SC dismisses plea for probe into ‘payoffs’ to Modi, others:SC ruling(1.1)

Holding that courts should be constantly on guard about ordering investigation against high constitutional functionaries lest there is an abuse of law and personal liberty, the Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a plea for an apex court-monitored Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into alleged massive pay-offs made by Birla and Sahara companies to influential politicians including Prime Minister Narendra Modi while he was Chief Minister of Gujarat.

What does SC says?

The Bench held it was “inherently improbable” to order the registration of an FIR against  national leaders and senior bureaucrats by merely banking on “some diary entries and random loose computer sheets.” “The anomaly witnessed in the Jain hawala case should not take place,”.

Various views:

• ‘Be you ever so high, the law is above all’. The law is equal for all, even if he is PM or CM. What is this fear that an investigation will make the Prime Minister dysfunctional?”

• “It is the duty of a police officer to register an FIR and investigate documents showing prima facie criminality committed by a public servant. That is the clear proposition of law,”.

How this ruling is important

Article 14 states right to equality before law irrespective of status and position.It brings high profile politician and other people under the ambit of law ,if they involve in any mal practice.

However it is also duly noted that the high constitutional post requires some sort of privileges (for example Parliamentary privileges) and avoidance of fear from judicial proceedings against any fraud allegations which doesn't prove point and instead waste time and create fear among official to do their duty with free mind.

Therefore the present ruling create balance and give space to high constitutional officials from unnecessary proceedings.

Read more ...

Pradhan Mantri Fasal Beema Yojana

Cabinet approves New Crop Insurance Scheme – Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana – A boost to the farming sector. The new Crop Insurance Scheme is in line with One Nation – One Scheme theme.

Earlier, there was a provision of capping the premium rate which resulted in low claims being paid to farmers. This capping was done to limit Government outgo on the premium subsidy. This capping has now been removed and farmers will get claim against full sum insured without any reduction.

Read more ...

Polity question for SSC-CGL

Q1.Education minister in the first cabinet of free India was:                    
a)Jagjivan Ram                        
b)C. Rajagopalachari

c)Maulana Abul Kalam Azad 
d)Dr. John Mathai

Q2.Which of the following Act changed the designation of Governor General of India to Viceroy of India:

a)Charter Act,1853                
b)Charter Act ,1833

c)Indian Councils Act,1861   
d)Government of India Act,1858

Q3.Members of Constituent Assembly were elected:

a)      Directly by people of provinces

b)      Indirectly by members of provincial assemblies

c)       Indirectly by British Parliament

d)      Indirectly by Viceory

Q4.Who was the chairman of Union Constitution Committee:

a)      Jawahar Lal  Nehru

b)      Sardar  Patel

c)       Dr. Rajendra Prasad

d)      Dr. B.R. Ambedkar

Q5.Constitution of free India was adopted on:

a)      26^th Jan,1950

b)      26^th Nov,1948

c)       26^th Jan 1949

d)      26^th Nov,1949

Q6.Which of the following are core features on Indian constitution:

1.       Single citizenship

2.       Secular state

3.       Parliamentary form of Government

4.       Integrated Judiciary

a)Only 2,1              b)Only 1,2,4

c)Only 3,4              d)All

Q7.Provisions related to anti-defection law are mentioned in:

a)      Ninth Schedule

b)      Tenth Schedule

c)       Eleventh Schedule

d)      Twelfth Schedule

 Q8.Which of the following key word added in Preamble  by 42^nd Constitutional Amendment,1976 :

a)      Integrity

b)      Democratic

c)       Equality

d)      Fraternity

Q9.In India which of the following electoral system we follow in General election:

a)      First Past the post system

b)      Proportional Representation system

c)       Majority Bonus system

d)      Single Transferable vote system

Q10.Guarantor and defender of fundamental rights in India:

a)      High Courts

b)      Supreme Court

c)       President

Q11.Supreme court judges are appointed by:

a)      Chief Justice of India

b)      President

c)       Prime Minister

d)      Council of Minister

Q12.Which of the following is not a fundamental right:

a)      Freedom of speech and expression

b)      Right to profess and practice religion

c)       Free legal aid to poor

d)      Protection of life and personal liberty

Q13.Fundamental Duties were added on whose recommendation:

a)      Santhanam Committee

b)      Sardar Swaran Singh Committee

c)       Dhar Commission

Q14.Council of Ministers are collectively responsible to :

a)      Prime Minister

b)      President

c)       Lok Sabha

d)      Parliament

Q15.Who has the power to promulgate ordinance:

a)      Prime Minster

b)      President

c)       Council of Ministers

d)      Chief Justice of India

Q16.The quorum to constitute the meeting of the Lok Sabha is:

a)      1/20^th of total strength

b)      1/10^th of total strength

c)       1/5^th of total strength

d)      1/30^th of total strength

Q17.Which of the following committee is the first one to be established:

a)      Estimates Committee

b)      Committee on Public Undertaking

c)       Departmental Standing Committee

d)      Public Account Committee

Q18.Which of the following bill can be introduced only on the recommendation of President:

a)      Ordinary bill

b)      Money Bill

c)       Constitutional amendment bill

d)      Financial Bill(II)

Q19.The concept of Directive Principles of state policy is borrowed from:

a)      American Constitution

b)      Australian Constitution

c)       Britain Constitution

d)      Irish Constitution

Q20.Which of the following is not the feature of Parliamentary form of government:

a)      Majority party rule

b)      Collective responsibility

c)       Dissolution of Lower House

d)      Single executive

Click here to download solutions

Read more ...

Women and Indian Armed Forces:Role and status

Why in news:

Earlier denied any possible combat role in Indian military recently IAF(Indian Air Force) has announced to induct women as fighter pilot which germinated a new ray of hope of gender equity and women empowerment in Indian forces.

Background:

• Induction of women in military was not an easy process.  Until 1992, women in the Indian armed forces were limited to Army Medical Corps, the Army Dental Corps and the Military Nursing services. 
• Later concept of Short Services Commission was started for 14 years and women were allowed to service for 14 years only unlike their counterpart(male) who were granted permanent commission.
• Further a Delhi HC judgement came which provided some sort of relief to women officers and granted their fair claim for permanent commission.HC ruled that granting permanent commission “is not a charity being sought… but enforcement of their constitutional rights”. With this ruling Indian forces has started permanent commission only in two field i.e. education and law(but Army has denied it and now practiced only in Navy and Air Force)

Post-mortem:

• With all-women contingent of all three services and leading of a ceremonial tri-services guard of honour by Puja Thakur India showcased its “women-power” in Indian military but it is a half-baked truth which shows only one side of picture.
• Though historically  women have served in combat role(Rani Durgawati,Rani Laxamibai),today they are still denied of any possible combat role in any armed forces citing various reasons like lack of greater endurance, physical capacity compare to male counterpart, harassment  during POW(prisoners of war) etc.
• Strength of female in forces also shed lights on gender inequity in forces.Their strength is limited to mere 4-5% compare to male counterpart(95-96%).
• The mindset of male is also distorted.Women officer have low acceptance ratio in leadership role owing to the prevalent patriarchal mindset in society.Even the Army has said in one of report “In theory women in the army may sound good but in practical terms the arrangement has not worked well in the Indian Army and as a concept also our society is not prepared to accept women in combat role.”
• Further cases of psychological ,sexual harassment by male and their viewing of spending on women’s training as wastage(as female are not equally biological capable) is prevalent in forces.
• But inducting women in armed forces could have spillover effect over the mindset of people and it could provide a thrust to women to fight for their rights.
• Apart from that women in forces could address women issues in better way especially in those areas where cases of sexual abuse and human rights violations have been witnessed.

Need of Hour:

Induction of women in IAF as fighter pilot and in ITBP(in border areas) shows a significant step in establishing gender equity in forces. But it would be proved merely a cosmetic exercise unless a overall organic structure is not changed which requires a changed mindset among  male counterparts regarding women,induction of women in combat roles in all forces(even  various countries like Pak,USA,Israel follow this practice) ,starting permanent commission in all areas in all forces ,engaging various countries on multilateral platform regarding differential treatment to women soldiers.

          

Read more ...

Increase in financial assistance under Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi

Health is recognised as one of the factor of poverty's multi-dimensional aspect .Recognising that the India’s major chunk of population is still under BPL ,so to reduce the “out of pocket” expenditure in critical diseases,Govt under  Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi (RAN)  has decided to enhance financial powers delegated to designated Central Government hospitals/institutes from Rs. 2 lakh to Rs. 5 lakh for providing financial assistance in cases where emergency surgery is to be conducted. 

About RAN:

• Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi was set up under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare in 1997.
• The scheme provides for financial assistance to patients, living below poverty line who is suffering from major life threatening diseases(related to heart, liver, kidney and cancer cases, etc.),to receive medical treatment at any of the super specialty hospitals/institutes or other Govt. hospitals.
• The financial assistance to such patients is released in the form of "one time grant" to the Medical Superintendent of the hospital in which the treatment is being received.

Impact:

• For patients suffering from life threatening diseases, where time is a premium, this would facilitate commencement of treatment of poor patients found prima facie eligible for assistance under the Scheme by these hospitals/institutions.
• This would also enable to curtail the procedural delay for treatment, which would bring relief to thousands of patients annually.
• It will fulfil Govt.'s responsibility to improve public health enshrined under Directive principles of State policy(Article 47). 
• With this BPL people can utilise their hard earned money in their various developmental needs like food,clothing,education etc..

Other financial assistance:

• Apart from RAN,the Government also provides financial assistance through the Health Minister’s Cancer Patient Fund (HMCPF), to poor cancer patients.
• Assistance is also provided under Health Minister’s Discretionary Grant (HMDG) to those whose family annual income is less than up to 1 lakh(I Govt. hospitals where free medical facilities are not available)

Read more ...

10 years of RTI:An in-depth analysis

What is RTI:

“An informed citizenry and transparency of information are vital to the functioning of democracy and are also necessary to contain corruption and to hold govt. accountable to public”.With this objective RTI(Right to Information Act ) was enacted in 2005.Based on three pillars i.e. good governance,transparency,accountability  it provided the right to access the information.It represents a radical departure from earlier British Raj opaque, secretive  bureaucratic practices to freedom of information.

Influence:

• Supreme Court in various judgements interpreted Article 19 and Article 21 and ruled that freedom of information must be read as a fundamental right embodied in ‘right to life’ and ‘freedom of speech and expression’.
• Moreover originated firstly in Sweden(1766) and now available in more than 85 countries, Freedom of Information Acts have now become and international standard of modern democracy.
• Further the consistent process of education people and interconnectedness(through globalisation ) have forced the government to take this proactive step.

Functioning:

• The Act is applicable to govt. at all level(Union,states,local) and even includes NGOs which are financed by government  either directly or indirectly.
• The Act entrusts the duty on “Public authority” to maintain their records as specified by the RTI Act and provide information to public as per their demand(except those which affects security,sovereignty,international relations etc.)
• It also have provision for appointment of CIC(Central Information Commissioner) and SIC for Union and States respectively to monitor the implementation of the Act.

Evaluation: 

The most radical provision of this Act is that it had done away with the locus standi clause and under it anyone(like RTI activist) can seek information for public interest.With this provision RTI has proved to be the revolutionary Act giving the uneducated rural people to have access to information.In last one decade many scams(Adarsh housing scam) have been exposed,expenditure on minsters and bureaucrat's foreign trips have been revealed and people came to know about the assets of their elected representatives through RTI. 

Further CIC has taken many proactive steps like

• Directed UPSC to declare individual marks and cut off in prelims.
• In Paramveer Singh vs Punjab University case,held that every public authority must manage records efficiently to provide information accurately.
• In Ram Bhaj vs Delhi govt. set guideline for redressing the grievances of citizens.

With all these progressive provisions and steps there are some structural and functional lacuna in the Act which are defeating the very objective of the Act.

Structural issues:

• RTI obligates public offices to appoint PIO(Public Information Officer) but doesn’t prescribes any criteria for qualifications leading to non-efficient person to do PIO job.
• The 30 days clause(i.e. information should be given within 30 days ) sometimes becomes impractical owing to public holidays, administrative assignment(election).
• It has been provided that PIO should provide information in official language designated by state but the administrative terminology many times become unreadable to people.
• Lack of uniformity in various PIOs of similar departments across different states often creates confusion among applicants who seeks information from various states.
• Exemption to file notings(except for social and developmental projects) from the purview of Act have also attracted the criticism as file notings state the rationale of the project.

Functioning  issues:

• It provides information on demands but many survival information like food, water, environment  are not automatically provided by PIOs.
• Section 26 of the Act says that govt. should educate the masses about the objective, process but it is not happening as weaker section are hesitating to apply RTI to involve in any govt. process.
• Section 4 requires maintenance of computerized records but it is not happening due to unavailable infrastructure and technically illiterate manpower.
• There is also widespread misuse of RTI.Use of abusive languages in application,misuse of BPL status(as information is free to BPL),false claims of public interest, blackmailing for vested interest have been witnessed in many cases.
• There is also no provision for fine or any other penalty for misuse of Act(though it was done not to discourage people to participate in this process).

Recent Issues:

• Delay in appointment of CIC leading to pendency of cases. Moreover recent data from CIC shows that CIC is turning down the  request.Though CIC has stated that it is not rejecting the request but is returning for proper identification.
• Govt.’s lukewarm response to CIC’s step. Exempting the CBI and non conforming the recent demand  for bringing political parties under the scanner of RTI has been described by critics as “regressive step”.

Need of hour:

Enactment of RTI has established the foundation but the edifice will depend on its proper implementation. It requires empowering people through awareness, change of bureaucratic mindset by taking it as duty rather than just a job, removing the structural lacunas and the most important political will. Then only the true objective of vibrant and participatory democracy would be achieved.

   

Read more ...

Uniform civil code:It seems "Delhi abhi door hai"

Why in news: 

Article 44(DPSP) states that “The State shall endeavour to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India.”But owing to differences in marriage, divorce, adoption, maintenance and inheritance laws among various religions, honourable SC called the process as “total confusion” and asked govt. regarding the applicability of uniform civil code(will be used as UCC in further writing).

What is UCC:

It is a European concept originated with the rise of nation states and recognition that state is sovereign. It is not a common code rather acknowledging State’s authority even to reform or make laws in personal affairs. Thus it is a common set of laws governing personal matters for all citizens of the country, irrespective of religion.

Why UCC is needed:

• The debate of UCC is linked to rights and status of women in various community .Regressive practices in various religions often becomes reason for their backwardness.Cases of gender discrimination(arbitrary divorce in Muslim community) often violates Article 21(right to dignity) and various international covenants.
• Different divorce practices(like in Christian community Christian couple to be judicially separated for two years before getting a divorce, whereas this period is one year for Hindus and other non-Christians) tend to deprive women from their right to equality under Article 14.
• Moreover common practices will perpetuate common brotherhood thereby will strengthen national integration.
• The process will also give chances to all members of all community “an equality of opportunity” for their personality development.
• Will be helpful for orphans as with UCC any member would be able to adopt children of any community.

SCs ruling:

• In the famous Shah Bano(1985) case SC ruled that Muslim woman was entitled to alimony under the general provisions of the CrPC, like anybody else. But Govt (fearing to lose the vote bank)nullified it by  passing Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act and allowed compensation for only 90 days.
• Later in Daniel Latifi vs Union of India (2001),SC maintained the Act but ruled that quantum of maintenance must be “reasonable and fair”, and therefore, last her a lifetime.
• In Githa Hariharan vs RBI (1999),SC examined the concept of uniformity in Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956 and the Guardian Constitution and Wards Act(which used to recognise father as a natural guardian in all cases) and ushered the right to equality in the matter of guardianship.
• Recently  a two-judge Bench of the court has suo motu ordered registration of a PIL petition and asked the CJI to set up a Special Bench to consider gender discrimination suffered by Muslim women.

Why still has not been framed:

• Many of the view that being a secular (which is also a basic structure) country,under Article 25(which guarantees the freedom to practise, profess and propagate any religion)state is expected not to interfere in personal laws.
• Moreover some claims that since India is a multicultural country ,so it is in best interest for everyone to maintain their original personal laws.
• Apart from that the lack of political will owing to loosing of vote bank and chances of communal violence often restrict party in power to formulate UCC.

Need of Hour:

The debate over UCC has usually been overshadowed by communal and political overtones .Even our founding fathers have already comprehended the worsening situation of women and religious intolerance that’s why they inserted it in constitution. Thus it is expected on the part of executive and legislative that it take SC ruling in Shah Bano case(“formulation of UCC to help in the cause of national integration”) as serious note and by applying the doctrine of "principal distance" w.r.t religion, starting the discussion on UCC will be a positive step.

Read more ...

AMRUT:Centre approves plan for 89 cities

The  Urban Development Ministry has approved plans under AMRUT(Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation) for providing water supply and sewerage connections for 89 cities in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan.

What is AMRUT:

• Today our cities especially metros are suffering from unsustainable population(due to rural to urban migration),pollution,congested traffic,slum dwellings unhygienic environment, heat sink zone(heat island) etc.
• So to improve this situation and to provide basic services(water supply,sewerage,urban transport) to households and build amenities in cities which will improve quality of life ,esp poor and disadvantaged people ,govt. has launched the AMRUT mission.

Thrust Areas:

• Water Supply
• Sewerage facilities.
• Storm Water drains to reduce flooding
• Pedestrian, non-motorized and public transport facilities, parking spaces. 
• Enhancing amenity value of cities by creating and upgrading green spaces, parks and recreation centres, especially for children.

Working of the mission:

At National level

There is an Apex Committee under MoUD  which will approve the SAAP(State Annual Action Plans) submitted by State level High Powered Steering Committee (SHPSC),release funds and monitor the overall mission.

State level

At state level SHPSC will steer the mission programme in its entirety.It formulates SAAP based on ULBs(urban local bodies),identifying the infrastructure gaps,ways to improve them, finalising financial outlays for cities mission.

At the city level ULBs are responsible for implementation of the mission.

Under AMRUT, Central Government will provide an assistance of 50 per cent of project cost for cities with a population of up to 10 lakhs each and one third of project cost for cities with a population of above 10 lakhs each. Rest of the project cost has to be borne by the states and urban local bodies.

Other programmes for cities to make them resilient:

• SMART cities project.
• Housing for All.

Read more ...

Blood transfer between blood banks

The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has permitted the  transfer of blood from one blood bank to another which was not allowed earlier and also fixed the exchange value for surplus plasma available at some blood banks in the country.

Background:

A shortage of blood has been the recurring problem since the SC judgement(1998) which has banned the paid donation.Moreover the inability of blood bank to lend each other also accentuated the shortage of blood units.

New guidelines and impact:

The new order of govt. is based on recommendation of National Blood Transfusion Council which is under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and  is the apex body for formulating policy matters pertaining to the organisation, operation, standards and training of a sustainable and safe blood transfusion service for the country, set up under the directions of the honourable Supreme Court of India

The permission of transfer the blood will ensure safe blood and access to blood products especially in case of disease outbreaks(like dengue in Delhi).

• The  fixing of an exchange value for surplus plasma available will increase the availability of essential life saving medicines like human albumin, immunoglobulins, clotting factors, etc. which are all derived from plasma.
• In the absence of this provision surplus plasma was traded or sold by the blood banks without any regulation
• This move will also reduce India's dependence on import of these products.

Source:PIB

Read more ...

Right to Privacy

"Right to privacy is a fundamental right or not?".This question has been raised time and again since our constitution making.Recently issue of ban on pornography,moral policing and Aadhaar  has heated it again. Government(being a party of Aadhaar case) has denied right to privacy as 'fundamental right'.

 

Background:

The collection of biometric data under Aadhaar project and storing it under one centralised database has raised concern for citizens's information security.In lack of legal liability of Aadhaar ,the misuse of data by intelligence agencies,terrorist group(in case of hacking of data) is scaring various corners of people.Along with that persistent effort by govt to use Aadhaar in all schemes(making it mandatory though claiming it voluntary) has generated debate of right to privacy.

Govt.'s argument: 

Govt. took a cold response to right to privacy and argued that right to privacy is neither guaranteed under constitution nor made available to citizens through judicial pronouncements.It formed M P Sharma And Others vs Satish Chandra, District Magistrate Delhi (1954) and Kharak Singh case as their basis of argument.Under these judgements SC ruled that privacy was not a "guaranteed right" under constitution.

Judgements and arguments in favour of 'right to privacy':

 However various judgements after 1970s have debated right to privacy and considered it as a one of the basic human right.

• In Govind vs State of Madhya Pradesh (1975), the Supreme Court ruled that “many of the fundamental rights of citizens can be described as contributing to the right to privacy”.
• Further in Maneka Gandhi vs Union of India (1978),the SC broadened the scope of Article 21 and ruled that "the law and procedure authorising interference with personal liberty and right of privacy must also be right, just, and fair, and not arbitrary, fanciful, or oppressive".
• Moreover in R Rajagopal vs State of Tamil Nadu,SC took liberty and privacy as one of most important right and ruled that right to privacy is 'right to be let alone'.So a citizen has a right to safeguard the privacy of his own, his family, marriage, procreation, motherhood, child-bearing and education among other matters.
• India is signatory to UN Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and privacy has been recognized as fundamental human right under these convention.
• Also liberty is recognized as one of the essential fundamental rights which requires providing opportunities for individual personalty development and by denying right to privacy we would not be able to achieve it.. 

Thin line: 

• Right to privacy is essential human right but it is not an absolute right.This view was also upheld by SC in Govind vs State of Madhya Pradesh (1975) where court ruled that right to privacy right must be subject to restriction on the basis of compelling public interest.
• Further citizen's right to know(through RTI) and other's right to privacy have also acquired confrontation.Therefore raising the question of thin line between both rights. 

Need of hour:

 Right to privacy is an implicit fundamental right which is also recognized by various judgements.Deciding by larger constitution bench will merely establish it as explicitly.Therefore it is needed on the part of government that it also recognize it and take measure(like federalising the database,enacting the right to privacy bill,legalising Aadhaar,instructing the officials to not to misuse it ) and create a fine balance between one's right and public order.

Source:The Hindu,Indian Express

Read more ...

NJAC as 'unconstitutional and void'

Recently SC has rejected the NJAC(National Judicial Appointment Commission)Act,2014 and Constitution(Ninty Ninth Amendment)Act and declares the NJAC as 'unconstitutional and void'.With this judgement the earlier collegium system of appointment will be operative again.

Background:

NJAC was established as an independent body through Constitution(Ninty-Ninth Amendment) Act for appointment and transfer of judges to the higher courts in India.Along with that National Judicial Appointment Commission was also passed to regulate the working of Commission which was comprising of CJI,two senior judges of SC,Union Law Minister and two eminent person.In this regard the body had provided a say to executive and civil society in the appointment of judges. 

However with the SC verdict the earlier collegium system will be functional again.

Appointment in Collegium system:

As per Article 124, judges of SC and HC are appointed by  President after consultation with such judges of SC and HC as the President may deem necessary. Meanwhile since 1982 SC has interpreted this provision  in various judgements('First Judges case','Second Judge case' and Third Judge case') and provided the collegium system for appointment.Under which CJI would tender advice to President which will be binding and CJI will have to require 'plurality in consultation'.Thus consultation will require collegium of four senior most judges in case of SC and two senior most judges in case of HC.

Recent judgement:

The constitutional bench of SC has declared NJAC as 'unconstitutional and void'

•   Declaring that the judiciary can't caught in a “web of indebtedness” towards the government, SC has done away the say of executive and civil society in appointment of judges in highest courts.

• As per SC , NJAC was an impingement upon the principle of 'independence of judiciary','separation of power' and violative of 'basic structure of constitution'.

• Apex court said that the independence and integrity of the judiciary is of the ‘highest importance’ not only to the judges but to the citizens seeking resort from a court of law against the high-handed and illegal exercise of power by the executive.

why NJAC was needed:

• Constitution mentioned consultation process as per the choice of president but the collegium system has done away with this choice and made the recommendation binding on President.

• Collegium system was a closed door process depriving people of transparency.

• Further delay in judgements,increasing number of pending cases needs appointment as regular process which was not followed properly in collegium system.

• Along with that the choice of CJI was limited to senior judges often overlooking the meritorious judges.

• Apart from that it was also lacking any separate office dedicated for collection of personal information and track record of judges needs to be appointed.

With this view various bodies have recommended for setting up of an independent appointment body.

2nd ARC-->Commission composing of CJI,PM,Law minister,Speaker of Loksabha,Leader of Opposition from both Houses.

National Advisory Council-->Body  comprising of CJI,Vice President,PM,Law Minister,Speaker of Loksabha,Leader of Opposition from both Houses.

Law Commission(1987)--> Commission comprising of CJI (Chairman), three senior most SC judges, immediate predecessor of the CJI, three senior most CJs of HCs,Law Minister,Attorney General,one Law Academic.

These recommendation was given to rectify the opaque process keeping in mind the prevalent global trend which is-

Country	Method of Appointment	Involved Entity
USA	By President	Justices are nominated by the President and confirmed by the US Senate. Senate Judiciary Committee holds hearings and votes on whether nominations should go to the full Senate.
UK	By a selection commission	SC President, his deputy and one member each appointed by the JACs of England Scotland and Northern Ireland. The JACs comprise lay persons, members of judiciary and the Bar.
South Africa	By President	On the recommendation od Judicial services Commission

Need of Hour:

Judiciary is an important organ of Indian democracy working as a bulwark so any case of infringement in its independence is not acceptable for the working of  institution as well as for the people.But at the same time delay in justice(as justice delayed is justice denied),non transparent process is denying people from their basic rights i.e. justice(which is to be served timely and speedy).So it expected that judiciary take note of global trend and adopt an independent body which have say of various corners of people without infringement in its integrity.



Source:The Hindu,PRS

Read more ...