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RTI Act and Armed Forces
Veterans of the Indian Armed Forces have urged PM against exempting defense services from purview of RTI (Right to Information) Act, 2005.
Why in news?
- Last year, late CDS Rawat had urged the government making a pitch for defence services to be exempted from the RTI Act.
- He had stated that none of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) are under its purview and defence services, being even more sensitive, should be fully exempted too.
What is RTI?
- RTI is an act of the parliament which sets out the rules and procedures regarding citizens’ right to information.
- It replaced the former Freedom of Information Act, 2002.
- Under the provisions of RTI Act, any citizen of India may request information from a “public authority” (a body of Government or “instrumentality of State”) which is required to reply expeditiously or within 30.
- In case of the matter involving a petitioner’s life and liberty, the information has to be provided within 48 hours.
- The Act also requires every public authority to computerize their records for wide dissemination and to proactively publish certain categories of information so that the citizens need minimum recourse to request for information formally.
Constitutional status of RTI
- Since RTI, is implicit in the Right to Freedom of Speech and Expression under Article 19 of the Indian Constitution, it is an implied FR.
- These are backed by the right to constitutional remedies that is, the right to approach the supreme court and high court under Article 32 and 226 respectively in case of infringement of any of FRs.
Benefits of RTI
- Greater accessibility of information: A person can seek information from any public authority in the form of copies, floppy disks, sample material etc under RTI.
- Efficient governance: RTI Act helps us in knowing the efficiency of the government’s functioning.
- Citizen’s participation: Information under RTI can be sought easily by requesting the public officer and assistant public officer in any public authority.
- Government obligation: Obtaining information from any public authority is obligatory for them.
- Maintenance of public record: Under RTI Act, it is the duty of public authorities to maintain records for easy access and to publish within 120 days the name of the particular officers who should give the information and in regard to the framing of the rules, regulations etc.
- Empowerment of Citizens: Every citizen has been empowered to be informed about anything that affects their life directly or indirectly.
Why do Veterans want RTI?
- The RTI has remained a powerful tool with the veterans and serving community to obtain information and documents concerning their service and pensioner issues.
- RTI Act has ensured maximum transparency in official establishments dealing with such cases.
- Even innocuous documents such as medical board proceedings concerning disabled soldiers and old service records of veterans are only made available through the RTI Act.
- Requesting that defence services are not be placed in Schedule 2 of the RTI Act, 2005, the lobby said that adequate protection is already available in Sections 8 and 9 of the Act.
- Armed forces can hold back information related to operational and security-related issues.
Necessity for RTI in armed forces
- Any such move will be a blow to transparency and will lead to an exponential increase in litigation and grievances.
- And any irregularities in defence procurements would also go under the carpet, besides massive discrepancies in promotions.
- Already they are so opaque and have faced so many strictures by the courts.
- Denying such a right of a powerful public-oriented tool to military personnel, veterans, military widows and their families would place them at a sharp disadvantage compared to citizens.
- This would also result in litigation blast with affected persons approaching judicial forums for minor issues.
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Green Hydrogen: Fuel of the Future
India aspires to emerge as the leader of green hydrogen by taking advantage of the current energy crisis across the globe.
Why in news?
- Oil India Limited (OIL) has commissioned India’s first 99.99% pure green hydrogen plant in eastern Assam’s Jorhat.
- Powered by a 500 KW solar plant, the green hydrogen unit has an installed capacity to produce 10 kg of hydrogen per day and scale it up to 30 kg per day.
What is Hydrogen?
- Hydrogen is the lightest, simplest and most abundant member of the family of chemical elements in the universe.
- It is colourless, odourless, tasteless, non-toxic and highly combustible gaseous substance.
What is Green hydrogen?
- Green hydrogen is the one produced with no harmful greenhouse gas emissions.
- It is made by using clean electricity from surplus renewable energy sources, such as solar or wind power, to electrolyse water.
- Electrolysers use an electrochemical reaction to split water into its components of hydrogen and oxygen, emitting zero-carbon dioxide in the process.
- Green hydrogen currently makes up a small percentage of the overall hydrogen, because production is expensive.
Why is India pursuing green hydrogen?
- Under the Paris Agreement of 2015, India is committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 33-35% from the 2005 levels.
- It is a legally binding international treaty on climate change with the goal of limiting global warming to below 2°C compared to pre-industrial levels.
- At the 2021 CoP in Glasgow, India reiterated its commitment to move from a fossil and import-dependent economy to a net-zero economy by 2070.
- India’s average annual energy import bill is more than $100 billion .
- The increased consumption of fossil fuel has made the country a high CO2 emitter which accounts for nearly 7% of the global CO2 burden.
Various policy moves
- In order to become energy independent by 2047, the government stressed the need to introduce green hydrogen as an alternative fuel that can make India the global hub and a major exporter of hydrogen.
- The National Hydrogen Mission was launched on August 15, 2021, with a view to cutting down carbon emissions and increasing the use of renewable sources of energy.
How much green hydrogen is India producing?
- India has just begun to generate green hydrogen with the objective of raising non-fossil energy capacity to 500 gigawatts by 2030.
- It was on April 20, 2022 that the public sector OIL, which is headquartered in eastern Assam’s Duliajan, set up India’s first 99.99% pure green hydrogen pilot plant.
- Research and development efforts are ongoing for a reduction in the cost of production, storage and the transportation of hydrogen.
What are the advantages of hydrogen as a fuel?
- Hydrogen can be used to produce electricity using fuel cells.
- Hydrogen, thus, can act as an energy storage device and contribute to grid stability.
- The oxygen, produced as a by-product (8 kg of oxygen is produced per 1 kg of hydrogen), can also be monetised by using it for industrial and medical applications or for enriching the environment.
Limitations to Hydrogen
- Despite being the most abundant element in the Universe, hydrogen does not exist on its own so needs to be extracted from water via electrolysis or separated from carbon fossil fuels.
- Hydrogen fuel cells need huge investment to be developed to the point where they become a genuinely viable energy source.
- This will also require the political will to invest the time and money into development in order to improve and mature the technology.
- Precious metals such as platinum and iridium are typically required as catalysts in fuel cells meaning unfeasibly high cost.
- There are also barriers around regulatory issues concerning the framework that defines commercial deployment models.
- Storage and transportation of hydrogen is more complex than that required for fossil fuels due to its high inflammability.
Back2Basics: Colours spectrum of Hydrogen
(1) Green hydrogen
(2) Blue hydrogen
- It is produced mainly from natural gas, using a process called steam reforming, which brings together natural gas and heated water in the form of steam.
- The output is hydrogen – but also carbon dioxide as a by-product.
- That means carbon capture and storage (CCS) is essential to trap and store this carbon.
- Blue hydrogen is sometimes described as ‘low-carbon hydrogen’ as the steam reforming process doesn’t actually avoid the creation of greenhouse gases.
(3) Grey hydrogen
- Currently, this is the most common form of hydrogen production.
- Grey hydrogen is created from natural gas, or methane, using steam methane reformation but without capturing the greenhouse gases made in the process.
(4) Black and brown hydrogen
- Any hydrogen made from fossil fuels through the process of ‘gasification’ is sometimes called black or brown hydrogen interchangeably.
- They are the most environmentally damaging.
(5) Pink hydrogen
- Pink hydrogen is generated through electrolysis powered by nuclear energy.
- Nuclear-produced hydrogen can also be referred to as purple hydrogen or red hydrogen.
- In addition, the very high temperatures from nuclear reactors could be used in other hydrogen productions by producing steam for more efficient electrolysis or fossil gas-based steam methane reforming.
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Global Chip Shortage and Related Issues
CEOs of AMD, Nvidia and Intel have said at different forums last year that the chip situation will remain tight for the rest of 2022.
Genesis of shortage
- After reaching its peak in 2011, the laptop market growth slowed down with the rise of alternatives such as smartphones and tablets.
- Then, the pandemic hit.
- People switched to work from home, children connected to schools through laptops, and get-togethers happened over video calls.
- This shift led to a surge in demand for laptops and tablets.
- The stay-at-home rules also made several people pick up console-based learning and gaming.
- Each of these devices were in high demand and are run on thumbnail-sized semiconductors, performing various functions on a single device.
Also read:
What led to the production anomaly?
- Manufacturers produce them as 200mm or 300mm wafers. These are further split into lots of tiny chips.
- While the larger wafers are expensive and mostly used for advanced equipment, the devices that were in high demand needed smaller diameter wafers.
- But the manufacturing equipment needed to make them were in short supply even before the pandemic began.
- Industry is moving in the direction of 5G and advanced communication, which requires expensive wafers.
- High consumer demand for low-end products, coupled with large orders from tech firms chocked chip makers whose factories were also closed during lockdowns.
- As the industry gradually tried to pull itself out of the supply crunch, and logistical complexities have exacerbated the problem.
Impact of Ukrainian War
- Separately, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has strained exports of essential commodities used to make chip sets.
- Moscow supplies rare materials like palladium, and Kyiv sells rare gases to make semiconductor fab lasers.
- This combination is required to build chipsets that power a range of devices, from automobiles to smartphones.
Global supply chain
- About a decade and half back, semiconductors barely drew attention from large companies that have now come to rely on the thumbnail-sized semiconductor piece.
- During this period, firms developed a system to make chip sets.
- The system was made by interconnecting several parts of the world to make a single device.
- It is what we now call as the global supply chain.
How intricate is this network?
- Semiconductor manufacturing involves roughly 25 countries in the direct supply chain, and 23 countries in allied functions, according to a joint study by Global Semiconductor Alliance and Accenture.
- The report estimates a semiconductor-based product could cross international borders about 70 times before finally making it to the end customer.
- Wafer fabrication is the most globally dispersed, with 39 countries directly involved in the supply chain and 34 involved in allied activity.
- They provide services like photolithography, etching and cleaning.
- Designing happens across 12 countries; product testing and manufacturing each are done across 25 countries.
COVID is the only raison d’être
- Supply chain dynamics back fired due to the pandemic, and the recent geopolitical events.
- When the pandemic began, carmakers stopped requesting chips from suppliers due to low demand for new vehicles.
- And now, as they ramp up production to meet consumer demand, chip makers are down on supply because they have cut deals with other industries.
- As the geopolitical events in Central Europe and production shutdowns in China continue to add pressure to the already complicated semiconductor supply chain.
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27th May 2022 | Nikaalo Prelims- Current Affairs Test 11: Annual
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27th May 2022 | Prelims Daily with Previous Year Questions
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The wait is over: The best Preparation of UPSC current affairs with the best teacher begins today (4th June) | From video lectures to micro notes, Samachar Manthan guarantees your success
Resource consolidation till Mains 2023 – Video lectures & notes; Mains answer writing; Habitat club; Google meet sessions; Magazine
New Batch Starting on 4th June 2022. So, without further delay enroll as soon as possible.
Note- There are two variants of Samachar Manthan – Till Prelims and Till Mains
What do toppers have to say about Samachar Manthan
Srija, AIR 20 Shahansha AIR 142, student of Samachar Manthan Dilpreet Singh, AIR 237, student of Samachar Manthan Current affairs are an integral part of every phase of the UPSC-CSE exam. Understanding the significance of current affairs is just one part of the UPSC riddle. For solving the whole riddle, we keep presenting Samachar Manthan Plus Yearly Classes for 2023 aspirants.
Why are current affairs so important?
Up to 2020, UPSC used to ask more questions directly about current affairs.
But in 2021, trends are seen as more dynamic. The number of direct questions from current affairs was less but the current theme-based questions came in more number. Almost 40% of MCQs in Prelims were mixed with current affairs. And in the mains, approximately 50% of questions were connected with current affairs.
An irresistible reason to join ‘Samachar Manthat’ is that it’s more important to understand the analysis of news rather than to only recognize the facts for the upcoming UPSC-CSE 2023.
Why current affairs are crucial in the Interview?
In Personality Tests often your opinions are asked on various issues. Current Affairs make you aware of the surroundings and allow you to give practical answers to the problems faced by the country.
Do you know how our SM helped 2021 aspirants?
- 85% of 2021 GS 2 Mains Questions Are From Civilsdaily Smash Mains & Samachar Manthan Test Series!! Click Here to know
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Srija, AIR 20 Shahansha AIR 142, student of Samachar Manthan Dilpreet Singh, AIR 237, student of Samachar Manthan What is Samachar Manthan?
Samachar Manthan is our flagship program designed to help you develop a solid command of your newspaper reading and current affairs analyzing skills. We are also going to focus on imparting skills required to utilize current affairs. Since it builds your core, it is important for both Prelims and Mains & Interview also.
SAMPLE LECTURES:
Program inclusion
1. Weekly 5+ hours live video and offline lectures
2. High-quality Notes and reference material
3. Membership to Samachar Manthan Habitat club – doubts, discussion, and mentorship session.
4. Weekly Current Affairs based Mains Test (10 Questions) and Evaluation
5. Current Affairs Monthly Prelims Test package
6. Marathon Revision sessions on Habitat before Prelims and Mains
7. Frequent Google meets Sessions to check on Student’s Preparation status
8. Micro notes to help you make your notes.
Duration of the program:
This program will continue till UPSC Mains 2023
What Differentiates Our Samachar Manthan Course?
Civilsdaily’s Samachar Manthan is evidently one brand that sets us apart from any other institute in this Domain.
Our Samachar Manthan Program helps you in 11 key components of your UPSC current affairs preparation:-
- 5-stage structure of Lecture-Notes-Testing-Review-Mentoring
Our unique five-stage methodology helps ensure maximum retention and rock-solid preparation. Each component has been meticulously crafted which is repeated every week to create a virtuous cycle.
- Diversified and Comprehensive coverage
We let news develop over a week, and a team under Sajal Sir daily covers it from various sources which include newspapers (The Hindu, The Indian Express, LiveMint, etc.), magazines (Yojana, Kurukshetra, EPW, Down to Earth), important websites (PIB, PRS, govt ministries, IDSA, etc.).
UPSC is a generalist exam. It’s important to cover more issues than to cover a few, in more depth. Samachar Manthan ensures a fine balance of comprehensive news coverage and detailed discussion on the most important topics.
- Videos and Notes
Carefully selected relevant news is analyzed and delivered in a weekly lecture spanning over 5+ hours. You will be getting high-quality, well-designed notes. They are detailed with proper categorization of news into the Mains and Prelims category.
Our focus is on conceptual clarity, simplicity, relevance, and making interlinkages between current affairs and the basic/static part of the syllabus.
Samachar Manthan will also help you understand how to utilize current affairs in all your Prelims and Mains papers. A part of which is done by tests.
- Weekly Mains mini Test and Evaluation in an audio-visual way
Because learning is not enough, you must apply. Every week a 10-question UPSC level current affairs test follows with video and notes. The focus here is on Mains’s answer writing skills and practice.
It’s a skill that is learned, honed, and perfected gradually. And this is why it should be done regularly. Our team of subject experts evaluates your answers and provides you with feedback. Answer enhancement is one of the objectives of this exercise.
Samachar Manthan Weekly Notes (Click to download)
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- Guest lectures by in-service officers and domain specialists
Apart from comprehensive coverage of current affairs from all dimensions by our faculty, Other Senior Bureaucrats and toppers will also be joining us for various lectures and guest sessions. Their persuasive advice will dispel all doubts. Samachar Manthan is now going to be the optimum ingredient, needed for absolute growth.
- Current Affairs Monthly Prelims Test package
This was feedback that we had received from our students. Now every month we provide a Current Affairs prelims test package.
All this completes a study loop and enhances your retention.
- Civilsdaily Handholding and mentoring:
Our team led by Sajal sir is there to provide handholding support all through your UPSC expedition. Increased interaction with the faculty and teachers from Civilsdaily will help you align your preparation and make it more appropriate. You can reach out to Sajal sir and other teachers on Habitat.
- Google meet sessions
Another important component we have added this year is Google meet sessions. These sessions will be conducted on a regular basis with the aspirants. After almost every class, we will meet our students on the premium live webinar.
- Samachar Manthan 2023 -Habitat club
Habitat is where everything comes together learning, doubt clearing, notes, references, mentors, and a focussed community. You’re going to learn and discuss like never before.
How will your queries be resolved?
- The moment you have a query, you post it in the group. At 11 PM, 3 AM, doesn’t matter. No need to schedule a call, or drop an email. Just drop a chat. Once our team is up, it will be resolved.
- More often than not, your peers will take part in your doubt discussions adding a lot of value.
Besides doubts, what else is there on Habitat?
- #DDS sessions – We have dedicated sessions every day to resolve doubts in real-time. Never keep a doubt to yourself.
- An ecosystem for co-learning and active learning.
- A highly motivated community to bring flexibility and consistency to your preparation.
- Marathon revision sessions before Prelims and Mains
To consolidate your coverage and revision we take revision sessions on Habitat.
- Checked Copy Discussion On Phone / In-person
True ease in writing comes from art and not by chance. So, your writing copies will be checked by our highly qualified & experienced teachers. And they will discuss your checked answers individually with you over the phone or in person. It will help you thrive as a writing prodigy.
Evaluated answer sheet – 1 (Click to download)
Evaluated answer sheet – 2 (Click to download)
The Highly experienced faculty leading this program:
Sajal Singh Sudhanshu Mishra Sajal sir is known to make Economics and IR as easy as a cakewalk. He scored one of the highest marks in GS in the 2017 UPSC exam. Under his guidance, more than 80 percent of students qualified for the UPSC interview 2020 Smash mains Program. Sudhanshu sir has firsthand experience of 3 mains and two interviews of UPSC. He has served in the defense ministry for 10 years with a keen interest in regional and global geopolitics and has ample experience in various other competitive exams as well. sajal@civilsdaily.com sudhanshu@civilsdaily.com Sukanya Rana Poornima Our Civilsdaily Mains Program Head Mrs. Sukanya Rana earlier worked as a PO in Canara Bank. She has an experience of 4 mains and 2 interviews of UPSC. In 2019, she had scored 140 in ethics paper 4. She is part of Smash Mains as an Ethics Mentor. Graduate from Miranda house in Geography and did MA from JNU in Geography. She is also a qualified Net JRF in Geography. So, she will comprehensively cover all the current affairs issues regarding Geography. sukanya@civilsdaily.com poornima@civilsdaily.com - Other Senior Bureaucrats and toppers will also be joining for various lectures and guest sessions.
Shri V.P. Singh Sir, IRPS
Virendra Pratap Singh did his B.Tech from IIT Kharagpur in 2003. He joined the services with immense experience in the Private Sector working across domains in high-profile companies like Tata Steel, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, and Tata Motors. He has consistently scored very high marks in interviews. His 2009 score of 213/300 was among the toppers.
Himanshu Arora
Himanshu sir has a wide experience in the field of both academics and policy-making. He has earlier taught Economics at both undergraduate and Post-Graduate levels at Delhi University. Currently, he is working at the Prime Minister’s economic advisory council. He also writes columns regularly in prestigious newspapers like The Hindu, Indian Express, and Millenium post.
SD Singh
Dr. S D Singh sir, Retd IFoS, 1988 Batch, Uttarakhand Cadre.
He is currently employed with MoEF as a senior consultant. He has 33 years of experience in forestry, environment, wildlife, and biodiversity conservation.
This is what our students have to say about Samachar Manthan and Sajal Sir & other faculties.
Feedbacks from our students.
Toppers and Samachar Manthan
Shahansha AIR 142, student of Samachar Manthan Dilpreet Singh, AIR 237, student of Samachar Manthan -
Imp: Must Read Polity Fundamentals For Prelims 2022
Talk to our mentors for a Roadmap to 2023 Attempt. Click Here
Form of Government:
- Autocracy/ Absolute Monarchy – Concentration of power in one unelected hand
- Democracy – government on the basis of elections
- Constitutional Monarchy – head of state is king/ queen but acts on the aid and advice of elected council of ministers
- Republican Govt.- head of state is elected not a monarch
Democracy
Direct -people vote on every issue, they make laws for themselves
Indirect/ Representative – people choose their representatives who make laws on their behalf
Referendum -people voting on certain important issues in representative democracies
Plebiscite – vote where people choose whether or not they want to remain in a state
In representative democracy
Written constitution – Laws can not be in violation of constitution. Constitution is supreme. Two types of laws – ordinary laws and constitutional laws
Unwritten constitution – Laws framed by parliament is supreme i.e parliament is supreme. Ordinary law and constitution law one and the same
So constitution basically limits the power of state. It has to abide by the constitution
Who will interpret the constitution – Judiciary. It can review laws and policies of govt – not violative of constitution i.e Judicial review
Legislature will frame the laws.
Who will implement – Executive
Two systems here
- Parliamentary form – Executives/ ministers come from Parliament/ must get themselves elected within 6 months.
- Presidential form – Executive is not part of legislature
System of Govt Presidential Parliamentary/ Cabinet form Executive Not part of legislature Part of legislature Separation of Power Complete Incomplete Responsibility to legislature Not responsible Responsible to LokSabha Term Fixed term of both legislative and executive Loksabha and cabinet can be dissolved any time Govt and state Both head of govt and state Head of state, head of govt is PM, real power vests in PM Titbits
- In parliamentary form, head of government is prime minister while head of state is president (republic) or monarchy (constitutional monarchy) whereas president is both head of government as well as head of state in presidential form
- Incomplete separation of power in parliamentary form; complete separation of power in presidential form
Form of Govt
- Unitary – Only 1 tier of govt for the whole country. Units do not get any power directly from the constitution. There may be local bodies and provinces but parliament delegates power to them
- Federal – more than 1, generally 2 tier. Units i.e states/ provinces derive power directly from the constitution
Shades of Federalism:
Federal features Unitary features Written constitution Area, names, boundaries of states can be changed Dual govt, Separate lists – union, state and concurrent Governor Judicial review Integrated and unified Judiciary – Supreme court at top Rigid constitution – when amending articles having interest of state Emergency provisions Bicameral legislature – RS is council of state CAG, EC, All India services, Single citizenship, single constitution Note:
- Federal government is possible only in countries with written constitution
- 3rd tier of governance i.e Panchayati Raj and Municipalities is not federalism but more decentralisation and local self governance.
Various constitutional doctrines
- Separation of Powers – among legislative, executive and judiciary so that no one becomes all powerful
- Checks and Balances- among the three: for instance, judicial review is judicial check on executive and legislature
- Doctrine of repugnancy – state law on concurrent list liable to be struck down if inconsistent with central law
- Doctrine of harmonious reconstruction – Constitutional provisions interpreted not in isolation but to be construed as to harmonize with those other parts
- Doctrine of pith and substance – finding out the true nature of a statute, an act or a provision created by the State is valid if the true nature of the act or the provision is about a subject that falls in the State list
- Doctrine of colorable legislation- Whatever legislature can’t do directly, it can’t do indirectly It is most commonly applied wrt article 246 (3 lists)when a Legislature does not possess the power to make law upon a particular subject but nonetheless indirectly makes one
- Basic Structure – Constitution has some basic structure which can not be amended even if all members of both the house vote to amend that provision (Keshvananda Bharati Case)
- Judicial review – Constitutional courts to examine whether laws or policies violate the constitution
Historical background
Timeline
- Regulating Act, 1773 – Governor of Bengal became Governor General of Bengal (not india) i.e Bombay and Madras presidency subordinate, Supreme court in Calcutta
- Pitts Act 1784 – Board of Control for political affairs, 1st time called British Possession in India
- Charter Act of 1833 – Centralization complete, Governor General of Bengal became that of India, law member introduced in the council
- Charter Act 1853 – Open competition for civil services
- Government of India Act 1858 – Act for good govt, abolished EIC, under direct rule of British govt/ crown now, Secretary of state post created
- Act of 1861 – Recognition to portfolio system, some indians nominated to council
- Act of 1892 – same story
- Act of 1909/ Morley – Minto – element of election introduced, 1st Indian in executive council of viceroy, Separate Electorate
- Act of 1919/ Montagu – Chelmsford – Dyarchy or dual govt in provinces – transferred and reserved subject, Bicameral legislature
- GOI Act 1935 – Federation, Autonomy to provinces, 3 lists, residuary powers in viceroy
Titbits:
- From 1858 under direct control of British govt. Therefore, GOI acts, before that charter act (EIC charter) and regulating act
- Concurrent list was borrowed from GOI act 1935 as well as Australian constitution. Residuary power vests with centre now while it vested in viceroy in GOI act 1935
- 1st name is secretary of state and 2nd name is viceroy i.e Montagu and Morley are secretaries
1st Governor General (GG) of Bengal (1773) Warren Hastings 1st GG of India (1833) William Bentinck Last GG and 1st Viceroy (1858) Lord Canning 1st law member (1833) Macaulay 1st Indian to Viceroy’s executive council Satyendra Sinha Features from other constitution (Only Imp things)
USA Federalism, Bill of rights, Judicial review, due process of law Britain Parliamentary system, Rule of law, Bicameralism Russia Fundamental duties, Justice France Republic, liberty, equality, fraternity Ireland DPSP, Nomination to RS Australia Concurrent list, Joint sitting Canada Federation with strong centre, residuary powers with centre, office of governor. -
Why transfer of case to district judge by Supreme Court sends the wrong signal
Context
The Supreme Court order of May 20, transferring the suit on the Gyanvapi Masjid dispute from the civil judge (senior division) Varanasi to the district judge casts aspersion, though unintended, on the competence of civil judges in general.
Background
- The matter had reached the Supreme Court on a petition filed by the Mosque Management Committee, which challenged the civil judge’s orders.
- The order permitted inspection, survey, and videography of the mosque’s complex to collect evidence about the alleged existence of idols of Hindu deities inside the mosque, which is adjacent to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple.
- The Mosque Management Committee had filed an application before the civil judge seeking the rejection of the plaint on the ground that it was barred by the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991.
- Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 prohibits individuals and groups of people from converting, in full or in part, a place of worship of any religious denomination into a place of worship of a different religious denomination, or even a different segment of the same religious denomination.
- It was argued before the SC that given the said Act, the suit was liable to be rejected at the threshold as the civil judge had no jurisdiction to entertain the same, much less to pass the aforesaid interim orders.
- The SC has not found any fault with the order of the civil judge, though there is also a view that it was mandatory on the part of the civil judge to have first passed an order on whether he had the jurisdiction to entertain the suit.
- However, it appears that in the SC’s view, this was not a serious infraction.
- So, in a way, the SC has affirmed the orders of the civil judge.
- The civil court had territorial and pecuniary jurisdiction to deal with the matter.
- The question that arises is: Why has the Supreme Court transferred the matter to the court of the district judge?
Issues with the SC transferring the case to the district judge
- The SC has seemingly declared civil judges to be not competent to decide a matter alleged to be complex.
- When the Civil Procedure Code, the High Court Rules and Orders invest a civil judge with jurisdiction, why take it away merely on the plea that the matter is complex?
- Unhealthy precedent: Fransfer of the case to the district judge has set an unhealthy precedent and will have a demoralising effect on the subordinate judiciary.
- In the recent past, many lower-level judicial officers have passed outstanding orders in matters concerning the liberties of the citizens, which are under threat as never before.
- The subordinate judiciary provides the foundation of our judicial system.
Conclusion
Supreme Court order inadvertently casts aspersions on competence of subordinate judiciary. District court should not be weighed down by SC observation.
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