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  • Zoonotic Diseases: Medical Sciences Involved & Preventive Measures

    Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomic Consortia (INSACOG)

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

    In early March, members of the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomic Consortia (INSACOG), an advisory group to the Central government, warned of a new and contagious form of the novel coronavirus.

    What is INSACOG?

    • INSACOG is a consortium of 10 labs across the country tasked with scanning COVID-19 samples from swathes of patients and flagging the presence of variants that were known to have spiked transmission internationally.
    • It has also been tasked with checking whether certain combinations of mutations were becoming more widespread in India.
    • Some of these labs had begun scanning for mutations in April 2020 itself, but it was not a pan-India effort.
    • The institutes involved were laboratories of the Department of Biotechnology, the CSIR, the ICMR, and the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW).
    • The National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) under the MoHFW was tasked with coordinating the collection of samples from the States as well correlating disease with the mutations.
    • The work began in January by sequencing samples of people who had a history of travel from the United Kingdom and a proportion of positive samples in the community.

    What are the findings?

    • The “foreign” variants identified were primarily the B.1.1.7 (first identified in the United Kingdom) and the B.1.351 (first found in South Africa) and a small number of P2 variants (from Brazil).
    • However, some labs flagged the growing presence of variants identified in India that were clubbed into a family of inter-related variants called B.1.617, also known as the ‘double mutant’ variant.
    • It was primarily due to two mutations — E484Q and L452R — on the spike protein.
    • The B.1.617 family was marked as an international ‘variant of concern’ after it was linked to a recent spike in cases in the UK.
    • INSACOG labs also found that the B.1.1.7 variant, which is marked by increased infectivity, is distinctly more prevalent in several northern and central Indian States in comparison to southern States.

    Beyond identifying patterns, why is genome sequencing useful?

    • The purpose of genome sequencing is to understand the role of certain mutations in increasing the virus’s infectivity.
    • Some mutations have also been linked to immune escape, or the virus’s ability to evade antibodies, and this has consequences for vaccines.
    • Labs across the world, including many in India, have been studying if the vaccines developed so far are effective against such mutant strains of the virus.
    • They do this by extracting the virus from COVID-19-positive samples and growing enough of it. Then, blood serum from people who are vaccinated, and thereby have antibodies, is drawn.
    • Using different probes, scientists determine how much of the antibodies thus extracted are required to kill a portion of the cultured virus.
    • In general, the antibodies generated after vaccination — and this was true of Covaxin, Covishield, Pfizer and Moderna jabs — were able to neutralize variants.
    • Antibody levels are not the only markers of protection and there is a parallel network of cellular immunity that plays a critical role in how vaccines activate immunity.
    • The current evidence for most COVID-19 vaccines is that they have almost 75% to 90% efficacy in protecting against disease but less so in preventing re-infection and transmission.

    Challenges faced by INSACOG

    • Given that the novel coronavirus is spreading, mutating, and showing geographical variations, the aim of the group was to sequence at least 5% of the samples.
    • For many reasons, this has so far been only around 1%, primarily due to a shortage of funds and insufficient reagents and tools necessary to scale up the process.
    • While some of these issues, the INSACOG, in spite of being peopled by expert scientists, is ultimately an advisory group to the Central government and part of its communication structure.
    • Warnings about emerging variants were not made public with sufficient urgency and the sharing of datasets, even within constituent groups of the INSACOG, was less than ideal.

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  • Global Geological And Climatic Events

    Eruption of Mount Nyiragongo

    India Mapping | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 1: Geographical Features & Their Location

    Thousands have fled a volcanic eruption in the Democratic Republic of Congo from Mount Nyiragongo on the outskirts of Goma City.

    These were some volcanoes in news this year:

    Mount Vesuvius, Taal Volcano, La Soufriere

    Mount Nyiragongo

    • Mount Nyiragongo is an active stratovolcano with an elevation of 3,470 m (11,385 ft) in the Virunga Mountains associated with the Albertine Rift.
    • The main crater is about 2km wide and usually contains a lava lake.
    • The crater presently has two distinct cooled lava benches within the crater walls.
    • It is one of the 16 Decade Volcanoes.
    • Nyiragongo’s lava lake has at times been the most voluminous known lava lake in recent history. The depth of the lava lake varies considerably.
    • Nyiragongo and nearby Nyamuragira are together responsible for 40 percent of Africa’s historical volcanic eruptions.

    Answer this PYQ in the comment box:

    Q.Which of the following adds/add carbon dioxide to the carbon cycle on the planet Earth?

    1. Volcanic action
    2. Respiration
    3. Photosynthesis
    4. Decay of organic matter

    Select the correct answer using the code given below:

    (a) 1 and 3 only

    (b) 2 only

    (c) 1, 2 and 4 only

    (d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

    What are Decade Volcanoes?

    • The Decade Volcanoes are 16 volcanoes identified by the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth’s Interior (IAVCEI).
    • They are considered worthy of particular study in light of their history of large, destructive eruptions and proximity to densely populated areas.
    • They are named Decade Volcanoes because the project was initiated in the 1990s as part of the United Nations-sponsored International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction.

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  • Tax Reforms

    Benefits of environmental fiscal reforms

    op-ed snap | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 3: Conservation, Environmental Pollution & Degradation, Eia

    The article highlights the advantages of environmental fiscal reforms in India.

    Status of  out-of-pocket spending on health in India

    • As per WHO data, in 2011,  17.33% of the population in India made out-of-pocket payments on health that was more than 10% of their income.
    • The percentage was higher in rural areas compared to urban areas.
    • Globally, 12.67% of the population spent more than 10% of their income (out of their pocket) on health.
    • In Southeast Asia, 16% spent more than 10% of their household income on health.
    • Similarly, 3.9% of the population in India made more than 25% of out-of-pocket payments on health, with 4.34% of it in the rural areas.

    Alternate source of health financing: Eco tax

    • The Economic Survey of India 2019-20 has outlined that an increase in public spending from 1% to 2.5-3% of GDP, can decrease out-of-pocket expenditure from 65% to 30% of overall healthcare expenses.
    • The National Health Policy of 2017 also envisages increase in public spending from 1% to 2.5-3% of GDP.
    • This is where the importance of alternate sources of health financing in India needs to be stressed.
    • Fiscal reforms for managing the environment are important, and India has great potential for revenue generation in this aspect.

    Environmental tax reforms

    • Environmental tax reforms generally involve three complementary activities:
    • 1. Eliminating existing subsidies and taxes that have a harmful impact on the environment;
    • 2. Restructuring existing taxes in an environmentally supportive manner;
    • 3. Initiating new environmental taxes.
    • Taxes can be designed either as revenue neutral or revenue augmenting.
    • Revenue augmenting model: In case of revenue augmenting, the additional revenue can either be targeted towards the provision of environmental public goods or directed towards the overall revenue pool.
    • In developing countries like India, the revenue can be used to a greater extent for the provision of environmental public goods and addressing environmental health issues.

    Eco tax

    • The success of an eco tax (environment tax) in India would depend on its architecture, that is, how well it is planned and designed.
    • It should be credible, transparent and predictable.
    • Ideally, the eco tax rate ought to be equal to the marginal social cost arising from the negative externalities associated with the production, consumption or disposal of goods and services.
    • This would include the adverse impacts on the health of people, climate change, etc.
    • The eco tax rate may, thus, be fixed commensurate to the marginal social cost so evaluated.
    • There is also a need to integrate environmental taxes in the Goods and Service Tax framework.

    In India, eco taxes can target three main areas

    • One, differential taxation on vehicles in the transport sector purely oriented towards fuel efficiency and GPS-based congestion charges.
    • Two, in the energy sector by taxing fuels which feed into energy generation.
    • Three, waste generation and use of natural resources.

    Benefits of implementation of eco taxes

    • The implementation of an environmental tax in India will have three broad benefits: fiscal, environmental and poverty reduction.
    • Finance basic public services: Environmental tax reforms can mobilise revenues to finance basic public services when raising revenue through other sources proves to be difficult or burdensome.
    • Reduce distorting taxes: It can can also help to reduce other distorting taxes such as fiscal dividend.
    • Finance research: Environmental tax reforms help internalise the externalities, and the said revenue can finance research and the development of new technologies.

    Impact

    • Environmental regulations may lead to slow productivity growth and high cost of compliance in private sector.
    • This could result in the possible increase in the prices of goods and services.
    • However, the European experience shows that most of the taxes also generate substantial revenue and there is no evidence on green taxes with sustainable development goals leading to a ‘no growth’ economy.
    • Negligible impact on GDP: Most countries’ experiences suggest negligible impact on the GDP, though such revenues have not necessarily been used for environmental considerations.
    • The negligible impact on the GDP may be a temporary phenomenon.

    Conclusion

    This is the right time for India to adopt environmental fiscal reforms as they will reduce environmental pollution and also generate resources for financing the health sector.

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  • Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code

    Supreme Court says Personal Guarantors liable for Corporate Debt

    | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Indian Economy

    The Supreme Court has upheld a government moves to allow lenders to initiate insolvency proceedings against personal guarantors, who are usually promoters of big business houses, along with the stressed corporate entities for whom they gave a guarantee.

    What is the Judgement?

    • The judgment has allowed creditors, usually financial institutions and banks, to move against personal guarantors under the Indian Bankruptcy and Insolvency Code (IBC) was “legal and valid”.
    • The November 15, 2019 notification was challenged before several High Courts initially.
    • The apex court said there was an “intrinsic connection” between personal guarantors and their corporate debtors.

    What is a personal guarantee? How do promoters use this route to get funds?

    • A personal guarantee is most likely to be furnished by a promoter or promoter entity when the banks demand collateral which equals the risk they are taking by lending to the firm, which may not be doing so well.
    • It is different from the collateral that firms give to banks to take loans, as Indian corporate laws say that individuals such as promoters are different from businesses and the two are very separate entities.
    • A personal guarantee, therefore, is an assurance from the promoters or promoter group that if the lender allows them the fund, they will be able to turn around the loss-making unit and repay the said loan on time.

    Impact of the move

    • The apex court ruling will help banks go after those who have offered guarantees to recover dues in case the resolution amount is short of the claims filed by them in the National Company Law Tribunal.
    • Over the years, many companies have repeatedly defaulted in loan repayment and got banks to restructure the debt, often citing systemic issues.
    • But as part of the clean-up initiated five years ago, the IBC was enacted and banks were told to go after those who were not paying their dues.

    About the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016

    • IBC is the bankruptcy law of India that seeks to consolidate the existing framework by creating a single law for insolvency and bankruptcy.
    • It is a one-stop solution for resolving insolvencies which previously was a long process that did not offer an economically viable arrangement.
    • The code aims to protect the interests of small investors and make the process of doing business less cumbersome.

    Key features of the code

    (1) Insolvency Resolution:

    • The Code outlines separate insolvency resolution processes for individuals, companies, and partnership firms. The process may be initiated by either the debtor or the creditors.
    • A maximum time limit, for completion of the insolvency resolution process, has been set for corporates and individuals.

    (2) Insolvency regulator:

    • The Code establishes the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India, to oversee the insolvency proceedings in the country and regulate the entities registered under it.
    • The Board will have 10 members, including representatives from the Ministries of Finance and Law, and the Reserve Bank of India.

    (3) Insolvency professionals:

    • The insolvency process will be managed by licensed professionals.
    • These professionals will also control the assets of the debtor during the insolvency process.

    (4) Bankruptcy and Insolvency Adjudicator:

    The Code proposes two separate tribunals to oversee the process of insolvency resolution, for individuals and companies:

    1. the National Company Law Tribunal for Companies and Limited Liability Partnership firms; and
    2. the Debt Recovery Tribunal for individuals and partnerships

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  • Coronavirus – Economic Issues

    What is Vaccine Tourism?

    | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Health & Education

    A couple of days ago, reports emerged of a Dubai-based tour operator offering a 24-day package tour from Delhi to Moscow that has included two shots of the Russian Sputnik-V vaccine.

    What is vaccine tourism?

    • In India, the term “vaccine tourism” became popular late last year when reports emerged of several tour operators offering packages to the US with the additional benefit of a vaccine shot.
    • Meanwhile, South Africans are said to be flying to Zimbabwe, Canadians and South Americans are traveling to the US for jabs, while tour operators in Europe are offering trips to Russia for Sputnik V shots.
    • It is said that Russia and the Maldives are already working on programs to offer people abroad the chance to get vaccinated during a visit; similar offerings are sprouting in the US as well.

    Why is it gaining popularity?

    • In fact, vaccine tourism is an emerging trend in countries where vaccines are in short supply, or where certain groups are still restricted from being inoculated.
    • Still, there are only a few countries in the world (parts of the US, Russia, Slovakia, Zimbabwe, etc) that don’t restrict their vaccination policy to local residents.
    • Currently, it is not illegal to travel to a foreign country to get vaccinated if air travel is allowed.
    • Recently, Seychelles announced that only vaccinated visitors from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh who have completed two weeks after their second dose are permitted to travel to and enter the island nation, with proof.

    Can Indians go abroad to get vaccinated for Covid-19?

    • There may be no need for anyone from India to go abroad for vaccination since all eligible Indians will be vaccinated in the country by the end of this year – that too, at the most reasonable rates possible.
    • However, the idea of vaccine tourism is gaining momentum in India.
    • Many Indians, who fled to Dubai just before the international flight ban came into effect last month, are said to be availing of the Chinese vaccine Sinopharm shots in the UAE.

    Not to be confused with Vaccine Passport

    • Sometimes, vaccine tourism is confused with vaccine passports, which is a more regulated practice gaining currency around the world.

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  • Forest Conservation Efforts – NFP, Western Ghats, etc.

    Person in news: Sunderlal Bahuguna

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

    Veteran environmentalist and architect of the Chipko Movement Sundarlal Bahuguna, 94 has succumbed to COVID.

    Answer this PYQ in the comment box:

    Q.In India, the problem of soil erosion is associated with which of the following?

    1. Terrace cultivation
    2. Deforestation
    3. Tropical climate

    Select the correct answer using the code given below:

    (a) 1 and 2 only

    (b) 2 only

    (c) 1 and 3 only

    (d) 1, 2 and 3

    Sunderlal Bahuguna

    • Bahuguna was one of the leaders of the Chipko movement, fighting for the preservation of forests in the Himalayas.
    • Chipko means ‘embrace’ or ‘tree huggers’ and this vast movement was a decentralized one with many leaders usually being village women.
    • Often, they would chain themselves to trees so that loggers could not cut down forests.
    • These actions slowed down the destruction, but more importantly, they brought deforestation to the public’s attention.

    His contributions

    • From 1981-1983, Sundarlal Bahuguna led a 5,000-kilometre march across the Himalayas, ending with a meeting with late PM Indira Gandhi, to protect some areas of the Himalayan forests from tree-felling.
    • Sundarlal Bahuguna was also a leader in the movement to oppose the Tehri dam project and in defending India’s rivers.
    • He also worked for women’s rights and the rights of the poor.
    • His methods were Gandhian, making use of peaceful resistance and non-violence.
    • The Chipko Movement received the 1987 Right Livelihood Award, also referred to as the Alternative Nobel Prize.

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  • Festivals, Dances, Theatre, Literature, Art in News

    Appointments to the Kalakshetra Foundation

    Prelims Only | Trivia | Mains Paper 1: Arts & Culture

    The Central government has appointed 12 eminent artists and musicians to the board of the prestigious institution.

    Kalakshetra Foundation

    • It is an arts and cultural academy dedicated to the preservation of traditional values in Indian art and crafts, especially in the field of Bharatanatyam dance and Gandharvaveda music.
    • Based in Chennai, India, the academy was founded in January 1936 by Rukmini Devi Arundale and her husband George Arundale.
    • Under Arundale’s guidance, the institution achieved national and international recognition for its unique style and perfectionism.
    • In January 1994, an Act of the Parliament of India recognized the Kalakshetra Foundation as an “Institute of National Importance.”

    Who was Rukmini Devi Arundale?

    • Devi (1904 –1986) was an Indian theosophist, dancer, and choreographer of the Indian classical dance form of Bharatanatyam, and an activist for animal welfare.
    • She was the first woman in Indian history to be nominated a member of the Rajya Sabha.
    • The most important revivalist of Bharatanatyam from its original ‘sadhir’ style prevalent amongst the temple dancers, the Devadasis, she also worked for the re-establishment of traditional Indian arts and crafts.
    • She espoused the cause of Bharata Natyam which was considered a vulgar art.
    • She ‘sanitised’ and removed the inherent eroticism of Sadhir to make it palatable to Victorian British morality and Indian upper-caste elites.

    Back2Basics: Bharatanatyam

    • Bharatanatyam previously called Sadhir Attam is a major form of Indian classical dance that originated in Tamil Nadu.
    • It is one of the oldest classical dance traditions in India.
    • It has been nurtured in the temples and courts of southern India since the ancient era.
    • It is one of eight forms of dance recognized by the Sangeet Natak Akademi (the others being Kathak, Kuchipudi, Odissi, Kathakali, Mohiniyattam, Manipuri, and Sattriya).
    • The word Bharata is a mnemonic, consisting of “bha”–”ra”–”ta”.
    • According to this belief, bha stands for bhava (feelings, emotions), ra stands for raga (melody, framework for musical notes), and ta stands for tala (rhythm).

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  • Important Judgements In News

    Maratha quota judgment could lead to a federal crisis on reservation

    op-ed snap | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Government Scheme/Policies

    The article highlights the issues with the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the 102nd amendment depriving the States of power to identify the SEBCs.

    How 102nd Constitution Amendment was interpreted by the SC?

    • Supreme Court held that the 102nd Constitution Amendment has taken away the power of the states to identify and prepare a list of Socially and Economically Backward Classes (SEBCs).
    • The Supreme Court has interpreted the 102nd constitutional amendment to the effect that only the President can publish a list of backward classes in relation to each state and that only Parliament can make inclusions and exclusions in that list.
    • The Supreme Court has also directed the central government to notify the list of SEBCs for each state and Union Territory.
    • Until such lists are prepared, the court directed that the present state list would continue to be in operation.

    Time-honoured authority of the States

    • The states have been exercising the power to identify the list of SEBCs from the beginning of the 20th century.
    • In states like the Madras Presidency, Mysore, Bombay, Travancore-Cochin, reservation and other benefits to OBCs were in practice since the 1920s.
    • The Constitution (First Amendment) Act, 1951 and the insertion of Article 15(4), empowered the states to make “special provision for the advancement of socially and educationally backward classes of citizens”.
    • In states like Bihar, 26 per cent reservation to OBCs in jobs and educational institutions were provided in 1978 on the recommendations of the Mungeri Lal Commission.
    • Similarly, in more than a dozen states, reservation in jobs and educational institutions were provided on recommendations of the respective state commissions.

      Central list of SEBC after Indra Sawhney judgment

    • Till 1992, there was no central list of SEBCs and no reservation in jobs and educational institutions in the central government.
    • In the Indra Sawhney judgment in 1992, the Supreme Court upheld 27 per cent reservation in central government jobs for SEBCs.
    • After Indra Sawhney, the Union government was authorised to prepare a central list for reservation of SEBCs in central government jobs and take other affirmative actions.
    • Acting on the directions of the Supreme Court in Indra Sawhney, the central and several state governments enacted laws for setting up commissions to ascertain and identify the backward class of citizens.
    • Therefore, after 1992, there was a “central list” for central government services and a “state list” that was prepared by state governments for state-specific jobs.

    Intention of the Union government

    • The intention was not to change the status quo and to take away the power of the state governments to prepare and notify a separate state list of SEBCs.
    • Even during the discussion in the select committee of Parliament on the 102nd Constitution Amendment, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment clarified that the proposed insertion of Article 342A (1) and (2) did not interfere with the power of state governments to identify SEBCs.
    • In the affidavit filed by the central government before the Supreme Court, it was submitted that the power of Parliament to identify SEBCs lay with reference to the central list and states would have a separate list of SEBCs for reservation.

    Way forward

    • If the review petition fails to convince the Supreme Court, the central government would have to expeditiously bring a constitutional amendment to resolve this crisis.

    Consider the question “Examine the issues with the Supreme Courts interpretation of the 102nd constitutional amendment regarding the States’ right to identify the socially and economically backward class.” 

    Conclusion

    The majority judgement by 3:2 has failed to appreciate that Article 15 empowers the states to identify socially and economically backward classes of citizens and that this power has not been changed by the 102nd Constitution Amendment.

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  • Intellectual Property Rights in India

    How AIDS fight offers a COVID vaccine patent pathway

    op-ed snap | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Intellectual Property Rights

    The possibilities of new strain of Covid-19 emerging from any region of the world could derail the global recovery. To prevent that from happening vaccines need to be made available and affordable to all. This article discusses the ways to ensure that.

    Ensuring affordability and availability of Covid vaccines

    • To achieve global herd immunity and prevent new strains of COVID-19 from emerging, vaccines need to be affordable and available in massive quantities throughout the globe.
    • Following three are the ways to ensure vaccine availability and affordability.
    • 1) Voluntary linceses: This can happen through patent owners voluntarily licensing their products to other companies, especially Indian producers who are experienced at mass-producing low-cost medications.
    • 2) Compulsory licenses: This can also be done by temporarily suspending patent rights for COVID vaccines.
    • 3) COVAX option: Some favour ensuring access to COVID-19 vaccines through the COVAX programme.

    Options to ensure vaccine availability and affordability

    1) Voluntary licencing: Lessons from fight against AIDS

    • Due to anti-TRIPS activism from low-income countries and low profits from low-income markets some manufacturers placed licensing agreements to produce AIDS drugs for which they owned patent rights in the UN-affiliated Medicines Patent Pool.
    • Several India-based companies then used these voluntary licences to manufacture these drugs on a massive scale and sold them at prices they determined.
    • This effort brought down the price of key AIDS medications in these countries.
    • The United Nations’ Medicines Patent Pool and the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 Technology Access Pool are important tools in an effort to promote voluntary licensing for COVID products.
    • Sharing patent rights through voluntary licensing would need to involve India’s large pharmaceutical sector.

    Challenges in voluntary licensing

    • So far, no patent holders have joined the WHO’s COVID-19 Technology Access Pool.
    • This is why India and South Africa called on the WTO to temporarily waive patent protections for COVID-19.
    •  Meanwhile, the UN Medicines Patent Pool stands ready to accept voluntary licences for COVID-19.

    2) Compulsory licenses

    • Compulsory licenses override patent rights to allow local production or import of drugs by generic manufacturers in the event of a public health crisis.
    • Since 2003, this right has been enshrined in the Doha Declaration addendum to the WTO’s TRIPS agreement and this is what India and South Africa are lobbying for.
    • The Doha addendum, Section 5c, offers AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis as examples of what qualifies as a health emergency.
    • By this standard, COVID-19 should easily qualify.

    Issues with compulsory licensing

    • Good will: Manufacturers in India say they prefer to work with voluntary licences because there is more good will between companies while compulsory licences often come with a legal battle brought by the patent holder.
    • Time factor: Voluntary licences also enable production to begin more expeditiously as they usually are accompanied by “technology transfer” meaning that the patent holder reveals to the licensee how to manufacture the medication.
    • No need to reverse engineer: Volunatry licensing spares the licensee the lengthy and costly process of figuring out how to reverse engineer the product.

    3) COVAX option and issues

    • COVAX programme was established to purchase vaccine doses and donate them to low-income countries.
    • It does not involve modifying patent rights.
    • Underfunded: COVAX is also currently underfunded.
    • Delay: The Director-General of WHO warned that people in the lowest-income countries might have to wait until 2022 to get vaccinated through this programme.

    Government aid should entail an obligation

    • The billions of dollars in government aid given to companies to help develop COVID-19 treatments should entail an obligation to enable the mass production of affordable vaccines.
    • Patents are not ironclad ownership rights, they are a temporary contract that balances the public interest with the claims of the innovator. 

    Consider the question “What is the importance of ensuring availability and affordability of Covid-19 vaccine throughout the world? What are the options available to ensure that?”

    Conclusion

    This is not just a question of social justice and ensuring life-saving therapies are available to the world’s poor. It is a necessary step to prevent deadlier, more contagious and possibly vaccine-resistant variants of COVID-19 from proliferating in an under-vaccinated world.

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  • Judicial Reforms

    Pardoning powers of the President

    | Polity | Mains Paper 2: Indian Constitution – historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure

    Tamil Nadu CM has written to the President requesting him to accept the State Government’s to remit the life sentences of all the seven convicts in the Ex-PM’s assassination case.

    Story so far

    • Tamil Nadu government had recommended to the state Governor for the remission of the rest of the sentence for all convicts and their early release.
    • The Governor has then decided that the President was the competent authority to decide on the plea of remission of sentence.

    Answer this PYQ in the comment box:

    Q.Which of the following are the discretionary powers given to the Governor of a State?

    1. Sending a report to the President of India for imposing the President’s rule
    2. Appointing the Ministers
    3. Reserving certain bills passed by the State Legislature for consideration of the President of India
    4. Making the rules to conduct the business of the State Government

    Select the correct answer using the code given below:

    (a) 1 and 2 only

    (b) 1 and 3 only

    (c) 2, 3 and 4 only

    (d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

    Pardon

    • A pardon is a government/executive decision to allow a person to be absolved of guilt for an alleged crime or other legal offense as if the act never occurred.

    Why need Pardon?

    • Pardons can be granted when individuals are deemed to have demonstrated that they have “paid their debt to society”, or are otherwise considered to be deserving of them.
    • Pardons are sometimes offered to persons who were either wrongfully convicted or who claim that they were wrongfully convicted.
    • Pardons are sometimes seen as a mechanism for combating corruption, allowing a particular authority to circumvent a flawed judicial process to free someone that is seen as wrongly convicted.

    Pardoning powers in India

    • Under the Constitution of India (Article 72), the President of India can grant a pardon or reduce the sentence of a convicted person, particularly in cases involving capital punishment.
    • A similar and parallel power vests in the governors of each state under Article 161.

    [1] President

    1. Article 72 says that the president shall have the power to grant pardons, reprieves, respites or remissions of punishment or to suspend, remit or commute the sentence of any person convicted of any offense.
    2. The pardoning powers of the Indian President are elucidated in Art 72 of the Indian Constitution. There are five different types of pardoning that are mandated by law.
    • Pardon: means completely absolving the person of the crime and letting him go free. The pardoned criminal will be like a normal citizen.
    • Commutation: means changing the type of punishment given to the guilty into a less harsh one, for example, a death penalty commuted to a life sentence.
    • Reprieve: means a delay allowed in the execution of a sentence, usually a death sentence, for a guilty person to allow him some time to apply for Presidential Pardon or some other legal remedy to prove his innocence or successful rehabilitation.
    • Respite: means reducing the quantum or degree of the punishment to a criminal in view of some special circumstances, like pregnancy, mental condition etc.
    • Remission: means changing the quantum of the punishment without changing its nature, for example reducing twenty year rigorous imprisonment to ten years.

    Cases as specified by art. 72

    • in all cases where the punishment or sentence is by a court martial;
    • in all cases where the punishment or sentence is for an offence against any law relating to a matter to which the executive power of the Union extends;
    • in all cases where the sentence is a sentence of death.

    [2] Governor

    • Similarly, as per article 161: Governor of a State has the power to grant pardons, reprieves, respites or remissions of punishment or to suspend, remit or commute the sentence of any person convicted of any offence against any law.
    • It must be relating to a matter to which the executive power of the state extends.
    • Please note that President can grant pardon to a person awarded death sentence. But a governor of a state does not enjoy this power.

    Nature of the Pardoning Power

    • The question is whether this power to grant pardon is absolute or this power of pardon shall be exercised by the President on the advice of Council of Ministers.
    • The pardoning power of the president is not absolute. It is governed by the advice of the Council of Ministers.
    • This has not been discussed by the constitution but is the practical truth.
    • Further, the constitution does not provide for any mechanism to question the legality of decisions of President or governors exercising mercy jurisdiction.
    • But the SC in Epuru Sudhakar case has given a small window for judicial review of the pardon powers of President and governors for the purpose of ruling out any arbitrariness.
    • The court has earlier held that court has retained the power of judicial review even on a matter which has been vested by the Constitution solely in the Executive.

    Some traditions

    • It is important to note that India has a unitary legal system and there is no separate body of state law.
    • All crimes are crimes against the Union of India.
    • Therefore, a convention has developed that the governor’s powers are exercised for only minor offenses.
    • While requests for pardons and reprieves for major offenses and offenses committed in the UTs are deferred to the President.

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