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  • LGBT Rights – Transgender Bill, Sec. 377, etc.

    Step towards more LGBTQIA+ affirmative medical curriculum doesn’t go far enough

    op-ed snap | Polity | Mains Paper 2: Laws, Institutions & Bodies Constituted For The Vulnerable Sections

    Context

    The National Medical Commission (NMC), the body responsible for regulating medical education in India, released an advisory regarding the LGBTQIA+ community and the necessary changes in the competencies of its competency-based medical education (CBME) curriculum.

    Exclusion of LGBTQIA+ community in medication

    • Medical education in India has focussed only on the binary of male and female, heterosexuality and cis-gendered lives, while excluding homosexuality and gender non-binary and transgender issues.
    • This results in the exclusion of the LGBTQIA+ community.
    • Even with the release of the competency-based medical curriculum in August 2019, the curriculum continues to include a queerphobic syllabus.

    About the NMC notification

    • The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 mandates governments to take measures for the “review of medical curriculum and research for doctors to address their [transgender] specific health issues,” but no action has been taken since then.
    • In June 2021, in response to a case filed by a queer couple, the Madras High Court laid down a set of guidelines and directed the NMC to ban queerphobic practices such as conversion therapy which aims to forcibly change the sexual orientation of a person.
    • In its notification, the NMC has advised medical colleges to teach gender in a way that is not derogatory to the queer community.
    • The authors of medical textbooks have also been asked to amend the books to remove any harmful contents regarding virginity and the queer community.

    Issues with the NMC notification

    • While the NMC advisory title mentions necessary changes in the competencies of its CBME curriculum, there are no specifications on what these changes are.
    •  At the same time, the CBME curriculum itself mentions queerphobic things that are to be taught to students.
    • Certain acts are called as sexual offences even though the Supreme Court has read down Section 377. 
    •  Also, the competencies which will make a future Indian doctor respectful and empathetic in treating a queer patient are missing.

    Way forward

    • The NMC must start by recognising the flaws in its own CBME curriculum and explicitly state the changes required.
    • Specific guidelines on how to make healthcare queer-affirmative are needed.
    • The directive also needs to specify changes across several subjects and not just forensic medicine and psychiatry.
    •  For this, there needs to be a participatory stakeholder consultation towards the development of a queer-affirmative curriculum.
    • Finally, there needs to be clarity on what the NMC plans to do for tackling queerphobia in the current set of health professionals.

    Consider the question “The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 mandates governments to take measures for the review of the medical curriculum. In light of this, discuss the changes needed in the medical curriculum regarding the LGBTQIA+ community.”

    Conclusion

    Without these changes, equitable access to healthcare for queer persons will remain a faraway dream.

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  • G20 : Economic Cooperation ahead

    G7 Trade Ministers’ Digital Trade Principles

    IOCR | International Relations | Mains Paper 2: Bilateral, Regional and Global Groupings and agreements involving India

    The Group of Seven wealthy nations agreed on a joint set of principles to govern cross-border data use and digital trade.

    What are the Digital Trade Principles?

    • Open digital markets: Digital and telecommunications markets should be competitive, transparent, fair, and accessible to international trade and investment.
    • Cross-border data flows: To harness the opportunities of the digital economy and support the trade of goods and services, data should be able to flow freely across borders with trust.
    • Safeguards for workers, consumers, and businesses: Labour protections must be in place for workers who are directly engaged in or support digital trade, providing decent conditions of work.
    • Digital trading systems: To cut red tape and enable more businesses to trade, governments and industries should drive forward the digitization of trade-related documents.
    • Fair and inclusive global governance: Common rules for digital trade should be agreed and upheld at the World Trade Organization.

    About Group of Seven

    • The G-7 or ‘Group of Seven’ includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
    • It is an intergovernmental organization that was formed in 1975 by the top economies of the time as an informal forum to discuss pressing world issues.
    • Initially, it was formed as an effort by the US and its allies to discuss economic issues.
    • The G-7 forum now discusses several challenges such as oil prices and many pressing issues such as financial crises, terrorism, arms control, and drug trafficking.
    • It does not have a formal constitution or a fixed headquarters. The decisions taken by leaders during annual summits are non-binding.
    • Canada joined the group in 1976, and the European Union began attending in 1977.

    Evolution of the G-7

    • When it started in 1975—with six members, Canada joining a year later—it represented about 70% of the world economy.
    • And it was a cosy club for tackling issues such as the response to oil shocks.
    • Now it accounts for about 40% of global gdp.
    • Since the global financial crisis of 2007-09 it has sometimes been overshadowed by the broader g20.
    • The G-7 became the G-8 in 1997 when Russia was invited to join.
    • In 2014, Russia was debarred after it took over Crimea.

     

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  • Organic Farming – Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojna (PKVY), NPOF etc.

    Prakritik Kheti Khushhal Yojana (PK3Y)

    | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 3: Conservation, Environmental Pollution & Degradation, Eia

    Women farmers in the hill State of Himachal Pradesh are gradually turning to non-chemical, low cost “natural farming”, under the Prakritik Kheti Khushhal Yojana (PK3Y).

    Prakritik Kheti Khushhal Yojana

    • Launched in 2018, the State’s PK3Y is promoting the climate resilient Subhash Palekar Natural Farming (SPNF), also called ‘Zero Budget Natural Farming’.
    • Over 1.5 lakh farmers have been trained in natural farming in the State so far, with substantial numbers of women participants.

    About Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF)?

    • ZBNF is a set of farming methods, and also a grassroots peasant movement, which has spread to various states in India.
    • Subhash Palekar perfected it during the 1990s at his farm in Amravati district in Maharashtra’s drought-prone Vidarbha region.
    • According to the “zero budget” concept, farmers won’t have to spend any money on fertilisers and other agricultural inputs.
    • Over 98% of the nutrients that crops require — carbon dioxide, nitrogen, water, solar energy — are already present in nature.
    • The remaining 1.5-2% are taken from the soil, after microorganisms convert them from “non-

    Four Wheels of ZBNF

    The “four wheels” of ZBNF are ‘Jiwamrita’, ‘Bijamrita’, ‘Mulching’ and ‘Waaphasa’.

    • Jiwamrita is a fermented mixture of cow dung and urine (of desi breeds), jaggery, pulses flour, water and soil from the farm bund.
    • This isn’t a fertiliser, but just a source of some 500 crore micro-organisms that can convert all the necessary “non-available” nutrients into “available” form.
    • Bijamrita is a mix of desi cow dung and urine, water, bund soil and lime that is used as a seed treatment solution prior to sowing.
    • Mulching, or covering the plants with a layer of dried straw or fallen leaves, is meant to conserve soil moisture and keep the temperature around the roots at 25-32 degrees Celsius, which allows the microorganisms to do their job.
    • Waaphasa, or providing water to maintain the required moisture-air balance, also achieves the same objective.

    Astra’s of ZBNF against pest attacks

    • ZBNF advocates the use of special ‘Agniastra’, ‘Bramhastra’ and ‘Neemastra’ concoctions.
    • They are based on cow urine and dung, plus pulp from leaves of neem, white datura, papaya, guava and pomegranates — for controlling pest and disease attacks.

    Is it organic farming?

    • ZBNF uses farmyard manure or vermicompost.

    However, not all farmers are convinced about ZBNF. Why?

    • Cost of labour: The cost of labour for collection of dung and urine, apart from the other inputs used in preparation of Jiwamrita, Neemastra or Bramhastra is quit higher.
    • Bovine cost: Keeping cows is also a cost that has to be accounted for. Farmers cannot afford to keep desi cows that yield very little milk.
    • Vulnerability to pest attacks:  ZBNF is scarcely practiced.  The crop grown would be vulnerable to attacks by insects and pests have already become pest-immune.

     

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  • Zoonotic Diseases: Medical Sciences Involved & Preventive Measures

    What is Hybrid Immunity?

    Prelims Only | Science Tech | Mains Paper 3: Awareness in various sc and tech fields

    A study has shown that a combination of natural infection with a single dose of vaccine provides greater immunity than either natural infection without vaccination or full vaccination in individuals.

    What is the new study?

    • People without prior infection but fully vaccinated with the Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccine showed a decline in neutralising antibodies over a period of three to seven months.
    • But the decline was much less in vaccinated people with prior infection.
    • People with hybrid immunity had a higher and more durable neutralising antibody response.
    • The hybrid immunity offers stronger protection than just infection or full vaccination alone.

    What is Hybrid Immunity?

    • It is natural immunity from an infection combined with the immunity provided by the vaccine.
    • The immunological advantage from hybrid immunity arises mostly from memory B cells.

    What are memory B cells?

    • In immunology, a memory B cell (MBC) is a type of B lymphocyte that forms part of the adaptive immune system.
    • B lymphocytes are the cells of the immune system that make antibodies to invade pathogens like viruses.
    • They form memory cells that remember the same pathogen for faster antibody production in future infections.

    How do they assist hybrid immunity?

    • While the bulk of antibodies after infection or vaccination decline after a short while, the memory B cells get triggered on subsequent infection or vaccination.
    • The memory B cells triggered by infection and those triggered by vaccination have different responses to viruses.
    • Infection and vaccination expose the spike protein to the immune system in vastly different ways.
    • After full vaccination, antibodies produced by natural infection continued to grow in potency and their breadth against variants for a year after infection.
    • Unlike after vaccination, the memory B cells formed after natural infection are more likely to make antibodies that block immune-evading variants.

     

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  • Animal Husbandry, Dairy & Fisheries Sector – Pashudhan Sanjivani, E- Pashudhan Haat, etc

    [pib] India’s First Banni Buffalo IVF Calf Born

    Prelims Only | Science Tech | Mains Paper 3:

    With the birth of first IVF calf of a Buffalo breed namely Banni in the country, India’s Ovum Pick-Up (OPU) – IVF work has reached to next level.

    Banni Buffalo

    • Banni buffaloes are also known as “Kutchi” or “Kundi”.
    • The breeding tract includes the Banni area of Kutchchh district of Gujarat.
    • The breed is maintained mostly by Maldharis under locally adapted typical extensive production system in its breeding tract.

    What makes them unique?

    • Banni buffaloes are trained to graze on Banni grassland during night and brought to the villages in the morning for milking.
    • This traditional system of buffalo rearing has been adapted to avoid the heat stress and high temperature of the day.
    • It has unique qualities of adaptation such as the ability to survive water scarcity conditions, to cover long distances during periods of drought and disease resistance.

    Indigenous buffalo breeds in India

    S. No. Breed Breeding state
    1 Banni Gujarat
    2 Bargur Tamil Nadu
    3 Bhadawari Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh
    4 Chhattisgarhi Chhattisgarh
    5 Chilika Odisha
    6 Gojri Himachal Pradesh and Punjab
    7 Jaffarabadi Gujarat
    8 Kalahandi Odisha
    9 Luit (Swamp) Assam
    10 Marathwadi Maharashtra
    11 Mehsana Gujarat
    12 Murrah Haryana and Delhi
    13 Nagpuri Maharashtra
    14 Nili Ravi Punjab
    15 Pandharpuri Maharashtra
    16 Surti Gujarat
    17 Toda Tamil Nadu

     

     

     

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    Back2Basics: In-vitro fertilization (IVF)

    • IVF is a type of assisted reproductive technology used for infertility treatment and gestational surrogacy.
    • A fertilised egg may be implanted into a surrogate’s uterus, and the resulting child is genetically unrelated to the surrogate.
    • Some countries have banned or otherwise regulate the availability of IVF treatment, giving rise to fertility tourism.
    • Restrictions on the availability of IVF include costs and age, in order for a woman to carry a healthy pregnancy to term.
    • IVF is generally not used until less invasive or expensive options have failed or been determined unlikely to work.

    IVF process

    • IVF is a process of fertilization where an egg is combined with sperm outside the body, in vitro (“in glass”).
    • The process involves monitoring and stimulating a female ovulatory process, removing an ovum or ova (egg or eggs) from the female ovaries and letting sperm fertilise them in a liquid in a laboratory.
    • After the fertilised egg (zygote) undergoes embryo culture for 2–6 days, it is implanted in the same or another female uterus, with the intention of establishing a successful pregnancy.

     

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  • Textile Sector – Cotton, Jute, Wool, Silk, Handloom, etc.

    [pib] Amended Technology Up-gradation Fund Scheme

    PIB | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Effects Of Liberalization On The Economy, Changes In Industrial Policy and their effects on Industrial Growth

    Union Minister of Textiles has reviewed the Amended Technology Up-gradation Fund Scheme (ATUFS) to ease of doing business, bolstering exports & fuelling employment.

    What is ATUFS?

    • The Ministry of Textiles had introduced Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS) in 1999.
    • It is a credit linked subsidy scheme intended for modernization and technology up-gradation of the Indian textile industry.
    • It aims at promoting ease of doing business, generating employment and promoting exports. Since then, the scheme has been implemented in different versions.
    • The ongoing ATUFS has been approved in 2016 and implemented through web based iTUFS platform.
    • Capital Investment Subsidy is provided to benchmarked machinery installed by the industry after physical verification.

     

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  • Policy Wise: India’s Power Sector

    A clean energy transition plan for India

    op-ed snap | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways Etc.

    Context

    India has a long way to go in providing electricity security to its people since its per capita electricity consumption is still only a third of the global average.

    Ensuring energy security and role of coal

    • Energy security warrants the uninterrupted supply of energy at affordable prices.
    •  Thanks to the Electricity Act of 2003, the installed coal-fired thermal power plant (TPP) generation capacity in India more than doubled from 94 GW to 192 GW between March 2011 and 2017.
    • This sharp increase in the installed capacity has enabled the government to increase per capita electricity consumption by 37% while reducing peak demand deficit from 9.8% (2010-11) to 1.6% (2016-17). 
    • TPPs contributed 71% of the 1,382 billion units (BU) of electricity generated by utilities in India during FY 2020-21 though they accounted for only 55% of the total installed generation capacity of 382 GW (as of March 2021).
    • Coal, therefore, plays a vital role in India’s ongoing efforts to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 7, which is “to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all”.

    Renewable energy utilisation issue and implications for consumers

    • While variable renewable energy (VRE) sources (primarily, wind and solar) account for 24.7% of the total installed generation capacity, as of March 2021, they contributed 10.7% of the electricity generated by utilities during FY 2020-21.
    • However, the ramp-up of VRE generation capacity without commensurate growth in electricity demand has resulted in lower utilisation of TPPs whose fixed costs must be paid by the distribution companies (DISCOMs) and passed through to the final consumer.
    • The current level of VRE in the national power grid is increasing the cost of power procurement for DISCOMs, leading to tariff increases for electricity consumers. 
    • Therefore, India must implement a plan to increase energy efficiency and reduce the emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and airborne pollutants from TPPs without making power unaffordable to industries that need low-cost 24×7 power to compete in the global market.

    Way forward: time-bound transition plan

    • Phasing out: The plan should involve the progressive retirement of TPPs(unit size 210 MW and below) based on key performance parameters such as efficiency, specific coal consumption, technological obsolescence, and age.
    • Increasing utilisation: The resulting shortfall in baseload electricity generation can be made up by increasing the utilisation of existing High-Efficiency-Low-Emission (HELE) TPPs that are currently under-utilised to accommodate VRE and commissioning the 47 government-owned TPPs.
    • In addition, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) is also constructing 11 nuclear power plants with a total generation capacity of 8,700 MW that will supply 24×7 power without any CO2 emissions.
    • The combined thermal (220 GW) and nuclear (15 GW) capacity of 235 GW can meet the baseload requirement (80% of peak demand) during the evening peak in FY 2029-30 without expensive battery storage.
    • The optimal utilisation of existing and under-construction HELE TPPs with faster-ramping capabilities and lower technical minimums also facilitates VRE integration.
    • Since HELE TPPs minimise emissions of particulate matter (PM), SO2, and NO2, the transition plan offers operational, economic, and environmental benefits including avoidance of sustenance Capex and FGD costs in the 211 obsolete TPPs to be retired besides savings in specific coal consumption and water requirement leading to reductions in electricity tariffs and PM pollution.

    Conclusion

    The implementation of transition plan will enable India to safeguard its energy security and ensure efficient grid operations with lower water consumption, PM pollution, and CO2 emissions.

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  • Electoral Reforms In India

    Internal democracy in political parties

    op-ed snap | Polity | Mains Paper 2: Parliament & State Legislatures

    Context

    It is obvious that institutional intermediaries in a representative democracy must themselves be democratic. However, beyond the rhetoric, internal democracy in a political party is less straightforward.

    How democratic accountability in a political party is different from that in a country

    • Democratic accountability in a political party is qualitatively different from that in a country.
    • A political party is a collaborative platform to capture state power to achieve a certain vision for society. 
    • In a country, there are sharp differences between citizens on the vision and values themselves and the role of democracy is not just to create a framework to negotiate conflict but to ensure that the state is representative of the largest section of the electorate through periodic elections.
    • Thus, while democracy at the level of the country is a bottom-up opportunity to change direction altogether, democratic accountability in a political party exists within an ideological framework.

    Is internal elections for party leadership a solution?

    • Subversion of internal institutional process: Proponents underestimate the ability of existing repositories of power to subvert internal institutional processes to consolidate power and maintain the status quo.
    • Independence of lower level: the assumption that the lower levels would be independent and hold the higher levels of leadership to account glosses over the many ways power asserts itself.
    • Independence and quality of electorate: The outcome of internal elections is contingent on the independence and quality of the electorate.
    • In indirect elections (through delegates), the electorate would likely mirror the existing balance of power.
    • In direct elections, there is a concern of ideological dilution and/or capture through opportunistic membership.
    • It is evident that internal elections may factionalise power but cannot establish normative accountability, which extends to all members of the party along three interconnected axes of ideology, organisation and competence.
    • Normative accountability is thus rooted in a dynamic context and is necessarily a deliberative process.

    Democratic functioning in political parties is not an end in itself

    • Unlike for the state, democracy is not an end in itself for a political party.
    • The highest possible attainment of individual well-being and individual self-will through a democratic state is an end in itself.
    • The purpose of a political party is the acquisition of state power.
    • Democratic functioning may be an ideological imperative, operational choice, or legitimising tactic but it is not an end in itself for a political party.

    Way forward

    • Instead of looking at internal party processes, one way to decentralise power is by getting rid of the anti-defection law.
    • The need to canvass votes in the legislature will create room for negotiation in the party organisation too.
    • Most importantly, this reform will impose a similar burden on all political parties and may create space to change the overall political culture.

    Consider the question “Lack of internal democratic functioning in the political parties has bearing on the overall political functioning of the country. Examine the factors responsible for its lack in India and suggest measures to encourage it.”

    Conclusion

    The role of democracy is not just to create a framework to negotiate conflict but to ensure that the state is representative of the largest section of the electorate through periodic elections.

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  • e-Commerce: The New Boom

    India’s gig economy

    | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Effects Of Liberalization On The Economy, Changes In Industrial Policy and their effects on Industrial Growth

    Since the pandemic, there is a growing concern about the pay-out and job-securities of the delivery persons and other gig workers of the e-commerce companies.

    E-com boom in India

    • E-commerce in India is a nascent industry that is probably less than 13 years old.
    • In this short period, it has captured the collective imagination of the nation.
    • The covid-19 crisis has accelerated its adoption, and even die-hard fans of shopping at a physical store have switched to shopping online.

    Various issues faced by the gig workers

    • Harsh working conditions
    • Quality of work and the temporary nature of engagement
    • Absence of a social security net
    • Long hours
    • Delayed pay-outs
    • Pressure to maximize speed of delivery (at the risk of road accidents)

    E-coms under scanner

    The bigger an industry gets, and the more successful it is perceived to be, the more responsible and thoughtful it needs to be in everything it does.

    • Fairness in employment: Some of the concerns are fair and call for introspection on the part of e-commerce companies.
    • Premature regulation: There is a rising demand for regulation of the gig economy created by them.

    Significance of e-commerce sector

    Anyone complaining about the quality of jobs being created by the e-commerce industry probably needs to spend some time understanding the history of job creation in India.

    An attractive sector for India’s ‘jobs problem’

    • Ample workforce: India is a demographically youthful nation, and every year between 17 and 20 million people look for jobs.
    • Attractive sector: This includes around 5 million people who are abandoning highly exploitative and less remunerative farm jobs every year to find employment in other sectors, mostly in the nearest urban districts.
    • Limited success of service sector: The IT and business process outsourcing industry has less than 200,000 jobs a year during its 25 years of existence. This is just a minuscule 1% of the total number of jobs that need to be created.

    Data justifying un-steady flow of income

    • According to CSO, only about 17% of India’s workers are regular wage earners and less than 23% of Indian households have a regular wage earner.
    • In other words, 77% of our households did not have a steady flow of income.
    • Self-employed (46%) and casual labour (33%) together account for nearly 80% of the workforce and claimed to earn less than ₹10,000 per month.
    • These are the realities that cannot be ignored.

    E-commerce: A game-changer

    • The new-age platforms have done is nothing short of a miracle both in terms of creating jobs as well as paying a fair wage.
    • It can be well established that it has provided a better remedy for unemployment in India.

    Why do e-marketplaces matter?

    • Failure of Skills: Neither skill nor knowledge is enough to ensure one generates income.
    • Technology dependency and free market: Efficient marketplace which are enabled by technology, matters.
    • Common platform: A startup such as the Urban Company is an example of a technology-powered marketplace for common services such as plumbing, carpentry, beauty, and house-cleaning, among others.
    • Single marketplace: They brought consumers and suppliers of services (based on skills) on a common platform and made the whole process of matching demand and supply pretty seamless.

    Benefits offered

    • Decent pay: A consumer of a service is willing to pay more for better quality of service if there is a consistent and reliable process of evaluating the capability of service providers.
    • Self-employment: Most of these workers are always self-employed and even with these platforms, they operate in a gig mode which isn’t structurally different.
    • Better livelihood: Youth from rural India had been joining the Ola and Uber platforms in large numbers, many of whom were either unemployed or heavily under-employed.
    • No skill-compulsion: When skilling is voluntary and driven by a free market mechanism, the outcomes are magical.
    • Industrializing the services: These platforms did ‘industrialize’ the services—industrialization allowed effortless consumption and created structured mechanisms to scale services and service capabilities.
    • New consumption pattern: The technology enabled markets resulted in ‘new consumption’ which, in turn, led to creation of more goods and service providers.

    Way forward

    • As far as the e-commerce industry is concerned, there are several obvious lessons that can contribute towards its growth, going ahead.
    • Also it is not fair to paint the entire industry as exploitative or be unduly critical of the gig model which is actually a very good model.
    • Many of the gig workers themselves would be reluctant to take up full time and fixed salaried jobs. Pushing for premature regulation could be lethal.
    • And finally, it is unrealistic to expect the e-commerce industry to create jobs that are probably as well paying like the IT industry.

    Conclusion

    • Creating high-paying jobs was never easy and will never be easy.
    • Nor is it realistic that everyone, or even a majority of the 20 million, will be employed in high-paying jobs.

     

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  • Police Reforms – SC directives, NPC, other committees reports

    Bengal can’t bar CBI, Centre tells Supreme Court

    | Polity | Mains Paper 2: Federalism

    The Union Government has told the Supreme Court West Bengal state govt does not have any “absolute” power to keep the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) from investigating crimes inside the State.

    What is the issue?

    • A case of post-poll violence was transferred to the CBI by the Calcutta High Court.
    • Hence the State Police is under a cloud.
    • In a response to this, the West Bengal had filed a suit against the Union of India under Article 131 of the Constitution.

    What is Article 131 of Indian Constitution?

    • Article 131 states talks about the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court on matters subject to the provisions of Constitution between the Government of India and one or more States.
    • Thus, the Article allows a state to file a suit in the Supreme Court in case of any dispute that it may have with the central government, invoking the court’s “original jurisdiction”.

    Why WB challenged the Union govt?

    • The State has challenged the CBI’s jurisdiction to register FIRs and conduct investigations in the State in myriad cases.
    • West Bengal said it had withdrawn “general consent” to the CBI way back in 2018.
    • The State said the CBI’s actions were a direct attack on the federal structure of governance.

    What is this ‘General Consent’ about?

    • Unlike the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is governed by its own NIA Act and has jurisdiction across the country, the CBI is governed by the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act.
    • This makes consent of a state government mandatory for conducting an investigation in that state.
    • Hence the CBI has jurisdiction only over central government departments and employees.
    • However, it can investigate a case involving state government employees or a violent crime in a given state only with the consent of state government.

    Arguments made by Centre

    • The Centre said that the CBI was an autonomous body not controlled by the Union Government.
    • Hence the suit was misplaced and should be dismissed.

    Back2Basics:

    Central Bureau of Investigation: Composition, Functions

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