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The five-judge Supreme Court collegium, headed by Chief Justice of India N V Ramana, met and discussed kickstarting the process of appointment of the next Chief Justice as the CJI is set to retire on August 26.
It is learnt that the collegium did discuss some names for appointments to the SC but there is also a view among some judges that it would be more prudent to wait until the next CJI takes over.
As per the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP), the document governing the process of appointment of judges and appointment of the CJI, the Law Minister asks the outgoing Chief Justice of India to recommend the next CJI.
The MoP states that the CJI should be “the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court considered fit to hold the office.” Although the MoP says that the CJI’s views must be sought “at the appropriate time” and does not specify a timeline for the process, it normally takes place a month before the retirement of the incumbent CJI.
Incidentally, the Supreme Court Public Relations Officer said that “no note/letter regarding recommendation of (the) successor (has been) received in the office of the Hon’ble Chief Justice.”
Justice Lalit, who is the seniormost judge of the Supreme Court is next in line to be appointed the CJI. He is expected to have a tenure of three months, retiring on November 8, 2022.
Justice Lalit will be the second CJI after Justice SM Sikri who was appointed directly from the Bar as a judge of the Supreme Court. Justice Sikri was CJI from January 1971 to April 1973.
Born in 1957, Justice Lalit enrolled as an advocate in 1983 before the Bombay High Court. Before being appointed a judge of the SC in 2014, he appeared as the Special Public Prosecutor for the Central Bureau of Investigation in the 2G trial.
In Parliament
Tax, prices of many essentials were higher before GST: Nirmala Sitharaman (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 3, Indian Economy)
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said prices of many essential items were higher before the introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST) under the Narendra Modi government, which is “not in denial about price-rise”.
But compared to the years under the Congress-led UPA’s second term, prices of perishable commodities such as vegetables are lower due to joint efforts of the government and the Reserve Bank of India, Sitharaman said while replying to a discussion on price-rise in Rajya Sabha.
Many Opposition members said that due to imported inflation and because of the imported supply chain-related problems and global commodity prices, we are being impacted. These are realities and we are here to discuss. Nobody is in denial about price-rise,” she said.
We have made sure that the RBI and the government together are taking enough steps to make sure that it (inflation) is kept at 7% or below, ideally below 6%.
Therefore, when we say look at the world, where some countries are experiencing inflation which they have not experienced in 40 years, it does not mean we are saying there is no inflation in this country.
Reiterating that the changes in GST approved at its 47th council meeting were not opposed by any Opposition-governed state, Sitharaman said the tax regime has not increased burden on families “because the rates on some items before GST were much higher.
Sitharaman listed pre- and post-GST tax rates on several items to buttress her point: hair oil, she said, had 29.3% tax before GST was introduce, and 18% GST now.
Similarly, she listed toothpaste (29.3% pre-GST to 18% GST now); soap (29.3% to 18%); footwear priced over Rs 1,000 (21% to 18%); paints (31.3% to 18%); sugar (6% to 5%); sweets (7% to 5%); washing machine (31.3% to 18%); vacuum cleaner (31.3% to 18%); TV sets up to 32 inches (31.3% to 18%); LED lamps (15% to 12%); kerosene pressure lanterns (8% to 5%).
Govt. and Politics
Flagging terror threat, India pledges support to Maldives (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
To counter the threat of transnational crime, terrorism and drug trafficking in the Indian Ocean region, India on Tuesday said it will give 24 vehicles and one naval boat to the Maldives Security Force and help train the island-nation’s security personnel.
After holding bilateral talks with visiting Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “The threat of transnational crime, terrorism and drug trafficking in the Indian Ocean is serious.
And therefore, close contact and coordination between India and Maldives in the field of defence and security is vital for peace and stability of the entire region.”
We have increased our cooperation against all these common challenges. It also includes capacity building and training support for Maldivian security officials.
I am happy to announce that India will provide 24 vehicles and one naval boat for the Maldives Security Force. We will also cooperate in building police facilities on 61 islands of Maldives.”
Solih said Maldives will always remain “a true friend” India, “firmly committed to our shared vision of peace and development.
India-Maldives defence and security partnership is time-tested and is the leading example of regional cooperation in areas of transnational crimes and disaster relief.
This partnership is a force for stability in the Indian Ocean Region. Recognizing that the security of India and the Maldives are inter-linked, the two leaders reiterated their assurance to be mindful of each other’s concerns on the security and stability of the region; and to not allow their respective territories to be used for any activity inimical to the other.
Lok Sabha passes Bill to implement global norms on endangered species (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
Lok Sabha passed by voice vote the Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Bill-2021 that seeks to provide for implementation of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on December 17, 2021. It seeks to amend the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
Replying to the debate on the Bill, Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said 41 members participated in the debate and all of them unanimously welcomed the amendments proposed to the Bill.
Elaborating the objectives of the Bill, Yadav said a management committee is necessary for proper exports as per the CITES agreement. When we export a product from our country, we will certify that no poaching of endangered species has been undertaken for that item.
Dispelling members’ apprehensions about elephants being taken by a trust in Jamnagar, Yadav referred to a judgment of the Karnataka High Court that was upheld by the Supreme Court.
There has been a religious and cultural tradition in the country. If we had reared elephants, it would have been done with respect. We have adopted elephants with our lifestyle in Kerala and other places also.
Regulation will be done by the central board but we will follow our tradition, cultural tradition to continue the protection of elephants.
Responding to Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury’s remarks, Yadav said the government has drafted the Bill after having consultations with all stakeholders.
Congress member Pradyut Bordoloi said that this is one of the “rare” Bills that has been referred to the Standing Committee. “Consultation is a very important part of democracy.
In the UPA regime, about 71 per cent Bills were referred to the Standing Committees for discussion. But unfortunately, that figure has now come down to 11 per cent.
ED chief’s tenure extension challenged, SC notice to Centre, CVC (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, Indian Polity)
The Supreme Court issued notice on a batch of petitions challenging the extension given to Enforcement Directorate (ED) director Sanjay Kumar Mishra.
A bench of Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justices Krishna Murari and Hima Kohli issued the notice to the Centre and the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) on petitions filed by Congress leaders Jaya Thakur and Randeep Surjewala, Trinamool Congress MP Mohua Moitra, the party’s Saket Gokhale, and advocate M L Sharma, among others.
The petitions challenge the amendments made by the government to the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) Act, 2003, through an ordinance on November 14, 2021, giving itself the power to extend the tenure of the ED director by up to five years.
Mishra, who was Principal Special Director in ED, was appointed the agency’s director on November 19, 2018, for a two-year period. On November 13, 2020, this was extended by one year, and again by a year in 2021.
Appearing for one of the petitioners, senior advocate A M Singhvi said the challenge is to the fixity of tenure. He said the amendment puts the incumbent on a probationary kind of pattern, and says the official can get piecemeal extensions.
Singhvi pointed out that in 1998 the apex court had ruled that fixity of tenure is one of the hallmarks of independence. Singhvi said the extension granted to Mishra was in violation of the SC’s September 8, 2021 ruling — in it, the court, while refusing to interfere with the government’s decision to extend his tenure from 2 to 3 years, had stated that “no further extension shall be granted” to him beyond that date.
Editorial Page
Money laundering is a serious issue. But SC verdict on PMLA is problematic (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, Indian Polity)
No constitutionally-sincere citizen of India will ever say that money laundering (ML) should not be regarded as a serious crime threatening the unity and integrity of the country, and world order.
Nor will she query the Political Declaration and Global Programme of Action adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on February 23, 1990 (of which the Prevention of Money Laundering Act [PMLA] is a normative offspring), which “calls upon the member states to develop a mechanism to prevent financial institutions from being used for laundering of drug-related money and enactment of legislation to prevent such laundering.”
There is universal agreement that “proceeds” of ML are well defined by the PMLA as “proximate” offences (as those listed in a schedule itemising offences against general and special criminal law).
Both preventive and punitive aims and objectives of the law have been accepted by honest citizens as a means to confront this evil.
But genuine difficulties and anxieties surround the recent Supreme Court decision (per Justices A M Khanwilkar, Dinesh Maheshwari and C T Ravikumar), which negates major constitutional challenges to PMLA in about 240 related petitions.
International instruments — from the basic Vienna and Palermo conventions to the soft law standards such as Financial Action Task Force (1989) — established the normative architecture for the PMLA.
But these anti-ML instruments emphasise that such laws are “subject to constitutional principles”, norms and standards.
The Court could have resorted to strict constitutional scrutiny, but instead prefers to name the PMLA as constituting a “complete” and comprehensive “Code”, “special and self-contained law”, “stand-alone” or even “sui generis” legislation.
The petitioners, in effect, questioned whether PMLA may constitute itself as a parallel legal and constitutional system. The Court justifiably refers to the “mandate” of international law to combat ML.
FM is right, and so is Opposition — India’s economy may be better placed than others, but it is going through a challenging phase (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 3, Indian Economy)
The issue of price rise and dwindling employment opportunities has deservedly moved into the House. Opposition parties confronted the government in Parliament over the state of the economy, arguing that life for the aam aadmi had become difficult with “spiraling prices, lack of jobs and poor state of governance and policy”.
In turn, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman launched a strong defence, saying that the country’s “macroeconomic fundamentals are perfect,” and that India was in a better position than its neighbours.
Sitharaman, who marshalled a range of data to make her point, asserted that there was “no question” of the economy stumbling into a recession or stagflation.
Sitharaman is correct — it is unlikely that India will slip into a technical recession. But the Opposition is right too — the economy is going through a difficult period.
Take inflation, for instance. Recent data showed that retail inflation continues to remain elevated, coming in at 7.01 per cent in June.
While this means that inflation has remained well above the central bank’s target, it is lower than levels observed in much of the developed world.
In fact, some analysts now expect inflation in India to trend lower in the second half of the year — global commodity prices have softened, and the government has taken steps across sectors to ease price pressures.
However, there are risks. For instance, if grain production, especially rice, falls, it will pose upside risks to inflation. The knock-on effects on the economy via lower rural demand are likely to be significant. Contrary to these concerns, as per the RBI’s assessment in June, the recovery in domestic activity was “gathering strength”.
The central bank has projected the economy to grow at 7.2 per cent in 2022-23. This is in line with the IMF’s recent assessment which has pegged growth at 7.4 per cent.
However, even going by the central bank’s own projections, growth is expected to slow down to just about 4 per cent in the second half of the year. Even so, the country could emerge as one of the fastest growing economies in the world during these tumultuous years.
President Joe Biden scores a few points at home, but Zawahiri’s presence in Kabul also exposed failure of Doha Accord (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
The killing of Ayman al-Zawahiri, the head of al Qaeda, in Kabul, is an important moment in the global campaign against terror. Zawahiri did not have the dangerous charisma of his friend and fellow traveller Osama bin Laden, after whose killing — also by US forces, in a special operation inside Pakistan in 2011 — he took on the leadership of the group.
Further, the rise of the ISIS with its own brand of terror combined with its territorial ambitions put al Qaeda in the shade.
Most of the big terrorist attacks in Europe have been held to be the work of ISIS or ISIS-inspired modules or individuals. There are no obvious successors after bin Laden’s son Hamza was also taken out by the US.
Despite the evident weakening, as the leader of a terrorist group that continues to spread fear from America to Indonesia through its franchisee model, Zawahiri remained a threat for his potential to mobilise cadres.
He was the keeper of al Qaeda’s ideology and the co-planner, along with bin Laden, of its most sensational attacks from the 1990s until 2001 and after.
For India, keeping al Qaeda away, under a new leadership, will be the challenge. It is India’s success that the group failed to make any dent in a country with the second largest Muslim population.
In one 2014 video, Zawahiri announced the formation of al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS). Last year, he sought to make common cause in Kashmir, when he issued a condolence message on the death of Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani.
And earlier this year, following the hijab row in Karnataka, he put out another message asking Muslims to take up arms against their “oppressors”. This interest in India, however, failed to gain the group any traction here.
The Idea Page
A translation revolution for an inclusive, prosperous India (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
In 1835, Thomas Babington Macaulay wrote, “A single shelf of a good European library is worth the whole of native literature in India”.
This view reflected a colonialist’s need to create legitimacy for invasion but also captured his inability to understand a country that, even 187 years after his racist quip, has 22 official languages, newspapers in 35 languages, and speaks 1,200 languages.
Our linguistic diversity is a gift but keeps a treasure chest of Indian knowledge locked. We believe the translation revolution underway will generate more output by India@100 than in the 75 years since Independence.
This revolution — driven by policy, technology, philanthropy, and universities — will expand the global knowledge base, unlock Indian treasures for every Indian, and raise the share of the internet in Indian languages.
India’s linguistic diversity matters. Gandhiji massified our fight for freedom by organising the movement’s operating units around language rather than British administration units like Madras Presidency, United Provinces, Bombay Presidency, etc.
The contentious language debates between the 299 remarkable people who wrote our Constitution captured the imagination of India as a nation, articulated regional identities, and created unity of purpose in founding modern India.
The world’s largest democracy has been created on the infertile soil of the world’s most diverse society.
But translations provide more glue; imagine if a webinar in Hindi could be heard live by a participant in Tamil. Imagine a food wholesaler receiving a WhatsApp message in Kannada written by a farmer in Bengali. And imagine if a book published in English could simultaneously be available in 22 Indian languages.
Efficacy of RTI Act is threatened by opacity, opposition from bureaucracy and lawmakers (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 2, Indian Polity)
Ominous clouds hover over India’s “Sunshine Legislation”, enacted with great fanfare in 2005. Amidst renewed concern over its functioning across states, the Right to Information Act (RTI) is set to complete 17 years this October.
A damning indictment of the various Information Commissions — “acting as a major bottleneck in effective implementation of the RTI Law” — comes from the report of the Sarthak Nagrik Sangathan (SNS) 2021.
A huge backlog of second appeals, lengthy wait time for hearings, hesitancy in posting penalties and increasing opacity in the working of the commissions have led SNS to this conclusion.
The commissions have been plagued with vacancies, poor choice of commissioners, untrained staff and a non-cooperative set of public information officers (PIOs). The sufferers, however, are the applicants.
Apart from the PIOs’ general inexperience and unprofessionalism, comes the threat to some RTI activists who seek information to expose corruption.
In June, a contractor was murdered in Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh, for asking too many questions relating to the public works department.
According to the local police, he had a running feud with another road contractor and too many RTI queries over the quality of roads were upsetting several officials and interested parties.
According to the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), across India, 99 RTI activists have lost their lives, 180 assaulted and 187 were threatened since 2006.
While RTI is lauded in public, it faces fierce opposition from many within the bureaucracy and the lawmakers, the two key stakeholders of the RTI regime.
An oft-repeated excuse for this disdainful attitude is the number of inane queries or those with perverse motives. The reality, however, is that such queries constitute only around 4 per cent of the total appeals and can easily be managed.
Barring some notable exceptions, the state information commissions present a disheartening picture. Vacancies are not filled; some continue without chiefs and most of them become parking slots for ex-babus.
Quite a few toe the official line, suffering from a hangover of the past and disallowing any “uncomfortable” information. As on June 30, 2021, 2.56 lakh appeals were pending with 26 information commissions in the country.
Explained
India’s One-China stand and relations with Taiwan (Page no. 17)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
As US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived in Taiwan, upsetting China, India was keenly watching the developments, although it has not yet commented on it.
India does not have formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan yet, as it follows the One-China policy. However, during then Chinese premier Wen Jiabao’s visit to India in December 2010, India did not mention support for the One-China policy in the joint communique.
In 2014, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power, he invited Taiwan’s Ambassador Chung-Kwang Tien, along with Lobsang Sangay, president of the Central Tibetan Administration to his swearing-in.
While following the One-China policy, India has an office in Taipei for diplomatic functions — India-Taipei Association (ITA) is headed by a senior diplomat. Taiwan has the Taipei Economic and Cultural Center (TECC) in New Delhi. Both were established in 1995.
A plane carrying US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other members of the US delegation arrives in Taipei, Taiwan, August 2, 2022.
But, in recent years, India has tried to play up its relationship with Taiwan, as its ties with China have been strained. In 2020, after the Galwan clashes, New Delhi handpicked diplomat Gourangalal Das — then joint secretary (Americas) in the Ministry of External Affairs — to become its envoy in Taipei.
On May 20 that year, the BJP asked two of its MPs, Meenakshi Lekhi and Rahul Kaswan, to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen through virtual mode.
Why being on a plane with an infected person cannot usually give you monkeypox (Page no. 17)
(GS Paper 2, Health)
A 22-year-old man from Kerala took a flight back home from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) after testing positive for monkeypox.
After reaching Kerala, he did not report to any health facility for five days and even played football at a local ground.
He died on Saturday (July 30) with encephalitis (swelling of the brain). The Centre has reached out to the UAE authorities to determine how he was able to board the flight despite testing positive for the viral infection.
The infection spreads mainly through skin-to-skin, mouth-to-mouth, or sexual contact with someone who has the monkeypox rashes. People can also contract the infection from direct contact with the lesions or the fluid in it, or indirect contact with contaminated material such as linens.
The infection does not spread among people who are merely gathered together in a public place. While it can in theory be transmitted through large respiratory droplets, that sort of transmission would require prolonged and close contact with the infected person.
And if you are wearing a mask as part of Covid-19-appropriate behaviour, you will be protected against monkeypox transmission.
In the current global outbreak, sexual contact appears to be the most efficient way of transmission, with most cases occurring in men who have sex with men (MSM).
“We’re seeing cases that are largely focused on men. And when we look at those cases, we’re noticing that actually its men who have sex with men. There have been some cases reported in women and children, but these have been very limited.