CJI under the RTI Act

Why in News

The Supreme Court has ruled that the office of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) is a public authority under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005.

• A five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi gave the ruling.

Highlights of the Ruling

• The Supreme Court is a “public authority” and the office of the CJI is part and parcel of the institution. Hence, if the Supreme Court is a public authority, so is the office of the CJI.
  
  • The judiciary cannot function in total insulation as judges enjoy a constitutional post and discharge public duty.
• However, Right to Privacy is an important aspect and has to be balanced with transparency while deciding to give out information from the office of the Chief Justice of India.
  
  • RTI cannot be used as a tool of surveillance and that judicial independence has to be kept in mind while dealing with transparency.
• On the issue related to the appointment of judges, the Supreme Court held that only the names of the judges recommended by the Collegium for appointment can be disclosed, not the reasons.

Outcome of the Ruling

• The office of the CJI will now entertain RTI applications.
• Under the RTI Act, 2005, every public authority has to provide information to persons requesting for the information under the Act.
  
  • Public Authority includes the body constituted by or under the Constitution. Article 124 of the Constitution deals with the establishment of the Supreme Court of India.
  • Information includes any material in any form, including records, documents, memos, e-mails, etc.
• The Ruling is an example for other bodies such as political parties, number of schools, trusts and public-private partnerships who resist categorisation as public authorities under the Act.
• However, it has been seen that Offices such as those of the Prime Minister and the President which are public authorities under the RTI Act have often denied information quoting separate observations by the Supreme Court.
  
  • For instance, in 2011, the Supreme Court observed that:
    
    • Officials need to furnish only such information which already exists and is held by the public authority and not collate or create information, that is
    • The nation does not want a scenario where 75% of the staff of public authorities spends 75% of their time in collecting and furnishing information to applicants instead of discharging their regular duties.

Note: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is out of the purview of the RTI Act. It was granted exemption in 2011.

Source: TH

Supreme Court Ruling on Finance Act, 2017

Why in News

Recently, a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court of India (SC) struck down the rules framed by the government under the Finance Act of 2017 to alter the appointments to 19 key judicial tribunals.

• SC struck down the changes made by the Finance Act, 2017 in entirety, as it found them contrary to the parent enactment and the principles envisaged in the Constitution.
  • These rules (Tribunal, Appellate Tribunal, and other Authorities Rules, 2017) were formulated by the Central Government under Section 184 of the Finance Act, 2017.
• Also, the SC raised the question of whether the Finance 2017 Act could have been passed as a money bill. For now, it has been referred to a larger Bench of 7 judges.
  • Ordinarily, the Finance Act is enacted at the beginning of every accounting year to give effect to the government’s fiscal policies.
  • However, the Finance Act, 2017 apart from setting the fiscal agenda, made changes that affected the powers and composition of various tribunals. For example, National Green Tribunal, Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, etc.

Reasoning Behind the Judgement

• On the issue of changes made by the Finance Act, 2017
  • The Finance Act, 2017 gave the Union government the power to govern appointments and modify service terms and conditions of members of tribunals.
    • The government can make changes in them through rules (executive action).
  • The problem associated with these changes is two-fold:
    • A bill requires parliamentary approval in order to be enforced, therefore changing appointment, removal, and reappointment of members on a tribunal through rules lowers the threshold of parliamentary scrutiny.
    • Also, in 2014, the SC, while examining provisions related to the National Tax Tribunal, had held that Appellate tribunals have powers and functions similar to that of High Courts.
    • Hence matters related to the appointment and reappointment of their members must be free from executive involvement.

Tribunals

• Tribunal is a special court to deal with specific matters or problems of a particular type. They are established by an act of Parliament.
• However, the courts are constitutional bodies, that deal with all types of cases.

• On the issue of Money Bill
  • The case has been referred to a larger bench. However, the minority opinion of the Constitution Bench held that the Finance Act, 2017, could not have been enacted as a money bill.

Money Bills

• A Bill is said to be a Money Bill if it only contains provisions related to taxation, borrowing of money by the government, expenditure from or receipt to the Consolidated Fund of India. Bills that only contain provisions that are incidental to these matters would also be regarded as Money Bills.
• A Money Bill may only be introduced in Lok Sabha, on the recommendation of the President. It must be passed in the Lok Sabha by a simple majority of all members present and voting.
• Following this, it may be sent to the Rajya Sabha for its recommendations, which Lok Sabha may reject if it chooses to. If such recommendations are not given within 14 days, it will deem to be passed by Parliament.

Other highlights of the judgment

• On account of the merger of tribunals, the SC directed the government to undertake a ‘Judicial Impact Assessment’ of all 24 tribunals and analyze the ramifications of the merger.
• The SC also highlighted the dismal state of tribunals. Therefore, in order to monitor the working of tribunals, the SC directed the constituting a statutory organization called the National TribunalCommission.

Source: TH

Disqualification of Karnataka MLAs

Why in News

Recently, the Supreme Court upheld the disqualification of 17 dissident legislators approved by the then Karnataka Assembly Speaker K.R. Ramesh Kumar under the Tenth Schedule (Anti-Defection law).

Background

• In 2019, a motion of no-confidence was to be considered in Karnataka Assembly against the ruling party. During this process, a few of the legislators resigned from their respective parties. However, their resignation was not taken under consideration by the then Assembly Speaker in lieu of the confidence vote that was to be held within a few days.
• As soon as the trust vote was not achieved during the floor test by the ruling party, the Speaker disqualified those rebellious members. This raised the question of the disqualification of members under the Anti-defection law (Tenth Schedule) versus the role of Speaker to accept their resignation.
• Also, the Speaker barred those MLAs from contesting elections till the time incumbent Assembly’s term gets over, i.e, by 2023. This raised another question whether disqualification under Tenth Schedule can lead to a bar upon legislators to contest by-elections during the tenure of the incumbent Legislative Assembly.

Supreme Court Ruling

• Tenth Schedule versus Re-contesting elections: The Supreme Court upheld the disqualification of the dissident legislators however it also held that their ouster does not put any bar upon them from contesting by-polls.
  
  • According to the Court, ‘neither under the Constitution nor under the statutory scheme (i.e, Representation of the People Act, 1951 or the Anti-Defection Law) it is mentioned that disqualification under the Tenth Schedule would lead to a bar for contesting re-elections.’
  • The court also remarked that even the 91^st Amendment Act, 2003 which did not allow a disqualified member to be appointed as a minister, did not give Speaker the power to put a ban upon them to contest elections till the end of the term.
• Resignation versus Disqualification:
  • A member may choose to resign for a variety of reasons which represents an individual’s choice or will. An elected member if chooses to resign cannot be compelled to continue in the office. Whereas, a disqualification leads to the expulsion of the member from the office, irrespective of their will.
  • In this case, the court observed, ‘on the one hand, resignation does not take away the effect of a prior act that amounts to disqualification. On the other, Speakers are not given a free power to sit on resignation letters indefinitely.’
    
    • Under Article 190(3) of the Constitution, the Speaker has to ascertain the voluntary and genuine nature of a resignation before accepting it.
    • It is a limited inquiry process only to check if the letter is authentic and if the intent to quit is based on free will. Once it is clear, the Speaker has no option but to accept the resignation.
  • The Court also observed that a pending disqualification action does not become nonfunctional by mere submission of the resignation letter. This would defeat the purpose of the Tenth Schedule if it was held that disqualification proceedings would become unfruitful upon tendering resignation.

Anti-Defection Law

• The Anti-Defection Law was passed in 1985 through the 52^nd Amendment to the Constitution. It added the Tenth Schedule to the Indian Constitution. The main intent of the law was to combat “the evil of political defections”.
• According to it, a member of a House belonging to any political party becomes disqualified for being a member of the House, (a) if he voluntarily gives up his membership of such political party; or (b) if he votes or abstains from voting in such House contrary to any direction issued by his political party without obtaining prior permission of such party and such act has not been condoned by the party within 15 days.

Powers of Speaker with regard to Anti-Defection Law

• Any question regarding disqualification arising out of defection is to be decided by the presiding officer of the House.
• After Kihoto Hollohan versus Zachilhu case (1993), the Supreme Court declared that the decision of the presiding officer is not final and can be questioned in any court. It is subject to judicial review on the grounds of malafide, perversity, etc.

Source: TH

Bolivia Crisis

Why in News

Jeanine Anez became the 66^th president of Bolivia by replacing Evo Morales who fled the country to escape a violent crisis. She is the second woman to hold this post in Bolivia.

• Her appointment as an interim leader has been endorsed by Bolivia's Constitutional Court.

Controversy

• Evo Morales was the first indigenous President of Bolivia who came to power in 2006. The past Presidents were of European descent.
  
  • The indigenous communities consist of two-thirds of Bolivia’s population.
• The recent protests after his re-election to President escalated into a rebellion over the charges of election rigging.

Bolivia

• Bolivia is officially known as the Plurinational State of Bolivia.
• It is a landlocked country located in western-central South America.
• The capital of Bolivia is Sucre while the seat of government and financial centre is located in La Paz.
• In 2009, a new constitution changed the country's official name to "Plurinational State of Bolivia" in recognition of the multi-ethnic nature of the country.
• Bolivia is a member of the free trade bloc known as Andean Community (CAN).

Andean Community (CAN) and Mercosur

• The Andean Community is a trade bloc of four countries - Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.
  
  • The Headquarters of CAN are located in Lima, Peru.
  • The regional integration in the Andean countries began with the signing of the Cartagena Agreement (by Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru) in 1969 creating the Andean Pact with the objective of creating a Customs Union and a Common Market.
    
    • Chile withdrew in 1976 claiming economic incompatibilities.
• Apart from CAN, Mercosur is the other major trading block of South America.
  
  • Mercosur was established in 1991 by the Treaty of Asunción, which was later amended and updated by the 1994 Treaty of Ouro Preto.
  • Its full members are Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay. Venezuela’s membership was suspended in 2016.
  • Mercosur and CAN signed a Framework Agreement for the creation of a Free Trade Area between each other in April 1998.
  • CAN and Mercosur, along with nations like Chile, have been spearheading deeper integration of all South America through the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) patterned on the European Union.

Source: TH

World Diabetes Day 2019

Why in News

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has launched an initiative to expand access to affordable insulin on the occasion of World Diabetes Day (14^th November).

• This year’s theme for World Diabetes Day is “Family and Diabetes”.
• 14^th November marks the birthday of Sir Frederick Banting, who co-discovered insulin along with Charles Best in 1922.

Kep Points

• The burden of disease:
  
  • More than 420 million people worldwide affected by diabetes.
  • China has the highest number of patients (11.43 cr.) followed by India (7.29 cr.) in 2017.
• Issues related to treatment:
  
  • High costs of insulin
  • Insufficient essential medicines and technologies
• Steps taken by Government of India:
  
  • India’s National Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) Target is to prevent the rise in obesity and diabetes prevalence.
  • National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancers, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke (NPCDCS) in 2010 to provide support for diagnosis and cost-effective treatment at various levels of health care.

Diabetes

Diabetes is a Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) that occurs either when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin (a hormone that regulates blood sugar, or glucose), or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces.

• Types
  
  • Type I diabetes: It is also known as juvenile diabetes (as it mostly affects children of age 14-16 years), this type occurs when the body fails to produce sufficient insulin. People with type I diabetes are insulin-dependent, which means they must take artificial insulin daily to stay alive.
  • Type 2 diabetes: It affects the way the body uses insulin. While the body still makes insulin, unlike in type I, the cells in the body do not respond to it as effectively as they once did.
    
    • The population with 45 and above age group is the most affected with it.
    • This is the most common type of diabetes and it has strong links with obesity.
  • Gestational diabetes: This type occurs in women during pregnancy when the body sometimes becomes less sensitive to insulin. Gestational diabetes does not occur in all women and usually resolves after giving birth.
• Diabetes affects the five major organs namely, Kidney, Heart, Blood vessels, Nervous System, and Eyes (retina).
• The factors responsible for the increase in diabetes are an unhealthy diet, lack of physical activity, harmful use of alcohol, overweight/obesity, tobacco use, etc.

Source: TH

Devices to Control Air Pollution

Why in News

The air purifiers installed on the roads and on top of the buses have failed to combat air pollution in Delhi NCR.

• The air purifying devices include WAYU (Wind Augmentation PurifYing Unit) and High-Efficiency Particulate Arrestance (HEPA) filters.

WAYU (Wind Augmentation PurifYing Unit)

• It is developed to address air pollution at traffic intersections and dense traffic zones.
• It has been indigenously developed by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research - National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-NEERI).
• The device has the capacity to purify the air in an area of the 500-meter square. It is energy efficient and has a low maintenance cost.
• The device works on two principles :
  
  • Wind generation for dilution of air pollutants: It comprises a fan that sucks in air and removes dust and particulate matter.
  • Active Pollutant removal: The carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons are oxidized into less harmful carbon dioxide using activated carbon coated with titanium dioxide.

High-Efficiency Particulate Arrestance (HEPA) filters

• These filters are able to trap 99.97 % of particles that are 0.3 microns.
• It traps air contaminants in a complex web of fibers.

Source: TH

Pamba-Achankovil-Vaippar River Project

Why in News

The Kerala government is preventing the implementation of the Pamba-Achankovil-Vaippar river link project as it will lead to diversion of water from Kerala to Tamil Nadu.

Project

• The project was envisaged in 1995 for producing 500 MW of power for Kerala and irrigating the lands in Tamil Nadu.
• The river link proposal envisages the diversion of water from the Pamba and Achankovil rivers in Kerala to the Vaippar basin in Tamil Nadu.

Pamba River

• It rises at an altitude of 1650m in the Peermade Plateau in the Idukki district of Kerala.
• It joins the Arabian Sea branching into a number of channels. The entire catchment area of Pamba lies in Kerala state.
• The Pamba basin is bounded on the east by Western Ghats and on the west by Arabian Sea.

Achankovil River

• The river rises in the Western Ghats in Pathanamthitta district of Kerala at an elevation of 700m.
• It joins the Pamba River at Veeyapuram.
• The river basin extends over an area of 1484 km2 and lies entirely in Kerala State.

Vaippar River

• The river rises from the eastern slopes of the Varushanad hill range of the Western Ghats at an elevation of about 1500m in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu.
• It flows in an easterly and southeasterly direction before joining the Gulf of Mannar.
• The basin is bounded on the west by the Western Ghats, on the east by the Bay of Bengal.

Source: TH