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Need for Changes in Anti-Defection Law

Why in News The Leader of Opposition in the Goa Legislative Assembly is set to move a private member’s resolution to recommend to the Central...

15 Jul 2021 Separation of Powers
SC Upheld Authority of Delhi’s Peace and Harmony Committee

Why in News Recently, the Supreme Court (SC) upheld the authority of Delhi Assembly’s Peace and Harmony Committee to summon Facebook...

13 Jul 2021 Separation of Powers
Council of Ministers

Why in News Recently, the Prime Minister expanded and reshuffled his Council of Ministers (COM). The Prime Minister now has 77 ministers, nearly...

09 Jul 2021 Separation of Powers
‘Union’ or ‘Central’ Government

Why in News Recently, the Tamil Nadu government has decided to shun the usage of the term ‘Central government’ in its official...

01 Jul 2021 Separation of Powers
Union vs. Centre

This article is based on “The ‘Union government’ has a unifying effect” which was published in The Hindu on 22/06/2021. It...

24 Jun 2021 Separation of Powers
Recusal of Judges

Why in News Recently, two Supreme Court (SC) judges have recused themselves from hearing cases relating to West Bengal. Key...

23 Jun 2021 Separation of Powers
National Tribunals Commission

This article is based on “Restructuring the tribunals system” which was published in The Hindu on 17/05/2021. It talks about the...

17 May 2021 Separation of Powers
MLA-LAD Scheme

Why in News Recently, Rajasthan Government has approved a proposal to provide Rs. 3 crore each from the MLA Local Area Development (LAD) Fund to...

12 May 2021 Separation of Powers
MPLAD Scheme

Why in News Recently, funds from Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) were disbursed to the village panchayats of...

17 Mar 2021 Separation of Powers
Economic Impact of Judicial Decisions

Why in News Recently, the NITI Aayog has asked research organisation ‘Consumer Unity and Trust Society (CUTS) International’ to conduct...

08 Feb 2021 Separation of Powers
Article 356

This article is based on “Article 356 and an activist judiciary” which was published in The Hindu on 26/12/2020. It talks about the...

26 Dec 2020 Separation of Powers
SC Stays Andhra HC Order to Examine Constitutional Breakdown

Why in News Recently, the Supreme Court (SC) has stayed an Andhra Pradesh High Court (HC) order intending to embark on a judicial enquiry into...

19 Dec 2020 Separation of Powers
No Replies to SC or HCs: Maharashtra

Why in News Recently, both Houses of the Maharashtra State Legislature have passed proposals stating that they will not take cognizance of or reply...

17 Dec 2020 Separation of Powers
Checks & Balances

This article is based on “The Red Lines” which was published in The Indian Express on 27/11/2020. It talks about the issues and...

28 Nov 2020 Separation of Powers
MPLAD Scheme

This article is based on “For better use: On MPLADS funds” which was published in The Hindu on 09/04/2020. It talks about issues...

11 Apr 2020 Separation of Powers
Cooling-off Period For Judiciary

This article is based on “The Hidayatullah example”, “Gogoi’s nomination sets a wrong precedent”, “Mr R Gogoi,...

18 Mar 2020 Separation of Powers
The Big Picture - Police Commissioner System

Recently, the Uttar Pradesh government has approved the implementation of the Police Commissionerate system in the two cities, Lucknow and Noida....

24 Jan 2020 Separation of Powers
The Big Picture: UK’s Constitutional Crisis

A defiant Boris Johnson (United Kingdom’s Prime Minister) has vowed to take the country out of the European Union next month, despite...

03 Oct 2019 Separation of Powers
Wish List for Judiciary

This editorial is based on the article "Wish list for judiciary” which appeared in Business Standard on 8th May, 2019. The article talks...

29 May 2019 Separation of Powers
A Perennial Quandary on Separation of Power

The Madras High Court ruled that the Lieutenant-Governor (L-G) of Puducherry could not interfere with the day-to-day administration of the Union...

01 May 2019 Separation of Powers

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		'article_id' => (int) 8876,
		'category_id' => (int) 21,
		'title' => 'Need for Changes in Anti-Defection Law',
		'description' => '<h3>Why in News</h3>
<p>The <strong>Leader of Opposition</strong> in the Goa Legislative Assembly is <strong>set to move a <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/introduction-of-private-member-s-bill" target="_blank" rel="noopener">private member&rsquo;s resolution</a></strong> to recommend to the Central government to address the various issues associated with the <strong><a href="/current-affairs-news-analysis-editorials/news-editorials/26-02-2021" target="_blank" rel="noopener">anti-defection law</a>.</strong></p>
<h3>Key Points</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>About Anti-Defection Act:</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The <strong>Tenth Schedule &mdash; popularly known as the Anti-Defection Act</strong> &mdash; was included in the Constitution via the <strong>52<sup>nd</sup> Amendment Act, 1985</strong> and sets the provisions for <strong>disqualification of elected members on the grounds</strong> of defection to another political party.</li>
<li>The <strong>grounds for disqualification</strong> under the Anti-Defection Law are as follows:
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>If an elected member <strong>voluntarily gives up his membership</strong> of a political party.</li>
<li>If he <strong>votes or abstains from voting in such House contrary to any direction issued by his political party</strong> or anyone authorised to do so, without obtaining prior permission. <br />
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>As a pre-condition for his disqualification, his abstention from voting should not be condoned by his party or the authorised person within 15 days of such incident.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>If <strong>any independently elected member joins any political party.</strong></li>
<li>If <strong>any nominated member joins any political party after the</strong></li>
<li><strong>expiry of six months.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>As per the 1985 Act, a 'defection' by <strong>one-third of the elected members</strong> of a political party was considered a <strong>'merger'.</strong> <br />
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>But the <strong>91<sup>st</sup> Constitutional Amendment Act, 2003</strong>, changed this and now at <strong>least two-thirds of the members</strong> of a party have to be in favour of a "merger" for it to have validity in the eyes of the law.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>The <strong>members so disqualified can stand for elections from any political party for a seat</strong> in the same House.</li>
<li>The decision on questions as to disqualification on ground of defection are referred to the <strong>Chairman or the Speaker of such House, which is subject to &lsquo;Judicial review&rsquo;.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Issues Related to Anti-Defection Law:</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>Undermining Representative Democracy:</strong> After enactment of the Anti-defection law, the MP or MLA has to follow the party&rsquo;s direction blindly.
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>This leaves them with <strong>no freedom to vote</strong> their judgment on any issue and undermines representative democracy.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Undermining Legislatures:</strong> The core role of an elected MLA or MP is to examine and decide on a policy, bills, and budgets.
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>Instead, the MP becomes just another number to be tallied by the party on any vote that it supports or opposes.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Undermining Parliamentary Democracy:</strong> In the parliamentary form, the government is accountable daily through questions and motions and can be removed any time it loses the support of the majority of members of the Lok Sabha.
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>Due to Anti-Defection law, this <strong>chain of accountability has been broken</strong> by making legislators accountable primarily to the political party.</li>
<li>Thus, anti-defection law is acting against the concept of parliamentary democracy.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Controversial Role of Speaker:</strong> In many instances, the Speaker (usually from the ruling party) has delayed deciding on the disqualification.
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>The Supreme Court has tried to plug this by ruling that the Speaker has to decide the case in three months, but it is not clear what would happen if a Speaker does not do so.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>No Recognition of Split:</strong> Due to the <strong>91<sup>st</sup> constitutional amendment 2004</strong>, the anti-defection law created an exception for anti-defection ruling.
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>According to this, if two-thirds of the strength of a party should agree for a &lsquo;merger&rsquo; then it will not be counted as a defection.</li>
<li>However, the amendment does not recognise a &lsquo;split&rsquo; in a legislature party and instead recognises a &lsquo;merger&rsquo;.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Proposed Changes:</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>One option is that <strong>such matters be referred directly to the high court or the Supreme Court for an express judgment</strong> -- should be <strong>given within a period of 60 days.</strong></li>
<li>The second option is that if <strong>somebody has any difference of opinion with respect to the party</strong> or the party leadership, he <strong>has the option to resign</strong> and seek the fresh mandate of the people.</li>
<li>These changes <strong>envisage the need for an elected representative to be accountable and responsible</strong> towards the people.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Strengthening Intra-Party Democracy:</strong> If government stability is an issue due to people defecting from their parties, the answer is for parties to strengthen their internal part of democracy.</li>
<li><strong>Regulating Political Parties:</strong> There is an ardent need for legislation that governs political parties in India. Such a law should bring political parties under RTI, strengthen intra-party democracy, etc.</li>
<li><strong>Relieving Chairman/Speaker From Adjudicating Powers:</strong> Chairman/Speaker of the house, being the final authority in terms of defection, affects the doctrine of separation of powers.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>In this context, transferring this power to higher judiciary or to Election Commission (recommneded by 2<sup>nd</sup> ARC report) may curb the menace of defection.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Restricting the Scope of Anti-defection Law:</strong> In order to shield the detrimental effect of the anti-defection law on representative democracy, the scope of the law can be restricted to only those laws, where the defeat of government can lead to loss of confidence.</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/goa/goa-leader-of-opposition-to-move-resolution-for-changes-to-anti-defection-law-7403513/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Source: IE</strong></a></p>',
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		'article_id' => (int) 8853,
		'category_id' => (int) 21,
		'title' => 'SC Upheld Authority of Delhi’s Peace and Harmony Committee',
		'description' => '<h3>Why in News</h3>
<p>Recently, the <a href="/important-institutions/drishti-specials-important-institutions-national-institutions/supreme-court-of-india" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Supreme Court (SC)</strong></a> upheld the authority of <strong>Delhi Assembly&rsquo;s Peace and Harmony Committee to summon Facebook India&rsquo;s senior official</strong> in connection with the February 2020 communal violence.</p>
<h3>Key Points</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Central Governments and Facebook's Claim:</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The formation of the Peace and Harmony committee was not within the authority of the Delhi Assembly as<strong> law and order and police of Delhi is a central subject.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Delhi Government's Justification:</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The Delhi Assembly had <strong>relied on various entries in the state list and concurrent list</strong>, by which the Delhi Assembly derived its power to discuss and debate on the issue in question. <br />
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>It cited <strong>entry 1 in the state list dealing with public order</strong>, which is distinct from <strong>law and order and entry 1 in concurrent list</strong> which gives sweeping <strong>power to state assemblies to legislate on the subject &lsquo;criminal law&rsquo;.</strong></li>
<li>Entry <strong>39 in the state list that gave assemblies power to enforce the attendance of witnesses for the purpose of recording statements</strong> was also relied upon.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>SC&rsquo;s Ruling:</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>Rejected Facebook's abstention:</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>Rejected the simplistic approach adopted by Facebook &mdash; that it is merely a platform posting third-party information and has <strong>no role in generating, controlling or modulating that information.</strong></li>
<li>Facebook<strong> cannot claim any &ldquo;exceptional privilege&rdquo; to abstain</strong> from appearing before the Peace Harmony Committee constituted by the Delhi Assembly.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Committee&rsquo;s Competence/Powers:</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>An <strong>&ldquo;informed deliberation&rdquo; by the Assembly&rsquo;s elected representatives on the best measures to combat online mass hate and violence</strong> in their geographical jurisdiction was very much <strong>within the Committee&rsquo;s competence.</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>However Facebook representatives appearing before the Committee <strong>need not answer any query from the Committee directly regarding law, order and the police</strong>, which are subjects on which the Delhi Assembly cannot legislate.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Legislative Assembly&rsquo;s Power:</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>Dismissed Facebook&rsquo;s argument that the <strong>Assembly ought to confine itself to making laws</strong> rather than enquire into the circumstances of the riots.</li>
<li>The Assembly does not only perform the function of legislating; <strong>there are many other aspects of governance</strong> which can form part of the essential functions of the Legislative Assembly and consequently the Committee.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li><strong>Legislative Privileges</strong> are the rights belonging to the Legislature for effective discharge of their legislative functions.</li>
<li><strong>Article 105 and Article 194</strong> of the Indian Constitution lay down the powers, privileges and immunities of Members of Parliament (MPs) and State Assemblies respectively.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>In the larger context, <strong>the concept of peace and harmony goes much beyond law and order and police</strong>, more so in view of on-the-ground governance being in the hands of the Delhi Government</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Hybrid Governance:</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>The Centre and Delhi government must work together on governance issues in the Capital. And need to show maturity at their ends.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>The social media company(Facebook) sought to take advantage of <strong>"divergence of view&rdquo;</strong> and the <strong>inability of both the Centre and State government</strong> to &ldquo;see eye to eye on governance issues in Delhi&rdquo;.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>The SC Noted that <strong>Delhi&rsquo;s hybrid administration &ndash; in which the Union government holds the prerogative for several key areas of governance</strong> &ndash;has worked well for many years with different political dispensations in power both at the Centre and State.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Lists to Differentiate Legislative Powers:</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>There are <strong>three Lists</strong> which provide for distribution of legislative powers <strong>(under 7<sup>th</sup> Schedule to the Constitution):</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>Union List (List I)</strong> - It contains <strong>98 subjects (originally 97)</strong> and comprises the <strong>subjects which are of national importance and admit of uniform laws for the whole of the country.</strong> <br />
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>Only the <strong>Union Parliament can legislate with respect to these matters</strong> e.g. Defence, Foreign Affairs, Banking, Currency, Union Taxes, etc.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>State List (List II)</strong> - It contains <strong>59 subjects (originally 66)</strong> and comprises subjects of local or State interest.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>It <strong>lies within the legislative competence of the State Legislatures</strong>, viz. Public Order and Police, Health, Agriculture, etc.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Concurrent List (List III)</strong> - It contains <strong>52 (Originally 47)</strong> with respect to which; <strong>both Union Parliament and the State Legislature have concurrent power of legislation.</strong> The Concurrent List (not found in any federal Constitution) was to <strong>serve as a device to avoid excessive rigidity to a two-fold distribution.</strong> <br />
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>It is a 'twilight zone', as for not so important matters, the <strong>States can take initiative, while for the important matters, the Parliament can do so.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Misinformation on social media has had a <strong>direct impact on vast areas of subject matter which ultimately affect the governance of States.</strong></li>
<li>As the court found that the Peace and Harmony Committee still could summon the Facebook official without encroaching upon the turf of the Centre <strong>now opens the gates for scrutiny of social media platforms by other States</strong>, which however have significantly more powers with respect to law and order than the Delhi government.</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/sc-backs-summons-to-fb-from-delhi-govt-riots-panel/article35222556.ece" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Source: TH</strong></a></p>',
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		'article_id' => (int) 8824,
		'category_id' => (int) 21,
		'title' => 'Council of Ministers',
		'description' => '<h3>Why in News</h3>
<p>Recently, the Prime Minister<strong> expanded and reshuffled his Council of Ministers (COM).</strong> The Prime Minister now has 77 ministers, nearly half of them new.</p>
<h3>Key Points</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>About:</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>Article 74 of the Constitution</strong> deals with the<strong> status of the council of ministers</strong> while <strong>Article 75 deals with the</strong> appointment, tenure, responsibility, qualification, oath and salaries and allowances of the ministers.</li>
<li>The COM consists of three categories of ministers, namely, <strong>cabinet ministers, ministers of state, and deputy ministers. </strong>At the<strong> top of all these ministers stands the Prime Minister.</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li><strong>Cabinet Ministers:</strong> These head the important ministries of the Central government like home, defence, finance, external affairs and so forth.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li><strong>Cabinet</strong> is the <strong>chief policy formulating body</strong> of the Central government.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Ministers of State:</strong> These can either be given independent charge of ministries/ departments or can be attached to cabinet ministers.</li>
<li><strong>Deputy Ministers:</strong> They are attached to the cabinet ministers or ministers of state and assist them in their administrative, political, and parliamentary duties.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>At times, the COM <strong>may also include a deputy prime minister.</strong> The deputy prime ministers are appointed mostly for political reasons.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Constitutional Provisions:</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>Article 74 (COM to aid and advise President):</strong> The advice tendered by Ministers to the President shall not be inquired into in any court.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>The <strong>President may require the COM to reconsider such advice</strong> and the President <strong>shall act in accordance with the advice tendered after such reconsideration.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Article 75 (Other Provisions as to Ministers):</strong> The PM shall be<strong> appointed by the President</strong> and the other Ministers shall be appointed by the President on the<strong> advice of the PM.</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>The <strong>total number of ministers, including the Prime Minister, in the COM shall not exceed 15% of the total strength of the Lok Sabha.</strong> <br />
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>This provision was added by the 91<sup>st</sup> Amendment Act of 2003.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>A <strong>minister who is not a member of the Parliament (either house) for any period of six consecutive months</strong> shall cease to be a minister.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Article 77 (Conduct of Business of the Government of India):</strong> The President shall make rules for the more convenient transaction of the business of the Government of India, and for the allocation among Ministers of the said business.</li>
<li><strong>Article 78 (Duties of Prime Minister):</strong> To communicate to the President all decisions of the COM relating to the administration of the affairs of the Union and proposals for legislation.</li>
<li><strong>Article 88 (Rights of Ministers as Respects the Houses):</strong> Every minister shall have the right to speak and take part in the proceedings of either House, any joint sitting of the Houses and any Committee of Parliament of which he may be named a member. But he shall not be entitled to vote.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Responsibility of Ministers:</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>Collective Responsibility:</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>Article 75 clearly states that the <strong>COM is collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha.</strong> This means that all the ministers own joint responsibility to the Lok Sabha for all their acts of omission and commission.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Individual Responsibility:</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>Article 75 also contains the principle of individual responsibility. It states that the ministers hold office during the pleasure of the President, which means that the President can remove a minister even at a time when the COM enjoys the confidence of the Lok Sabha.</li>
<li>However, the President removes a minister only on the advice of the Prime Minister.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Council of Ministers in States:</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The <strong>Council of Ministers in the states</strong> is constituted and functions in the <strong>same way</strong> as the <strong>Council of Ministers at the Centre (Article 163:</strong> COM to aid and advise Governor) and <strong>Article 164:</strong> Other Provisions as to Ministers).</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/list-of-ministers-and-their-portfolios-in-narendra-modis-cabinet/article35202248.ece" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Source: TH</strong></a></p>',
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		'article_id' => (int) 8750,
		'category_id' => (int) 21,
		'title' => '‘Union’ or ‘Central’ Government',
		'description' => '<h3>Why in News</h3>
<p>Recently, the Tamil Nadu government has decided to shun the usage of the term <strong>&lsquo;Central government&rsquo;</strong> in its official communications and<strong> replace it with &lsquo;Union government&rsquo;.</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>In common parlance, the terms &ldquo;union government&rdquo; and &ldquo;central government&rdquo; are used interchangeably in India. However, the Constituent Assembly did not use the term &lsquo;Centre&rsquo; or &lsquo;Central government&rsquo; in all of its 395 Articles in 22 Parts and eight Schedules in the original Constitution.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Key Points</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Intent of Constituent Assembly:</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>Article 1(1) of the Constitution of India </strong>says<strong> &ldquo;India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States.&rdquo;</strong></li>
<li>On 13<sup>th</sup> December, 1946, Jawaharlal Nehru introduced the aims and objectives of the Constituent Assembly by resolving that <strong>India shall be a Union of territories willing to join the &ldquo;Independent Sovereign Republic&rdquo;.</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>The emphasis was on the <strong>consolidation and confluence</strong> of various provinces and territories to form a strong united country.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>While submitting the draft Constitution in 1948, <strong>Dr B R Ambedkar, chairman of the drafting committee, had said</strong> that the committee had <strong>used the word &lsquo;Union&rsquo; because:</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>(a) the <strong>Indian federation was not the result of an agreement</strong> by the units, and</li>
<li>(b) the component <strong>units had no freedom to secede from the federation.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>The members of the Constituent Assembly were very cautious of <strong>not using the word&nbsp;</strong><strong>&lsquo;Centre&rsquo; or &lsquo;Central government&rsquo; in the Constitution</strong> as they intended to<strong> keep away the tendency of centralising of powers in one unit.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Meaning of Union &amp; Centre:</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>According to constitution expert Subash Kashyap, from the point of the usage of the words, <strong>'centre' indicates a point in the middle of a circle,</strong> whereas<strong> 'Union' is the whole circle.</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>In India, the <strong>relationship between the so-called 'Centre' and States,</strong> as per the Constitution, is actually <strong>a relationship between the whole and its parts.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Both the Union and the States are created by the Constitution, <strong>both derive their respective authority from the Constitution.</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>The one is not subordinate to the other in its own field and the authority of one is to coordinate with that of the other.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>The judiciary is designed in the Constitution to ensure that the Supreme Court, the tallest court in the country, has no superintendence over the High Court.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>Though the Supreme Court has appellate jurisdiction, not only over High Courts but also over other courts and tribunals, they are<strong> not declared to be subordinate</strong> to it.</li>
<li>In fact, the <strong>High Courts have wider powers to issue prerogative writs</strong> despite having the power of superintendence over the district and subordinate courts.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>In very common parlance, Union gives a sense of Federal while centre gives more of a sense of unitary government.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>But practically both are the same in Indian political system.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/1625134661_image1.png" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/1625134661_image1.png" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" caption="false" width="628" height="263" /></a></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Associated Issues With the Term Central Government</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>Discarded By Constituent Assembly:</strong> The word &lsquo;Centre&rsquo; is not used in the Constitution; the makers of the Constitution specifically discarded it and instead used the word &lsquo;Union&rsquo;.</li>
<li><strong>Colonial Legacy:</strong> 'Centre' is a hangover from the colonial period because the bureaucracy in the Secretariat, New Delhi who are used to using the word &lsquo;Central Laws,&rsquo; &lsquo;Central legislature,&rsquo; etc, and so everyone else, including the media, started using the word.</li>
<li><strong>Conflict With Idea of Federalism:</strong> India is a federal government. The power to govern is divided between a government for the whole country, which is responsible for subjects of common national interest, and the states, which look after the detailed day-to-day governing of the state.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>According to Subash Kashyap, using the term<strong> &lsquo;Centre&rsquo; or &lsquo;central government&rsquo; would mean state governments are subservient to it.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The<strong> federal nature of the Constitution is its basic feature</strong> and cannot be altered, thus, the stakeholders wielding power intend to protect the federal feature of our Constitution.</li>
<li>A diverse and large country like India requires a <strong>proper balance between the pillars of federalism,</strong> i.e.<strong> autonomy of states, national integration, centralisation, decentralisation, nationalisation, and regionalisation.</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Extreme political centralisation or chaotic political decentralisation can both lead to the weakening of Indian federalism.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>The satisfactory and lasting solution of the vexed problem is to be found<strong> not in the statute-book but in the conscience of men in power.</strong></li>
</ul>
<p><a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-union-or-central-govt-in-tamil-nadu-political-tussle-over-words-and-their-meaning-7383487/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Source: IE</strong></a></p>',
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		'article_id' => (int) 8692,
		'category_id' => (int) 22,
		'title' => 'Union vs. Centre',
		'description' => '<div class="border">
<p>This article is based on <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/the-union-government-has-a-unifying-effect/article34938894.ece" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>&ldquo;The &lsquo;Union government&rsquo; has a unifying effect&rdquo;</strong></a> which was published in The Hindu on 22/06/2021. It talks about the recent difference between the Union Government and Central Government terminology.</p>
</div>
<p>Recently, the Tamil Nadu government has decided to shun the usage of the term &lsquo;Central government&rsquo; in its official communications and replace it with &lsquo;Union government&rsquo;.</p>
<p>After going through the 395 Articles in 22 Parts and eight Schedules in the original Constitution, it can be stated that the term &lsquo;Centre&rsquo; or &lsquo;Central government&rsquo; is nowhere used.</p>
<p>Even though there is no reference to the &lsquo;Central government&rsquo; in the original Constitution, the General Clauses Act, 1897 gives a definition for it.</p>
<p>Therefore, the real question is whether such definition for &lsquo;Central government&rsquo; is constitutional as the Constitution itself does not approve of centralising power.</p>
<h3>Origin: Union Government &amp; Central Government</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Under the British rule, the administration that the governor general ran was often described as the &ldquo;Central Government&rdquo; .<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>In 1919, for example, when a new Government of India Act passed by Britain&rsquo;s parliament introduced a rudimentary form of self-government and federalism in India, powers were split between &ldquo;central&rdquo; and &ldquo;provincial&rdquo; subjects</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>The modern term &ldquo;Union&rdquo; was first officially used in 1946 by the Cabinet Mission Plan, a British scheme to keep India united after transfer of power.</li>
<li>Many members of the Constituent Assembly were of the opinion that the principles of the British Cabinet Mission Plan (1946) be adopted.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Cabinet mission contemplated a Central government with very limited powers whereas the provinces had substantial autonomy.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>However, the Partition and the violence of 1947 in Kashmir forced the Constituent Assembly to revise its approach and it was resolved in favour of a strong Centre.</li>
<li>Due to this, the possibility of the secession of States from the Union weighed on the minds of the drafters of the Constitution and ensured that the Indian Union was &ldquo;indestructible&rdquo;.</li>
<li>Thus, Article 1 of Indian constitution states that &ldquo;India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States&rdquo;.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Difference Between Union &amp; Centre</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>According to constitution expert Subash Kashyap, from the point of the usage of the words, 'centre' indicates a point in the middle of a circle, whereas 'Union' is the whole circle.</li>
<li>In India, the relationship between the so-called 'Centre' and States, as per the Constitution, is actually a relationship between the whole and its parts.</li>
<li>The sharing of powers between the Union and the States is not restricted to the executive organ of the government, it extends to other organs of government also.</li>
<li>For instance, the judiciary is designed in the Constitution to ensure that the Supreme Court, the tallest court in the country, has no superintendence over the High Court.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Though the Supreme Court has appellate jurisdiction &mdash; not only over High Courts but also over other courts and tribunals &mdash; they are not declared to be subordinate to it.</li>
<li>In fact, the High Courts have wider powers to issue prerogative writs despite having the power of superintendence over the district and subordinate courts.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Parliament and Assemblies identify their boundaries and are circumspect to not cross their boundaries when it comes to the subject matter on which laws are made.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Associated Issues With the Term Central Government</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Discarded By Constituent Assembly:</strong> The word &lsquo;Centre&rsquo; is not used in the Constitution; the makers of the Constitution specifically discarded it and instead used the word &lsquo;Union&rsquo;. <br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>BR Ambedkar clarified that &ldquo;Both the Union and the States are created by the Constitution, both derive their respective authority from the Constitution.</li>
<li>According to him, the one is not subordinate to the other in its own field and the authority of one is to coordinate with that of the other&rdquo;.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Colonial Legacy:</strong> 'Centre' is a hangover from the colonial period because the bureaucracy in the the Secretariat, New Delhi), who are used to using the word &lsquo;Central Laws,&rsquo; &lsquo;Central legislature,&rsquo; etc, and so everyone else, including the media, started using the word.</li>
<li><strong>Conflict With Idea of Federalism:</strong> India is a federal government. The power to govern is divided between a government for the whole country, which is responsible for subjects of common national interest, and the states, which look after the detailed day-to-day governing of the state.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>According to Subash Kashyap, using the term &lsquo;Centre&rsquo; or &lsquo;central government&rsquo; would mean state governments are subservient to it.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Conclusion</h3>
<p>The members of the Constituent Assembly were very cautious of not using the word &lsquo;Centre&rsquo; or &lsquo;Central government&rsquo; in the Constitution as they intended to keep away the tendency of centralising of powers in one unit. The &lsquo;Union government&rsquo; or the &lsquo;Government of India&rsquo; has a unifying effect as the message sought to be given is that the government is of all.</p>
<table border="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 100%; border-style: dotted; border-color: #ff0000; background-color: #faf7ff;">
<p><span style="color: #333399;"><em><strong>Drishti Mains Question</strong></em></span></p>
<p>&ldquo;The term &lsquo;Union government&rsquo; has a unifying effect&rdquo;. In light of this statement, analyze the difference between the terms Union government and central government.</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
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		'article_id' => (int) 8680,
		'category_id' => (int) 21,
		'title' => 'Recusal of Judges',
		'description' => '<h3>Why in News</h3>
<p>Recently, two <a href="/important-institutions/drishti-specials-important-institutions-national-institutions/supreme-court-of-india" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Supreme Court (SC)</strong></a> judges have <strong>recused</strong> themselves from hearing cases relating to West Bengal.</p>
<h3>Key Points</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Recusal:</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>It is the<strong> act of abstaining from participation in an official action</strong> such as a legal proceeding <strong>due to a conflict of interest of the presiding court official or administrative officer.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Reason for Recusal:</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>When there is a <strong>conflict of interest,</strong> a judge can withdraw from hearing a case<strong> to prevent creating a perception that he carried a bias</strong> while deciding the case.</li>
<li>The<strong> conflict of interest can be in many ways</strong> such as:<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>Having a<strong> prior or personal association</strong> with a party involved in the case.</li>
<li><strong>Appeared for one of the parties</strong> involved in a case.</li>
<li>Ex parte <strong>communications with lawyers</strong> or non-lawyers.</li>
<li>An appeal is filed in the SC against a<strong> judgement of a High Court (HC) that may have been delivered by the SC judge</strong> when he was in the HC.</li>
<li>In a <strong>matter of a company in which he holds shares</strong> unless he has disclosed his interest and there is no objection to it.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>The practice stems from the <strong>cardinal principle of due process of law that nobody can be a judge in her own case.</strong> <br />
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>Any<strong> interest or conflict of interest would be a ground to withdraw</strong> from a case since a judge has a duty to act fair.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Decision &amp; Process of Recusal:</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The decision to recuse <strong>generally comes from the judge himself</strong> as it rests on the conscience and discretion of the judge to disclose any potential conflict of interest. <br />
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>Some judges<strong> orally convey to the lawyers involved in the case their reasons for recusal,</strong> many do not. <strong>Some explain the reasons</strong> in their order.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>In some circumstances,<strong> lawyers or parties in the case bring it up before the judge.</strong> Once a <strong>request is made for recusal,</strong> the <strong>decision to recuse or not rests with the judge.</strong> <br />
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>While <strong>there are some instances where judges have recused even if they do not see a conflict</strong> but only because such an apprehension was cast, there have also been several cases where<strong> judges have refused to withdraw from a case.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>If a judge recuses, <strong>the case is listed before the <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/n-v-ramana-48th-chief-justice-of-india" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chief Justice</a> for allotment to a fresh Bench.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Rule for Recusal:</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>There are<strong> no formal rules governing recusals,</strong> although several SC judgments have dealt with the issue.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>In<em><strong> Ranjit Thakur v Union of India (1987),</strong></em> the SC held that the test of the likelihood of bias is the reasonableness of the apprehension in the mind of the party.</li>
<li>The judge <strong>needs to look at the mind of the party before him,</strong> and decide that he is biased or not.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Concerns:</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>Undermining Judicial Independence:</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>It allows litigants to cherry-pick a bench of their choice, which <strong>impairs judicial fairness.</strong></li>
<li>Also, the purpose of recusal in these cases <strong>undermines both independence and impartiality of the judges.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Different Interpretations:</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>As there are <strong>no rules to determine when the judges could recuse themselves</strong> in these cases, there are different interpretations of the same situation.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Delays the Process:</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>Some requests for recusal are made with the<strong> intent to intimidate the court or to get better of an 'inconvenient' judge</strong> or to <strong>obfuscate the issues</strong> or to cause obstruction and <strong>delay the proceedings</strong> or in any other way frustrate or obstruct the course of justice.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Recusals should not be used as <strong>a tool to manoeuvre justice,</strong> as a means to pick benches of a party&rsquo;s choice, and <strong>as an instrument to evade judicial work.</strong></li>
<li>Judicial officers <strong>must resist all manner of pressure, regardless of where it comes</strong> <strong>from</strong> and if they deviate, <strong>the independence of the judiciary would be undermined,</strong> and in turn, the Constitution itself.</li>
<li>Therefore a <strong>rule that determines the procedure for recusal</strong> on part of judges should be made at the earliest.</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/how-judges-recuse-from-cases-and-why-7371106/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Source: IE</strong></a></p>',
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		'article_id' => (int) 8389,
		'category_id' => (int) 22,
		'title' => 'National Tribunals Commission',
		'description' => '<div class="border">
<p>This article is based on <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/restructuring-the-tribunals-system/article34574959.ece" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>&ldquo;Restructuring the tribunals system&rdquo;</strong></a> which was published in The Hindu on 17/05/2021. It talks about the benefits associated with the establishment of the National Tribunals Commission.</p>
</div>
<p>Recently, the <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/the-tribunals-reforms-rationalisation-and-conditions-of-service-ordinance-2021#:~:text=the%20Act%20itself.-,The%20Finance%20Act%202017,and%20Service%20Tax%20Appellate%20Tribunal)." target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Tribunals Reforms (Rationalisation and Conditions of Service) Ordinance 2021</strong></a> has been promulgated by the central government. Through this ordinance the centre has abolished several appellate tribunals and transferred their jurisdiction to other existing judicial bodies.</p>
<p>The Ordinance has met with sharp criticism for not only bypassing the usual legislative process, but also for abolishing several tribunals such as the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal without consultations with stakeholders.</p>
<p>Further,<a href="/current-affairs-news-analysis-editorials/news-editorials/25-07-2020" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong> this is not the time</strong> </a>that the central government has tried to interfere with the functioning of the tribunal. This interference of the executive in the domain of the tribunals can be dubbed as violation of separation of powers.</p>
<p>One way to regulate the matters of tribunals without compromising their independence is the establishment of the National Tribunals Commission (NTC).</p>
<h3>Current State of Tribunals in India</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Lack of Independence:</strong> According to the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy report (Reforming The Tribunals Framework in India) the lack of independence is one of the key issues plaguing tribunals in India. <br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>At the outset, the system of appointment through selection committees severely affects the independence of tribunals.</li>
<li>Additionally, the issues of reappointment and the proclivity to appoint retired judges have the potential to affect the independence of tribunals.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Problem of Non-Uniformity:</strong> Added to this is the problem of non-uniformity across tribunals with respect to service conditions, tenure of members, varying nodal ministries in charge of different tribunals.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>These factors contribute significantly to malfunctioning in the managing and administration of tribunals.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Institutional Issues:</strong> Executive interference in the functioning of tribunals is often seen in provision of finances, infrastructure, personnel and other resources required for day-to-day functioning of the tribunals.</li>
</ul>
<h3>National Tribunals Commission &amp; Its Impact</h3>
<p>The idea of an NTC was first mooted by the Supreme Court in L. Chandra Kumar v. Union of India (1997).</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Objective:</strong> NTC is envisaged to be an independent umbrella body to supervise the functioning of tribunals, appointment of and disciplinary proceedings against members, and to take care of administrative and infrastructural needs of the tribunals.</li>
<li><strong>Uniformity:</strong> NTC will support uniform administration across all tribunals. It could set performance standards for the efficiency of tribunals and their own administrative processes.</li>
<li><strong>Ensuring Separation of Powers:</strong> Giving the NTC the authority to set members&rsquo; salaries, allowances, and other service conditions, subject to regulations, would help maintain tribunals&rsquo; independence.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The NTC could pave the way for the separation of the administrative and judicial functions carried out by various tribunals.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Expansion of Services:</strong> A &lsquo;corporatised&rsquo; structure of NTC with a Board, a CEO and a Secretariat will allow it to scale up its services and provide requisite administrative support to all tribunals across the country.</li>
<li><strong>Autonomous Oversight:</strong> NTC could function as an independent recruitment body to develop and operationalise the procedure for disciplinary proceedings and appointment of tribunal members. <br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>An NTC will effectively be able to bring in uniformity in the appointment system meanwhile ensuring that it is independent and transparent.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Legal Backing:</strong> Developing an independent oversight body for accountable governance requires a legal framework that protects its independence and impartiality.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Therefore, the NTC should be established via a constitutional amendment or be backed by a statute that guarantees it functional, operational and financial independence.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Learning From NJAC Issue:</strong> NTC will need to adhere to the standards set by the judiciary in maintaining its independence. <br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Due to an overwhelming executive role, the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) was seen to be severely compromising the independence of the judiciary.</li>
<li>Thus, the executive as well as the bar, being relevant stakeholders, should form a part of any NTC, but it needs to give primacy to judicial members.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Doing Away With Re-Appointments:</strong> The NTC must also do away with the system of re-appointment of tribunal members due to its impact on the independence of the tribunal.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Conclusion</h3>
<p>It is important to understand that the tribunals were set up to reduce the burden of cases from regular courts. A reform to the tribunals system in India may as well be one of the keys to remedy the age old problem that still cripples the Indian judicial system &ndash; the problem of judicial delay and backlog.</p>
<p>In this context, establishing the NTC will definitely entail a radical restructuring of the present tribunals system.</p>
<table border="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 100%; border-style: dotted; border-color: #ff0000; background-color: #f1fceb;">
<p><span style="color: #000080;"><em><strong>Drishti Mains Question</strong></em></span></p>
<p>Establishing the National Tribunal Commission will definitely entail a radical restructuring of the present tribunals system. Discuss.</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
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		'article_id' => (int) 8359,
		'category_id' => (int) 21,
		'title' => 'MLA-LAD Scheme',
		'description' => '<h3>Why in News</h3>
<p>Recently, <strong>Rajasthan</strong> Government has approved a proposal <strong>to provide Rs. 3 crore each</strong> from the <strong>MLA Local Area Development (LAD) Fund</strong> to mobilise resources for <a href="/loksabha-rajyasabha-discussions/the-big-picture-india-and-the-vaccination-drive" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Covid-19 Vaccination</strong></a> of the people in the age group of 18 to 44 years.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>For meeting the expenses, the<strong> fund for each legislator</strong> has been increased<strong> from Rs. 2.25 crore to Rs. 5 crore a year.</strong></li>
</ul>
<h3>Key Points</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Members of Legislative Assembly Local Area Development (MLA-LAD) Scheme:</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>It is the <strong>States&rsquo; version of a central government scheme - Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLAD).</strong></li>
<li>The <strong>objective</strong> of this scheme is <strong>to create local need based infrastructure,</strong> to create <strong>assets of public utility</strong> and to <strong>remove regional imbalances</strong> in development.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>This scheme is<strong> implemented in rural areas as well as urban areas</strong> of a state.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>MLAs do not receive any money</strong> under this scheme. The government <strong>transfers it directly to the respective local authorities.</strong> <br />
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li><strong>The legislators can only recommend works</strong> in their constituencies based on a set of guidelines.</li>
<li><strong>Amounts per MLA varies</strong> across the states. Delhi has the highest allocation under MLALAD; each MLA can recommend works for up to Rs. 10 crore each year.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>The <strong>guidelines</strong> for use of MLA-LAD funds <strong>differ across states.</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li><strong>For example, Delhi MLAs</strong> can recommend the operation of fogging machines (to contain dengue mosquitoes), installation of CCTV cameras etc.</li>
<li>After the legislators give the list of developmental works, they are executed by the district authorities as per the government's financial, technical and administrative rules.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLAD):</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>It is a<a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/proposal-to-hike-monthly-pensions" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong> Central Sector Scheme.</strong></a></li>
<li>It was <strong>announced in December 1993</strong> and initially came under the control of the Ministry of Rural Development. Later,<strong> in October 1994,</strong> it was transferred to the <strong>Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Each year, MPs receive Rs. 5 crore</strong> in two instalments of <strong>Rs. 2.5 crore each. Funds</strong> under MPLAD Scheme are<strong> non-lapsable.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Objective:</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>To enable MPs to recommend works of developmental nature with emphasis on the creation of durable community assets based on the locally felt needs to be taken up in their Constituencies.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li><strong>Lok Sabha Members</strong> can recommend works within their constituencies and elected Members of<strong> Rajya Sabha</strong> can recommend works within the State they are elected from.</li>
<li><strong>Nominated Members</strong> of both the<strong> Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha</strong> can <strong>recommend</strong> works anywhere <strong>in the country.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>To create <strong>durable assets of national priorities</strong> viz. drinking water, primary education, public health, sanitation and roads, etc.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Since <strong>June 2016,</strong> the <strong>MPLAD funds</strong> can also be <strong>used for</strong> implementation of the schemes such as <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/Swachh%20Bharat%20Mission" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Swachh Bharat Abhiyan</strong></a>, <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/accessible-india-campaign" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Accessible India Campaign (Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan)</strong></a>, conservation of water through rain water harvesting and<a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/saansad-adarsh-gram-yojana-sagy" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong> Sansad Aadarsh Gram Yojana</strong></a>, etc.</li>
<li>The Union Cabinet has given its nod to the<a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/mp-s-salaries-cut-and-mplads-suspended" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong> temporary suspension of MPLAD Funds</strong></a> during 2020-21 and 2021-22 in view of the adverse impact of the outbreak of Covid-19 in India.</li>
<li><strong>Criticism:</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>It is<strong> inconsistent with the spirit of the Constitution</strong> as it co-opts legislators into executive functioning.</li>
<li>The second criticism stems from<strong> allegations of corruption</strong> associated with allocation of works.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/rajasthan-to-use-mla-fund-for-vaccination/article34538012.ece" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Source: TH</strong></a></p>',
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		'article_id' => (int) 7949,
		'category_id' => (int) 21,
		'title' => 'MPLAD Scheme',
		'description' => '<h3>Why in News</h3>
<p>Recently, funds from <strong>Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS)</strong> were disbursed to the village panchayats of Goa.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Due to Covid-19 pandemic <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/mp-s-salaries-cut-and-mplads-suspended" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>MPLAD Funds Scheme is currently suspended</strong></a> and the disbursed funds were allocated earlier.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Key Points</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>About:</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>MPLAD is a <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/proposal-to-hike-monthly-pensions" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Central Sector Scheme</strong></a> which was announced in December 1993.</li>
<li>Initially, it came under the control of the Ministry of Rural Development. Later, in October 1994, it was transferred to the <strong>Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Functioning:</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Each year, MPs receive <strong>Rs. 5 crore in two instalments of Rs. 2.5 crore each.</strong> Funds under MPLADS are <strong>non-lapsable.</strong></li>
<li>Lok Sabha MPs have to <strong>recommend the district authorities</strong> projects in their Lok Sabha constituencies, while <strong>Rajya Sabha MPs</strong> have to spend it in the<strong> state that has elected</strong> them to the House.</li>
<li>Nominated Members of both the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha can <strong>recommend works anywhere in the country.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/1615966158_image2.png" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/1615966158_image2.png" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="700" caption="false" /></strong></a></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Priority Projects:</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The projects include assets building such as drinking water facilities, primary education, public health sanitation and roads.</li>
<li>Since June 2016, the MPLAD funds can also be used for implementation of the schemes such as <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/Swachh%20Bharat%20Mission" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Swachh Bharat Abhiyan</strong></a>, <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/accessible-india-campaign" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Accessible India Campaign (Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan)</strong></a>, conservation of water through rain water harvesting and <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/saansad-adarsh-gram-yojana-sagy" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Sansad Aadarsh Gram Yojana</strong></a>, etc.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Criticism:</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>Implementation Lapses:</strong> The<a href="/important-institutions/drishti-specials-important-institutions-national-institutions/comptroller-and-auditor-general-of-india-cag" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong> Comptroller and Auditor-General of India (CAG)</strong></a> has flagged instances of financial mismanagement and artificial inflation of amounts spent.</li>
<li><strong>No Statutory Backing:</strong> The scheme is not governed by any statutory law and is subject to the whims and fancies of the government of the day.</li>
<li><strong>Monitoring and Regulation:</strong> The scheme was launched for promoting participatory development but there is no indicator available to measure level of participation.</li>
<li><strong>Breach of Federalism:</strong> MPLADS encroaches upon the domain of local self governing institutions and thereby<strong> violates Part IX and IX-A of the Constitution.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Conflict with Doctrine of Separation of Powers:</strong> MPs are getting involved in executive functions.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Debate over Constitutionality:</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution, 2002:</strong> Recommended immediate discontinuation of the MPLAD scheme on the ground that it was inconsistent with the <strong>spirit of federalism and distribution of powers</strong> between the centre and the state.</li>
<li><strong>2<sup>nd</sup> Administrative Reforms Commission&rsquo;s report on &ldquo;Ethics in Governance&rdquo;, 2005:</strong> Opined that it seriously erodes the notion of separation of powers, as the legislator directly becomes the executive.</li>
<li><strong>Supreme Court Judgement, 2010:</strong> A five-judge bench of the Supreme Court ruled that there was <strong>no violation of the concept of separation of powers</strong> because the role of an MP in this case is recommendatory and the<strong> actual work is carried out by the Panchayats and Municipalities</strong> which belong to the executive organ.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1704556" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Source: PIB</strong></a></p>',
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	(int) 9 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {

		'article_id' => (int) 7642,
		'category_id' => (int) 21,
		'title' => 'Economic Impact of Judicial Decisions',
		'description' => '<h3>Why in News</h3>
<p>Recently, the <a href="/important-institutions/drishti-specials-important-institutions-national-institutions/niti-aayog-national-institution-for-transforming-india" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>NITI Aayog</strong></a> has asked research organisation <strong>&lsquo;Consumer Unity and Trust Society (CUTS) International&rsquo;</strong> to conduct a study on the<strong> &ldquo;economic impact&rdquo;</strong> <strong>of various judgments delivered by courts and tribunals</strong> and the <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-editorials/when-judges-legislate" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>&lsquo;judicial activism&rsquo;</strong></a> of such courts and tribunals.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Judicial Activism:</strong> It implies the<strong> assertive role played by the judiciary</strong> to force the other two organs of the government (legislature and executive) to discharge their constitutional duties. It is<strong> also known as &ldquo;judicial dynamism&rdquo;.</strong> It is the<strong> antithesis of &ldquo;judicial restraint&rdquo;,</strong> which means the self-control exercised by the judiciary.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Key Points</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Conducting Organization:</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The study is to be undertaken by the Jaipur-headquartered <strong>CUTS (Consumer Unity and Trust Society)</strong> Centre for Competition, Investment and Economic Regulation, that also has an international presence.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>It is a<strong> registered, recognised, non-profit, non-partisan, non-government organisation (NGO)</strong> pursuing social justice and economic equity both within and across borders.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Objective:</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The objective of the study aims a<strong> &ldquo;narrative building for sensitising the judiciary on the economic impact of their decisions&rdquo;.</strong></li>
<li>It is to do an objective <strong>cost-benefit analysis of the economic impact of the decisions.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Projects to be Studied:</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The Study intends to examine<strong> five major projects that have been &ldquo;impacted&rdquo; by judicial decisions of the <a href="/important-institutions/drishti-specials-important-institutions-national-institutions/supreme-court-of-india" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Supreme Court (SC)</a></strong> or the <a href="/important-institutions/drishti-specials-important-institutions-national-institutions/national-green-tribunal-ngt" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>National Green Tribunal (NGT).</strong></a><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>Projects to be analysed include the construction of an<strong> airport in Mopa, Goa;</strong> cessation of<strong> iron ore mining in Goa,</strong> and the shutting down of the <strong>Sterlite copper plant in Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu.</strong></li>
<li>The others are decisions by the NGT involving <strong><a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/unep-report-on-sand-mining" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sand mining</a>, and construction activities in the National Capital Region.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Process:</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>It plans to do this by <strong>interviewing people who have been affected</strong> by the closure of the projects, environmental campaigners, experts and assessing the business impact of closure.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Significance:</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The findings will be used as a <strong>training input for judges</strong> of commercial courts, NGT, High Courts and SC.</li>
<li>It would contribute to public discourse among policymakers for promoting an <strong>&ldquo;economically responsible approach by judiciary&rdquo;</strong> in its decisions.</li>
<li>The study is also a <strong>part of the larger umbrella project</strong> undertaken by NITI Aayog under which it wants to establish a<strong> judicial performance index,</strong> which would measure the performance of judges at district courts and subordinate levels.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Previous Study:</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>In 2017, the same CUTS International had also conducted an assessment study on the economic impact of the SC&rsquo;s decision to <strong>impose a ban on the presence of liquor shops within 500 m of any highway.</strong></li>
<li>The study showed that <strong>cases which involve substantial social and economic dimensions need to be studied in detail</strong> to assess whether they are implementable in the first place and whether the loss to the economy outweighs the gains envisaged.</li>
<li>This could be done <strong>if Courts set up expert committees</strong> to study these aspects which can also engage economists to analyse the cost/benefits before a judgment is pronounced.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>The Supreme Court had established such expert group committees for cases in the past like the <strong>Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety</strong> under the Chairmanship of Justice K.S. Radhakrishnan in 2014 and <strong><a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/sc-alters-lodhas-bcci-proposals" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Justice Lodha Committee</a> set up in 2015</strong> for reforms within the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), amongst others.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/1612782274_image6.png" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/1612782274_image6.png" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="450" caption="false" /></a></p>
<p><a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/business/niti-aayog-orders-study-on-economic-impact-of-judicial-decisions-7178976/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Source:IE</strong></a></p>',
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	(int) 10 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {

		'article_id' => (int) 7313,
		'category_id' => (int) 22,
		'title' => 'Article 356',
		'description' => '<div class="border">
<p>This article is based on <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article-356-and-an-activist-judiciary/article33419769.ece" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>&ldquo;Article 356 and an activist judiciary&rdquo;</strong></a> which was published in The Hindu on 26/12/2020. It talks about the Article 356 and recent Andhra Pradesh High court&rsquo;s order to sou-moto question of a &ldquo;constitutional breakdown&rdquo; or the failure of constitutional machinery in Andhra Pradesh.</p>
</div>
<p>Recently, the Supreme Court stayed the Andhra Pradesh High Court order that sought to convene a suo moto judicial inquiry into whether there is a &ldquo;constitutional breakdown&rdquo; in the Andhra Pradesh Government.</p>
<p>This was clearly a case of<strong> judicial overreach by the A.P. High Court</strong>. The question of a<strong> &ldquo;constitutional breakdown&rdquo; or the failure of constitutional machinery</strong> is dealt with under <strong>Article 356</strong> of the Constitution, whose invoking comes under the prerogative of the executive and not the judiciary.</p>
<p>Though the Supreme Court has rightfully intervened in a tussle between the judiciary and the elected government in Andhra Pradesh, the A.P High court&rsquo;s order opens up the possibility of use or even misuse of Article 356 by the judiciary.</p>
<p>Hence, there is a need for making essential changes to the constitution, so as to stop the misuse of Article 356 and strengthen Indian Federalism in true spirit.</p>
<h3>Article 356: Background</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>No liberal democratic Constitution in the world has a provision such as an Article 356 that gives the central government the power to dismiss a democratically-elected State government except the Constitution of Pakistan.</li>
<li>Both India and Pakistan borrowed this provision from the <strong>Government of India Act, 1935.</strong></li>
<li>The leaders of the Indian freedom struggle were so very opposed to this provision that they forced the British government to suspend it. Section 93 of the Government of India Act, 1935 was never brought into effect.</li>
<li>However, the provision which we had opposed during our freedom struggle was incorporated in the Constitution for the preservation of democracy, federalism and stability in the post-independent era.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Article 356 And Its Misuse</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Even though B.R. Ambedkar had assured that it would remain a dead letter, Article 356 has been used/misused more than 125 times.</li>
<li>In almost all cases it was used for political considerations rather than any genuine breakdown of constitutional machinery in the States.</li>
<li>Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi used Article 356 as many as 27 times, and in most cases to remove majority governments on the ground of political stability, absence of clear mandate or withdrawal of support, etc.</li>
<li>In retaliation, the Janata government removed nine state Congress governments, when for the first time they formed the government in 1977.</li>
<li>Indira Gandhi on her return to power in 1980, removed nine Opposition majority governments at one go.</li>
<li>Subsequent governments too acted in a similar fashion.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Article 356 And Safeguards</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The 1994 Supreme Court (<a href="/printpdf/governor" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>S.R. Bommai case</strong></a>) majority decision, in essence, overturned a long tradition that the use of Article 356 was not really subject to review by courts, a doctrine articulated in a landmark 1977 case, State of Rajasthan vs Union of India. <br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The Bommai case verdict laid down the conditions under which State governments may be dismissed, and mechanisms for that process.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>In the S.R. Bommai case, a nine-member bench of the Supreme Court construed the scope of Article 356, which also allows the imposition of President&rsquo;s Rule in the States, with stringent conditions.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>These included ascertaining whether objective conditions exist which render it impossible to carry out governance in the State where the proclamation has been made and the process has to be approved by both Houses of Parliament before consideration for judicial review.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Judiciary Restraining Itself:</strong> Judiciary should realise that Judicial activism may be good as a rare exception but an activist judiciary is neither good for the country nor for the judiciary itself.</li>
<li><strong>Fine-tuning Role of Governor:</strong> In order for the smooth functioning of democratic government and strengthening the spirit of federalism, it is important that the governor must act judiciously, impartially and efficiently while exercising his discretion and personal judgment.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>In this context, the recommendations of the <a href="/pdf/governor.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Sarkaria Commission and Punchhi Commission</strong></a> should be followed in true spirit.</li>
<li>For example, the 'procedure for appointment of governors should be clearly laid down' and conditions of appointment must also be laid down and must assure a fixed tenure for the governor.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Need for President&rsquo;s Activism:</strong> President under the Indian constitution is bound by the aid and advice of the Indian Constitution. However, the President can use its suspensive veto in case of malicious application of Article 356.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>For example, former president K.R. Narayanan twice returned the cabinet&rsquo;s recommendation on October 22, 1997, in respect of the Kalyan Singh government in Uttar Pradesh which had just won the controversial confidence vote and stating that imposition of President&rsquo;s Rule would be constitutional impropriety.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Conclusion</h3>
<p>The nullification of the A. P High Court order by the Supreme Court will ensure that such legal adventures impinging upon the separation of powers in the State are curtailed. However, in order to prevent repeated misuse of Article 356 major constitutional amendments and strong political will is required.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/1608986917_image%200.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/1608986917_image 0.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="600" caption="false" /></a></p>
<table border="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 100%; border-style: dotted; border-color: #ff0000; background-color: #f7fff7;">
<p><span style="color: #000080;"><em><strong>Drishti Mains Question</strong></em></span></p>
<p>There is a need for making changes to the constitution, so as to stop the misuse of Article 356. Discuss.</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RbyOGZTqJyo" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<p>This editorial is based on<a href="https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/vocal-for-local-the-hindu-editorial-on-jks-first-district-development-council-polls/article33405406.ece" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong> &ldquo;Vocal for local: On J&amp;K DDC polls&rdquo;</strong></a> which was published in The Hindu on December 24<sup>th</sup>, 2020. Now watch this on our Youtube channel.</p>',
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	(int) 11 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {

		'article_id' => (int) 7251,
		'category_id' => (int) 21,
		'title' => 'SC Stays Andhra HC Order to Examine Constitutional Breakdown',
		'description' => '<h3>Why in News</h3>
<p>Recently, the <a href="/important-institutions/drishti-specials-important-institutions-national-institutions/supreme-court-of-india" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Supreme Court</strong> </a>(SC) has stayed an <strong>Andhra Pradesh High Court</strong> (HC) order intending to embark on a <strong>judicial enquiry into whether there is a constitutional breakdown in the State machinery,</strong> requiring a declaration of <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/president-s-rule-in-maharashtra#:~:text=Under%20Article%20356%2C%20President's%20Rule,the%20provisions%20of%20the%20Constitution." target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>President&rsquo;s rule</strong></a> <strong>(Article 356).</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>A three-judge bench headed by<strong> Chief Justice of India S A Bobde</strong> found the order <strong>disturbing</strong> and will take up the matter later on after vacations.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Key Points</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Andhra Pradesh High Court&rsquo;s Move:</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>While hearing a clutch of <em><a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/habeas-corpus-cases-in-jammu-kashmir" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>habeas corpus</strong></a></em> petitions in <strong>October 2020,</strong> it<em><strong> suo motu</strong> </em><strong>summoned the State counsel</strong> to assist it in deciding &ldquo;whether in circumstances prevailing in the State, the<strong> court can record a finding that there is constitutional breakdown or not&rdquo;.</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li><strong>Habeas Corpus</strong> is a<strong> Latin term</strong> which literally means <strong>&lsquo;to have the body</strong> of&rsquo;. Under this the court issues an order to a person who has detained another person, to produce the body of the latter before it.</li>
<li>This <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/reservation-not-a-fundamental-right-supreme-court" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>writ</strong> </a>is a <strong>bulwark of individual liberty against arbitrary detention</strong> and can be issued <strong>against both public authorities as well as private individuals.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>State Government&rsquo;s Appeal:</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The HC<strong> framed the question in an unprecedented manner</strong> and <strong>without any basis or pleadings</strong> by any of the parties to that effect.</li>
<li>It highlighted that <strong>Article 356,</strong> which deals with<strong> failure of Constitutional machinery in a State,</strong> is a <strong>power exclusively vested in the executive</strong> and <strong>not the judiciary.</strong></li>
<li>Under the Constitutional framework, it is<strong> not for the Courts to decide</strong> as to whether there is a Constitutional breakdown in a State as they<strong> do not have any judicially discoverable and manageable standards to determine</strong> so.</li>
<li>The said fact is<strong> essentially an executive function and is necessarily required to be based on a detailed factual analysis.</strong></li>
<li>The HC order is a<strong> serious encroachment on the powers of the executive</strong> as enumerated under the Constitution and is<strong> violative of the <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-editorials/checks-balances-1#:~:text=of%20the%20government.-,The%20Doctrine%20of%20Separation%20of%20Powers,arbitrary%20excesses%20by%20the%20government." target="_blank" rel="noopener">doctrine of separation of powers</a></strong> and thus, <strong>violative of the <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/basic-structure-of-constitution#:~:text=Origin%3A%20The%20basic%20structure%20theory,fundamental%20features%E2%80%9D%20of%20their%20Constitution." target="_blank" rel="noopener">basic structure of the Constitution.</a></strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>Separation of powers is the <strong>division of the legislative, executive, and judicial functions</strong> of government.</li>
<li>Since the sanction of all three branches is required for the making, executing, and administering of laws, it <strong>minimises the possibility of arbitrary excesses by the government.</strong></li>
<li>The constitutional demarcation <strong>precludes the concentration of excessive power by any branch</strong> of the government.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>President&rsquo;s Rule</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>It implies the <strong>suspension of a state government</strong> and the<strong> imposition of direct rule of the Centre.</strong> It is also known as<strong> &lsquo;State Emergency&rsquo;</strong> or<strong> &lsquo;Constitutional Emergency&rsquo;.</strong></li>
<li>The SC in <em><strong>Bommai case 1994</strong></em> <strong>enlisted the situations</strong> where the exercise of power under Article 356 could be used.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>One such situation is that of <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-editorials/perils-of-electoral-politics" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>&lsquo;Hung Assembly&rsquo;</strong></a>, i.e. where after general elections to the assembly, no party secures a majority.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>The President&rsquo;s rule is imposed through the invocation of <strong>Article 356</strong> of the Constitution <strong>by the President on the advice of the Union Council of Ministers</strong> (executive).<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>If the President, upon <strong>receipt of the report from the Governor of the State</strong> or otherwise, is satisfied that a situation has arisen in which the government of the State cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Parliamentary Approval and Duration:</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>A proclamation imposing President&rsquo;s Rule<strong> must be approved by both the Houses of Parliament within two months</strong> from the date of its issue.</li>
<li>The approval<strong> takes place through simple majority</strong> in either House, that is, a majority of the members of the House present and voting.</li>
<li><strong>Initially valid for six months</strong>, the President&rsquo;s Rule can be <strong>extended for a maximum period of three years</strong> with the approval of the Parliament, every six months.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<p><a href="https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/sc-stays-andhra-hc-order-to-study-constitutional-breakdown-in-state/article33364452.ece#:~:text=The%20Supreme%20Court%20on%20Friday,a%20declaration%20of%20President's%20rule.&amp;text=As%20the%20apex%20court%2C%20we%20find%20this%20disturbing." target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Source: TH</strong></a></p>',
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	(int) 12 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {

		'article_id' => (int) 7232,
		'category_id' => (int) 21,
		'title' => 'No Replies to SC or HCs: Maharashtra',
		'description' => '<h3>Why in News</h3>
<p>Recently, <strong>both Houses of the Maharashtra State Legislature</strong> have passed proposals stating that they <strong>will not take cognizance of or reply to any notice sent by the High Court</strong> (HC) or the <strong>Supreme Court</strong> (SC)<strong> in the <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/privilege-motion-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Breach of Privilege Motion</a></strong> against a TV editor and anchor.</p>
<h3>Key Points</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Background:</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>A Breach of Privilege Motion was moved in the State Assembly against the TV anchor, accused of using <strong>&ldquo;derogatory language&rdquo;</strong> and <strong>&ldquo;making baseless remarks&rdquo;</strong> against the Chief Minister of the State and <strong>&ldquo;frequently insulting&rdquo;</strong> Ministers and MPs during TV debates.</li>
<li>The anchor <strong>filed a petition challenging the Breach of Privilege Motion</strong> in the SC.</li>
<li>The <strong>assistant secretary of the Assembly questioned this move</strong> as well as <strong>producing &ldquo;confidential&rdquo; communications</strong> from the Speaker and the House Privileges Committee.</li>
<li>The <strong>SC then issued a contempt notice</strong> to the assistant secretary of the Assembly and also held that it might be &ldquo;necessary in all probability to serve the Speaker&rdquo; to know his version in matter.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Current Scenario and State Assembly&rsquo;s Stand:</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The House Speaker<strong> initiated the motion of the Treasury benches</strong> and cited <strong>Article 194 of the Constitution,</strong> which lays down the powers and privileges of the Houses of Legislatures, and <strong>Article 212,</strong> which pertains to courts not inquiring into proceedings of the legislature.</li>
<li>The proposals held that <strong>replying to such notices could mean accepting that the judiciary can keep a check on the legislature</strong> and would be inconsistent with the <strong>Basic Structure of the Constitution.</strong></li>
<li>The proposals were <strong>passed unanimously,</strong> which stated that the Speaker and Deputy Speaker would not respond to any notice or summons issued by the SC.</li>
<li>The <strong>Legislative Council also passed the proposal unanimously</strong> and stated that <strong>no cognizance will be taken of any notice or summons issued by the HC or SC.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Reactions:</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Politicians have noted that the<strong> notice was in exception to the language used in the letter and has not encroached in any way on the rights of the legislature</strong> to legislate. If the legislature passes such a motion, it will set a wrong precedent.</li>
<li>Parliamentary Affairs Minister has held that the <strong>proposal was limited to upholding the esteem of the Speaker&rsquo;s chair</strong> and<strong> ensuring that the presiding authority is safeguarded from judicial scrutiny</strong> in matters of legislation.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Privilege Motion</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>It is concerned with the <strong>breach of parliamentary privileges</strong> by a minister.</li>
<li><strong>Breach of Privileges:</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Parliamentary Privileges are certain <strong>rights and immunities enjoyed by members of Parliament, individually and collectively,</strong> so that they can &ldquo;effectively discharge their functions&rdquo;.</li>
<li>When any of these rights and immunities are <strong>disregarded,</strong> the <strong>offence is called a breach of privilege</strong> and is <strong>punishable</strong> under law of Parliament.</li>
<li>A <strong>notice is moved in the form of a motion by any member</strong> of either House against those being held guilty of breach of privilege.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Role of the Speaker/Chair:</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The Speaker/Chair is the first level of scrutiny of a privilege motion.</li>
<li>The Speaker/Chair can decide on the privilege motion himself or herself or refer it to the privileges committee of Parliament. If the Speaker/Chair gives consent under relevant rules, the member concerned is given an opportunity to make a short statement.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Rules Governing Privilege:</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>Rule 222 in Chapter 20 </strong>of the<strong> Lok Sabha Rule Book</strong> and correspondingly<strong> Rule 187 in Chapter 16</strong> of the <strong>Rajya Sabha Rule Book</strong> governs privilege.</li>
<li>Rules say that a member may, with the consent of the Speaker or the Chairperson, raise a question involving a breach of privilege either of a member or of the House or a committee thereof.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<p><a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/india/privilege-motion-maharashtra-house-wont-take-note-of-court-in-arnab-case-7106543/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Source: IE</strong></a></p>',
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	(int) 13 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {

		'article_id' => (int) 7094,
		'category_id' => (int) 22,
		'title' => 'Checks & Balances',
		'description' => '<div class="border">
<p>This article is based on<a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/the-red-lines-narendra-modi-7069676/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong> &ldquo;The Red Lines&rdquo;</strong></a> which was published in The Indian Express on 27/11/2020. It talks about the issues and solutions related to the principle of checks and balances in Indian Polity.</p>
</div>
<p>Recently, the <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/pm-on-one-nation-one-election" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>All India Presiding Officers Conference</strong></a> was conducted at Kevadia in Gujarat. The conference discussed many issues largely on the theme of harmonious coordination between the legislature, executive, and judiciary.</p>
<p>At the conference, the Prime Minister of India highlighted the ethos of separation of powers and checks &amp; balances that are built into the Indian constitutional design.</p>
<p>However, recently <a href="/to-the-points/Paper2/parliamentary-reforms-in-india" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>there are many instances</strong></a> which undermine the <a href="/mains-practice-question/question-673" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>doctrine of separation of powers and weakens the system of checks &amp; balances.</strong></a> This loss of integrity may erode people&rsquo;s trust in the functioning of the government.</p>
<h3>The Doctrine of Separation of Powers</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Separation of powers is the division of the legislative, executive, and judicial functions of government.</li>
<li>Since the sanction of all three branches is required for the making, executing, and administering of laws, it minimises the possibility of arbitrary excesses by the government.</li>
<li>The constitutional demarcation precludes the concentration of excessive power by any branch of the government.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Instruments of Checks &amp; Balances</h3>
<p><strong>Legislature Control</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>On Judiciary:</strong> Impeachment and the removal of the judges. Power to amend laws declared ultra vires by the Court and revalidating it.</li>
<li><strong>On Executive:</strong> Through a no-confidence vote it can dissolve the Government. Power to assess works of the executive through the question hour and zero hour. Impeachment of the President.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Executive Control</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>On Judiciary:</strong> Making appointments to the office of Chief Justice and other judges.</li>
<li><strong>On Legislature:</strong> Powers under delegated legislation. Authority to make rules for regulating their respective procedure and conduct of business subject to the provisions of this Constitution.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Judicial Control</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>On Executive: <a href="/current-affairs-news-analysis-editorials/news-editorials/13-04-2019" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Judicial review</a></strong> i.e. the power to review executive action to determine if it violates the Constitution.</li>
<li><strong>On Legislature:</strong> Unamendability of the constitution under the <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/basic-structure-of-constitution#:~:text=The%20Constitutional%20Bench%20in%20Kesavananda,essential%20features%20of%20the%20Constitution." target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>basic structure doctrine</strong> </a>pronounced by the Supreme Court in Kesavananda Bharati Case 1973.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Weakening System of Checks &amp; Balances</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Weakened Opposition in India:</strong> Democracy works on the principle of checks and balances. It is these checks and balances that prevent democracy from turning into majoritarianism.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>In a Parliamentary system, these checks and balances are provided by the opposition party.</li>
<li>However, the majority of a single party in the Lok Sabha has diminished the role of an effective opposition in the Parliament.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Weakened Legislature Scrutiny:</strong> According to data by PRS Legislative Research, while 60% of the Bills in the 14<sup>th</sup> Lok Sabha and 71% in the 15<sup>th</sup> Lok Sabha were referred to Department-related Standing Committees (DRSCs) concerned, this proportion came down to 27% in the 16<sup>th</sup> Lok Sabha.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Apart from the DRSCs, there are negligible bills referred to Select Committees of the Houses or Joint Parliamentary Committees.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Judiciary Being Averse to Checks &amp; Balances:</strong> The Supreme Court has held the 99th constitutional amendment, which provided for the establishment of the <a href="/mains-practice-question/question-94" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>National Judicial Appointments Commission</strong> </a>as ultra-vires.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) could guarantee the independence of the system from inappropriate politicization, strengthen the quality of appointments, enhance the fairness of the selection process, promote diversity in the composition of the judiciary, and rebuild public confidence in the system.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Judicial Activism:</strong> In many recent judgments, the Supreme Court has become hyper-activist in making judgements that are deemed as laws and rules. This transgresses the domain of legislature and executive.</li>
<li><strong>Executive Excesses:</strong> Executive in India is alleged of over-centralisation of power, weakening of public institutions like CIC &amp; RTI and passing laws to strengthen law, order &amp; security of the state but curbs freedom of expression as well like UAPA.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Introducing Legislative Impact Assessment (LIA):</strong> A detailed framework for pre and post-legislative Impact Assessment was needed whereby every legislative proposal is evaluated on account of social, economic, environmental and administrative impact for wider awareness.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>A new Legislation Committee of Parliament to oversee and coordinate legislative planning should be constituted.</li>
<li>This can check any overreach by the executive that may curb the civil liberties.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Strengthen the Role of the Opposition:</strong> In order to strengthen the role of the opposition, the institution of shadow cabinet can be formed in India.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Shadow Cabinet</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>&lsquo;Shadow Cabinet&rsquo; is a unique institution of the British cabinet system.</li>
<li>It is formed by the opposition party to balance the ruling cabinet and to prepare its members for future ministerial office.</li>
<li>In such a system each action of Cabinet Minister must be countersigned by the minister in the shadow cabinet.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Judiciary Should Lead By Example:</strong> Supreme Court is the custodian of the constitution that checks any overreach by legislature and executive. Therefore, the judiciary should lead to the adherence of maintaining constitutional morality by proactively making the collegium system transparent.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Until a better mechanism is evolved, the Supreme court can take steps to make collegium more transparent and accountable to make it&rsquo;s functioning democratic.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Conclusion</h3>
<p>Repeated interventions of one organ into another's functioning can diminish the faith of the people in the integrity, quality, and efficiency of the other organs. It also undermines the spirit of democracy as too much accumulation of powers in organs of government undermines the principle of check and balance.</p>
<table border="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 100%; border-style: dotted; border-color: #ff0000; background-color: #fffdf2;">
<p><span style="color: #333399;"><em><strong>Drishti Mains Question</strong></em></span></p>
<p>Repeated interventions of one organ into another's functioning can diminish the faith of the people in a democracy. Discuss.</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NDiHWatgxRU" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<p>This editorial is based on <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/blogs/et-editorials/vexatious-dragon-resolute-india-strong-india-to-keep-chinas-rise-peaceful/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>&ldquo;Vexatious Dragon, Resolute India: Strong India, to keep China&rsquo;s rise peaceful&rdquo;</strong></a> which was published in The Economic Times on November 26th, 2020. Now watch this on our Youtube channel.</p>',
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	(int) 14 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {

		'article_id' => (int) 4992,
		'category_id' => (int) 22,
		'title' => 'MPLAD Scheme',
		'description' => '<div class="border">
<p>This article is based on <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/for-better-use-the-hindu-editorial-on-mplads-funds/article31293067.ece" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>&ldquo;For better use: On MPLADS funds&rdquo;</strong></a> which was published in The Hindu on 09/04/2020. It talks about issues pertaining to the Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme.</p>
</div>
<p>Recently, the Government of India in the event of struggle against <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-editorials/covid-19-and-india-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Covid-19</strong></a> has suspended <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/norms-relaxed-under-mplad-scheme" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme</strong></a> or MPLADS funds for <strong>two years (2020 and 2021)</strong> and directed these funds to be transferred to the <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/mp-s-salaries-cut-and-mplads-suspended" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Consolidated Fund of India.</strong></a></p>
<p>The Government is seeking to garner around Rs 7,900 crores by suspending the MPLADS for two years.</p>
<p>The government is of view that the transfer of these sums to the Consolidated Fund of India would help judicious deployment of fund, but political opposition has criticized this move, as in their opinion the decision may <strong>undermine the decentralized manner of funding local area development.</strong></p>
<p>Apart from this political tussle, the decision has revived the debate regarding the relevance of MPLAD scheme.</p>
<h3>What is the MPLAD Scheme?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The MPLAD scheme was formulated in <strong>1993</strong> to enable Members of Parliament (MPs) to <strong>recommend development works</strong> in their constituencies with emphasis on the creation of durable community assets based on the locally felt need.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Durable assets of national priorities and community needs viz. drinking water, primary education, public health, sanitation and roads, etc.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Initially, the Scheme was under the control of the Ministry of Rural Development and Planning. In October, 1994, the scheme was transferred to the<strong> Ministry of Statistics &amp; Programme Implementation.</strong></li>
<li>Under this scheme,every MP is <strong>entitled to spend Rs 5 crore annually.</strong></li>
<li>Similar to MPLADS, several states have enacted schemes called Member of Legislative Assembly Local Area Development Scheme (MLALADS) where funds are given to MLAs.</li>
<li>According to the <strong>&lsquo;Guidelines on Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS)&rsquo;</strong> published by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation in June 2016, the <strong>MPLAD funds can also be used for</strong> implementation of the schemes such as <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/Swachh%20Bharat%20Mission" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Swachh Bharat Abhiyan</strong></a>, <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/accessible-india-campaign" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Accessible India Campaign</strong> </a>(Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan), conservation of water through rain water harvesting and<a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/saansad-adarsh-gram-yojana-sagy" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong> Sansad Aadarsh Gram Yojana</strong></a>, etc.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Issues Related to MPLAD Scheme</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Breach of Federalism</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Union Government can incur expenditure only with respect to matters over which it has subject domain as per <strong>seventh schedule.</strong></li>
<li>MPLADS encroaches upon the domain of local self governing institutions and thereby <strong>violates Part IX and IX-A of the Constitution.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Conflict with Doctrine of Separation of Powers</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The Scheme disturbs the scheme of separation of powers under the Constitution,<strong> as MPs are getting involved in executive functions.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Implementation Lapses</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>MPLAD scheme gives scope for MPs to utilise the funds as a source of patronage that they can dispense at will.</li>
<li>The <a href="/important-institutions/drishti-specials-important-institutions-national-institutions/comptroller-and-auditor-general-of-india-cag" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>CAG</strong></a> has flagged <strong>instances of financial mismanagement</strong> and artificial inflation of amounts spent.</li>
<li>Also, the scheme is alleged to be marred by the <strong>nexus of MP and private firms.</strong></li>
<li>Due to this sometimes spending of MPLADS funds is seen for private works, recommending funds to ineligible agencies, diverting funds to private trusts, etc.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>No Statutory Backing</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>The MPLAD Scheme is<strong> not governed by any statutory law and</strong> is subject to the whims and fancies of the government of the day.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Some Commission Recommendations</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>In 2002, the <strong>National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution</strong> recommended immediate discontinuation of the MPLAD scheme on the ground that it was inconsistent with the spirit of federalism and distribution of powers between the centre and the state.</li>
<li>Similar thing has also been taken by the <strong>2<sup>nd</sup> Administrative Reforms Commission&rsquo;s report 2007.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Constitutionality of the Scheme</h3>
<p>Based on above arguments the MPLADS was challenged in the Supreme Court (SC) in 2010. A five-judge bench of the SC held that:</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Indian Constitution does not recognise strict separation of powers.</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Even though MPs have been given a seemingly executive function, their role is limited to <strong>&lsquo;recommending&rsquo; works and actual implementation is done by the local authorities.</strong></li>
<li>Therefore, the scheme does not violate separation of powers</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>India has a quasi-federal nature of the Constitution.</strong><br />
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>Article 282</strong> held that both the Union and the State have the power to make grants for a purpose irrespective of whether the subject matter of the purpose falls in the Seventh Schedule provided that the purpose is "public purpose" within the meaning of the Constitution.</li>
<li>Also, the Scheme falls within the meaning of<strong> "public purpose"</strong> aiming for the fulfillment of the development and welfare of the State as reflected in the Directive Principles of State Policy.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Also there are robust accountability mechanisms for the scheme as it comes under the <a href="/to-the-points/paper4/right-to-information-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>RTI Act.</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<p>While the question of constitutionality of the MPLAD scheme may have been put to rest by the Supreme Court ruling, other issues related to implementation of the scheme still remain. These can be rectified by:</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Better transparency and monitoring</strong> of funds spent and sanctioned works.</li>
<li>The scheme can be made more <strong>inclusive by including citizens</strong> for which project to be executed from MPLAD funds.</li>
<li>Also, lapsable funds can put pressure on MPs for optimum utilisation and prevent build up of unutilised funds</li>
</ul>
<p>Given the decentralized nature of the MPLAD scheme, with adequate monitoring and sufficient political will, it can work as an indispensable tool of development at the grassroot.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/1586606883_image1.png" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/1586606883_image1.png" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="650" caption="false" /></a></p>
<table border="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 100%; border-style: dotted; border-color: #ff0000; background-color: #deebff;">
<p><span style="color: #000080;"><em><strong>Drishti Mains Question</strong></em></span></p>
<p>Discuss the relevance of Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme in present times.</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>',
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	(int) 15 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {

		'article_id' => (int) 4742,
		'category_id' => (int) 22,
		'title' => 'Cooling-off Period For Judiciary',
		'description' => '<div class="border">
<p>This article is based on <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/former-chief-justice-india-ranjan-gogoi-rajya-sabha-nomination-bjp-6319321/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>&ldquo;The Hidayatullah example&rdquo;</strong></a>, <a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/editorials/gogoi-s-nomination-sets-a-wrong-precedent-ht-editorial/story-YCEuP7dwdu0QO0DSCQnJRP.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>&ldquo;Gogoi&rsquo;s nomination sets a wrong precedent&rdquo;</strong></a>, <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/ranjan-gogoi-rajya-sabha-supreme-court-6319270/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>&ldquo;Mr R Gogoi, MP&rdquo;</strong></a>. <strong>It talks about implications</strong> of the nomination of former Chief Justice (CJI) of the Supreme Court (SC), Ranjan Gogoi to the Rajya Sabha.</p>
</div>
<p>Recently, President Ram Nath Kovind has <strong>nominated former Chief Justice of India (CJI), Ranjan Gogoi to the Rajya Sabha.</strong> Former CJI has presided over politically sensitive cases <strong>(Assam NRC, Sabarimala, Ayodhya, Rafale, CBI)</strong> in which the government was a party.</p>
<p>The nomination to the Rajya Sabha, just four months after his retirement, raises the question that, should judges stop accepting post-retirement jobs offered by the government, at least for a few years after retiring, because accepting such posts could <strong>undermine the independence of the judiciary.</strong></p>
<h3>Independence of Judiciary</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The edifice of constitutional governance rests on<strong> the separation of powers.</strong></li>
<li>The legislature is popularly elected where the sovereignty of the people resides; the executive is accountable to the legislature; and the judiciary is the upholder of the Constitution and, along with its other duties, provides a check against executive excesses, arbitrariness, and unlawful steps.</li>
<li>Being Guardian of Constitution, the judiciary has to be independent &mdash; insulated from pressures and inducements.</li>
<li>This independence of the judiciary is ensured by many constitutional provisions. For example:
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Judges do not hold their offices at the <strong>&ldquo;pleasure&rdquo; of the President</strong>. In other words, they cannot be arbitrarily removed by the government once they are appointed, and can only be impeached by a special majority of both houses (Article 124(4)) of Parliament only <strong>&ldquo;on the ground of proved misbehaviour or incapacity&rdquo;.</strong></li>
<li>This impeachment process is a very difficult one and never in the history of independent India has a judge been impeached, though attempts have sometimes been made to do so. Judges, therefore, enjoy security of tenure while holding office, which is essential for maintaining judicial independence.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Should Judges be barred from Post-retirement appointments?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>In the Constituent Assembly,<strong> K T Shah,</strong> suggested that High Court and Supreme Court judges should not take up an executive office with the government, &ldquo;so that no temptation should be available to a judge for greater emoluments, or greater prestige which would in any way affect his independence as a judge&rdquo;.</li>
<li>However, this suggestion was rejected by <strong>B R Ambedkar.</strong> According to him &ldquo;judiciary decides cases in which the government has, if at all, the remotest interest, in fact no interest at all&rdquo;.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Immediately after independence, the judiciary was engaged in deciding private disputes and rarely did cases arise between citizens and the government.</li>
<li>Consequently, B R Ambedkar held that, &ldquo;the chances of influencing the conduct of a member of the judiciary by the government are very remote&rdquo;.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>However, this reasoning no longer holds today because the government is one of the largest litigants in the courts</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Instances of Post-Retirement Appointment of Judges</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Retired judges have been appointed to political office since independence.</li>
<li>In 1952, Justice Fazl Ali was appointed the Governor of Orissa, shortly after retiring from the Supreme Court.</li>
<li>In 1958, Chief Justice M C Chagla resigned from the Bombay High Court in order to become India&rsquo;s Ambassador to the US at Prime Minister Nehru&rsquo;s invitation.</li>
<li>In April 1967, Chief Justice Subba Rao resigned from the Supreme Court to contest elections for President.</li>
<li>In more recent times, Chief Justice P Sathasivam was appointed the Governor of Kerala.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Associated Issues</h3>
<p><strong>Undermining Independence of Judiciary</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Article 124(7) of the Indian Constitution</strong> provides that a retired Supreme Court judge cannot &ldquo;plead or act in any court or before any authority within the territory of India&rdquo;. However, this provision only restricts post-retirement appointments in Judiciary itself, but not in posts of president, governor, member of parliament, etc.</li>
<li>Thus, the post-retirement appointment of judges may threaten or undermine judicial independence. This is because some judges &mdash; not all &mdash; are offered post-retirement employment by the government.</li>
<li>It is often feared that a judge who is nearing retirement could decide cases in a manner that pleases the government in order to get a favourable post-retirement position.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Loss of Constitutional Proprietary</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>If a judge decides highly controversial and contested cases in favour of the government and then accepts a post-retirement job, even if there is no actual quid pro quo, would this not lead to the public perception that the independence of the judiciary is compromised.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Denial of Law Commission Recommendation</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>In its 14<sup>th</sup> report in 1958, the Law Commission</strong> noted that retired Supreme Court judges used to engage in two kinds of work after retirement:</li>
<li>Firstly,<strong> &ldquo;chamber practice&rdquo;</strong> (a term which would, today, mean giving opinions to clients and serving as arbitrators in private disputes) and secondly, <strong>&ldquo;employment in important positions under the government&rdquo;.</strong></li>
<li>The Law Commission frowned upon chamber practice, but did not recommend its abolition.</li>
<li>However, it strongly <strong>recommended banning post-retirement government employment</strong> for Supreme Court judges because the government was a large litigant in the courts.</li>
<li>The Commission&rsquo;s recommendations were never implemented.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Opinion of Several Former Chief Justices of the Supreme Court</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>In the 1980s, it is believed that post-retirement employment with the government was undermining the independence of the judiciary.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>Chief Justice Y V Chandrachud</strong> felt that some judges were looking for post-retirement positions and writing judgments with that in mind.</li>
<li><strong>Chief Justice R S Pathak</strong> believed that judges with short tenures at the Supreme Court tended to be more pro-government in their approach since they were looking for a suitable position after retirement.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Several appointments to administrative bodies require a cooling-off period for individuals so as to eliminate the possibility or suspicion of a conflict of interest or quid pro quo. This <strong>cooling-off period</strong> must be extended to Indian Judiciary.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Former CJI R M Lodha recommended a cooling-off period of at least 2 years.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>In this context, the example of <strong>former CJI-Mohammad Hidayatullah</strong> is worth emulating.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Cooling-off period</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Officials who retire from sensitive positions are barred from accepting any other appointment for a period of time, normally two years.</li>
<li>These cooling-off periods in posts are premised on the snapping off of the nexus between previous incumbency and new appointment by the interposition of a sufficient time gap.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Mohammad Hidayatullah</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>In 1970, Mohammad Hidayatullah was hearing the highly political privy purses case, in which he would deliver his last judgment as CJI.</li>
<li>In that case, the Supreme Court held that the <a href="https://indianexpress.com/about/indira-gandhi/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Indira Gandhi</strong> </a>government&rsquo;s decision to abolish the &ldquo;privy purses&rdquo; paid to former Indian princes (who had agreed to join the Indian Union after the British left India) was illegal.</li>
<li>While the hearings were going on, it was reported that Hidayatullah was being considered by the government for the World Court or for the position of Lokpal after he retired.</li>
<li>However, Justice Hidayatullah made it very clear that even if he were offered any of these positions, he would not accept them.</li>
<li>Also, Justice Hidayatullah was appointed vice-president nine years after his tenure as CJI ended.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<table border="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 100%; border-style: dotted; border-color: #ff0000; background-color: #edead1;">
<p><span style="color: #000080;"><em><strong>Drishti Mains Question</strong></em></span></p>
<p>Post-retirement appointments in Judiciary undermines the doctrine of Separation of powers. Discuss.</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
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	(int) 16 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {

		'article_id' => (int) 4252,
		'category_id' => (int) 15,
		'title' => 'The Big Picture - Police Commissioner System',
		'description' => '<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QdKM3sizKEM" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<p>Recently, the Uttar Pradesh government has approved the implementation of the Police Commissionerate system in the two cities, Lucknow and Noida. Since the past 50 years, there was a demand to enforce the police commissionerate system. In 1978, an initiative to introduce the commissionerate system in Kanpur (UP) never materialised. The <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/lucknow-and-noida-to-get-police-commissioner-system" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>commissionerate system</strong></a> will give police a free hand to act swiftly and take decisions regarding maintaining law and order in the complex urban milieu. Now, powers of a District Magistrate (DM) under 15 Acts lie with the police.</p>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Drishti Input</strong></p>
<p><strong>Historical Background</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Policing is based on the <strong>Police Act of 1861.</strong></li>
<li>Under the colonial system, the <strong>dual system</strong> of police administration was introduced.</li>
<li>The overall in-charge of a district or region was the District Collector and the Superintendent of Police (SP) reported to him.</li>
<li>The<strong> primary objective</strong> of the British was <strong>revenue collection</strong> in rural India. They needed a force that could support this objective and unleash tyranny and oppression when needed to suit the objective. The worst of officers from the British police were sent to India. So there was a need to put them under the District Collector. That system continued post-Independence.</li>
<li>The British also brought the <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/lucknow-and-noida-to-get-police-commissioner-system" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Police Commissionerate System</strong></a> first in <strong>Kolkata</strong> and followed it in <strong>Mumbai</strong> and <strong>Chennai presidencies.</strong> The system was introduced even <strong>before</strong> the Police Act of 1861.</li>
<li>The commissionerate system is considered a step towards <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/dgp-appointment" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>police reforms.</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Directions of the Supreme Court in Prakash Singh vs Union of India</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>In 1996, a petition was filed before the Supreme Court that raised various instances of abuse of power by the police and alleged that police personnel perform their duties in a <strong>politically partisan manner.</strong></li>
<li>The Supreme Court issued its judgement in <strong>2006,</strong> ordering the centre and states to <strong>set up authorities</strong> to lay down guidelines for police functioning, evaluate police performance, decide postings and transfers, and receive complaints of police misconduct.</li>
<li>The court also required that <strong>minimum tenure</strong> of service be guaranteed to key police officers to protect them from arbitrary transfers and postings.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Police Commissionerate System</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Delhi turned into a commissionerate during 1977-1979.</li>
<li><strong>National Police Commission&rsquo;s 6<sup>th</sup> report</strong> released in 1983 recommended the commissionerate system in cities with a population of<strong> 5 lakh and above</strong> as well as in places having special conditions.</li>
<li>In 2005, <strong>Draft Model Police Act,</strong> framed by a committee, set up by the Home Ministry also made a similar recommendation saying <strong>metro cities and major urban areas</strong> with a population of <strong>10 lakh or more</strong> should have commissionerate system</li>
<li>As of January 2018, the system has been implemented in 61 cities across 15 states in the country. (BPRD data, 2018)
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>However, after UP, <strong>63 cities</strong> now have this system.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Expert Bodies that have Examined Police Reforms</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/1579862901_image2.png" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/1579862901_image2.png" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" caption="false" width="624" height="88" /></strong></a></p>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Constitutional/Legal Provisions<img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/1579862937_image1.png" style="float: right;" /></strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Under the <strong>7<sup>th</sup> Schedule</strong> of the Constitution, Police is under the <strong>State list.</strong></li>
<li>Political executive (i.e., ministers) has the power of superintendence and control over the police forces to ensure their accountability.</li>
<li>The <strong>centre</strong> is also allowed to maintain its own police forces to assist the states with ensuring law and order. Therefore, it maintains seven central police forces and some other police organisations for specialised tasks such as intelligence gathering, investigation, research and record-keeping, and training.</li>
<li>The centre is responsible for policing in the Union Territories. It also extends intelligence and financial support to the state police forces.</li>
<li>State police forces generally have <strong>two</strong> arms: <strong>civil</strong> and <strong>armed police.</strong></li>
<li>The <strong>civil police</strong> are responsible for day-to-day law and order and crime control.</li>
<li><strong>Armed police</strong> are kept in <strong>reserve</strong> until additional support is required in situations like riots.</li>
<li>Civil police forces<strong> broadly</strong> adhere to the hierarchical structure shown in the figure:</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Dual System</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The state government exercises control and superintendence over the state police forces.</li>
<li>At the district level, the District Magistrate also give directions to the Superintendent of Police and supervise police administration.</li>
<li>The powers such as issuing orders for preventive arrests or imposition of <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/section-144-of-crpc" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Section 144 CrPC</strong></a> are vested in the DM.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Commissionerate System</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>In some metropolitan cities and urban areas, however, the dual system has been replaced by the commissionerate system to allow for<strong> quicker decision-making in response to complex law and order situations, rising population</strong> and <strong>rapid urbanisation.</strong></li>
<li>The police have a greater say in resolving land disputes. However, removal of encroachments and other land-related problems would need the presence of a magistrate to aid the police.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Differences Between the Dual System of Control and the Commissionerate System</h3>
<table border="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 19px;">
<td style="width: 50%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center; height: 19px; background-color: #6145ff;"><span style="color: #ffffff;"><strong>Dual system</strong></span></td>
<td style="width: 50%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center; height: 19px; background-color: #6145ff;"><span style="color: #ffffff;"><strong>Commissionerate system</strong></span></td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 67px;">
<td style="width: 50%; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; height: 67px; background-color: #e1e8fa;">Dual command structure over the district police means that control and direction over the police vests with the SP (head of district police) and the District Magistrate (executive).</td>
<td style="width: 50%; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; height: 67px; background-color: #e1e8fa;">Unified command structure with the Commissioner of Police (rank of the Deputy Inspector General or above) as the sole head of the force within the city. Allows for quicker responses to law and order situations.</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 51px;">
<td style="width: 50%; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; height: 51px; background-color: #e1e8fa;">
<p>Separation of powers of the DM (e.g., issues arrest warrants and licenses) and the police (e.g., investigate crimes and make arrests).</p>
</td>
<td style="width: 50%; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; height: 51px; background-color: #e1e8fa;">
<p>Powers of policing and <strong>magistracy</strong> concentrated in Commissioner. <strong>Directly accountable</strong> to the state government and state police chief.</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 35px;">
<td style="width: 50%; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; height: 35px; background-color: #e1e8fa;">
<p>Less concentration of power in the police, and accountability to DM at the district level.</p>
</td>
<td style="width: 50%; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; height: 35px; background-color: #e1e8fa;"><strong>Lesser accountability</strong> to the local administration.</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 51px;">
<td style="width: 50%; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; height: 51px; background-color: #e1e8fa;">
<p>SP is assisted by Additional/Assistant/ Deputy SPs, Inspectors and constabulary.</p>
</td>
<td style="width: 50%; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; height: 51px; background-color: #e1e8fa;">
<p>Commissioner is assisted by Special/Joint/ Additional/ Deputy Commissioners, etc. Inspector downwards rank structure is the same.</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<h3>Need for Commissionerate System</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Commissionerate system is considered the most authoritative system of policing, not only in other progressive countries but also in states in the country.</li>
<li>The system brings <strong>greater power and responsibility</strong> on the Police system and the possibility of passing the buck on Magistrates is eliminated.</li>
<li>It is considered essential in cities with a large population.</li>
<li>Now, suggestions are being made that it should be implemented at least in the cities with a population of 20 lakh.</li>
<li><strong>Big cities</strong> generally throw law and order problems and other problems viz., student agitations, caste-communal problems, labour agitations, agitations related to laws passed by the governments.</li>
<li>This requires very specialised handling and requires coordination at every stage. There can be a difference of opinion between officials. Hence, these multifarious, complicated issues need unity of command.</li>
<li>In the present case of UP, Noida shares borders with the National Capital which already has a commissionerate system, after the implementation of the commissionerate system in UP, there would be better coordination in policing.</li>
<li>Moreover, in Mumbai, the system has been proved successful in handling complex issues of Mumbai which also had faced the problem of the underworld.</li>
<li>Even in the commissionerate system, unfettered power is not given to the police. Police are answerable to ministers and courts.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Concerns</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>When the system is introduced, initially, there can be adjustment and understanding issues. Certain<strong> legacy issues</strong> and other issues like <strong>delegation of authority</strong> and better integration will have to be addressed.</li>
<li>In some states like UP, the police already have <strong>immense power.</strong> Questions are raised quite often on the functioning of the cops. People are generally <strong>scared of the police</strong> and the cops have also <strong>failed to win public confidence.</strong></li>
<li>People largely<strong> trust the civil administrative officials</strong> and feel more <strong>comfortable</strong> in interacting with them because they <strong>create balance in society.</strong></li>
<li>Further, there are several <strong>occasions when protests are of a civil nature</strong> and can be dealt with by the District Magistrate. Police action in such matters can complicate the situation.</li>
<li>This system works better in states <strong>where the literacy ratio is higher</strong> and people have wide knowledge about law and their fundamental rights.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way Forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Commissionerate system brings <strong>great power</strong> to the Commissioner of Police hence it calls upon a <strong>degree of restraint in using power,</strong> which in the present scenario has not been necessarily demonstrated.</li>
<li>Therefore, the <strong>selection of Commissioner becomes crucial.</strong> An officer who has a wider knowledge of handling crime, investigation in the complex urban-centric milieu and has the capacity to both restrain and increase power will do well.</li>
<li>We can say that the system gives more powers to the police force and the officers but also added responsibility to ensure that those powers are handled in a responsible manner. As it rightly said, <strong>&ldquo;With great power comes great responsibility.&rdquo;</strong></li>
<li>An efficient commissionerate system would result in <strong>better detection of crime,</strong> the<strong> better quality of investigation, increased conviction rate,</strong> protection of the rights of people, and <strong>decline of the crime rate.</strong></li>
<li>India&rsquo;s existing <strong>police system</strong> suffers a <strong>series of deficiencies</strong> from problems relating to a police organization, environment, infrastructure, and understaffing, to obsolete weaponry and intelligence gathering techniques to a shortage of manpower to corruption, the police force in the country is not in good shape.</li>
<li>Therefore, there is an urgent need for<strong> holistic police reforms.</strong> Since, Police, Law and Order are subjects of state list, the government can start by urging all states to implement the recommendations given by the supreme court in <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/dgp-appointment" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Prakash Singh case.</strong></a></li>
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		'article_id' => (int) 3283,
		'category_id' => (int) 15,
		'title' => 'The Big Picture: UK’s Constitutional Crisis',
		'description' => '<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ulv6wnKdMrg" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>A defiant <strong>Boris Johnson (United Kingdom&rsquo;s Prime Minister)</strong> has vowed to take the country out of the <a href="/important-institutions/drishti-specials-important-institutions-international-institution/european-union" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>European Union</strong></a> next month, despite suffering an unprecedented legal defeat over his <a href="/loksabha-rajyasabha-discussions/brexit-deal-what-lies-ahead" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Brexit</strong></a> strategy in the Supreme Court.</li>
<li>In a sweeping rebuke to the Prime Minister, Britain&rsquo;s Supreme Court ruled that Johnson broke the law when he decided to suspend Parliament for five weeks in the run-up to the <strong>October 31<sup>st</sup> deadline for leaving the EU.</strong></li>
<li>He <strong>gave Queen Elizabeth II &ldquo;unlawful" advice</strong> to pause the legislature and his decision wrecked the ability of Britain&rsquo;s elected politicians to fulfill their crucial democratic role overseeing his government&rsquo;s actions, the court found.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Why the UK Prime Minister&rsquo;s actions have been termed unlawful instead of unconstitutional by the Supreme Court?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>UK does <strong>not have a written constitution</strong> like India and most of the work is done on the basis of the conventions so there is no violation of the Constitution.</li>
<li>In terms of written or unwritten law, such decisions are considered as <strong>transgression of Parliament&rsquo;s powers and functions</strong> and hence, <strong>unlawful.</strong></li>
</ul>
<h3>Major Highlights</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Referendum held in 2016 started a<strong> tussle</strong> between the <strong>direct democracy</strong> and <strong>representative democracy</strong> where both have different opinions on Brexit.</li>
<li>In the <strong>absence of the constitution and the limits</strong> set by it, the UK PM suspended the Parliament for 5 weeks to suppress all the debates against his idea of exiting European Union by 31<sup>st</sup> October 2019, which started a <strong>tussle between the executive and the legislature.</strong></li>
<li>If the UK remains a part of the Custom Union nothing changes. So the battle is now between the leavers and the remainers where the PM seems stuck between multiple different ways leading to confusion.</li>
<li>All problems which exist in a <strong>no deal situation</strong> tend to remain the same. Nothing has happened on the contentious issues like <strong>Irish backstop and <a href="/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/new-approach-to-immigration-in-uk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Immigrant issues</a></strong> which the UK has to overcome.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>Key Terms</strong></p>
<p><strong>Referendum:</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>A <strong>public vote (referendum) was held in 2016,</strong> to decide whether the UK should leave or remain in the European Union.</li>
<li><strong>Leave won by 52% to 48%.</strong> The referendum turnout was very high at 72%, with more than 30 million people voting.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>No Deal Brexit:</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>In a no deal situation, UK would immediately leave the EU <strong>with no agreement about the divorce process.</strong></li>
<li>UK will leave the single market and customs union arrangements overnight.</li>
<li>UK will have to immediately leave EU institutes and other bodies like <strong>European Court of Justice and Europole,</strong> its law enforcement body.</li>
<li>UK will no longer contribute to the EU budget.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Divorce Bill:</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The <strong>Brexit Financial Settlement (Divorce Bill)</strong> is a sum of money UK needs to pay to the EU for settling all shares of the financial obligations undertaken while being a member of the EU.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Irish Backstop:</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The <strong>draft agreement</strong> between the UK and the EU that aims to prevent a <strong>hard border</strong> (limited number of authorised crossing points staffed by customs officers and police) in Ireland after the UK leaves the EU.</li>
<li>It was earlier known as <strong>Northern Ireland Protocol.</strong></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Boris Johnson at the Centre of the Chaos</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Boris Johnson expects that <strong>if he will take the No Deal position,</strong> it is more likely that the <strong>&ldquo;leavers&rdquo; will</strong> gravitate towards the Conservative Party and will <strong>bring him back to power.</strong></li>
<li>For that, he needs a majority in the Parliament but people need more time to negotiate deals with the EU during the transition period which they are not getting in the October 31<sup>st</sup> deadline.</li>
<li><strong>Calling for a No Confidence Motion is also a problematic</strong> option because it will give a two week gap to other political parties allowing them to join in and maybe form government or make other proposals to the Queen.</li>
</ul>
<h3>What makes the process so complicated?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The main issue is the <strong>ambiguity of the term &lsquo;leave&rsquo;</strong> in the referendum without any clarifications or guidelines for the aftermath of Brexit.</li>
<li>Many people from the leave side have <strong>threatened for direct action</strong> and there are threats, in general, to the people involved in the litigation as well.</li>
<li>In theory, there is <strong>no clear cut delegation of duties, responsibilities and limitations</strong> which leads to chaotic situations like British Parliament&rsquo;s.</li>
<li>The confusion has further increased with the <strong>courts jumping</strong> in and <strong>absence of a written constitution</strong> makes it far more difficult.</li>
<li>Since Boris Johnson is trying to <strong>garner his vote on the basis of the emotional sentiments</strong> of the people, it further complicates the situation.</li>
<li>It is not only the question of brexit in its own rights but <strong>how it is going to play out within the unfolding electoral politics</strong> expected in the near future.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Judiciary&rsquo;s Role</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Judiciary is expected to deliver justice when there is a tussle between the executive and the legislative in a parliamentary democracies like the UK and India.</li>
<li>Prime Minister and the other ministers <strong>(executive)</strong> are also members of Parliament only, but problem arises when they<strong> stress their executive authority over the legislature and judiciary has to mediate.</strong></li>
<li>In Britain&rsquo;s case,<strong> judiciary only pointed out</strong> the question whether the advice by the PM was reasonable or not and based on some logical justification and the Supreme Court ruled out that it was unjustified.</li>
<li>Supreme Court stated that <strong>the Act of Suspension</strong> was not actually a part of the proceedings of the Parliament therefore Supreme Court has all the rights (given <strong>the English Bill of Rights</strong>) to come out on a ruling on that.</li>
<li>Supreme Court has made it clear now that it has <strong>powers to rule over the fringe areas of doubt</strong> whether it was an act of proceeding of parliament or basically a very executive proceeding.</li>
<li>It is exemplary that the <strong>judiciary has taken a very legalistic and a strongly apolitical stand</strong> which can be compared to ours and many other nations.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>The English Bill of Rights, 1689</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>It <strong>outlined specific constitutional civil rights, limited the power of the monarchy, elevated the status of Parliament</strong> and ultimately gave Parliament power over the monarchy.</li>
<li>Many experts regard the English Bill of Rights as the primary law that set the stage for a constitutional monarchy in England.</li>
<li>It is also credited as being an <strong>inspiration for the U.S. Bill of Rights.</strong></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Impact of the Crisis</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>EU representatives</strong> have seen <strong>little or no movement from the UK&rsquo;s side.</strong> There are some intractable issues, like the Irish Backstop and also the idea that the UK can retain some benefits of EU while not taking the responsibility for free movement of labour, which need to be addressed.</li>
<li>It takes a toll on various political parties in terms of the fact that <strong>no parties,</strong> except for the liberal democrats, <strong>are united</strong> behind either a leave option or a remain option.</li>
<li><strong>Conservative Party has split</strong> in itself with Boris Johnson for a No Deal Policy and others against it. <strong>Labour Party</strong> says it will try to work for a deal and then again take it to the referendum.<strong> Liberal Democrats</strong> have taken a strong position and they look for revoking the referendum altogether.</li>
<li>Brexit itself has brought out a <strong>massive demand in the population for the constitution to have a written form</strong> to tackle the confusion which prevails right now.</li>
<li>A mood is building among the <strong>extreme leavers</strong> who would like to leave on <strong>World Trade Organisation&rsquo;s rules</strong> in order to get done with brexit by the end of October.</li>
</ul>
<h3>What is the best way forward?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>A <strong>clearer view and explanation is needed on the yes or no referendum</strong> and to enable the elected representatives to form a workable treaty.</li>
<li>Now when the parliament is in session and No Deal has been taken off the table, one option is to <strong>ask the EU for a further extension.</strong> One way to do that is <strong>look for a workable deal or at least work towards a deal</strong> in order to convince the EU's 27 members that the UK deserves to have some aid and extension.</li>
<li>Only real solution for parties is <strong>to offer new choices to the electorate</strong> either via another referendum or in an election to be held in the coming months keeping in mind that now the people know what brexit involves and its negative impacts and the different political stands on the issue.</li>
<li>There is a soft brexit and there is a hard brexit but UK needs to <strong>find a way for a semi-soft Brexit</strong> so that people do not bear the sudden shock of leaving the EU at once.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Relevance of the case for Judicial Review in India</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Two notable executive actions have undermined parliamentary processes in india this year.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>Reservation for Economically Weaker Sections-</strong> <strong>The Constitutional (One Hundred and Third) Amendment Act 2019</strong> which provides reservation for the Economically Weaker Sections was brought for consideration of Parliament in less than 48 hours from the time the decision was taken by the Centre.</li>
<li><strong>The Bills passed around Jammu and Kashmir (J&amp;K)&nbsp;</strong>The Monsoon Session of Parliament was originally scheduled to end on July 26 but was extended to August 7 and on August 5,<strong> the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Second Amendment) Bill, 2019</strong> was suddenly introduced and the copies of the Bill and the Resolution were provided after the Statutory Resolution was moved in the Upper House.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>In the whole process, Parliament got insufficient time for scrutiny. The <strong>conventional practice</strong> is that legislative documents are provided few days before so that the <strong>MPs can understand the legislation, seek views and formulate their positions better.</strong></li>
<li>Both Bills were in direct violation of <strong>the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business.</strong> In <strong>Rajya Sabha, Rule 69</strong> talks about<strong> &lsquo;Motions after Introduction of Bills&rsquo; and &lsquo;Scope of Debate&rsquo;.</strong> The Chairman is given discretion in exceptional situations but there is no cogent explanation provided by those presiding the Houses of Parliament.</li>
<li>Such actions of government <strong>reveal a complete disregard for established Parliamentary processes</strong> and weaken the democratic institutions.</li>
<li>While the UK&rsquo;s Supreme Court has played its role in determining the issue, <a href="/important-institutions/drishti-specials-important-institutions-national-institutions/supreme-court-of-india" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Supreme Court of India</strong></a> has sufficient materials to assess the executive&rsquo;s role in undermining the parliamentary processes.</li>
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		'article_id' => (int) 2046,
		'category_id' => (int) 22,
		'title' => 'Wish List for Judiciary',
		'description' => '<div class="border">
<p>This editorial is based on the article <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/wish-list-for-judiciary-119052801272_1.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"Wish list for judiciary&rdquo;</a> which appeared in Business Standard on 8th May, 2019. The article talks about the problems of judicial delay and economic growth.</p>
</div>
<h3>The administration of justice</h3>
<p>With the advent of economic liberalization, India has made significant progress in different sectors on the economic front, but somewhere the growth is stymied by the justice dispensation mechanism. Not only the administration of justice has been inefficient for general public but also it has also increased instances of <strong>rent seeking</strong>* in India.</p>
<p>[<strong>Rent-seeking</strong> is a concept in public choice theory as well as in economics, that involves seeking to increase one's share of existing wealth without creating new wealth. Rent-seeking results in reduced economic efficiency through misallocation of resources, reduced wealth-creation, lost government revenue, heightened income inequality, and potential national decline; Dictionary: the fact or practice of manipulating public policy or economic conditions as a strategy for increasing profits.]</p>
<h3>The multidimensional contours of justice</h3>
<p>John Rawls, an American moral and political philosopher in the liberal tradition, defines Justice as basic fairness in multidimensional interactions between humans and their institutions.</p>
<p>The purpose of such varied interactions, he states is to balance democracy with striving for security. And if security is not provided to both public and commerce, growth will suffer and so will the fate of a developing nation.</p>
<h3>Connecting the dots in judicial dispension and growth</h3>
<p>&ldquo;We want people to come and &lsquo;Make in India&rsquo;, we want people to come and invest in India, but those whom we are inviting are also concerned about the ability of the judicial system in the country to deal with the cases and disputes that may arise out of such investments.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Efficacy of the judicial system is therefore vitally connected with the development of the country.</li>
<li>It is, as such, not only the poor litigants who are languishing in jails, but also the development of the country.</li>
</ul>
<h3>The problem with judicial dispension in India</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Pendency and delay</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>There is a high level of pendency (across the six tribunals, estimated at about 1.8 lakh cases)</li>
<li><strong>Pendency has also risen sharply over time.</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>Nearly every tribunal started with manageable caseloads, disposing instituted cases every year, but that soon spiralled out of control.</li>
<li>Compared to 2012, there is now a 25% increase in the number of unresolved cases.</li>
<li>The average age of pending cases across these tribunals is 3.8 years.</li>
<li>It is noteworthy that in two cases &mdash; telecommunication and electricity &mdash; the explosion in pendency resulted from interventions by the Supreme Court.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>High Courts</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Even with the creation of tribunals at different points in time did not alter pendency at the High Courts nor their ability to deal with other economic cases.</li>
<li>Their average duration of pendency is arguably the worst in most cases, which is nearly 4.3 years for 5 major High Courts.</li>
<li><strong>The average pendency of tax cases is particularly acute at nearly 6 years per case.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Reasons for pendency and delay</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Expansion of Discretionary Jurisdictions</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>Though economic cases are complex, in some cases increased overload is due to the expansion of discretionary jurisdictions by Courts,</strong> without any countervailing measures that either balance the scope of other jurisdictions or improve overall administration and efficiency.
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li><strong>The higher judiciary has transformed into Courts of first rather than last resort, and have consistently fused constitutional law and tort law, dissolving traditional distinctions between public and private law.</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>The immediate fallout of this expansion has been the steady de-legitimization of the capacity of lower courts&rsquo; private law mechanisms.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>The possible reason for this is the ever-expending Writ Petitions under Art. 226.</strong></li>
<li><strong>There are currently more than one million Writ Petitions pending at the High Courts,</strong> constituting between 50-60% of the Court backlog, with average pendency fluctuating between 3-10 years.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Burden from Original Side Jurisdiction</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>Some High Courts of the country retain a unique original jurisdiction, under which the High Court, and not the relevant lower court, transforms into the Court of first instance for some civil cases.</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li><strong>These cases occupy a significant share of the Court&rsquo;s docket.</strong></li>
<li><strong>The Delhi and Bombay High Courts have original jurisdictions that occupy nearly 10-15% of their workload.</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>In 2014, the share of original side cases was as high as 30% for the Delhi High Court.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Supreme Court: Expansion of Special Leave Petition Jurisdiction</strong>
<ul>
<li><strong>Rising pendency also results from the injunction [a judicial remedy issued in order to prohibit a party from doing or continuing to do a certain activity] of cases by Courts.</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>
<p>For example, in the case of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) cases, injunctions have led to about 60 percent of cases being stayed, whose average pendency is 4.3 years. The average age of cases waiting for final judgment is inordinately high at 7.9 years.</p>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>The cost of delays</h3>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/665image1.png" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/665image1.png" /></a></p>
<p>The above table gives a figurative idea about the cost of delay stemming from the periods of judicial delay.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>The overall impact of rising pendency at Appellate Tribunals, High Courts and the Supreme Court, coupled with the rising use of injunctions and other blunt instruments has led to spiralling legal expenses of Corporate India.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Resultantly, Arbitration is one possible option, but even arbitrations in India has been plagued by high costs and terrible delays, which keeps arbitration out of the reach of common citizen.</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Big corporations therefore prefer to take their arbitration to jurisdictions like Dubai and Singapore as India proves costly and cumbersome.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>How slow courts are detrimental to the economy?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>Slow courts increase the cost of enforcing contracts by delaying the payoff of taking an agent to court.</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>If contracts are costly to enforce because cases take years or even decades to resolve, parties may avoid making investments or engaging in potentially surplus-generating transactions.
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li><strong>It is proved by many researches that contract-intensive industries grow relatively faster than those in non-contract-intensive industries when they are located in states with efficient courts.</strong></li>
<li>In fact, in India, the difference in employment growth rates between contract-intensive vs. non-contract intensive industries is positively associated with having faster courts.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Differential growth rates vs. court efficiency</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/966image2.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong><img class="content-img" src="http://www.drishtiias.com/images/uploads/966image2.jpg" /></strong></a></p>
<p>This figure displays the difference in average employment growth rates between contract-intensive industries and non contract-intensive industries (vertical axis) plotted against court efficiency (horizontal axis) for major Indian states.</p>
<p>Court efficiency is measured as the fraction of cases that are resolved within one year in district/sessions courts in 1999.</p>
<h3>Poor contract enforcement</h3>
<p>Uncertain cash flow is a major reason for companies shutting down. Cash flow becomes especially uncertain when contracts are not enforceable.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>India really cannot hope to become a developed economy in the decades to come without resolving the problem of contract enforcement.</li>
<li><strong>Poor contract enforcement tends to increase the risk and reduce the returns (increased legal costs), thus affecting the overall risk to return ratio.</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>As a result, businesses don&rsquo;t engage in economically and socially beneficially activity such as innovation.
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li><strong>Similarly, the failure of legal mechanisms in guaranteeing loan repayment has resulted in banks bearing greater risks.</strong></li>
<li><strong>The outcome is that interest rates are higher and banks are reluctant to lend to socially beneficial sectors such as agriculture and infrastructure.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Another effect of a poor contract enforcement mechanisms is the spurt of informal and often illegal channels of dispute resolution.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>These make use of local leaders and under-the-table dealings to help settle disputes. Keeping aside the issue of biased and poor-quality decisions, this also brings undue power into the hands of middlemen and facilitators.
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li><strong>This, in turn, creates problems such as increased corruption and the undermining of the rule of law.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>A Case Study:</strong></p>
<p>The success of an e-commerce company depends on its ability to retain consumers&rsquo; trust.</p>
<p>For <strong>Snapdeal and eBay</strong>, this trust has been waning because of frequent reports of fake and poor-quality products sold on their websites.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>A poor contract enforcement system further prevented them from ensuring good quality products from their suppliers.</li>
<li>On the other hand, Flipkart and Amazon through their hybrid model have been able to maintain the quality of their own products.</li>
<li>To compete with these products, other sellers also had to improve the quality of their products.</li>
<li>Thus, the latter two have succeeded while the others have not been able to.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3>Government effort in improving administration of justice</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The average provision for the judicial sector is only 0.2% of GDP.</li>
<li>Judges have lamented the condition of infrastructure of courts in judgements as well as in public platforms with little impact on successive governments.</li>
<li>The problem is further compounded by the continuous tussle between the Judiciary and Executive.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>This can be best observed in the changing role of the Supreme Court from being a Constitutional Court to a Court of Appeal.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Why the reluctance on part of the Government?</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>Despite the dire need for speeding up and modernising the grossly inefficient justice delivery system, a large chunk of the meagre funds allotted in the Budget remains unused.
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li><strong>Notwithstanding a well over 100% increase in allocation between 2014-15 and 2018-19 from 2,047 crore to 4,386 crore, allocation to judiciary against the total budget has remained between 0.2 percent and 0.4 percent for many decades now.</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>Concerning utilization efficiency, against a Rs 5000 crore special grant to improve delivery of justice sanctioned by the 13th Finance Commission to the States which was to be used over a 5-year period, only 20% was ultimately utilised.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>The problem is not limited to the inadequacy of resources and inefficiency in utilisation alone, it is much deeper.</li>
<li><strong>Since the responsibility of providing resources to the judiciary rests with the executive, the stark difference in perspective of the two institutions, therefore, influences the budgeting for judiciary.</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>A World Bank paper, clearly elucidates this point - &ldquo;the requirements of the executive branch of government&mdash;especially for fiscal restraint and accountability in financial management&mdash;are often perceived as infringing on the principles of the judicial branch (&lsquo;fairness&rsquo; and &lsquo;independence&rsquo; in the administration of justice).&rdquo;
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li><strong>According to this paper, the problem is not simply insufficient funds, but a mutual perception that neither branch properly understands, or respects, the other&rsquo;s mandate and goals.</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Governments, as such, can use the Fiscal Responsibility function of budget allocation to judiciary as a lever to exercise control over it.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Consequently, delivery of justice, more so timely delivery of justice to citizens in general and marginalised people in particular is among the most outstanding yet least focused issues.</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>But on the economic front, it is causing a condition in which players are willing to bypass the system by paying rents to government officials, a system that had become customary during the License Raj.
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>Officials are also willing to accept quick money since there is little chance of getting caught, making rent-seeking a norm.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Way forward</h3>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li><strong>If enforceability problem is to be solved, sufficient number of judges must be recruited and vacancies in courts must be quickly filled.</strong></li>
<li>Investments in judicial infrastructure is also needed.</li>
<li><strong>Courts may revisit the size and scale of their discretionary jurisdictions</strong> and avoid resorting to them unless necessary (this can help reclaim the Constitutional and Writ stature of the higher judiciary as originally envisaged).</li>
<li><strong>Further, it is high time to introduce fully digital systems in the courts.</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>There are courts like Delhi High Court, which has adopted a high level of digital transformation, while the Supreme Court still functions through manual systems.</li>
<li>Lower courts around the country are mostly yet to be introduced to meaningful digitalization.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Downsizing or removing original and commercial jurisdiction of High Courts and enabling the lower judiciary to deal with such cases can also speed things up.</strong>
<ul style="list-style-type: circle;">
<li>Early results from the Delhi High Court suggest that reducing the size of original jurisdiction in 2016 allowed the court more time to reduce its overall pendency.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Supreme Court&rsquo;s Successful Management of Tax Litigation</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The Supreme Court&rsquo;s recent experiment with constituting an exclusive bench for taxation produced impressive results, which may be replicated for other subject matters, and emulated by other High Courts that do not have special rosters [roster here refers to a system/record/diary where the allocation of cases for judges is done] for daily hearings.</li>
<li>This can serve as a good example of how to reduce the specialized cases.</li>
</ul>
<table border="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; background-color: #fadcbe; border-color: #9e5105;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 1256px;"><span style="color: #9e5105;"><em><strong>Drishti Input:</strong></em></span><br /><br />The inefficient administration of justice has not only social but also economic costs. Do you agree? Substantiate you answer with arguments.</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
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		'category_id' => (int) 21,
		'title' => 'A Perennial Quandary on Separation of Power',
		'description' => '<p>The Madras High Court ruled that the Lieutenant-Governor (L-G) of Puducherry could not interfere with the day-to-day administration of the Union Territory when an elected government was in place.</p>
<p>The court said incessant interference from the L-G would amount to running a &ldquo;parallel government&rdquo;. Further, the court observed that the Central government as well as L-G should be true to the concept of democratic principle of Separation of Power.Otherwise, the constitutional scheme of the country of being democratic and republic would be defeated.</p>
<h3>Court&rsquo;s observation regarding power of L-G of Puducherry</h3>
<p>There are significant differences in the powers conferred on the legislatures of Puducherry and Delhi under Articles 239A and 239AA of the Constitution respectively .</p>
<h3>Points of difference between the L-G of Delhi and Puducherry</h3>
<p>Both Delhi and Puducherry have elected legislatures and governments. But, the functions and powers of the L-G of Delhi and Puducherry are marked by certain differences.</p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>The L-G of Delhi enjoys greater powers than the L-G of Puducherry.</li>
<li>The L-G of Delhi is vested with &ldquo;Executive Functions&rdquo; that enable him to exercise powers in matters connected to public order, police and land &ldquo;in consultation with the Chief Minister, if it is so provided under any order issued by the President under Article 239 of the Constitution&rdquo;.</li>
<li>While the L-G of Delhi is guided by the Government of <strong>National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991, and the Transaction of Business of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Rules, 1993,</strong> the L-G of Puducherry is guided by the <strong>Government of Union Territories Act, 1963</strong>.</li>
<li>Articles 239 and 239AA of the Constitution, as well as the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991, clearly underline that the role of Centre is more prominent in the UT of Delhi, where the L-G is the eyes and ears of the Centre. Under the constitution, the Delhi Assembly has the power to legislate on all subjects except <strong>law &amp; order and land</strong>.</li>
<li>Whereas, the Puducherry Assembly can legislate on any issue under the Concurrent and State Lists. However, if the law is in conflict with a law passed by Parliament, the law passed by Parliament prevails.</li>
<li>The manner in which the L-G functions vis-&agrave;-vis the elected government (Council of Ministers) is also spelt out in the Rules of Business of the Government of Pondicherry, 1963.</li>
</ul>
<div class="border-bg">
<p><strong>The Supreme Court&rsquo;s decision on power of Delhi L-G</strong></p>
<ul style="list-style-type: square;">
<li>L-G has no &ldquo;independent decision-making power&rdquo; and has to act on the aid and advice of the elected government.</li>
<li>The Supreme Court said the L-G must work &ldquo;harmoniously&rdquo; with the ministers and not seek to &ldquo;resist them every step of the way&rdquo;</li>
</ul>
</div>
<p>Though this a welcome judgement in establishing separation of power, the more <strong>significant challenge is to find a way out of the complexities and problems thrown up by the multiple forms of federalism and power-sharing arrangements</strong> through which relations between the Centre and its constituent units are regulated.</p>',
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