding.
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It spares them the embarrassment of baring their political leanings (maintaining anonymity).
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It also spares them the resultant pain of retribution by the political party not benefiting from the company’s
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munificence.
Even Political parties lack anonymity.
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provisions of Delimitation Act, 2002.
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5.9. NATIONAL ELECTORAL ROLL PURIFICATION 2016 (NERP 2016)
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The Election Commission of India (ECI) has launched the
The NERP-2016 strives to improve the fidelity of the
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National Electoral Roll Purification (NERP) programme
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rolls through effective use of technology and SVEEP
across the country to correct errors in electoral rolls and
enrolment of all eligible citizens, among other things. .ra
(Systematic Voters' Education and Electoral
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Participation) strategies.
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eligible elector with unique Elector Photo Identity Card Information Technology is being extensively
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(EPIC) number, removal of all absent, shifted or dead used in information collection, processing,
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electors’ entries and repeat entries. sharing and efficient decision making.
Comprehensive training for Booth Level Officer
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Electoral Rolls for annual summary revision with January 1, 2017 as qualifying date.
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Provision has been made to provide the information electronically on National Voters Service Portal (NVSP).
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Despite the decision of the Central Information Commission (CIC), Judiciary has kept itself out of preview
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of RTI.
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The present collegium system lacks transparency,
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National Mission for Justice Delivery and
accountability and objectivity. The trust deficit has
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Legal Reforms
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affected the credibility of the collegium system.
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The National Mission for Justice Delivery
Steps Taken so far
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and legal Reforms was set up in June,
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The enactment of the Commercial Courts, Commercial 2011 to achieve the twin goals of
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so that timely and cost effective justice is made available at re-engineering of procedures and
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The infrastructure in the courts needs improvement - there focussing on Human Resource
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Development;
will not be enough court halls, chambers, or staff, if all the
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Leveraging
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Information and
vacancies are filled.
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Setting up of Fast Track Courts, Additional Courts and Family for better justice delivery.
Courts. The Mission will adopt a coordinated
Increasing the ICT capabilities of the courts. approach for phased liquidation of
Setting up of Alternative dispute resolution centers such as arrears and pendency in judicial
Lok Adalats should be encouraged. administration.
Uniform methodology to collect judicial data and streamlining
of court processes.
To ensure judicial accountability and bring transparency in functioning of judiciary legislation should be
brought in Parliament.
To boost the confidence of the people in judiciary, judiciary should reveal information like the number of
pending or reserved judgments by brining itself under ambit of RTI.
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It was composed of three senior judges, two eminent giving greater say to executive.
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outsiders and the Law Minister. Second Judges Case, 1993: It is also
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known as Supreme Court Advocates-on
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The constitutional amendment was passed by Parliament and
Record Association vs Union of India.
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was ratified by 20 states. It led to the creation of the collegium
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However, before it was notified, it was challenged in Supreme system. The Supreme Court said that the
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Court as an attempt by government to interfere with the Chief Justice of India should be given the
independence of the judiciary. .ra
“primal” role in appointments.
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The motive behind creation of NJAC was to bring reforms in Third Judges Case, 1998: The President
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The Court by a 4-1 majority, struck down the 99th under article 124 and 217 of Indian
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It concluded that NJAC did “not provide an adequate functioning collegium system.
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the primacy of the judiciary in the matter of selection and Primacy of the judiciary is required as
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appointment of Judges”
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It proposes that for appointment of judges in the Supreme Court, the
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“prime criteria” should be “seniority as chief justice/ judge of the
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high court”.
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The MoP states that up to three judges in the Supreme Court need to
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be appointed from among the eminent members of the Bar and
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distinguished jurists with proven track record in their respective fields.
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A permanent secretariat to be set up in the Supreme Court for
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maintaining records of high court judges, scheduling meetings of the
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The Union Law Minister should seek the recommendation of the incumbent CJI for appointment of his
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A notice for vacancies of judges should be put up on the website of the high courts at the beginning of the year
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for appointments.
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The other organs of the government like the executive and legislature must not restrain the functioning of
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It is about freedom from all pressures in the exercise of the adjudicative function.
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It is central to democracy because it is the judiciary which helps the realisation of the rule of law and
protection of human rights.
It is the independence of the judiciary that leads to confidence in the mind of public that it will come to their
aid and rescue if any wrong is committed by executive.
Why personal independence of judges is important?
To ensure judicial independence, personal independence of the judges is as important as the institutional
independence.
Impartiality, integrity, propriety, equality, competence etc. are pillars on which personal independence is
dependent. Thus by ensuring these qualities judicial independence can be ensured.
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Names of all the candidates short-listed can be posted on the website of the court for a reasonable period to
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elicit objections.
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There can be a technical committee of retired judges to shortlist the applications and to respond to
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objections/grievance in the initial stage of the selection. And this part of the procedure should be open to
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Right to Information Act.
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Then the collegium can interview the short listed candidates to prepare the final list.
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Psychological tests should be part of the selection process to measure the extent of integrity, independence,
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Need of a permanent secretariat - As the process is long, time-consuming and technical, so the judges who
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are too busy with the cases cannot devote much time for the screening of candidates. There should be a
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permanent secretariat to undertake it. A secretariat would bolster efforts towards an “open-ended”
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selection process.
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A databank of all judges and aspirants to judicial posts can be prepared by the collegium secretariat to
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handle the transfers and promotions under the guidance of the Chief Justice and collegium of judges.
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The membership of the collegium in each High Court and Supreme Court should be enlarged. Such enlarged
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body can be inclusive of women, minorities, Schedule Castes and Schedule Tribes to promote the
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Institutionalized education and training can be provided to advocates to become competent judges.
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The proposed institutional mechanism should also convey its views on the conduct of judges.
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There should be a mechanism to receive and deal with complaints against judges without compromising on
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judicial independence.
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The principle of the judicial independence is the one of the core values of the justice system. Administration of
the justice should be inspired by such principles and there is an urgent need for efforts to translate such
principles into reality.
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under the RTI Act.
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Argument for opposition of RTI
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Collegium discussions can be freewheeling and include the examination of fairly invasive government
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intelligence reports and the expression of judges’ personal opinions.
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For judges, their credibility and reputation is hugely important, and many feel that the slightest potential
slight on this could be debilitating and prevent judges from doing their job. .ra
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In a democracy all institutions, including the judiciary, must be transparent and accountable. Transparency in
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judicial functioning and accountability for judicial actions and inactions inspire public faith and confidence in
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the institution.
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The lack of stringent in house accountability and transparency mechanisms has allowed the judiciary to keep
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itself free from regular public scrutiny. The Right to Information Act is a step forward towards opening a
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The Chief Justice of India, as the high priest of the legal system, must uphold the RTI Act and realise that no
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institution can be considered credible and inspire public confidence unless it is open and transparent. The
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judiciary can only occupy the high moral ground it often claims, by setting an example, and leading from the
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Conclusion
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Mechanism must be derived such that transparency and independence of judiciary, both are maintained.
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Issues with the impeachment process
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Only Parliament can take cognizance of a case of a tainted judge. No space is given to a common man.
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The law does not define what misbehaviour is and hence ultimately fails to recognize the wide range of
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misbehaviour.
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The process is very long
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It also involves political considerations. For example, the Congress abstained from voting on the resolution
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when the motion for removal of Justice V. Ramaswami was moved in 1993 resulting in failure of the process.
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The Judge under investigation is not prohibited from discharging his duties in court of law.
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The previous government had brought the Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill 2012.
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The Bill sought to establish a set of legally enforceable standards to uphold the dignity of superior judiciary
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along with a new architecture to process the public complaints leveled against the judges.
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Presently the judicial standards are governed by an informal code called ‘Restatement of values of
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judicial life’. The Bill would give it legal backing including provisions like:
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A judge must not develop relationships with the members of the Bar.
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Setting up an National Judicial Oversight Committee (NJOS) and a Complaints Scrutiny Panel (CSP) to
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There is provision for an advisory or warning to the concerned judge in case of minor misconduct. But
with regard to gross misbehaviour removal could be suggested to the Parliament.
Current status
The Bill could not be passed because of difference of opinion on issues like composition of NJOS,
confidentiality of complaints, provisions for appeal etc. It, thus, lapsed
The present government is pondering over bringing the Bill again with some changes.
In light of the need to maintain the rule of law and independence of judiciary it is imperative that such a law
is soon brought to life.
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The average time that the judges have for each
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hearing, derived from the number of cases they
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hear and the daily working hours that they put in,
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Calcutta HC has the most frequent hearings, Delhi
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has the least.
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efficiency, and has an impact on the concept of fair
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hearings.
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judiciary.
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territories where the High Court of that state or union territory does not have/exercise ordinary original civil
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jurisdiction and “Commercial Divisions” within High Courts exercising ordinary original civil jurisdiction.
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The Act provides for the adjudication of Commercial Disputes of more than INR 1,00,00,000 (defined as
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“Specified Value” in the Act), by the Commercial Courts/Divisions. Further, it also prescribes the manner in
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which the Specified Value of a Commercial Dispute is to be determined.
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All suits and/or applications relating to a Commercial Dispute of a Specified Value pending before any civil
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court are required to be transferred to constituted Commercial Courts/Divisions for fast and speedy disposal
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of cases.
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Jurisdiction over arbitrations: In line with the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Act, 2015, all
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matters pertaining to international commercial arbitrations have been brought within the purview of the
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High Court,
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Applications and appeals arising out of domestic arbitrations involving purely local Indian parties, which
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would ordinarily lie before any principal civil court of original jurisdiction (not being a High Court), will now
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lie before a Commercial Court (where constituted) exercising territorial jurisdiction over such arbitration.
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The provisions of the CPC, to the extent of its application to any suit in respect of a Commercial Dispute have
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The Act has also introduced strict timelines to ensure prompt resolution of disputes including but not limited
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to all appeals to the Commercial Appellate Division must be filed within 60 days from the impugned
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judgement and the Commercial Appellate Division must endeavour to dispose of the case within a period of
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6 months
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The Act requires appointment of persons having such experience to be judges of the Commercial
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Courts/Divisions.
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The Act sets an outer limit of 120 days for filing defense beyond which the right to file the defense is
forfeited and the Court would be bound to not take such a delayed submission on record.
Significance: It will not only change the speed at which Commercial Disputes will attain finality, but also
improve the perception of investors about India as an investment destination.
Issues
Vagueness
The definition of “Commercial Disputes” is very vague and wide. The list is not exhaustive and hence it
can give rise to a number of litigations.
It is extremely difficult to ascertain the value of an intellectual property right and this can give rise to a
number of litigations.
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technology will go a long way in making these courts at par with the systems being followed in some
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6.8. NATIONAL COURT OF APPEAL (NCA)
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Why in news?
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The idea of NCA has been mooted several times before but the SC has rejected its feasibility. Recently in the
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PIL filed by Chennai-based litigant V. Vasanthakumar the SC had shown its openness to the idea for the first
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time.
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What is it?
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The National Court Appeal with regional benches in Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata is meant to act as final
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court of justice in dealing with appeals from the decisions of the High Courts and tribunals within their
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In such a scenario, a much-relieved Supreme Court of India situated in Delhi would only hear matters of
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The SC is overburdened with work much of which comprises appeals from lower courts. Due to this, it is not
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able to fulfill its primary duty of deciding upon constitutional matters and acting as the interpreter of the
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The number of decisions by Constitutional benches has drastically come down; from about 15% of total
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A. 145(3) mandates that minimum 5-judge bench should sit to decide a matter involving ‘substantial
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question of constitutional law’. Clearly this mandate is not being followed. E.g. the Naz Foundation case
involving the question of decriminalization of homosexuality, Shreya Singhal case dealing with the
illegality of s.66A IT Act were all decided by 2-judge benches.
The accessibility to SC due to its seat in Delhi is less especially to the poor and those living in far-off places
like north-east. Studies show that most number of appeals come from Delhi HC.
Limitations
This would fundamentally the character of Supreme Court, its constitution and also its aura as the Apex
court. It would require amending Article 130 which might not stand the test of basic structure.
The NCA is silent on the issue of indiscriminate use of SLPs (special leave petitions). SLPs obviously have a
role to play- settling questions of law with broader public purpose- but this power has been used too
frequently.
Conclusion
NCA is a drastic measure, a last resort with lot of practical problems- hard to become reality. Till then other
measures need to be taken to address the issue- like reducing appellate burden (rationalization of SLP,
subordinate judiciary reforms, improving judicial strength, quality, infra etc).
For proximity issue benches of SC like that of HC can be set up in 4 important cities.
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and powerful.
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Components of CJS
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Broadly, the criminal justice systems have the following three components:
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Law Enforcement: Law enforcement agency takes report for crimes. It is also responsible for investigate
crimes and gather evidence. It includes police forces in India. .ra
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Adjudication: This pertains to judicial processes and can be further divided into:
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Prosecution: Prosecutors are lawyers who represent the state throughout the court process-from the
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first appearance of the accused in court until the accused is acquitted or sentenced. Prosecutors review
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the evidence brought to them by law enforcement to decide whether to file charges or drop the case
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Defense Lawyers: They defend the accused against the government's case. They are ether hired by the
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defendant or (for defendants who cannot afford an attorney) they are assigned by the court.
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Courts: Courts are run by judges, whose role is to make sure the law is followed and oversee what
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happens in court.
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Corrections and Prisons: They supervise convicted offenders when they are in jail, in prison, or in the
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6.10. JUDICIAL OVERREACH AND JUDICIAL ACTIVISM
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Why in news?
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Recently, the Supreme Court cautioned judges against judicial overreach and said that judges must remain
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within the limits of the law and not peddle individual perceptions and notions of justice.
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Under our constitutional scheme, judiciary has to enforce the laws laid down by the legislature in accordance
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with our constitution for which it has wide powers ranging, from issuing writs of certain nature to the
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Further, new innovations like the concept of PIL in recent times, has led to an enormous expansion of
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Thus the exercise of judicial powers in a manner which leads to redefinition of power equations between
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different organs of the state and the judiciary is called as judicial activism.
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However, judicial activism doesn’t necessary mean that judiciary is inclined to expand its powers. Its more
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about the positive role played by the judiciary owing to the factors like a near collapse of responsible
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government, a legislative vacuum due to coalition governments and public confidence in the judiciary.
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Judicial Activism when overtly exercised results in usurping the powers of the Executive or the Legislature,
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which are the other two important organs of governance and is called as Judicial overreach.
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The power to legislate is squarely conferred on the Legislature by the Constitution. No such legislative power
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is given to the Courts by the Constitution. Judicial Activism cannot be used for filling up the lacunae in
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Legislation or for providing rights or creating liabilities not provided by the Legislation.
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Bringing courts closer to the disadvantaged sections of society protection of environment to
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such as prisoners, destitute, child or bonded labourers, corruption-free administration, right to
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women, and scheduled castes/tribes. education, sexual harassment at the
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PIL has become a vehicle to bring social revolution through workplace, relocation of industries, rule
of law, good governance, and the
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constitutional means.
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general accountability of the
It has also helped in expanding the jurisprudence of
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Government.
fundamental (human) rights in India. .ra
In recent years, anyone could file a PIL
PIL also become an instrument to promote rule of law,
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for almost anything. It seems that there
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demand fairness and transparency, fight corruption in is a further expansion of issues that
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administration, and enhance the overall accountability of the could be raised as PIL, e.g. calling back
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PIL has enabled civil society to play an active role in spreading Australia tour.
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social awareness about human rights, in providing voice to This is contradictory to the main
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PIL has helped the Indian judiciary to gain public confidence and establish legitimacy in the society.
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Issues
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In this scheme of things, the measure of uniformity in the standards for selection will improve the quality of
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personnel in different High Courts, as one-third of the judges come there on promotion from the
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subordinate courts.
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Similarly, judges of the Supreme Court are drawn from the High Courts. In this process only persons of
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proven competence will preside over the benches of superior courts. Simultaneously, the quality of
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dispensation of justice will also improve considerably right from the bottom to the top.
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In addition, the objective of inducting an outside element in High Court benches can be achieved in better
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way as a member of an all India judicial service will have no mental block about interstate transfers.
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purposes.
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As far as admissibility of documents is concerned there is no weightage of affidavits over self-declaration.
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Affidavit is a declaration, and as such, a declaration in itself is adequate for the purposes of law. The
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applicant continues to be responsible for the statement made.
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There appears to be no legal problem in adopting this practice. The Indian Penal Code contains a number of
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Sections such as 177, 193, 197, 198, 199 and 200 which specifically deal with the implications of any false
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Why in news?
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The Right to Information (RTI) Act has completed 10 years of implementation. It has changed the thinking
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According to the Information Commission’s annual reports, there are at least 50 lakh RTI applications filed in
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Over the last decade, at least 2 per cent of the Indian population has used the law.
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How RTI Act has spawned a new breed of activism and citizenship
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Despite various challenges to implementation of RTI act, people have used it fiercely and owned the law like
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no other. People have defended it against every attack and put it to sustained use.
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In the unequal battle of trying to hold power to account, it offers sense of hope for the human desire for
dignity, equality, public ethics, and the capacity to enforce these even to some extent.
In a democracy like India people struggle every day to establish some reason in dealings in public life with
assertions of citizenship, entitlements, and ethics. RTI addresses the issue of constitutional rights and
empowers people to demand answers.
RTI enthusiasts are often ordinary people, who not only file applications but also spend countless hours
debating sections, cases, applications, and answers. Thus, encourage a culture of asking questions.
The RTI provides a platform for each view to engage with the other on the basis of a shared logic. It can help
us escape from policy paralysis, and build a more informed, equitable and robust decision-making process.
Beside good governance RTI has helped in the development process as well:
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authorities & use of public resources.
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A little over 1 per cent applications only require vast information which could divert time
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70 per cent of the information sought should have been made public proactively
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Section 8 of the Act that clearly spells out the exceptions can be used in matters of national importance.
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Issues and Constraints in the implementation of the Act
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Low Public Awareness - While the Act has been clear in defining the responsibility of the appropriate
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Government, with respect to creating awareness on the Act, there has been lack of initiative from the
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Government’s side. The efforts made by appropriate Governments and Public Authorities have been
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restricted to publishing of rules and FAQs on websites. These efforts have not been helpful in generating
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Failure to provide information within stipulated time - It is a known fact that the record keeping process
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within the Government is a big challenge. Therefore, due to inadequate record management procedures
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with the Public Authorities, there is failure to provide information within the stipulated 30 days. This
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situation is further aggravated due to non-availability of trained PIOs and the enabling infrastructure
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Lack of Monitoring and Review mechanism - One of the most important roles of the Information Commission
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is to monitor and review the Public Authority and initiate actions to make them comply with the spirit of the
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Act. However this has been one of the weakest links in the implementation of the Act. Monitoring the Public
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Authority for compliance of the Act is also an important aspect of the role of the Information Commission,
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High level of pendency - The pendency at the Information Commission is a huge challenge. Unless and until
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the pendency is kept at manageable level, the objective of the Act would not be met. High pendency of
appeals is due to non optimal processes for disposing of appeals and complaints.
Way ahead
While assessing the entire situation the following themes emerge:
The Public Authorities have to enhance the level of ownership to ensure the RTI delivery happens as per the
spirit of the Act. They have to be ultimately responsible for
o Identifying the gaps in their offices in the delivery of the information, thereafter identify the resources
needed and appropriately budget for it.
o Maintenance of the information required to be furnished to the State Information Commission.
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equal share of equity contribution by the state allows investors to limit their risks and
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government and urban local body, thereby making them maximize profits, and bypass cumbersome
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legal and regulatory issues.
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the majority shareholders.
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• Concerns regarding Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), which is to be mandatorily constituted for the
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implementation of their respective Smart City Plans.
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SPVs are also empowered to enter into Public Private Partnerships, incorporate subsidiaries and appoint
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project management consultants. This influence of private investors and consulting firms in urban
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led venture– seen as defeating essence of local self-governance and bypassing the elected municipal
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council.
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SPV may be headed by a bureaucrat, with a fixed tenure who can be removed only with prior approval of
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However, local bodies would still have representation in it though it would not be majority.
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Admittedly, our local governments are not the most efficient or responsive, but an SPV-driven Smart City
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Combined with a lack of management control, may reduce the attractiveness of SPVs for private
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investors.
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• Regulatory
Criteria: The SCM guidelines stipulate that government funding can only be used for projects that have
public benefit outcomes. Criteria to decide the degree of public benefit of projects is unclear.
Convergence: The manner in which a smart city SPV interacts with the implementing agency for HRIDAY,
and how two projects under the two separate programmes complement each other, is yet to be seen.
For example, Varanasi is included under both SCM and the Heritage City Development and
Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY).
• Solutions
An important first step would be to build safeguards to protect the democratic nature of governance
structures. A robust governance structure, which allows for sharing of power and financial resources
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Development of rural growth clusters of smart villages which have latent potential for growth, in all States
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and UTs.
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These clusters would be developed by provisioning of economic activities, developing skills & local
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entrepreneurship and providing infrastructure amenities.
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The scheme through development of Rurban growth clusters aimed at catalyzing overall regional growth,
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which would benefit the rural as well as urban areas of the country.
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By achieving twin objectives of strengthening rural areas and de burdening the urban areas hence leading
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300 clusters would be developed with an investment of Rs 5,100 crorein three years.
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Four clusters would be developed in Chhattisgarh's Rajnandgaon, Dhamtari, Kawardha and Bastar districts.
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Under this scheme village clusters will have 14 mandatory components like Digital Literacy, Sanitation,
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Provision of piped water supply, Solid and liquid waste management, etc.
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Scheme will focus on creating community assets and improving basic infrastructure such as roads, shelter,
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The clusters will be geographically contiguous Gram Panchayats with a population of 25,000 to 50,000 in
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plain and coastal areas and a population of 5,000 to 15,000 in desert, hilly or tribal areas.
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The funding for Rurban Clusters will be through various schemes of the government converged into the
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cluster.
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The mission will provide an additional funding support of up to 30 per cent of the project cost per cluster as
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critical gap funding as central share to enable development of such ‘rurban clusters’.
The Mission envisages institutional arrangements both at the State and Center to ensure smooth
implementation of the Mission.
The Mission also has an Innovation budget towards facilitating research, development and capacity building.
In the initial years, MNREGA was a true game-changer, rural wages started climbing and reports also
pointed towards a decline in migration to urban centres.
A NCAER study of 2015 showed that the Act helped in lowering poverty by almost 32 per cent between
2004-05 to 2011-12 and prevented almost 14 million people from falling into poverty.
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Since the launch of the scheme it has helped in reducing poverty level among scheduled cast and scheduled
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tribes 38 per cent and 28 per cent respectively.
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The total expenditure on this programme has been rupees 3.14 lakh crore and has generated work of 1980
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crore person days.
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Till now, it has generated 19.86 billion person-days of employment benefitting 276 million workers, with
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more than half the jobs going to women workers and almost a third to members of scheduled castes and
scheduled tribes. .ra
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MGNREGA has played a much larger role in revitalizing the labour market in rural areas.
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It has led to the creation of a class of workers who are using the MGNREGA as a safety net.
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Also these workers are able to use it as a bargaining tool for extraction of higher wages.
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57% of all workers are women, more than the statutory requirement of 33% and the highest in three years.
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It has acted as the single most important instrument for empowering gram panchayats. The act gave gram
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sabhas the mandate to plan their own works and untied funds to execute these works.
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Research suggests that water-related assets created under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA have increased the
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number of days in a year water is available and also the quantity of water available for irrigation.
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The increased availability of water has also led to changes in crop patterns and increased area under
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Challenges
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Based on CAG report, it showed that from 2009-10 to 2011-12, only 20 per cent of total funds allocated
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under the scheme has been released for Bihar, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh where almost 46 per cent of
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sanitation and hygiene.
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Strategy for Open Defecation Free town (ODF) and
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Integrated Solid Waste Management (SWM).
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Information, Education and Behaviour Change
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Communication (IEBC) activity.
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Sweeping, door to door collection and transportation (of solid waste). .ra
Processing and disposal (of solid waste).
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Calculation of Ranking
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Out of the total marks of 2,000 for assessing the performance of efforts of 75 cities
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60 per cent were assigned for solid waste management related parameters.
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5 per cent each for city level sanitation strategy and behaviour change communication.
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Mysuru has emerged as the country’s cleanest city followed by Chandigarh and Tiruchi.
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Mysuru had also topped the last cleanliness survey which was conducted in 2014 among 476 cities with a
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Of the cities surveyed, 32 have improved ranks since the last survey including 17 from the North India.
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e-Governance is the use of information and communication technologies to support good governance.
Recent Initiatives
Virtual Police Station (VPN) for Public
VPS is being launched in the Capital to make functioning of a police station comprehensible for the public.
International NGO Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) has developed the VPS.
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It will showcase the outstanding work by retiring employee and sharing experience of working with the
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Government.
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It will also provide facility to upload recorded voice message by the retiring employee.
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Over a period of time, this will create a wealth of institutional memory with replicable ideas and suggestions.
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It will also act as motivator for serving employees.
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This would provide an excellent opportunity to harness the resource of retiring employees for voluntary
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contribution to nation building post retirement. .ra
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The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation has won the National Award on e-Governance 2015-16 for
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The EPFO won the gold award in the ‘innovative use of technology in e-governance’ category.
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Garv app
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Power ministry has launched the GARV (GrameenVidyutikaran) app to provide the first hand information
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Anmol
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ANMOL is a tablet-based application that allows ANMs to enter and updated data for beneficiaries of their
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jurisdiction.
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This will ensure more prompt entry and updation of data as well as improve the data quality since the data
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The Application is Aadhaar-enabled hence it will help in authentication of the records of field workers and
beneficiaries.
E-raktkosh initiative
It is an integrated Blood Bank Management Information System (MIS).
This web-based mechanism interconnects all the Blood Banks of the State into a single network.
Challenges and Limitations
Funding: Funding is the foremost issue in e-Governance initiatives.
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software by which transliteration from English into other languages can be made.
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Lit of major successful e-Governance Projects
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Customs and Excise (Government of India)
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98% of export and 90-95% of import documentation computerized.
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Electronic filing through ICEGATE.
Service Tax returns electronically processed. .ra
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Direct e-credit of Monthly Income Scheme returns into the investors accounts
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Dematerialization of Savings Certificate (NSC) and VikasPatras (KVP), offering full portability
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An Integrated Citizen Services Portal providing citizen centric services such as: Birth/Death Certificates, Property
Registration, Driver’s License, Govt. Applications & Forms, Payment of taxes / utility bills etc.
Bhoomi – Automation of Land Records (State Government of Karnataka)
Bhoomi (meaning land) is the project of on-line delivery and management of land records. It provides
computerized Record of Rights Tenancy & Crops (RTC) - needed by farmer to obtain bank loans, settle land
disputes etc. It has also ensured increased transparency and reliability, significant reduction in corruption,
exploitation and oppression of farmers. This project has benefited more than 20 million rural land records
covering 6.7 million farmers.
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Private partner paid by the government department / agency
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G2C services like: Payment of electricity, water, telephone bills, Payment of taxes, Ticket Reservations,
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Filing of Passport applications, Registration of birth/death, Payment by cash/cheque/ credit card
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7.8. HURDLES IN INDIA’S DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION: WDR 2016
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Background
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India has had the remarkable achievement of being the largest exporter of IT services and skilled manpower
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among the developing countries. However, still it considerably falls behind China in digitally transforming its
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economy.
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World Bank’s recently released World Development Report (WDR) ‘Digital Dividends’ sheds some light on
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this.
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Unfortunately, not only does India have a higher digital access gap, it also has a bigger digital capability gap.
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The capability gap, according to the WDR, arises from two main sources:
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India scores considerably below China in doing business indicators. It is important for India to create space
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The slow pace of improvement of the quality of basic infrastructure — expressways, logistics, storage,
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The excessively cautious approach of Indian regulators towards disruptive technological innovations such
as mobile money or ride-sharing services has made it difficult for digital start-ups to enter new markets and
achieve scale.
Low level of skills and education in a majority of population. Around 25 per cent of India’s adult population
cannot read and write compared to fewer than 5 per cent in China.
Even the quality of education is poor. The latest Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) test scores in
rural India show that 10 per cent of children aged 16 and below cannot identify single-digit numbers
consistently.
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The number of countries ranked in 2015 was 168 against 174 results of surveys and assessments of
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nations in 2014. corruption, collected by a variety of
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reputable institutions including the
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Globally, Denmark retained its position as the least corrupt
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World Bank and the World Economic
country for the second year running (with its latest score of 91
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Forum.
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points). It looks at a range of factors like whether
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Overall, two-thirds of the 168 countries studied scored below governmental leaders are held to account
50, and the global average stood at 43. .ra
or go unpunished for corruption, the
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perceived prevalence of bribery, and
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Neighbourhood Scenario
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Barring Bhutan ranked 27, which with a score of 65 fares much citizens’ needs.
As per the scoring system adopted,
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country.
reported no improvement,
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access to budget information so the public knows where money comes from and how it is spent;
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Judiciaries that don't differentiate between rich and poor, and that are truly independent from other
parts of government.
The report also says 68% of countries worldwide have serious corruption problem and half of the G20 are
among them.
64 countries had improved their score while only 53 declined. The rest remained unchanged.
Even globally, there seemed to be an overall improvement in corruption alleviation – with both the United
States and United Kingdom making their best rankings ever.
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Also to reduce corruption: the centre last year introduced a rule to allow civil servants to be removed from
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service in public interest even if the evidence against them is not sufficient to initiate disciplinary
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proceedings.
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Why in news?
Few Facts
Supreme Court upheld Haryana law on panchayat 9.6 million People will be eligible to contest
elections, by dismissing plea challenging Haryana the elections to various panchayats in the
Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Act, 2015. state even after applying the amended
qualifications.
Haryana Government Law on Panchayat Election The census data of 2011 showed that
In August 2015 Haryana government cleared five Haryana had a literacy rate of 76.6%, with
female literacy at 66.8%.
amendments to the Haryana Panchayati Raj Act, 1994.
According to the census, 31.4% of
Amendments laid down eligibility criteria to contest local
households in the state do not have access to
body elections. It set toilets as opposed to the national average of
Minimum educational qualifications: The law fixes 53.1%.
matriculation as the essential qualification for general 57% of the rural population who are over the
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age of 20 years will still be eligible to contest
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candidates and Class VIII for women in the general
elections in spite of the minimum education
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category as well as scheduled caste candidates.
qualification.
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Having a functional toilet at home,
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Not having defaulted in cooperative loans or having
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outstanding dues on rural domestic electricity connections and
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Not charged by a court for a grave criminal offence (of over 10 years in jail).
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These are in addition to insolvency and being of unsound mind, disqualifications that are specified in the
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Constitution.
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Background
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In December 2014, Rajasthan became the first state in India to pass legislation that required panchayat poll
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candidates to have both functional toilets and minimum educational requirements: Class X for the zila
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parishad and panchayat samiti polls, Class VIII to be a sarpanch and Class V for scheduled areas.
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If people still do not have a toilet, it is not because of their poverty but because of their lacking the requisite
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will - taking into consideration various policies of the Haryana government to improve sanitation in the state.
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It is only education which gives a human being the power to discriminate between right and wrong, good
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Under Articles 40 and 246(3), the Constitution grants powers to the states to make laws to enable the
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Arguments in Favour
Many point out that education qualification has an important role in deciding a person’s standing in society
and his/her suitability for various responsibilities. This is because a basic knowledge is necessary to work and
build more expertise.
Education increases exposure to the world and improves the ability to comprehend and envisage things in a
much broader way. The broad argument is that while educational may not be an essential qualification for
success it would certainly help improve the chances for success.
Criticism
More ground reforms are needed before such a law is implemented.
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On the ground contestants and voters alike, all agree that education is a desirable quality in candidates. But by
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imposing these conditions, the government is denying voters a choice. An uneducated person can also be honest
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and hard-working.
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8.1.2. GRAM UDAY TO BHARAT UDAY ABHIYAN
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Why in News?
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Central Government in collaboration with States and Panchayats decided to organize a ‘Gram Uday Se
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Bharat Uday Abhiyan’ (Village Self Governance Campaign) early this year.
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The campaign aimed at generating nation-wide efforts to increase social harmony across villages, strengthen
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A ‘Social Harmony Programme’ was conducted in all gram panchayats, supported collaboratively by the
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Ministry of Panchayati Raj and the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
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In this programme, villagers honoured Dr. Ambedkar and resolve to strengthen social harmony.
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Information regarding various government schemes to foster social justice was be provided.
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‘Village Farmer Assemblies’ was organized where information regarding schemes of agriculture such as the
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Also a national meeting of tribal women Gram Panchayat Presidents from Fifth Schedule Areas of 10 States
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8.2. ULBs
Why in News?
Recently, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) ran out of funds to pay salaries to its staff.
As a reaction, sanitation workers went on strike which created conditions of uncleanliness on Delhi roads.
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up a strategy for land value capture that can benefit the municipal exchequer.
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To protect the financial sustainability of municipalities, a state legislation on fiscal responsibility and budget
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management in municipalities should be enacted.
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To improve the efficient and effective management of accounts, audit of annual accounts should be
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performed by chartered accountants.
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To improve tax collections and financial management, recruit more staff.
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Why in News?
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A private member’s bill was introduced in the parliament to make provisions for direct election and
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Present Position
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Mayor is the head and official in charge of the Municipal Corporations in India.
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Executive Officers monitor the implementation of all the programs related to planning and development of
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At present, six states namely Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, MP, UP and Tamil Nadu, provide for
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Proposed Changes
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The bill aims to establish strong leadership for cities by providing for a directly elected and empowered
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Mayor.
It also suggests the reforms such as mandating the constitution of area sabhas and ward committees and
strengthening the devolution of functions to local governments.
Bill fixes the Mayor’s term to be coterminous with that of the municipality.
It makes the Mayor the executive head of the municipality.
It also gives Mayor veto powers over some of the council’s resolutions and also lets the Mayor nominate
members of the Mayor-in-Council.
Why in news?
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Ministry of Urban Development has asked 28 States to convert all 3,784 Census Towns into statutory Urban
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Local Bodies.
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What is census town?
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A Census Town is an area with urban characteristics such as
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Minimum population of 5,000. .ra
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At least 75% of the male main working force engaged in non-agricultural activities.
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As per 2011 Census, there are 3,784 Census Towns as against 1,362 in 2001.
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A Statutory urban local body (ULB) is one with a municipality, corporation, cantonment board or notified town
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area committee.
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As per 2011 Census, there are 4,041 such towns as against 3,799 in 2001.
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Need to convert
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It also leads to enhanced revenues and efficient delivery of services to citizens leading to overall growth of
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economic activities.
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They become entitled to central assistance as per guidelines of 14th Finance commission.
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Under AMRUT mission, 50% weightage is given to the number of statutory towns in any State/UT for
allocation of funds among them.
Why in News?
The Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Bill, 2016, was
passed by both Houses of Parliament and received President’s approval as well. Subsequently, the Centre
had notified the new Aadhaar Act.
The Act intended to provide statutory backing to Aadhaar for targeted delivery of subsidies and services to
individuals residing in India.
Features of the Act
Every resident is entitled to obtain an Aadhaar number. A resident is a person who has resided in India for
182 days, in the one year.
To perform the functions related to Aadhaar card, Unique Identification Authority (UID) will be formed.
Composition of UID will be chairperson, two part-time members and a
chief executive officer. The chairperson and members should have To obtain an Aadhaar number, an
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experience of at least 10 years in matters like technology, governance, individual has to submit his
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etc. Biometric (photograph, finger
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print, iris scan)
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Important functions of the UID authority are:
Demographic (name, date of
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Specifying demographic and biometric information to be collected
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birth, address) information.
during enrolment.
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The Unique Identification
Assigning Aadhaar numbers to individuals
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Authority (UID) may specify
Authenticating Aadhaar numbers .ra
other biometric and
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Specifying the usage of Aadhaar numbers for delivery of subsidies demographic information to be
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attributes) will be used only for Aadhaar enrolment and authentication purpose and will not be shared with
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anyone.
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Only in cases pertaining interest of national security and on the order of court information will be revealed.
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A person may be punished with imprisonment up to 3 years and minimum fine of Rs. 10 lakh for
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Wrong/fake beneficiaries have been a major issue with many schemes; hence it is expected to prevent
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It will enable delivery of much higher level of income transfers to the poor.
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Due to Introduction of the bill as money bill, it has bypassed RajyaSabha which could have provided
valuable inputs during discussion.
It has also seen as against the spirit of cooperative federalism because RajyaSabha is considered as
representing the voice of states.
Section 7 of the bill gives the government powers to make Aadhaar mandatory for a wide range of facilities
and services.
Section 57 enables the government to impose Aadhaar identification in virtually any other context that is not
mentioned in the bill.
Why in news?
The Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill, 2015 was passed in December 2015. The Bill amends the
Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996.
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Arbitration in India is often criticized for being slow, expensive and ineffective. That’s why many foreign
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companies are hesitant to do business in India because of the
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long-drawn litigations. What is arbitration?
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It is a procedure in which a dispute is
India was ranked 178 out of 189 nations in terms of enforcing
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submitted, by agreement of the parties, to
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contract by the World Bank’s ease of doing business report, one or more arbitrators who make a
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Earlier, The Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 was enacted choosing arbitration, the parties opt for a
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to consolidate and amend the law relating to domestic private dispute resolution procedure
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The Law Commission of India, in its 246th report, gave recommendations aimed at making the arbitration
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process quicker and cost effective, reducing the intervention of the courts and making the enforcement of
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It enables the parties to an international commercial arbitration with the seat of arbitration outside India, to
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also approach the Indian courts and seeking interim relief, unless the parties have agreed to the contrary.
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Arbitral Tribunal shall make its award within a period of 12 months. Parties may extend such period up to six
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The Court while extending the period may also order reduction of fees of arbitrator(s) not exceeding five
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percent for each month of delay and it also provides for additional fees if arbitration procedure is completed
within six months if both parties agree.
There is a provision for fast track procedure for conducting arbitration. Award in such cases shall be given in
six months period.
Mere filing of an application for challenging the award would not automatically stay execution of the award
but only by order of a competent court.
Regarding grounds for challenge of an arbitral award, the amendment has restricted the scope of the term
'Public Policy of India” to - induced or affected by fraud; in contravention with the fundamental policy of
India; in conflict with the most basic notions of morality or justice.
A new provision to provide that application to challenge the award is to be disposed of by the Court within
one year.
Why in news?
Parliament recently passed two bills to repeal outdated 1053 laws which had become redundant legislations.
The Appropriation Acts (Repeal) Bill 2015 that seeks to repeal 758 old appropriation acts which have lost
relevance and The Repealing and Amending (Third) Bill, 2015 to repeal 295 enactments and to amend
certain other enactments were passed by the Parliament.
Why is it needed?
The purpose of old statute law repeals work is to
Modernise and simplify the statute book,
Reduce its size and save the time of lawyers and others who use it.
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This in turn helps to avoid unnecessary costs.
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It also stops people being misled by obsolete laws that masquerade as live law.
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There are laws from the colonial era which are irrelevant or misplaced today, as the world has changed.
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Some of these were specifically enacted to curb the independence movement.
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In particular, during the Second World War, many laws were passed which reflected the exigencies of the
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war. In numerous areas, freedoms of Indians were taken away to make it convenient for the British war
effort. .ra
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At the Union government level, the Law Commission of India prepared four reports in 2014 (248th, 249th,
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Subsequently, a Committee headed by R. Ramanujam was formed to identify Central Acts which are not
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As per the Ramanujam Committee, 2781 Central Acts were in existence as on 15 October 2014. Out of these,
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it recommended the repeal of 1741 Central Acts. Of these 1741 Acts, 340 were Central Acts on State subjects
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Way forward
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Just like labour reforms, old statutes aren't always at the level of the Union government. There are several old
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statutes also at the level of the States. For instance, Rajasthan has repealed more than 60 old statutes recently.
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Why in news?
The Lokpal and Lokayuktas (Amendment) Bill, 2016 was passed by the parliament (both houses) in July’2016.
Features of the Bill
The Bill amends the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013 in relation to declaration of assets and liabilities by
public servants.
It amends Section 44 dealing with declaration of assets and liabilities of public servants.
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The bill aims at providing 5th extension for disclosure of assets indefinitely which should be made time
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bound.
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The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice, is going to assess
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the bill again and suggest changes to Section 44, and submit its report by the next session of Parliament.
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The panel is also expected to define “public servant” taking into consideration inputs from different
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stakeholders.
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Why in news?
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The Union Cabinet gave its approval to amend the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 by pursuing the
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Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill, 2013 which was pending before the Rajya Sabha.
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Proposed Amendments
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The proposed amendments would fill in perceived gaps in the domestic anti-corruption law and also help in
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meeting the country's obligations under the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) more
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effectively.
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Providing for more stringent punishment for the offences of bribery, both for the bribe giver and the bribe
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taker.
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Penal provisions being enhanced from minimum 6 months to 3 years and from maximum 5 years to 7
years. The seven year imprisonment brings corruption to the heinous crime category.
To contain gain of benefits from profits of corruption, the powers of attachment are proposed to be
conferred upon the trial Court (Special Judge) instead of the District Court.
Expanding the ambit of provision for containing inducement of public servant from individuals to
commercial entities is being added to contain supply side of corruption.
Providing for issue of guidelines for commercial organizations to prevent persons associated with them
from bribing a public servant.
The average trial period of cases under PC Act in the last 4 years has been above 8 years.
It is proposed to ensure speedy trial by providing a trial completion within 2 years.
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The government should reconsider offering immunity to at least three types of bribe-givers:
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Those who are coerced to pay a bribe to obtain their legal entitlements.
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Those who voluntarily come forward to complain and bear witness against corrupt public officials.
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Those who are willing to turn approvers.
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The objective of combating coercive corruption would be more effectively achieved if the government puts
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in place a comprehensive grievance redress mechanism.
The PCA must insulate prosecuting agencies from government influence.
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The Lokpal law has vested the power of granting sanction for prosecution in the Lokpal. The proposed
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Wherever the procedure for granting prosecution is defined in the Lokpal or Lokayukta laws, it should be
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applicable.
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For all other cases, including where no Lokpal or Lokayukta has been set up, an independent committee
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should be tasked with the responsibility of giving prior approval for prosecution.
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Why in news?
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The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 was introduced in LokSabha on July 19, 2016. The Bill seeks to
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The Bill seeks to amend the definition of “illegal migrants” that will enable the government to grant
citizenship to minorities, mostly Hindus, from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, who have fled their
country fearing religious persecution.
The Bill creates an exception for Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan,
Bangladesh and Pakistan. For these groups of persons, applying for citizenship by naturalisation, the 11
years’ requirement will be reduced to six years.
Cancellation of registration of OCIs: The Act provides that the central government may cancel registration of
OCIs on certain grounds. The Bill adds one more ground for cancelling registration, that is, if the OCI has
violated any law that is in force in the country.
Why in news?
What constitutes Enemy Property?
The President of India has promulgated the Enemy Property Under the Defence of India Rules
(Amendment and Validation) Ordinance, 2016 to make amendments framed under the Defence of India
to the Enemy Property Act, 1968. Act, the Government of India took
However, it could not be passed due to parliamentary logjam. Thus, over the properties and companies
of such persons who had taken
the government has repromulgated the Ordinance for the same.
Pakistani nationality due to partition
Need of India in 1947.
These enemy properties were
To ensure that the enemy property continues to vest in the vested by the Central Government
Custodian, appropriate amendments were brought in by way of an in the Custodian of Enemy Property
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Ordinance in the Enemy Property Act, 1968 by the then Government for India.
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in 2010.
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However, the ordinance lapsed in September 2010 and later introduced bill was also lapsed because of
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completion of term of Lok Sabha.
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Provisions of the Ordinance
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Once an enemy property is vested in the Custodian, it shall continue to be vested in custodian as enemy
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property irrespective of whether the enemy, enemy subject or enemy firm has ceased to be an enemy due
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There cannot be transfer of any property vested in the Custodian by an enemy or enemy subject or enemy
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firm and that the Custodian shall preserve the enemy property till it is disposed of in accordance with the
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Impact of Ordinance
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The above amendments to the Enemy Property Act, 1968 will help in plugging the loopholes in the Act to
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ensure that the enemy properties that have been vested in the Custodian remain so and they do not revert
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The Enemy Property Act was enacted in the year 1968 by the Government of India, which provided for the
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The act authorized the Central Government of India to appoint a custodian for enemy property for India and
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The Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2016 seeks to simplify private placement process, remove restrictions on
layers of subsidiaries and investment companies, amend CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) provisions to
bring greater clarity and exempt certain class of foreign entities from the compliance regime under this law.
The proposed changes are broadly aimed at addressing difficulties in implementation owing to stringency of
compliance requirements.
Criticisms
It is argued that the Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2016, unlike the existing law, allows for some pecuniary
interest in companies for independent directors.
The proposed law allows such directors on their own to have transactions with companies where they are
independent directors up to 10% of such independent director’s total income. Thus, the law legitimises self-
dealing merchants as independent directors.
Concerns
The above limit of 10% for transactions in the hands of independent directors can be altered by executive
action through prescribing an altered limit. Vested interests can achieve a higher limit by influencing the
executive. This would certainly further weaken independence on corporate boards.
The proposed change in law allows a relative of an independent director to be indebted to the company or
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its promoters and their satellites within a limit as may be prescribed by the Central Government. But, when a
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relative of an independent director is indebted to the company, the independence of such a director would
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be highly suspect. Especially when a relative of an independent director is indebted to promoters of a
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company, independence of such a director becomes a definite casualty.
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Under the existing law, an independent director’s relative should not have been a senior employee of the
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company in the last three years. The proposed change in law seems to takes away this restriction and
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definitely strikes at the root of independence of directors.
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Way ahead
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While many of the other proposals in the Companies Bill, 2016 are correctional or clarificatory in nature and
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are quite welcome, the amendments proposed in respect of independent directors are hard to justify. A law
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which undermines independence of directors, even if justified for pragmatic reasons, should not be
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espoused.
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The law has been rightly referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee before it is considered by the
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Parliament. Now, an informed discussion and debate regarding the proposed changes in law relating to
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In India, over 1,40,000 people die and more than 5,00,000 suffer serious injuries every year in road
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crashes. Road accident globally are leading cause of death for the young age group (15-29yrs)- 90% of this is
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in developing and under-developed countries- nearly half of them are vulnerable road users (pedestrians,
cyclists etc).
An official report says that 1.46 lakh Indian were killed in road accidents in 2015, a jump of 5% than 2014.
A legislation to tackle this problem is of utmost necessity.
Aim of bill
To provide a scientifically planned and evolving framework for the safety of all road users in India, including
vulnerable road users.
To enable the seamless development of a secure, efficient, cost-effective, sustainable and inclusive transport
system for the movement of passenger and freight in the country.
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system that is based on biometric to avoid duplication
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6. Unified Vehicle Registration System: It proposes a Unified Vehicle Registration System integrating all
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stakeholders like manufacturer, owner, transport authority, insurer, and enforcement agency all in one eco-
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system with private sector participation in establishing fitness certification centres to create more jobs.
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7. Road Safety & Traffic Management:
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• Electronic enforcement in urban clusters using modern safety technologies with special emphasis for
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safety of vulnerable road users
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• Creation of Motor Accident Fund for immediate relief to accident victim special emphasis on safety of
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• Creation of National Road Transport & Multimodal Coordination Authority for improving quality of road
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transportation,
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• Focus on developing integrated transport systems & multi-modal hubs and feeder system and last mile
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• Developing & regulating public passenger transport schemes and developing & regulating public
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• Address bottlenecks concerning trucking industry and increase in logistics efficiency will reduce inflation
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Road Safety Bill is on the way but could not be passed due to parliamentary logjam. The government
proposes to form the National Road Safety and Traffic Management Board through an executive order in
the meanwhile to lay down standards and oversee activities related to road safety.
Benefits of road regulator
It will push automobile companies to introduce airbags in economy cars.
It will also push states to conduct safety audits of state highways and district roads.
It will be helpful in ensuring road safety norms in India.
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It will also ensure the effective maintenance of the roads.
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What are the major changes brought in the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 through the recent
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Ordinance promulgated by the President? How far will it improve India’s dispute resolution mechanism?
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Discuss.
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“For achieving the desired objectives, it is necessary to ensure that the regulatory institutions remain
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independent and autonomous.” Discuss in the light of the experiences in recent past.
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In the light of the Satyam Scandal (2009), discuss the changes brought in corporate governance to ensure
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transparency, accountability. .ra
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“If amendment bill to the Whistleblowers Act, 2011 tabled in the Parliament is passed, there may be no one
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Examine critically the recent changes in the rules governing foreign funding of NGOs under the Foreign
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How can the role of NGOs be strengthened in India for development works relating to protection of the
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What do you understand by the concept “freedom of speech and expression”? Does it cover hate speech
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also? Why do the films in India stand on a slightly different plane from other forms of expression? Discuss.
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Instances of President’s delay in commuting death sentences has come under public debate as denial of
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justice. Should there be a time limit specified for the President to accept/reject such petitions? Analyse.
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The size of the cabinet should be as big as governmental work justifies and as big as the Prime Minister can
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manage as a team. How far the efficacy of a government then is inversely related to the size of the cabinet?
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Discuss.
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The ‘Powers, Privileges and Immunities of Parliament and its Members’ as envisaged in Article 105 of the
Constitution leave room for a large number of un-codified and un-enumerated privileges to continue. Assess
the reasons for the absence of legal codification of the ‘parliamentary privileges’. How can this problem be
addressed?
Starting from inventing the ‘basic structure’ doctrine, the judiciary has played a highly proactive role in
ensuring that India develops into a thriving democracy. In light of the statement, evaluate the role played by
judicial activism in achieving the ideals of democracy.
National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in India can be most effective when its tasks are adequately
supported by other mechanisms that ensure the accountability of a government. In light of the above
observation assess the role of NHRC as an effective complement to the judiciary and other institutions in
promoting and protecting human rights standards.
2013
Discuss Section 66A of IT Act, with reference to its alleged violation of Article 19 of the Constitution.
The role of individual MPs (Members of Parliament) has diminished over the years and as a result healthy
constructive debates on policy issues are not usually witnessed. How far can this be attributed to the anti-
defection law, which was legislated but with a different intention? 2013
The Supreme Court of India keeps a check on arbitrary power of the Parliament in amending the
Constitution. Discuss critically.
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Recent directives from Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas are perceived by the `Nagas’ as a threat to
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override the exceptional status enjoyed by the State. Discuss in light of Article 371A of the Indian
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Constitution.
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Many State Governments further bifurcate geographical administrative areas like Districts and Talukas for
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better governance. In light of the above, can it also be justified that more number of smaller States would
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bring in effective governance at State level? Discuss.
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Constitutional mechanisms to resolve the inter-state water disputes have failed to address and solve the
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problems. Is the failure due to structural or process inadequacy or both? Discuss.
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Discuss the recommendations of the 13th Finance Commission which have been a departure from the
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The product diversification of financial institutions and insurance companies, resulting in overlapping of
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products and services strengthens the case for the merger of the two regulatory agencies, namely SEBI and
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IRDA. Justify.
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Electronic cash transfer system for the welfare schemes is an ambitious project to minimize corruption,
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The basis of providing urban amenities in rural areas (PURA) is rooted in establishing connectivity. Comment.
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Though Citizen’s charters have been formulated by many public service delivery organizations, there is no
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corresponding improvement in the level of citizens’ satisfaction and quality of services being provided.
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Analyze.
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‘A national Lokpal, however strong it may be, cannot resolve the problems of immorality in public affairs’.
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Discuss.
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Pressure group politics is sometimes seen as the informal face of politics. With regards to the above, assess
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