TN Chief Minister yet again reiterated the State’s request for establishing a Regional Bench of the Supreme Court in Chennai and allowing Tamil to be used in the Madras High Court as one of its official languages.
Why in news?
Outgoing Vice President, M Venkaiah Naidu suggested bifurcation of the Supreme Court into four regional benches for speedy disposal of cases.
However, the Supreme Court has maintained on previous occasions that there is no need for such benches outside Delhi.
Why the Supreme Court is located in New Delhi?
Article 130 of the Constitution of India reads- The Supreme Court shall sit in Delhi or in such other place or places, as the Chief Justice of India may, with the approval of the President, from time to time, appoint.
The law thus provides scope for setting up the Supreme Court in multiple places, subject to the concurrence of the CJI and the President.
Who can establish the SC benches outside New Delhi?
The Supreme Court in Union of India v. S.P. Anand Verdict (2009), held that the Article vests exclusive discretionary powers on the matter with the Chief Justice of India.
It is an enabling provision and if the Chief Justice (after taking relevant factors into account) feels that the Court should sit elsewhere, s/he can seek the President’s approval for it.
No authority can compel the Chief Justice of India to act in a particular way under the Article.
Voices for circuit benches
The Law Commission in its 229th Report had suggested setting up a Constitution Bench of the Court in New Delhi and four other benches in different regions i.e., Northern region in Delhi, Southern region in Chennai/Hyderabad, Easter region in Kolkata and Western region in Mumbai.
However, this idea did not find favour with the Judges of the Supreme Court.
Reasons for having Regional/Circuit Benches
Access to Justice: Many litigants are discouraged to travel to Delhi from far away locations like south or northeast India.
Geographical Constraints: A disproportionately high number of cases filed in the Supreme Court originated in High Courts closer to Delhi. Hence coming up with regional benches will remove this constraint.
Huge pendency of cases: Increased workload on the Supreme Court and at present more than 65,000 cases are pending in the Supreme Court, and disposal of appeals takes many years.
Reducing Cost of Justice: It is observed that besides travelling to New Delhi, engaging expensive Supreme Court counsel to pursue a case is beyond the means of most litigants.
Advantages of having circuit courts
Promotes Article 39A: It has been pointed out that Article 39A says that the state shall secure that the operation of the legal system promotes justice, on a basis of equal opportunity.
Remove Geographical Constraints: It is high time we had more benches because in a country as vast as India the litigants have to travel long distances and spend a huge amount of money and energy.
Upholding the spirit of the constitution: Setting up Benches outside Delhi would neither impair unity and integrity nor undermine the importance of the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court will hear a petition filed by former MP Dr Subramanian Swamy, seeking the removal of the words “Socialist” and “Secular” from the preamble of the Indian Constitution.
Why in news?
The petitioners in two similar cases have argued that these words were never intended to be in the Constitution and that such insertion is beyond the amending power of the Parliament under Article 368.
Similar petitions have been filed earlier too and given rise to debates around the preamble and the role it plays in the Constitution.
How did these words come?
The two terms were inserted into the preamble as part of the 42nd Amendmentof the Constitution in1976during the Emergency imposed by then PM Indira Gandhi.
What is the purpose of the Preamble?
A preamble serves as an introduction to a document and contains its basic principles and goals.
When the Indian Constitution was being drafted, the ideals behind the preamble were first laid down in the Objectives Resolution, adopted by the Constituent Assembly in 1947.
These ideals emerged out of the numerous debates that took place during the drafting of the Constitution.
Initially, the Preamble said:
“WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens:
JUSTICE, social, economic and political;
LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;
EQUALITY of status and of opportunity;
And to promote among them all
FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity of the Nation;
IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY this twenty-sixth day of November, 1949, do HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION.”
Nature of the preamble
The Constitution was the product of democratic deliberations and decided upon by the people of India themselves in the wake of freedom from colonial rule.
The ideals mentioned here were at the core of the newly democratic nation.
During the Constituent Assembly debates, many suggestions were put forth — including that God should be invoked in the preamble as in the Irish constitution, that Mahatma Gandhi’s name should be included, etc.
Is it a part of the Constitution?
The question of whether the preamble is a part of the Constitution or simply an introduction has been deliberated upon by the highest court.
This is because the meaning and weight of the objectives mentioned in it, such as equality of status and opportunity, remained unclear from the perspective of law.
However, in its judgment in the famous LIC case of 1995, the Supreme Court said and the Preamble of the Constitution which is an integral part and scheme of the Constitution, affirming its position as part of the Constitution.
Additionally, the violation of any principle mentioned in the preamble cannot be a reason to go to court, meaning the preamble is “non-justiciable”.
However, judgments of courts can cite it as an additional factor in their reasoning, given that it constitutes the spirit of the Constitution.
How else has the preamble been debated earlier?
In 2020 a ruling MP has moved a resolution in Rajya Sabha seeking to remove the word socialism from the preamble.
It said, that the earlier party which ruled the country for seven decades has changed its direction from being socialist to welfare to neo-liberalism.
Its new liberal policies adopted in the 1990s have negated its own earlier positions.
Earlier in 2015, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting used an image of the preamble of the Indian Constitution without the words “socialist” and “secular”, leading to some criticism.
What is the right-wing narrative?
These words were added during the Emergency. Now what is the harm if there is a debate on it?
In 2008, the Supreme Court rejected a plea demanding the removal of ‘socialist’.
The apex court asked-Why do you take socialism in a narrow sense defined by Communists?
In a broader sense, it means welfare measures for the citizens. It is a facet of democracy, said the Court.
It hasn’t got any definite meaning. It gets different meanings in different times.
Under what circumstances was the preamble amended?
Over her years in government, Indira Gandhi had attempted to cement her approval among the masses on the basis of a socialist and pro-poor image with slogans such as “garibi hatao” (Eradicate poverty).
The 42nd Amendment to the Constitution, passed in 1976 when the Emergency was in place, replaced the words “sovereign democratic republic” with “sovereign socialist secular democratic republic”.
It also changed “unity of the nation” to “unity and integrity of the nation”.
Were ‘Secular’ and ‘Socialist’ debated before Independence?
During the debates in the Constituent Assembly, members such as K T Shah and Brajeshwar Prasad had raised the demand to add these words to the preamble.
However, Dr B R Ambedkar argued: What should be the policy of the State, how the Society should be organised in its social and economic side are matters which must be decided by the people themselves according to time and circumstances.
It cannot be laid down in the Constitution itself because that is destroying democracy altogether.
Is it inclusive of the Constitution?
Indeed, many principles affirming secularism and socialism were contained in the Constitution originally, such as in the Directive Principles of State Policy that is meant to guide the government in its actions.
Some examples are provisions related to the “equitable distribution of material resources of the community for the common good”, and protecting the rights of workers.
Similarly, in the fundamental rights that allow the freedom to profess and propagate one’s religion, as well as in the government policies that recognize religious occasions across communities, an Indian version of secularism is followed.
Unlike western secularism which strictly separates the state and religion, the Indian state has over the years acknowledged and involved itself in matters related to all religions.
A farmer in Punjab has committed suicide outside the office of the Muktsar DC against kurki orders for his land based on a court case filed against him by the local moneylender for defaulting on loan payment.
What is Kurki?
Kurki means attachment of a farmer’s land, already pledged to the money lending institution or individual, in case of a loan default.
Apart from banks, private moneylenders, commission agents also get these decrees against farmers from time to time.
How is kurki executed?
Kurki orders are executed under Section 60 of Civil Procedure Code, 1908.
The land which is pledged by the farmer to the bank or money lender gets registered in their name. In some cases, the land is auctioned as well.
The process begins after the money lender moves court to get kurki orders in case the farmer is unable to pay back his loan.
In kurki, attachment of farmer’s land as well as his tractor can be done as per the Section 60.
Was kurki not banned in Punjab?
Both Akali Dal and Congress governments of the past have claimed to have banned kurki.
Congress fought the 2017 Assembly polls on the slogan ‘karza kurki khatam, fasal di poori rakam’.
Soon after winning polls in 2017, the then government abolished Section 67-A of Punjab Cooperative Societies Act that enabled cooperatives to recover unpaid loans through auctioning of land mortgaged by farmers.
However, Section 63-B, 63-C of the Act were not dropped to prevent attachment of land.
Former Punjab CM has also claimed that kurki was abolished by his government. Activists accuses governments of issuing vague orders on the matter.
Why has a total ban on the century-old kurki law not been achieved?
A plea filed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2018 sought complete ban on kurki.
However, the Punjab government in its affidavit stated that there was no need to ban kurki as relief was being given to farmers in terms of loan waiver, compensation etc.
Moreover, it stated that Section 60 of Civil Procedure Code, 1908 – under which kurki takes place — was over 110 years old and needed complete revision.
What is the ground reality?
Farmers point out that they are made to give post-dated cheques for loan, which are then used to get arrest orders issued in cheque bounce cases.
They have also accused money lenders of using pronotes signed by them to get kurki orders.
“Pro-notes” (promissory notes) are written documents taken from farmers, and signed by them at the time of giving the loan.
In April 2022, over 2,000 arrest warrants were issued against farmers for non-payment of loans to cooperative societies and Punjab agriculture development banks.
Russia is holding Vostok exercises. However, India has only sent its army contingent of the 7/8 Gorkha Rifles, and will not take part in the maritime section of the two-part event.
Vostok-2022
It is an annual, multilateral, strategic and command exercise hosted by Russia.
This year it will see the participation of more than 50,000 troops from 13 countries such as India, China, Algeria, India, Laos, Mongolia, Nicaragua, Syria and many more.
While the exercises in Vostok-2022 are routine, they are the first such multilateral exercises to be held since the Russian war in Ukraine began.
Why in news now?
India has only sent its army contingent and will not take part in the maritime section of the two-part event.
This is because the maritime part of the exercises would be held in the Sea of Okhotsk and the Sea of Japan.
India’s decision not to take part in the naval exercises is believed to be in deference to Tokyo’s sensitivities.
What does India’s participation mean?
By sending an army contingent to join Russian and Chinese troops in the exercises at this time, New Delhi is aiming to send a four-pronged message:
Continuing relationship with Russia despite the Ukraine war: The Modi government has decided not to join the Western sanctions regime, or to curb oil imports and other economic engagement with Moscow.
Signal balance and non-alignment in the current crisis: India has mostly abstained from votes at the United Nations seeking to criticise Russia.
India also takes part in routine Indo-Pacific exercises: This is with its Western partners including the Quad, as well as in bilateral exercises, like the India-US Ex. Yudh Abhyas.
Willingness to conditional engagement with China: The message the government continues to give is that it is willing to engage with China on a number of fronts, even as military talks at LAC (Line of Actual Control) remain stuck.
Conclusion
There might be some discomfort for Indian soldiers in dealing with their counterparts at a time when they are facing each other off along the LAC.
But that’s a small price to pay if it means keeping India-Russia ties on an even keel.
India needs to start communicating its intent better.
Strategic communication is an art. It’s time to master it.
GS-1 Important Geophysical phenomena such as earthquakes, Tsunami, Volcanic activity, cyclone. etc., geographical features and their location-changes in critical geographical features (including water-bodies and ice-caps) and in flora and fauna and the effects of such changes.
GS-2 India and its neighbourhood- relations.
GS-3 Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc.
GS-4 Strengthening of ethical and moral values in governance; ethical issues in international relations and funding; corporate governance.
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MASTERCLASS on how do Toppers write ‘Impactful Intro’ in UPSC Essay & score 150+ concluded |Register and get FREE mentorship and Samachar Manthan current week’s module
Whether it’s Philosophical or topical or any other UPSC essay topic, ideally, the introduction should not only introduce mere the topic/issue/concept to the examiner but also (very) briefly describe the central premise of the answer. Zeeshan sir says that a good essay doesn’t require very advanced English.
But the introduction should be such that the examiner knows in advance that you know the answer and you’re not going to beat around the bush or weave a boring net of ornamental words looking for the right answer.
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UPSC Essay favorite topics
Philosophical Essay: You shouldn’t ignore them as UPSC is focused on them. In 2021, most of the questions were philosophical. So, how to write that intro? Should you start with a quote/story/anecdote/or self-written poem? Will be thoroughly discussed.
Topical essay: You should not ignore them completely and prepare a few important topics which are repeated often like IR, Women, Health and Education, Environment, Agriculture, etc. A fitting mark-leaving intro will be different from that of a ‘Philosophical essay’. All these super important points are going to be discussed in this masterclass.
Whichever essay topic you choose – It should be based on the topic you like or you are comfortable with. You have to write impactful introductions that leave a great first impression on the examiner.
Though you can prepare for UPSC and give your attempts anytime till 32 years, the optimal time to begin your preparation is during your college days. A graduation degree is for 3 years and almost all toppers have prepared for the same amount of time to get the success they now enjoy.
One of the biggest advantages for a college student is that they can easily switch to study mode as there are no other additional family responsibilities or expectations. Plus, an IAS officer who clears the exam within 23 years is more likely to hold the highest position of cabinet secretary than someone who cleared it in their late twenties. Youthful enthusiasm is the biggest internal motivation that college students possess which can help them in clearing this exhausting exam.
So, now that you have broken the news to your parents about wanting to write the UPSC-CSE exam, you might be now wondering — what is UPSC-CSE? How to prepare for it? Should I attend a coaching institute? What is the syllabus? How many hours to study… the list is endlessand daunting.
However, you would have missed the obvious question— What kind of questions come in the paper and what kind of answers UPSC expects from an aspirant?
Is UPSC CSE really about reading Unlimited Sources?
Some of us will ask advices from all our friends and family on how to prepare for the exam, resulting in confusion in following through the UPSC syllabus. Don’t let these questions play the devil and make you postpone your UPSC preparation by a few more years. Having the right direction and guidance can help you save 2-3 critical attempts in UPSC. Listen to our Civilsdaily student and AIR 32 2021 UPSC topper Anay on how he improved his performance after 2 attempts with the guidance of Civilsdaily mentor, Sajal sir.
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How Sajal sir and CivilsDaily helped these toppers?
List goes on and on.
What are the other mistakes in UPSC preparation first-time aspirants are likely to make?
About 60% of the UPSC toppers have mostly prepared the wrong way in their first attempt. This could range from books, notes to time and consistency. If you want to start in the right direction, then it’s about time you booked a slot with your Samanvaya mentor.
First-time aspirants often make the mistake of reading many sources for a single subject. If there is a new book in the market, they will not hesitate to buy it. UPSC preparation is not about reading multiple books, but one book multiple times.
Few others, answer the essay paper in a very academic and technical manner.
Most of the first-time aspirants skip studying for the language and CSAT paper.
In the first few months of preparation, all of us read the entire 24 pages of the newspaper and waste 3-4 hrs of time. Some of us are over-confident of clearing the exam with our own preparation or by our institute’s coaching. We might be making notes but we will not be updating them or revising them.
First-time aspirants struggle to understand what to skip in a book or what to cover. They take atleast 2-3 months to finish books like Laxmikanth and yet don’t have conceptual clarity.
You can go through this video over here to get a basic understanding of the UPSC preparation.
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