9 PM Daily Brief – November 18, 2020

Good evening dear reader…

Here is our 9pm current affairs brief for you today…

GS 2…

Judicial Barbarism…

Governors’ mercy powers…

Biden and new diplomacy…

GS 3…

Asian economies…

9 PM for Preliminary examination

FACTLY…

Judicial Barbarism

Source: Indian Express

Gs2: Structure, Organization and Functioning of the Executive and the Judiciary

Context: Judicial barbarism is now a systematic phenomenon with deep institutional roots.

How democratic barbarism and judicial barbarism are related?

• Democratic barbarism: It is a politics that sees protest, dissent, and freedom of expression all through the prism of potential enemies of the state. It occurs when the state treats a section of its own citizenry as enemies of the people.
• Judicial barbarism: For example, weak protection for civil liberties and dissenters and an unusual degree of deference to state power, especially in constitutional matters. Giving Judicial form to the language of democratic barbarism.

What are the components of Judicial barbarism?

• Overwhelming appearance of arbitrariness in judicial decision-making.
• The application of law becomes so dependent on the arbitrary whims of individual judges that the rule of law or constitutional terms no longer have any meaning.
• The law becomes an instrument of oppression.
• The court becomes excessively concerned with its version of lese majesty: Like a scared monarch.
• Democratic barbarism has been part of a global trend. For example, in Turkey, Poland and Hungary the judiciary aids democratic barbarism.

What are the signs of Indian judiciary slipping into judicial barbarism?

• Misuse of Power of contempt: Maintaining credibility by its power of contempt. It is now a systematic phenomenon with deep institutional roots.
• Favouritism in listing of cases: The court has refused to do timely hearings of cases that go to the heart of the institutional integrity of a democracy. For example, the electoral bonds case.
• Arbitrariness in courts processes: The rules for the grant or denial of bail by the Supreme Court and correspondingly by several high courts have reached new levels of arbitrariness. For example, Patriots like Sudha Bharadwaj or thinkers like Anand Teltumbde are being denied bail. Similarly, the fate of so many young student anti-CAA protestors remains uncertain.

What can be the possible implications of this institutional efficiencies?

• Legitimises bad laws: Barbarsism will slowly creep into the ideological foundations of the state. For example, legislation on “love jihad”.
• Growth of Inequality: Few people are not treated equal citizens before the law. The democratic barbarism now directly aided by judicial power.
• Affects Fundamental Rights: As per Justice SA Bobde’s, that the Supreme Court is trying to discourage the use of Article 32. Article 32 is one of the glories of the Indian Constitution that protects fundamental rights. It can be suspended only in a state of emergency.

Every issue should not be thought through the prism of partisan combat. There is need to protect the respectability for the institution.

Governors’ mercy powers

Source- The Hindu

Syllabus- GS 2 – Indian Constitution—historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure.

Context- Supreme Court expressed unhappiness over the pendency of a plea by A G Perarivalan with the Governor of Tamil Nadu Banwarilal Purohit for over two years.

What was the Supreme Court’s verdict over governor delay in deciding the plea for pardon?

Supreme Court statement – Multi-Disciplinary Monitoring Agency (MDMA) investigation into the “larger conspiracy” behind Rajiv Gandhi assassination need not deter the Tamil Nadu Governor from deciding the plea for pardon of convicts like A.G. Perarivalan.

• The court made it clear that it was reluctant to exercise its jurisdiction when the Governor was already seized of Perarivalan’s plea for pardon under Article 161 of the Constitution.
• Background- Perarivalan had applied to the Governor for pardon on December 30, 2015. Almost three years later, on September 2018, the Supreme Court asked the Governor to decide the pardon plea as he “deemed fit”.

What are the pardoning powers of the Governor?

Article 161 deals with the Pardoning Power of the Governor.

• The Governor can grant pardons, reprieves, respites and remissions of punishments or suspend, remit and commute the sentence of any person convicted of any offence against any law relating to a matter to which the executive power of the state extends.
• The Governor cannot Pardon a Death Sentence. (The President has the power of Pardon a death Sentence).

What were the past judicial stands?

1. The advice of the appropriate Government binds the Head of the state.

• Maru Ram v Union of India case (1980) –Even though the President and Governor are the executive heads, but they cannot exercise their discretion with regard to their powers under Articles 72 and 161. Both the executive heads are required to act on the advice of the appropriate government–Central and State Government.
• The court followed Maru Ram’s case wherein it was held that the state government can advise the governor who is bound to take it.

2. Undue delay in execution of mercy petition-

• Shatrugan Chouhan v. Union of India– Undue delay would entitle the death convict to seek relief under Article 32 r/w Article 21 get his death sentence commuted.
• Inordinate delay caused due to circumstances beyond the control of the death convict and which is caused by the authorities for no reasonable ground”, the court should itself commute the sentence rather than “remanding matter for reconsideration of mercy petition”.

3. Constitutional functionaries are not exempt from judicial scrutiny–

• Keisham Meghachandra Singh v. Hon’ble Speaker (2020) – the Supreme Court was asked to examine the Speaker’s inaction with regard to disqualification proceedings.

Way forward-

• Undue, inordinate and unreasonable delay in execution of death sentence has dehumanizing effects.
• The mercy petitions under Article 72/161 should be disposed of at a much faster pace than what is adopted now, if the due procedure prescribed by law is followed in verbatim.

Biden and new diplomacy

Source: Indian Express

Gs2: Effect of Policies and Politics of Developed and Developing Countries on India’s interests, Indian Diaspora.

Context: The expected actions of the Biden presidency and its Political, Environmental and Global institutional implications.

What are the present challenges to India under Biden’s presidency?

• Environmental: India’s environmental policies will be closely monitored and discussed world over. For example, the restrictions removed in mining of forests or on land use in the natural forests of Kashmir may attract criticism.
• Minority rights: Biden presidency is very sensitive to minority rights as constitutionally proclaimed. For example, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris has already commented on Kashmir issue.
• Global trade: Biden presidency will pursue the objective of strengthening multilateral accords and WTO rules with more diplomatic pressure. For example, our government had already given up the food security and livelihood clauses as preconditions for discussing “other issues”, basically tariff reduction.

How India needs to recalibrate its strategy?

• Environment
  • Need to emphasise for a progressive stand at the Paris negotiations.
  • Need for more sensitive implementation of environmental laws by resisting pressure from corporate interests.
  • The rights of Adivasis habitation, livelihood, spiritual affiliation with trees and the jungle will need greater attention.
• Minority rights: Strict adherence to the rule of law and more reforms for the development of inclusive society
• Trade: Need to push for reconsidering GSP preference and India should resist diplomatic pressure by sticking to its common but differentiated responsibility (CBDR) principle

Asian economies

Source: The Hindu

Syllabus: GS-3- Economy

Context: The post-pandemic global economy has often predicted that China’s appeal as a business destination would fade.

What are the various strategies that can be pursued post pandemic global economy?

• ‘China +1’ strategy: The combination of the trade war and the COVID-19 crisis has resulted in firms establishing relatively small-scale operations elsewhere. This is perceived as a buffer against being completely dependent on China.
• There are three reasons for firms to remain in China and pursue this strategy:
  • Starting an enterprise and maintaining operations in China are much easier than elsewhere.
  • Chinese firms are agile and fast, which is evident from the quick recovery of Chinese manufacturing after the lockdown.
  • Many global companies have spent decades building supply chains in China. Hence, getting out would mean moving the entire ecosystem, which involves time and expenditure.
• Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP): Asia’s growth would hinge on the role of trade and investment flows into these economies.
  • This is expected to be the centrepiece of global growth, as the 15 member countries account for nearly 30% of the global GDP.

The RCEP and the ‘China +1 strategy’ is likely to impact investment flows into Vietnam, India, Bangladesh and Indonesia, which have emerged as key investment destinations.

Suggest steps which can be pursued by countries like India to deal with the changed economic scenario.

Read also :- Current affairs

• Public Investments: The task of increasing domestic public investments, which have a central role in economic activity, for both demand and supply sides.
• In India, even before the pandemic, the growth in domestic investments had been weak, and this seems to be the right time to boost public investments as interest rates are low globally and savings are available.
• Major overhaul in trade policy: World trade had been rattled by tendencies of rising economic nationalism and unilateralism leading to the return of protectionist policies.
• The two effects of the RCEP: the ‘Walmart effect’ and a ‘switching effect’.
• The first would sustain demand for basic products and help in keeping employee productivity at an optimum level, but may also reduce wages and competition due to sourcing from multiple vendors at competitive rates.
• Switching effects would be an outcome of developed economies scouting for new sources to fulfil import demands, which requires firms to be nimble and competitive.
• Export diversification:  Major fallout of this ‘policy dualism’ is the dampening of export diversification. The challenge is to make exporting activity more attractive for all firms in the economy.
• Increase women’s participation in the labour force: Women’s labour force participation rate has fallen from 42.7% in 2004–05 to 23.3% in 2017–18. This means that three out of four Indian women are neither working nor seeking paid work.
• Globally, India ranks among the bottom ten countries in terms of women’s workforce participation.
• India could gain hugely if barriers to women’s participation in the workforce are removed, for which the manufacturing sector should create labour-intensive jobs that rural and semi-urban women are qualified for.

Way forward

• India’s approach to the changed scenario needs to be well-calibrated.
• The intensity of competition is evident from the fact that after India passed three labour code Bills on September 23, Indonesian Parliament on October 5 passed a legislation that slashes regulations contained in more than 70 separate existing laws, to open up the country to more foreign investment.

9 PM for Preliminary examination

Click on “Factly articles for November 18, 2020

https://factly.forumias.com/factly-articles-for-november-18-2020/