India Legal - 20 January 2020

1. NDIA EGALL STORIES THAT COUNT I January20, 2020 BLOODONTHECAMPUSJNUsymbolisedcitizenship,democracyandfreedom,writesnotedcolumnistShivVisvanathan, whoanalysesthereasonswhytheUniversityhasbecomeapoliticalandideologicalbattleground Capital Punishment: What judges think Iran Crisis: India’s options JNU students being taken into police custody

3. Sabka Saath-Sabka Vikas-Sabka Vishwas Social Audit Rising Steps Important steps taken by the Government of Uttar Pradesh to ensure transparency, public participation and accountability in the implementation of Government of India/State Government schemes to all sections of society To ensure transparency, public participation and accountability in the work of Gram Panchayats and other executing organizations. Monitoring of accounts with physical verification of works, participation and monitoring of society To ensure the benefit of schemes reaches all sections of society To make aware public of their rights, duties in the schemes Social audits of 20,887 gram panchayats were conducted in the year 2018-19. In the year 2019-20, social audit was conducted in more than 16 thousand gram panchayats till September, 2019. The target is to conduct social audit in all gram panchayats of the state by March 31, 2020. Through public awareness rallies, placing hoardings on all development buildings, involving schoolchildren in awareness rallies, scooter motorcycle rallies, sharing information through folk songs, pamphlets and loudspeakers before the social audit meetings, the common people were connected to a transparent process like social audit leading to increased public participation Through social audits, people succeeded in raising their voice by coining the slogans like “Mera Kam Mera Daam” “Mera Paisa Mera Hisab”. Schemes like MNREGA- Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana brought qual- itative changes in the standard of living of the villagers and they managed to air their views through a democratic platform. Social audit is a continuous process. According to the calendar available on the website of the Directorate, http://socialauditup.in, contribute to ensure accountability by making active participation in the meeting of the Social Audit Gram Sabha of the respective Gram Panchayats and make the social audit more public utility. Why social audit? Progress so far Appeal to public Efforts made for public awareness TEST AUDIT The test audit is conducted by the directorate to maintain the quality of social audit. RAJENDRA PRATAP SINGH (MOTI SINGH) Minister, Rural Development Department, Uttar Pradesh What we achieved RAJENDRA PRATAP SINGH (MOTI SINGH) Minister, Rural Development Department, Uttar Pradesh Issued in the public interest by the Directorate of Social Audit, Uttar Pradesh-Rural Development Department, Uttar Pradesh.

4. HE most popular cliché about India is that it is a land of extremes. That generally refers to the rural-urban, rich- poor chasm. But in the wake of the snowballing university uprisings against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA)— the latest example of India’s plunge into divisive- ness—it has come to signify something quite different. The rise of violent pseudo-patriotism, fuelled by take-no-prisoners TV news anchors and right-wing adherents, has created a sharp societal divide based on the premise of “Either you are with us or you are against us”. The result has been a shrinking of the middle ground, the space occupied by those with a neutral view. The danger of degenerating into an “either or” society is loss of all the attributes that make for credible democracies—freedom of speech and opinion, criticism of the government, peaceful assembly and the ability to make informed choices. Sadly, it’s a worldwide phenomenon. The ascendancy of Donald Trump has polarised American society like never before and the space for reasoned debate and conversation has van- ished. In India, chest-thumping, heated rhetoric and liberal use of the phrases “anti-national”, “pro-Pakistani traitors” and “pro-terrorist urban Naxals” have resulted in shrinking the middle ground. Several years ago, an article in Pak- istan’s leading newspaper, Dawn, put it more bluntly: “Both states are being too casual about weaponising society and public opinion against the other country. The media is catering to that market.” Significantly, the “either or” situation always follows a crisis or military ambition. After the 9/11 tragedy in America, President George Bush famously used this phrase, declaring that “every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists”. Benito Mussolini declared in speech- es across fascist Italy: “O con noi o contro di noi”—You’re either with us or against us.” Turkish President Recep Erdogan, after the sui- cide bomb explosion in Istanbul on January 12, 2016, said: “Pick a side. You are either on the side of the Turkish government, or you’re on the side of the terrorists.” It’s a worrying development since it infects everything, connected or not. Bollywood stars are shamed and slandered for their public support of dissenting views. The non-combatants who call for restraint in dealing with adversaries are branded as “pseudo-liberals” as if it were some repulsive, contagious disease. It’s the age of polar opposites where moderate opinions are banned, even un-Indian in a sense. Plurality is what defines any democracy and makes it better. Elbowing out the secular view and the independent voice is the antithesis of what a democracy stands for. In this context, I reproduce a recent open letter from Preet Bharara to US Congressman Doug Collins of Georgia. Bharara, of Indian ori- gin, is an American lawyer who served as the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York from 2009 to 2017. As a US attorney, Bharara earned a reputation of a “crusader” prosecutor. “Dear Representative Doug Collins, “You are not my Congressman, and while I am ever thankful for that fact, after seeing your per- formance on Fox News on Wednesday night, I’m not sure you are fit to be anyone’s Congressman. Specifically, I saw you blithely assert on national television that Democrats ‘are in love with terrorists. We see that they mourn Soleimani more than they mourn our Gold Star families.’ “No American is ‘in love’ with terrorists or ‘mourns’ the death of that Iranian general on an airstrip in Baghdad. Many of us do, however, mourn the death of decency, honesty and reason here at home. “I realize that you are a politician and that hyperbolic, hyperpartisan claptrap is the unfor- tunate fashion of the day. But even allowing for the new normal of nastiness in political rhetoric, VOLUME VERSUS WISDOM Inderjit Badhwar T The“eitheror” situationalways followsacrisisor militaryambition. Afterthe9/11 tragedyintheUS, PresidentGeorge Bushfamously usedthisphrase. BenitoMussolini declareditin speechesacross fascistItaly. TurkishPresident RecepErdogandid soafterthesuicide bombexplosionin Istanbulin January2016. Thesituation infectseverything, connectedornot. Letter from the Editor 4 January 20, 2020

5. your casual slur of countless good Americans hits a new bottom. Americans can, in good faith, differ about the legality or efficacy of killing Soleimani. That doesn’t make them unpatriotic or lovers of terrorists. It is hostility to differences of opinion that is un-American. “I understand that politics is a tough racket. I served as a Democratic staffer in the US Senate. I get that terrorism is a threat. I prosecuted terrorists as a United States attorney, working just yards from Ground Zero. I know of the particular evil posed by Qassem Soleimani. My office prosecuted plots orchestrated by him and the Quds Force, including the conspiracy to assassi- nate the Saudi ambassador to the United States in 2011. “So, I have some idea of what is at stake here when it comes to terrorism. As you well know, Congressman, terrorists do not kill Republicans or Democrats. They kill Americans. “You know what else is true? The prosecu- tors, law enforcement agents and intelligence officers who keep us safe from terrorism do not do so as Republicans or Democrats. They do so as Americans. The victims of terrorism—and their families—do not grieve as members of a political party. They do so as Americans. “You are not a talk radio host or a carnival barker. You are a pastor, an attorney and a sit- ting member of Congress. Therefore, the evidence would suggest you should know better. To utter such garbage, which you know to be false and defamatory, goes against all the training and teaching you must have received. But you got your cheap shot across, and perhaps that’s all that matters to you. “To be clear, Congressman, I am not making some old and familiar naive call for a return to ‘civility’ in our politics. I don’t have much hope for that in the immediate future. I just want people like you to knock off the worst scurrilous nonsense. I’d hope that would be possible for a member of the House who happens to be the ranking member on the Judiciary Committee. “If we are going to come together, protect the homeland and heal the hearts of people who have suffered the scars of terrorism, we need our leaders to do better than lazy trash talk. “Learn that volume and wisdom are not the same thing. “You were elected to lead. Please give it a try. “Respectfully, “Preet Bharara” | INDIA LEGAL | January 20, 2020 5 Twitter: @indialegalmedia Website: www.indialegallive.com Contact: editor@indialegallive.com RIGHT TO DIFFER The student uprisings have kept alive the spirit of democracy in India “Americanscan...differaboutthelegali- ty...ofkillingSoleimani.Thatdoesn’t makethemunpatriotic...hostilitytodif- ferencesofopinionisun-American...” —AmericanlawyerPreetBhararainaletter toUSCongressmanDougCollins UNI

6. ContentsVOLUME XIII ISSUE10 JANUARY20,2020 OWNED BY E. N. COMMUNICATIONS PVT. LTD. A -9, Sector-68, Gautam Buddh Nagar, NOIDA (U.P.) - 201309 Phone: +9 1-0120-2471400- 6127900 ; Fax: + 91- 0120-2471411 e-mail: editor@indialegalonline.com website: www.indialegallive.com MUMBAI: Arshie Complex, B-3 & B4, Yari Road, Versova, Andheri, Mumbai-400058 RANCHI: House No. 130/C, Vidyalaya Marg, Ashoknagar, Ranchi-834002. LUCKNOW: First floor, 21/32, A, West View, Tilak Marg, Hazratganj, Lucknow-226001. PATNA: Sukh Vihar Apartment, West Boring Canal Road, New Punaichak, Opposite Lalita Hotel, Patna-800023. ALLAHABAD: Leader Press, 9-A, Edmonston Road, Civil Lines, Allahabad-211 001. Chief Patron Justice MN Venkatachaliah Editor Inderjit Badhwar Senior Managing Editor Dilip Bobb Deputy Managing Editor Shobha John Executive Editor Ashok Damodaran Contributing Editor Ramesh Menon Deputy Editor Prabir Biswas Art Director Anthony Lawrence Deputy Art Editor Amitava Sen Senior Visualiser Rajender Kumar Photographer Anil Shakya Photo Researcher/ Kh Manglembi Devi News Coordinator Production Pawan Kumar Group Brand Adviser Richa Pandey Mishra CFO Anand Raj Singh Sales & Marketing Tim Vaughan, K L Satish Rao, James Richard, Nimish Bhattacharya, Misa Adagini Circulation Team Mobile No: 8377009652, Landline No: 0120-612-7900 email: indialegal.enc@gmail.com PublishedbyProfBaldevRajGuptaonbehalfofENCommunicationsPvtLtd andprintedatAcmeTradexIndiaPvt.Ltd.(UnitPrintingPress),B-70,Sector-80, PhaseII,Noida-201305(U.P.). Allrightsreserved.Reproductionortranslationinany languageinwholeorinpartwithoutpermissionisprohibited.Requestsfor permissionshouldbedirectedtoENCommunicationsPvtLtd.Opinionsof writersinthemagazinearenotnecessarilyendorsedby ENCommunicationsPvtLtd.ThePublisherassumesnoresponsibilityforthe returnofunsolicitedmaterialorformateriallostordamagedintransit. AllcorrespondenceshouldbeaddressedtoENCommunicationsPvtLtd. Senior Content Writer Punit Mishra (Web) 6 January 20, 2020 JNU symbolised citizenship, democracy and freedom. It was an adda of ideas, not an akhada. Violence in universities can be combatted only if civil society fights majoritarianism and mob mentality Blood on the Campus 10 LEAD While scores of anti-CAA petitions are pending in the Supreme Court, the High Courts have been quick in addressing the burning issue No Bar to Politics 13 COURTS The death sentence awarded to the Nirbhaya gang rape convicts is the first since 2015 in India, where capital punishment is rare. We reproduce an earlier India Legal piece featuring the views of 60 former judges of the Supreme Court on capital punishment in India, which is still relevant Black Warrant: What Judges Feel 14 FOCUS

7. Followuson Facebook.com/indialegalmedia Twitter:@indialegalmedia Website:www.indialegallive.com Contact:editor@indialegallive.com Cover Design: ANTHONY LAWRENCE Cover Photo: UNI | INDIA LEGAL | January 20, 2020 7 REGULARS Ringside............................8 International Briefs..........27 Media Watch ..................35 Satire ..............................46 Striking At The Root Hartals, the bane of Kerala, have dropped drastically thanks to strict conditions laid down by the Kerala High Court and tough administrative measures initiated by the government against violators OPINION STATES Complaints of tableau rejection for the Republic Day Parade 2020 would not have come from states if the parade was a people’s pageant and a celebration of citizens Politicising vs Militarising 24 ENVIRONMENT The metropolis is gasping, yet a clean air action plan from the state pollution control board is a sorry cut and paste job that is clueless about the steps needed to make the air clean Every Breath Mumbai Takes 28 42 MYSPACE In a progressive move, the chairman of the Rajya Sabha wants rules to be simplified so that action can be taken easily when there are complaints against MPs 36Make it Simple 18 Though Iran and the US have stepped back from the brink of war, the situation is volatile. India is watching closely due to its diaspora in the region and the likely impact on oil prices India’s Balancing Act GLOBALTRENDS By one UN definition, the US killing of Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani may fall under the category of a terrorist act Different Strokes 22 In an effort to bring down pollution, the Delhi government has come out with an EV policy which aims to increase the number of electric vehicles by 2023 32All Charged Up In a shocking display of callousness, the Rajasthan government failed to react when 100 babies died within a month at JK Lon Hospital. The rivalry between the CM and his deputy made matters worse Caught Napping 39

8. 8 January 20, 2020 Anthony Lawrence RINGSIDE Brute Majority

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10. Lead/ Column/ Violence in Universities Shiv Visvanathan 10 January 20, 2020 N a clichéd sense, the New Year is a sign of hope, a time for rituals of optimism, where one makes wish lists for the future. This New Year, maybe because it is seen as an “Angrez” concept by the regime, was a dampener marked by violence and confusion. The effusive smell of stability and confidence the regime exuded has suddenly evaporated. Some events cap- tured the hypocrisy and hollowness of the present set-up. The violent events in JNU were sad. JNU has now become a moment of history and a metaphor. Attempts to undermine the University have acquired a systematic quality. It almost seems as if the University is being treated as a little Pakistan. Last week, armed men, mas- ked to disguise their identities, walked into hostels and injured over 30 students. What is amazing is the supine Blood on the Campus JNUsymboliseddemocracyandfreedom.Itwasanaddaofideas,notanakhada.Violence invarsitiescanbecombattedonlyifcivilsocietyfightsmajoritarianismandmobmentality IQUESTIONS UNMASKED JNU students get together to raise their voice against violence on the campus and the Citizenship Act Twitter

11. | INDIA LEGAL | January 20, 2020 11 Another professor, a brilliant histori- an, told me that the violence of recent times has destroyed the wonderful eve- rydayness of academic life in the Univ- ersity. He said that it was not ideology he was worried about, but the attempts to undermine the very idea and norms of the University as an institution. He mentioned that the administration seemed indifferent and unapologetic and the security staff conniving or purpose- less. The regime, he said, thrives on the vulnerability of the University as an open institution. He was distraught that reason and dialogue had no place in the administration’s agenda. It seemed to see riots and vandalism, even goonda- gardi, as a continuation of majoritarianism by other means. Another distinguished professor analysed the crisis of the University around two events. He said that the regime felt the University had become an island of dissent in the midst of a conformist city. He invoked the fact that a year earlier, distinguished scientists had called on the then president, Pranab Muk- herjee, to ask him to stop the emascula- tion of research in the University. They were complaining about the manner in which PhD fellowships were diminish- ing. Science, they pointed out, is a plural and playful enterprise. To reduce it to a big science like Chandrayaan destroys future projects and other hypotheses. He added that the attempt to change the fee structure of the University was a second source of angst. It would change the social composition of the University. In fact, “JNU”, he said, “would no longer be JNU.” Other academics added that the centre does not see education, higher education, as a public good. The Kasturirangan report, flaunted by the regime, would not be complete without an ethnographic analysis of the JNU of the last few years. The regime sees education as skills. It has an instrumental sense of education, which is why it does not value the power and creativity of dissent in a university. The academic argued that dissent in an intellectual system is normal except to a regime that thrives on dogma. A senior sociologist who has written classic essays on the liberal ideas of the University, smiled sadly and said: “The BJP suffers from university envy.” The university, he said, was an adda of ideas, a celebration of difference. “Dissent,” he said, “was part of the official function of the university, a consequence of the dynamics of knowledge. Sadly, dissent is diffused as a violation of patriotism as the uniformity of the nation state tries to overwhelm the innate plurality of a university.” Secondly, JNU, he said, embodied the ideals and ideas of the Nehruvian era. He claimed that if it was renamed after Deen Dayal Upadhyay or Vajpayee, half the violence would cease. JNU attitude of the University administration. The V-C should have resigned in any university which has a sense of moral responsibility and leadership. Worse, the regime acts as if the University des- erved it, treating it like an internal security problem rather than a violation of freedom. The sense of shock that this last act of vandalism created was brought out poignantly by two small events. As the vandalism continued, a young child living in the campus rings up his gra- ndmother and complains that “goondas are breaking people’s heads”. In fact, JNU must be seen through the eyes of children who live on the campus and who see it as paradise. As a faculty member once told me, forget isms, JNU is a paradise for children: sa- ne, plural, affordable and cosmopolitan. The BJP destroyed that sense of inno- cence, the availability of playfulness that JNU provided for decades. SOLIDARITY WITH THE STUDENTS Actor Deepika Padukone with injured JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh JNUhasnowbecomeamomentofhistory andametaphor.Attemptstoundermine theUniversityhaveacquiredasystematic quality.It seemsasiftheUniversityis beingtreatedasalittlePakistan. Twitter

12. 12 January 20, 2020 embodied in a real sense the secularism, socialism and cosmopolitanism of the Nehru era. It was affordable, accessible and a theatre where ideas were on perpetual display. The BJP can create an akhada, but it has no sense of academic life. JNU, thus, becomes a perpetual target of the regime and a giant virus which creates the epidemics of political stability. My senior colleague said sadly: “I must modify my statement. The BJP suffers from university envy and JNU envy. JNU is twice cursed in that sense.” What was a piece of history has now become a metaphor in a wider sense. JNU has become a microcosm of democracy and other universities see it as embodying this ideal. For a few years, the regime was riding pretty till it bum- bled on the citizenship issue. The citizenship debate needs a separate analysis but what it did was to show that the university, and JNU in particular, was the seedling of a future alternative. Alre- ady, as an idea factory, the BJP seems outdated, spouting an archaic nationalism and a second-rate model of development. JNU, Aligarh, Jamia and Hyderabad as universities are reminders that the BJP’s manifestos are based on outdated syllabi. In a whimsical sense, JNU is a reminder that the regime needs to recognise and go back to the university. It will give many a politician a chance to actually get a genuine degree, learn something of the crisis, of con- cepts that are intellectually engaging the university. Regimes which run on outdated syllabi can be disastrous, as John Maynard Keynes once pointed out. T here is a final point one must grasp. The violence done to JNU is not recent. The University has been subject to propaganda, political and intellectual attacks, administrative discharges, financial delays, symbolic humiliation and now the sheer brutality of the physical inside hostels. Such violence is appalling, and the University is too fragile an institution to fight it alone. Civil society has to enter the pic- ture the way it has, showing not only the power of the academic but the creativity of citizenship. The protests in Chennai, Bengaluru, Aligarh and Hyderabad have shown that the regime delegitimised itself by restricting citizenship and cor- roding freedom. JNU became a symbol of citizenship, democracy and freedom worldwide. The violence of the regime is backfiring, but these are dangerous times. Only a civil society-backed university can survive in- stitutionally. The challenge before JNU is no longer a challenge to JNU. It is a challenge to the creativity of democracy to work its way beyond majoritarianism and mob mentality and the inanity of academic bureaucracies. In a moment of dinginess, of sheer brutality, democracy has decided to invent itself again, start- ing with its favourite institution, the university. Maybe a warning of a Happy New Year must begin ironically. Oth- erwise we forget the price we pay for retaining freedom. —The writer is a member of the Compost Heap, a commons of ideas exploring alternative imaginations Twitter: @indialegalmedia Website: www.indialegallive.com Contact: editor@indialegallive.com Lead/ Column/ Violence in Universities/ Shiv Visvanathan JNUembodiedinarealsensethe secularism,socialismandcosmo- politanismoftheNehruera.Itwasafford- able,accessibleandatheatrewhere ideaswereonperpetualdisplay.

13. | INDIA LEGAL | January 20, 2020 13 Courts/ Citizenship Law HILE Chief Justice of India SA Bobde has reiterated on several occasions that the apex court will hear the challenge to the constitutionality of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019 once the nation-wide violence stops, various High Courts across the country have been quick to address the burning issue. Some of the protests around the country have been peaceful, like the Shaheen Bagh sit-in in New Delhi, but many others, particularily in the states, have seen the breakout of violence, forc- ing the High Courts to step in suo motu. The Rajasthan High Court set the ball rolling by asking the centre to ex- plain the process of granting citizenship to persecuted minorities of neighbour- ing countries. In Shillong, the Megha- laya High Court was as blunt as it could be when it said that the CAA offended the secular colour of the country. In the south, the Madras High Court ordered that a rally by the opposition DMK party be videographed after the Court was informed that the police in Chennai had denied permission for the anti-CAA rally. The Court refused to stall the holding of the rally, saying that “in a democratic country, a peaceful demon- stration cannot be prevented, as it is the backbone of the democratic set up”. Bangaloreans found support in Kar- nataka High Court when Chief Justice Abhay S Oka pulled up the administration for unnecessarily imposing Section 144 ahead of scheduled protest rallies. The Allahabad High Court, too, registered a suo motu PIL against the internet shutdowns in Uttar Pradesh over anti-CAA protests. It also asked the Na- tional Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to investigate the alleged police excesses in Aligarh Muslim University on December 15 during the protests. The centre has moved a transfer petition urging that all challenges to the CAA in various High Courts be heard by the Supreme Court directly. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, while mention- ing the matter before CJI Bobde, sought to show the government’s concern, saying that different High Courts may have varying decisions on the issue. The CJI agreed to hear the transfer petition, but not before stating that he would want to know what the High Courts had to say on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. To centralise every issue at the Sup- reme Court defeats the legislative intent of writ courts under Article 226 of the Constitution which puts the High Co- urts on the same pedestal as the Sup- reme Court when trying issues. In fact, under Article 226, the High Courts en- joy wider jurisdiction when compared with Article 32 for the Supreme Court, which limits the jurisdiction of the apex court to hearing matters in respect of the five writs only. Petitions raising concerns over police action in Jamia Milia Islamia and Ali- garh Muslim University were first filed in the Supreme Court. The judges were reluctant and asked the petitioners to approach the jurisdictional High Courts (Delhi and Allahabad). Every pat on the back that Modi and Shah have given themselves ever since Modi 2.0 came, has given someone an opportunity to knock on the Sup- reme Court’s door. The judiciary today has become a political tool being constantly used by and against the central and state governments. The makers of our Constitution must be turning in their graves as they probably never imagined that it would ever be misused to this extent. No Bar to Politics Whilescoresofanti-CAApetitionsarependinginthe SupremeCourt,theHighCourtshavebeenquickto addresstheburningissue By Ishita Purkaystha Twitter: @indialegalmedia Website: www.indialegallive.com Contact: editor@indialegallive.com W RIGHT TO PROTEST The Madras High Court refused to stall an anti-CAA rally by the DMK in Chennai UNI

14. Focus/ Capital Punishment 14 January 20, 2020 N 2014, I made a courtesy call on then Chief Justice of India P Sathasivam who was due to retire in a week. Without referring to any specific case before him, the judge seemed highly agitated by judicial delays, particularly in the case of death row prisoners who suffer inter- minable mental torture or even go stark raving mad while awaiting decisions on mercy petitions. “This has to be reme- died,” he said. Little did I know that a day later, a bench headed by him and comprising Justices RM Lodha, HL Dattu and SJ Mukhopadhaya would commute the death sentence of Deven- derpal Singh Bhullar whose mercy petition had been pending for eight years following a 1993 Delhi bomb blast which killed nine people. The judges cited Shatrughan Chau- han vs Union of India where “unex- plained and inordinate delays” in decid- ing a mercy petition as well as mental and physical illness were found valid grounds for commutation of a death sentence to life imprisonment. Satha- sivam’s last judgment as CJI once again catalysed the judicial and academic community to re-examine the whole death penalty issue. India Legal has tackled this subject in cover stories in the magazine as well as on its TV chan- nel in which we featured guests, including academicians from the National Law University (NLU). Last week, an important social story that got lost in the political din of the Gujarat elections was a wide-ranging and thought-provoking report on capital punishment in India, titled “Mat- Black Warrant: What Judges Feel I All the four convicts in the Nirbhaya gang rape case have been sen- tenced to death following a Delhi court’s order. The execution would be the first since 2015 in India, where capital punishment is rare. India Legal’s editorial “Death Sentences—What the Judges Feel” dated December 25, 2017, by EDITOR-IN-CHIEF INDERJIT BADHWAR analysed a wide-ranging and thought-provoking report on capital punishment in India. The report, “Matters of Judgment”, is a unique attitude study on the criminal justice system and the death penalty featuring 60 former judges of the Supreme Court of India. As the piece is very much relevant today, we reproduce it: Akshay Thakur Mukesh Singh Vinay Sharma Pawan Gupta JusticeSathasivam’slastjudgmentas CJIonceagaincatalysedthejudicialand academiccommunitytore-examinethe deathpenaltyissue.IndiaLegal tackledit inthemagazineandonitsTVchannel.

15. | INDIA LEGAL | January 20, 2020 15 ters of Judgment”. It is a unique attitude study on the criminal justice system and the death penalty featuring 60 former judges of the Supreme Court of India. They include Justices AK Gan- guly, Santosh Hegde, Ruma Pal, BN Srikrishna and RC Lahoti, who have adjudicated 208 death penalty cases among them between 1975 and 2016 (see box for full list in the next page). D r GS Bajpai, registrar and professor of criminology and criminal justice, a frequent guest on India Legal TV shows, said at the semi- nar at which the report was released: “This report is not as simplistic as we think based on its face value and has to be decoded further with respect to the observations made by the judges. It is said that criminal law is deficient. I would say that it is not that criminal law is deficient but we have failed criminal law. It is the institutions that have failed criminal law in India. Fresh in- sights are not being imported into the criminal law of this country. It is as if we only like to debate. This study is not the conclusion but like a hypothesis which should be taken forward by law researchers.” Of the 60 former judges interviewed, 47 had adjudicated death penalty cases and confirmed 92 death sentences in 63 cases. Considering that the death penalty represents the most severe punishment permitted in law, “we sought the views of former judges on critical aspects of the criminal justice system like torture, integrity of the evidence collec- tion process, access to legal representa- tion and wrongful convictions,” the study’s authors said in an introduction. The interviews also examined the meaning of the “rarest of rare” standard laid down by the apex court for award- ing the extreme punishment in Bachan Singh vs State of Punjab, the appropriate role for aggravating and mitigating factors and the nature of judicial discretion during death penalty sentencing. The final stage of the report exam- ines the attitudes of former judges to abolition or retention of the death sentence “while exploring their thoughts on recent developments that seek to move away from the death penalty”. This is not the first time this trou- bling legal subject of life vs death has been explored in India. In the Consti- tuent Assembly of 1947-49, it was in- tensely debated, with Dr Ambedkar staunchly opposing the death penalty. In 2015, the Law Commission headed by Justice AP Shah proposed that the country should aim at complete abolition “but as a first step that it be done away with for all crimes except terrorism. Further, the Commission sincerely hopes that the movement towards absolute abolition will be swift and irreversible.” Nonetheless, the latest study is star- tling because it reveals an overpowering recognition and widespread anxiety among former Supreme Court judges about India’s criminal justice system because of extensive pervasiveness of torture, fabrication of evidence, the appalling inferiority of legal aid and unjust convictions. For example, as Dr Anup Surendra- nath, director of the Centre on the Death Penalty, puts it: “Judges Theinterviewsinthereportalso examinedthemeaningofthe“rarestof rare”standardlaiddownbytheapexcourt forawardingtheextremepunishmentin BachanSinghvsStateofPunjab JUSTICE DELAYED BUT NOT DENIED (L-R) The parents of Nirbhaya; a candlelight protest against the brutal act at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi Anil Shakya

16. 16 January 20, 2020 acknowledge the misuse of Section 27 of the Evidence Act as also planting of evidence. They acknowledged that torture was a reality. Only one of them said that it does not exist. Some said that it is expected that something like that will happen. They also acknowledged wrongful convictions. But wrongful convictions were eventually pitted against wrongful acquittals by some judges and were not viewed as independent problems.” Here are excerpts of the key findings and recommendations of this exclusive survey: There was explicit acknowledgment and widespread concern about the crisis in the criminal justice system due to the use of torture to generate evidence, fabrication through recovery evidence, a broken legal aid system and wrongful convictions. Though some former judges did offer justifications/explana- tions for this state of affairs, there was an overwhelming sense of concern about the integrity of the criminal justice system from multiple viewpoints. However, the grave concerns about the criminal justice system did not sit quite well with the support for the death penalty. In conversations on the death penalty, the above mentioned realities of administering criminal justice in India hardly found mention. This disconnect was best demonstrated when 43 former judges acknowledged wrongful convictions as a worrying reality in India’s criminal justice system generally but when it came to the death penalty only five judges acknowledged the ‘possibility of error’ as a possible reason for abolition in India. All former judges, irrespective of their position on the death penalty, were asked the reasons they saw for abolition or retention of the death penalty in India. In response, 29 former judges identified abolitionist justifications and 39 identified retentionist justifications. Fourteen retentionist judges took the position that there was no reason whatsoever to consider abolition in India and three abolitionist judges felt there was no reason to keep the death penalty. Deterrence emerged as the strongest penological justification for retaining the death penalty with 23 former judges seeing merit in that argument. How- ever, most of them believed that the deterrent value of the death penalty flows from a general fear of punishment rather than any particular deterrent value specific to the death penalty. The notion of a bifurcated trial, being a division between the guilt-determina- tion phase and the sentencing phase, did not seem to hold much attraction for the former judges. Despite the sentencing process in death penalty cases having very specific requirements as per the judgment in Bachan Singh, the understanding of ‘rarest of rare’ among former judges was determined/domi- nated by considerations of the brutality of the crime. For a significant number of judges, the ‘rarest of the rare’ was based on categories or description of offences alone and had little to do with the judicial test requiring that the alternative of life imprisonment be ‘unquestionably fore- closed’. This meant that for certain crimes, this widely-hailed formulation falls apart rendering the sentencing exercise nugatory. Despite the law setting out an indicative list of both aggravating and mitigating circumstances to be taken into Justice AR Lakshmanan Justice Arijit Pasayat Justice AK Patnaik Justice AK Mathur Justice AM Ahmadi Justice AS Anand Justice Aftab Alam Justice Ajay Prakash Misra Justice Ashok Bhan Justice Asok Kumar Ganguly Justice BN Srikrishna Justice B Sudershan Reddy Justice Brijesh Kumar Justice BP Jeevan Reddy Justice BP Singh Justice BS Chauhan Justice CK Prasad Justice CK Thakker Justice Cyriac Joseph Justice DP Mohapatra Justice Deepak Verma Justice Fathima Beevi Justice GB Pattanaik Justice GN Ray Justice GS Singhvi Justice GT Nanavati Justice Gyan Sudha Misra Justice HK Sema Justice HL Gokhale Justice HS Bedi Justice K Ramaswamy Justice KG Balakrishnan Justice KS Panicker Radhakrishnan Justice KT Thomas Justice Kuldip Singh Justice MB Shah Justice MN Venkatachaliah Justice N Santosh Hegde Justice PB Sawant Justice PK Balasubramanyan Justice PP Naolekar Justice P Venkatarama Reddi Justice RC Lahoti Justice Ruma Pal Justice RV Raveendran Justice S Mohan Justice S Rajendra Babu Justice Swatanter Kumar Justice SB Sinha Justice SC Agarwal Justice SJ Mukhopadhaya Justice SN Phukan Justice SP Kurdukar Justice Shivaraj V Patil Justice SSM Quadri Justice Tarun Chatterjee Justice V Gopala Gowda Justice VN Khare Justice VS Sirpurkar Justice Vikramajit Sen ListofRespondents Thereportexaminestheattitudesoffor- merjudgestoabolitionorretentionofthe deathsentence“whileexploringtheir thoughtsondevelopmentsthatseekto moveawayfromthedeathpenalty”. Focus/ Capital Punishment

17. the inescapable force of certain abolitionist arguments, but stark in its complete absence was any acknowledgment of the disparate impact of the death penalty on the poor and marginalised sections of Indian society. In a criminal justice system that is corrupt and violent at multiple levels, the bur- den on vulnerable sections of society is immense, and it is only accentuated within the death penalty context. As such, it is peculiar as to why this aspect of the death penalty in India did not find any real favour amongst former judges, especially those that were abolitionist. “The disproportionate representa- tion of the poor, illiterate, and socially marginalised within the death penalty context is abundantly clear in India and other retentionist countries across the globe. The contrast between the discussions on the criminal justice system and the confidence that seems to exist in administering the death penalty in the very same system is striking. The role of harsh punishments within a crisis- ridden criminal justice system is a complex one. “The challenge really is to compre- hend the considerations which drive the death penalty in a system that is plagued with torture, fabricated evidence, and wrongful convictions. As the harshest punishment in our legal system, the discussions and positions on the death penalty must feel the utmost impact of these worrying realities. It is the extreme ends of our criminal justice system, that need to be tempered by the grim reality that the former judges brought out so powerful- ly (in the first part of the report). “Ultimately, the fact that their concerns about the criminal justice system has not migrated to their discussion on the death penalty is indicative of the terms on which multiple competing interests get balanced.” | INDIA LEGAL | January 20, 2020 17 Twitter: @indialegalmedia Website: www.indialegallive.com Contact: editor@indialegallive.com account before determining the sentence, there was considerable confusion about the weight and scope of mitigating circumstances. Opinions varied considerably on whether factors such as poverty, young age and post-conviction mental illness and jail conduct could be considered mitigating circumstances at all, despite them being judicially recog- nised. A minority, in fact, did not be- lieve in considering any mitigating circumstances at all while others believed that some categories of offences were simply beyond mitigation. A striking feature, in stark contrast to the lack of confidence in the investiga- tive process, was the confidence that judges had in discretionary powers in sentencing. This was despite the fact that more than half the judges believed that the background of a judge, including their religion and personal beliefs, were factors that influenced the choice between the death penalty and life imprisonment. There appeared to be no “bright line” which distinguished judicial sentencing discretion swiftly slipping into individual judge-centric decisions. The law since Bachan Singh has ev- olved considerably on the issue of the scope of a sentence of life imprisonment. In December 2015, a constitution bench of the Supreme Court affirmed that it had the power to impose a sentence for a fixed duration or for the natural life of the prisoner which were beyond the scope of remission. While 25 judges believed that this sentencing formulation was a legally valid punishment, seven found it violative of constitutional mandate and separation of powers. CONCLUSION “It is interesting that a significant number of retentionist judges identified abolitionist reasoning. It demonstrates Thereportfeatured60 formerjudgesofthe SupremeCourt.They include(clockwisefrom aboveleft)JusticesRC Lahoti,SantoshHegde, RumaPal,AKGangulyand BNSrikrishna.Forty-seven judgeshadadjudicated deathpenaltycasesand confirmed92deathsen- tencesin63cases.

18. Global Trends/ West Asia Situation HE US drone attack on Iran’s top general, Qassem Soleimani, and Iran’s decision to retaliate by firing ballistic missiles at two American bases in Iraq have raised concerns about an all-out armed conflict which will plunge West Asia into instability. Any conflict in this oil-producing area will have repercus- sions worldwide, including India. However, good sense seems to have prevailed for the moment. But how long that will last is uncertain. As speculation grows around the downing of a Ukraine plane in Iran, killing 179 people, one wonders if its militias could have a hand in it. It is not clear yet if Tehran can control them; they had played an important role in getting the IS out of the territory it had carved out in Iraq and Sy- ria. Soleimani was the guiding force behind these militias. They are baying for revenge and may act without con- sulting the authorities in Tehran. The situation remains volatile and a tiny miscalculation by one side can plunge the region into war. Small rockets hit the Green Zone in Baghdad on January 9 near the American embassy. Luckily, there was no major damage. For the moment, both Iran and the US have thankfully stepped back from the brink. US President Donald Trump, in an address to Americans on January 8 from the White House, said that the ballistic missile attack on the Erbil air base in northern Iraq and the Al-Asad base in the western part of the country had not led to any loss of American lives. In fact, the Iraqis had warned the US forces and that allowed them to shift to safety before the missiles struck. For a president who likes to project himself as a strong and decisive leader, any American death would have led to mas- sive retaliation. Iran knows that. According to officials quoted by US newspapers and television channels, Iranians made sure that the damage was minimal. However, Ira- nian state television claimed that 80 American soldiers were killed. Iran had no option but to strike at US targets after Soleimani was killed while on a visit to Baghdad. Domestic public opinion was enraged at the US strike against the well-loved and powerful general. But the pragmatic Iranian leadership took care not to further escalate an already volatile situation. Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, speaking in the holy city of Qom, had claimed after the missile attacks: “Last night they received a slap…these military actions are not sufficient…what is important is that the corrupt presence of America in this region comes to an end.’’ However, on January 7, Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif said that the Islamic Republic does “not seek escala- India’s Balancing Act ThoughIranandtheUShavesteppedbackfromthe brinkofwar,thesituationisvolatile.Indiaiswatching thesituationcloselyduetoitsdiasporaintheregion andtheimpactonoilprices By Seema Guha T 18 January 20, 2020

19. tion or war, but will defend ourselves against any aggression’’. Like White Ho- use and Pentagon officials, Iran too was playing the soft and hard cards. There have been reports in a section of the US press that the US and Iran have been in touch through a Swiss diplomat and have been talking through the crisis, perhaps to contain the damage or begin bilateral talks. There is no official confir- mation of this. Trump’s nine-minute speech on Iran gave mixed signals to the Iranians. He said Iran was “standing down’’ and OMINOUS SIGNALS Top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani's ass- assination by the US may plunge West Asia into instability and drag India into the vortex | INDIA LEGAL | January 20, 2020 19 Photos: UNI

20. sought to reassure Americans that the country was not heading for another war in West Asia. His assertion came even as Democrats were trying to curtail Trump’s powers to wage war. The president did not share his decision to attack Soleimani with Congress, which, according to the US Constitution, should have been done. Trump ended his speech with an unexpected appeal for peace. This was dismissed by Iran’s envoy to the UN, Majid Ravanchi, as “unbelievable’’ after Washington had “initiated a new series of escalation and animosity with Iran’’. A t the heart of the current crisis is Trump’s decision in 2018 to walk away from the nuclear agreement between Iran, US, China, Russia, France, UK and Germany. The 2015 deal, which was signed under President Barack Obama’s administration, was worked out to ensure that Iran stop its nuclear programme in return for lifting all US sanctions slapped on it. A strict inspection regime by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in return for lifting the crippling sanctions was worked out. Trump, always critical of the deal, walked out. He was backed by Israel, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, who were vehemently against the agreement from the beginning. Trump wants to renegotiate the deal and has appealed to China, Russia and others who signed it to begin fresh negotiations. He vowed: “As long as I’m US president, Iran will never have a nuclear weapon.’’ Soon after Soleimani’s death, Iran announced that it would no longer be restrained by the Joint Com- prehensive Plan of Action. So far, the government has not kicked out IAEA inspectors who can visit any of Iran’s nuclear facilities. The team sometimes does so three times a month. Trump had charged the Obama administration with negotiating a bad deal as it allowed Tehran to use/fund a “terror spree’’, including the missiles fired at two US camps in Iraq. Susan Rice, Obama’s national security adviser, denied this and said that it was Trump who began to escalate the situation in Iran by “recklessly and unilaterally” withdrawing from the nuclear deal and imposing “maximum pressure crippling sanctions. She told MSNBC, “And it was in the wake of that that we found ourselves in this escalatory cycle that has led to where we are today—a very dangerous moment.” The short point is that Trump initiated the problem and by killing Soleimani could plunge the two countries into another meaningless war. America seems to have drawn few lessons from former President George Bush’s decision to go to war with Iraq in 1991. The consequences of a war between the US and Iran would greatly damage Indian interests. Though India, thanks mainly to US sanctions, stopped buying oil from Iran, any military confrontation would lead to skyrocketing oil prices. ThoughIranianforeignminister JavadZarifhadopenlyspokenabout hisdisappointmentwithIndiaforgiving intoUSdiktatsandrefusingtoliftoil fromIran,hewaspositiveaboutties betweenIndiaandIran. 20 January 20, 2020 Global Trends/ West Asia Situation STRATEGIC MOVE Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei had no option but to strike at US targets

21. Considering India’s fragile economic condition at present, a hike in petrole- um products would inflate its oil import bill and damage the economy further. T hough there are few Indian workers in Iran, some 150 families are settled there. In case war breaks out and they need to be evacuated, the numbers are small. The larger concern is the war engulfing the rest of the Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE. This is where the majority of India’s nearly nine million workers are spread. Iran had also reportedly vowed to attack Dubai in the UAE and Haifa in Israel if Iranian soil is bombed. Fear of the fighting spreading would induce many of the Indians to return home. Indian workers in the region send home $40 billion each year. This will reduce drastically if the region remains unsta- ble. India is keeping a close watch on developments. MEA spokesman Rav- eesh Kumar said that foreign minister S Jaishankar has been talking to all stake- holders, including the UAE, Jordan and Qatar. Earlier, both US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Zarif had spoken to Jaishankar. In the last few years, India has had to constantly balance its traditional ties with Iran with its current all-encom- passing relations with the US. It has been a tightrope walk. Yet, despite Wa- shington giving India exemptions from sanctions on Chabahar Port in Iran, the project has been languishing for over a decade. The Port is of strategic impor- tance to India because it gives Delhi access to not just Afghanistan but entire Central Asia. Chabahar was seen as a way to bypass Pakistan, which does not allow India to use its territory for trade. India built the Zaranj-Delaram highway at great cost and the sacrifice of several workers who were attacked by the Taliban. The idea was to send goods to Chabahar Port and then take them to the Iran-Afghanistan border where it would be connected to the rest of the country through this highway. This project is working in spurts, thanks to decades of sanctions against Iran. Unless the situation improves and sanctions are lifted, Chabahar cannot provide the kind of access that India had hoped for. Zarif is expected to be in Delhi soon. While he had openly spoken to this cor- respondent in November about his dis- appointment with India for giving in to US diktats and refusing to lift oil from Iran, he was positive about ties between both countries. Both Delhi and Tehran realise the significance of their ties— Iran because it needs friends and India because Iran is a major oil producer and part of its extended neighbourhood. People to people contacts too run deep. So India is keeping its fingers crossed as the situation unfolds. Twitter: @indialegalmedia Website: www.indialegallive.com Contact: editor@indialegallive.com SusanRice,BarackObama’snational securityadviser,saidthatitwasDonald Trumpwhobegantoescalatethesitua- tioninIranbywithdrawingfromthe nucleardealandimposing“maximum pressurecripplingsanctions”. | INDIA LEGAL | January 20, 2020 21 MIXED SIGNALS ON IRAN US President Donald Trump reassured Americans the situation will not lead to war

22. Global Trends/ Column/ West Asia Col R Hariharan 22 January 20, 2020 HE killing of Major General Qassem Soleimani, chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC)’s Quds Force, considered Iran’s second most powerful leader, by US airstrike on January 3, in Iraq, has taken West Asia to the brink of war. The US operation carried out on the orders of President Donald Trump triggered Iran’s retaliatory military response after three days of national mourning for the slain leader. The Iranians fired two doz- en missiles targeting two American bases in Iraq, which do not seem to have suffered much damage. According to National Interest, the missiles were area weapons fired from 400 miles away, on targets of a few square miles, with minimal effect. This would indicate Iran’s response was cal- culated to be symbolic to satisfy the masses baying for revenge. President Trump’s national address on the attack also indicated, at least for the time being, that the US would leave the crisis simmering rather than letting it flare into full-fledged war. While strategic analysts continue to debate the cause and effect of the latest US-Iran stand-off, it raises a number of uncomfortable questions on the legality of their conduct. The Quds Force, a part of the IRGC, led by General Soleimani, was responsible for extra-territorial unconventional warfare and intelligence. The US designated it a terrorist organisation in 2007 with Canada, Egypt and Saudi Arabia following suit. The US had for long held General Soleimani and the Quds Force in its sights for carrying out terrorist attacks Different Strokes ByoneUNdefinition,thekillingofGeneralSoleimanimay fallunderthecategoryofaterroristact T news.un.org

23. | INDIA LEGAL | January 20, 2020 23 defining terrorism that is acceptable to all member nations. However, since 1994, the UN General Assembly, after adopting the 1994 UN Declaration on Measures to Eliminate International Terrorism annexure to UN General Assembly Resolution 49/60 “Measures to Eliminate International Terrorism” of December 9, 1994, uses the following political description of terrorism to con- demn terrorist acts: “Criminal acts intended or calculat- ed to provoke a state of terror in the general public, a group of persons or particular persons for political purposes are in any circumstance unjustifiable, what- ever the considerations of a political, philosophical, ideological, racial, ethnic, religious or any other nature that may be invoked to justify them.” By this UN definition of a terrorist act, the killing of General Soleimani may fall under the above category of a terrorist act. O ther than this, the UN’s international conventions on anti-terrorist measures for various sectors are based on operational definition of the specific type of terrorist act. These measures focus on action by non-State actors and adoption of a criminal law enforcement model under which states would cooperate in the apprehension and prosecution of those who committed the terrorist act. Though the UN has had difficulty in defining terrorism, the US defines terrorism in Title 22 Chapter 38 US Code § 256f as “premeditated, politically motivated, perpetrated against non- combatant targeted by sub-national groups or clandestine agents”. So the act of killing Soleimani by using an air strike may not pass muster in the US as an act of terrorism. In April 2019, in a questionable move, the US designated the IRGC, a constitutional entity of the Iranian government, a terrorist organisation. This was said to have been opposed by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The IRGC is distinct from the Iranian army which is entrusted with national security. The IRGC’s role is to protect the Islamic system, to prevent foreign interference and coups by the military or other opposition movements. Evidently the US action was taken to check IRGC activities in Syria, Iraq, Palestine and Lebanon. Mary Ellen O’Connell, research professor of international dispute resolution at the University of Notre Dame, in her comments to CNN held that Trump’s decision to kill General Soleimani was not legal as it had the quality of an act of revenge, reprisal and punishment. She cited the President’s Twitter post, that General Soleimani “was plotting to kill many more….but got caught…” and “he should have been taken out many years ago” and the Department of Defense press release calling the attack “a defensive action”. Moreover, under the right of self- defence, military attack is permitted under UN Charter Article 51 only “if an armed attack” occurs on the defending nation. The triggering action must be significant and the response necessary and proportionate to halt and repel the ongoing attacks. So Prof O’Connell holds the killing of Soleimani cannot be justified by the law of self-defence. Her comment, “Trump is not the first president to carry out drone killings in violation of international law. He has taken the practice to a new level of law- lessness,” says it all. —The writer is a retired officer of the Intelligence Corps and associated with the Chennai Centre for China Studies and the South Asia Analysis Group GLOBAL CONSENSUS A UN conference on fighting terrorism at Minsk through local extremist groups in the Levant. The US act of carrying out a drone strike to kill Soleimani in Iraq when he was on his way to Baghdad air- port, on President Trump’s orders, for his alleged role in killing “millions of people”, would probably be classified as an act of terrorism if any country other than the United States had done it. After the attack, Iran’s foreign minister, Javad Zarif, in a tweet, called the US action an act of international terrorism and said it was an extremely dangerous and foolish escalation. “The US bears responsibility for all consequences of its rogue adventurism,” he said. Can the US action be called terrorism? For long, the UN had difficulty in Whilestrategicanalystscontinueto debatethecauseandeffectofthe latestUS-Iranstand-off,itraisesa numberofuncomfortablequestionson thelegalityoftheirconduct. Twitter: @indialegalmedia Website: www.indialegallive.com Contact: editor@indialegallive.com

24. Opinion/ R-Day Parade MG Devasahayam 24 January 20, 2020 S Republic Day-2020 is fast approaching, there is some commotion over the rejection of tableaux of Opposition-ruled states— West Bengal, Maharashtra and Kerala—for the parade. Senior leaders of the Trinamool Congress have accused the central government of drop- ping the state tableau from the final list due to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s vehement opposition to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the proposed pan-India National Register of Citizens (NRC). In Maharashtra, senior Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut and NCP leader Supriya Sule have alleged that Maharashtra was also left out for the same reason. The argument is the same for Kerala also. The central government rubbished this criticism and claimed that there was no malicious intent behind the move and proper procedure was followed while selecting/rejecting tableaux for the parade. According to these sources, many tableaux of BJP-ruled states such as Haryana, Uttarakhand and Tripura were also rejected this year after following due procedure. As per process laid down, every year, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) invites proposals for the Republic Day Parade tableaux from all states and Union Territories (UTs) along with central ministries/departments by providing a broad list of suggestive themes. It includes important episodes from the state/UT's history, festivals celebrated there, cultural or architectural heritage, important social and economic development scheme, environment, and so on. On receipt of the proposals, they are evaluated by an expert committee on the basis of theme, concept, design and visual impact before making recommendations. There are two rounds of selec- Politicising Vs Militarising Complaintsoftableaurejectionwouldnothavecomefrom statesiftheparadewasapeople’spageantanda celebrationofcitizensratherthanashowofmilitant nationalisminafracturednation A SHOWCASING DEFENCE MIGHT File photo of Indian Army tanks on Rajpath at a R-Day rehearsal parade in New Delhi UNI

25. | INDIA LEGAL | January 20, 2020 25 Army, in addition to the Navy and Air Force with their bands, march past in their uniforms and official decorations. The president of India as the supreme commander of the armed forces takes the salute. Contingents of various paramilitary forces and other police/civil forces also take part. Some selected states and Union Territories are repre- sented by their floats that highlight aspects of their culture or activities. It is the MoD, not the home or culture ministries, that plans and manages the mega-show. Therefore, the focus of the celebration is parade, not pageant. Media headlines on India’s 70th Repu- blic Day celebration last year ran like this: “India Showcases Its Military Might at Republic Day Parade”. Dedic- ated to the 150th anniversary of Maha- tma Gandhi, the apostle of peace, the parade comprised over 25 marching and mounted contingents, various military vehicles and armaments, 20 military bands and 30 aircraft. Indeed, an irony. The parade was commanded by the General Officer Commanding, Headquarters, Delhi Area, a lieutenant general. Chief of Staff, Headquarters, Delhi Area, a major general, was the parade second-in-command. The marching contingent of the army included horse-mounted columns of the 61st Cavalry, the Punjab Regiment, Maratha Light Infantry, the Dogra Regiment, Ladakh Scouts, the Regiment of Artillery and 123 Infantry Battalion- Territorial Army (Grenadiers), followed by the tableau of ex-servicemen. The marching contingent of the navy comprised 144 young sailors and the Indian Air Force contingent also had 144 men. Paramilitary and other auxiliary civil forces included the Border Security Force as well as camel contingents, the Indian Coast Guard, Sashastra Seema Bal, Indo Tibetan Border Police, Delhi Police and National Cadet Corps. The blatantly military aspect in 2019 was the display of American M777 Howitzers, the K-9 Vajras. These were the first major induction of artillery guns in the Indian Army since the Bofors guns of the mid-1980s. Transport Satellite Terminal (TST), Surface Mine Clearing System (SMCS) and Troop Level Radar were also exhibited as part of the army’s mechanised columns on the ceremonial boulevard. The army’s T-90 tank (Bhishma), Ballway Machine Pikate (II/IIK), Brahmos Missile System, weapon locating radar (Swathi), bridge-laying tank T-72, mobile base transceiver station and Akash weapon system were the main draw in the mechanised columns. Civilian participation was exhibited in 30 tableaux showcasing the cultures/activities of various states and UTs as well as ministries/ public sector enterprises. In addition, around 1,200 schoolchildren presented cultural dances. tion based on merit. Data for the past 13 years does not show that central governments have used Republic Day tableaux as tools to target states ruled by the Opposition. Federal principles are not involved here as the rights of states to represent themselves at a national event have not been violated. Politicising the Republic Day parade is not a valid charge. The real charge should be that it is too militarised. O ften, there have been questions as to whether the celebration of Republic Day should be through parades or pageants. Let us look at the definition of these two. While a pageant is an elaborate colourful exhibition or spectacle, often with music that consists of a series of tableaux, a parade is the ceremonial formation of a body of troops before a superior officer. And a Republic is defined as a government in which supreme power resides with the citizens and is exercised by representa- tives elected by them. There is nothing military about it. It follows that Rep- ublic Day celebrations should be citizen- centric with lots of songs, dance and tableaux which would form the pageant. Instead, what is dominating India’s Republic Day is a military/paramilitary parade, relegating the pageant to the background. The grand parade is led by the three divisions of the Indian armed forces. Different regiments of the Indian Seniorleadersofthe TrinamoolCongress haveaccusedthe centralgovernment ofdroppingthestate tableaufromthefinal listduetoChief MinisterMamata Banerjee’svehement oppositiontothe Citizenship (Amendment)Act.PIB

26. 26 January 20, 2020 As of now, the parade is mainly meant to demonstrate the might of the Indian state and its military technologies and weapons of defence/offence. The question is: who is this “demonstra- tion” meant for? To our so-called enemies to beware? Or to our own citizens to obey the State unquestioningly? If it is the former, it has become meaningless as our enemies know what military ware we have, most of which are imported. If it is the latter, it is against the very ethos of our democratic republic in which the citizen is sovereign. Rousseau famously said: “Obedience is not the duty of a citizen.” If on the other hand, the idea is to give a sense of security to the people by parading some troops at Rajpath and displaying military hardware, it is not going to serve the purpose. B e that as it may, the very idea of a bounded nation implies that its borders need to be protected by its armed forces. And this seems to be the chief reason for the elevated status of military power as a symbol of the nation, particularly in these troubled times when, despite the rhetoric of glob- alisation, nation-states continue to pre- vail and in an environment of social Darwinism, war or the fear of war is normalised. The ritualisation of the Republic Day parade reinforces this sort of nationalist euphoria: see the march of the army comprising disciplined, tight, masculine bodies of trained/robotic soldiers saluting the flag; feel good, cherish the nar- cissism of the nation and think that you are more powerful than your enemies. Despite the sound of the boots of the marching army, an imaginary unity in the name of fighting the “external enemy” (which has become a wild obses- sion these days) cannot create a healthy nation. A fractured/fragmented nation can be healed only by eradicating the arbitrariness and injustice within and reinforcing democratic values. But the opposite is happening. As the parade—almost like a totemic ritual—seeks to reinforce “solidarity”, this form of obsessive nationalism conditions our minds and limits our hori- zon. This narrowness and its implicit violence brings about militant nationalism, which is wrecking the nation today with its rigidity, mechanisation and reckless regimentation. Even as we approach the day of fes- tive celebration, what we see is a violent nation with heightened social tension and economic inequality. All sorts of aggression is taking place in the name of exclusionary identities. Sanity demands that we come out of the rhetoric of nationalism and valourisation of militarised heroism and converse with the likes of Gandhi, BR Ambedkar and Rabindranath Tagore for drawing inspi- ration for creating yet another India with compassion, civility and kindness. For this to happen, Republic Day should be less militarised and more politicised in the sense that it should become a people’s pageant and a celebration of citizens. Then complaints of rejection of tableau will not come up as every state/Union Territory will not only have more of them but will also have much higher cultural participation in the Republic Day celebrations. Long ago, Greek philosopher-sta- tesman Aristotle spoke these prophetic words: “Republics decline into democracies and democracies degenerate into despotism.” This is becoming true of In- dia, touted as the “largest democracy in the world”. The remedy is to reduce mil- itarisation. The Republic Day parade could be a good occasion to start. —The writer is a former Army & IAS Officer Twitter: @indialegalmedia Website: www.indialegallive.com Contact: editor@indialegallive.com Opinion/ R-Day Parade/ MG Devasahayam MILITARY PRIDE The Akash missile system passing past the saluting dais, as part of the R-Day rehearsal in New Delhi “TheCentrehasrejectedpermissionsto thetableauxofMaharashtraandWest BengalfromparadeonRepublicDay.Itis afestivalofthecountryandtheCentreis expectedtogiverepresentation toallthestates.” —NCPleaderSupriyaSule UNI

27. For geeks and gadget lovers, their Mecca is the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) held each January in the Mecca of gambling—Las Vegas. There is irony in that convergence since many of the companies exhibiting their latest technology at CES are gambling on it being profitable. CES has served as the proving ground for innovators and breakthrough technologies and remains the global stage where next-generation innovations are introduced to the market- place. CES 2020 showcased some amazing products. Here are some of the best. DUAL AND FOLDING DISPLAYS: The latest trend in computers, phones and laptops are dual or foldable displays and CES 2020 showed how far the technology has come. Dell unveiled the Concept Duet and Con- cept Ori. The Duet is essentially like having two monitors you can fold up. The design means you can use it vertically to review images on one screen while working on the other. If you want a keyboard experience, there’s a detachable one. There was also the world’s first foldable tablet PC, the Think- Pad X1 Fold from Lenovo. | INDIA LEGAL | January 20, 2020 27 International Briefs Gadgets Galore TELEVISIONS: Bigger is better has been the way forward for all manufacturers, and this time Samsung unveiled The Wall. It lives up to the name, measuring an amazing 292 inches (24 feet or 7.4 metres), which is the largest TV ever seen at CES. AUTOMOBILE TECHNOLOGY: The brave new age of motoring was also in display, with Mercedes-Benz inspired by the movie Avatar to unveil an all-electric AVTR concept car. It has see-through surfaces and no steering wheel which has been replaced by a multifunctional control console. The interior and exterior are heavily inspired by the world of Pandora, which in the movie is a densely forested moon. It may not hit the road soon, but it shows that the future of automobile technology is coming close to science fiction. Even Sony, which does not make cars, unveiled a concept electronic vehicle. It has 33 sensors dotting the interior and exterior of the car. While the car is unlikely to be commer- cially sold, it shows how committed Sony is to mobility tech and a tie-up with a major manufacturer is a possibility. MOBILE PHONES: CES is the place where mobile phone manufacturers get pride of place and while Apple and Samsung have recently launched new products, the show stealer was from TCL. The Chinese company unveiled a foldable prototype that is due to hit the market later this year. The eye-catching design is a major plus while a 7.2-inch screen adds to the allure. It is also likely to come at an affordable price. FITNESS WATCHES: The big demand keeps manufacturers on their toes and the best of the rest was Withings’ range of the elegantly designed fitness-tracking Scan- Watch. It has dual optical sensors to register heart rhythm and a sensor to monitor blood oxygen levels. PHOTO SHOOT: Digital photo frames are quite popular for display on mantelpieces and desks but now we have the Lenovo Smart Frame, for hanging on a wall. The 21.9-inch display is like a work of art, with the attraction of being able to change photos from your phone. INNOVATIONS ON OFFER (Clockwise from above left) The AVTR from Mercedes; digital photo frames from Lenovo; fitness-tracking ScanWatch from Withings; “The Wall” TV from Samsung

28. Environment/ Pollution in Mumbai 28 January 20, 2020 HILE the world is aware of the air pollution issues faced by the National Capital Region (NCR), a similar crisis facing the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) has not received the attention it des- erves. Even though Mumbai and most of the MMR is located along the Arabian Sea, or its creeks and estuaries, the air quality in the MMR is cause for worry and, surprising as it may seem, on a few days a year, it is even worse than Delhi’s. The reasons for this are many. The construction of high-rises has completely disrupted the air flows over Greater Every Breath Mumbai Takes Themetropolisisgasping,yetacleanairactionplanfromthe statepollutioncontrolboardisasorrycutandpastejobthat iscluelessaboutthestepsneededtomaketheairclean By Debi Goenka W

29. | INDIA LEGAL | January 20, 2020 29 Mumbai, besides affecting the green lung of the metropolis and significantly impacting the air quality in the city and its suburbs. Add to this the pollution caused by the coal-fired thermal power plants owned and operated by the Tata Power Company (TPC) in an area that has come to be known as Mumbai’s “gas chamber”—the Chembur-Mahul belt. Shocking as it may seem, the TPC actually made an application in 2013 to the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) and the Ministry of Environ- ment, Forests & Climate Change (MoEF) to convert one of their 500 MW units that were originally licensed to operate on gas or oil to coal, and this was done under the label of modernisa- tion! Not surprisingly, both the MPCB and the MoEF promptly cleared the proposal. These clearances were chal- lenged in the NGT by the Conservation Action Trust (CAT) and others, including this writer. These applications are still pending. After six years of litigation, we now find that the TPC is not going ahead with this project since it is not financially vi- able. This, of course, is a victory of sorts, but still begs the question—while coal- based power plants all over the world are being shut down (including in Del- hi), how did the MPCB and the MoEF so blithely permit the conversion from gas/oil to coal? T o add insult to injury, the Na- tional Environmental Engineer- ing Research Institute (NEERI), which is one of India’s most renowned scientific institutions, was commis- sioned by TPC to do an independent assessment on the impact of this project. Shockingly, the NEERI report conclud- ed that there would be no material difference to the air quality or to the environment if TPC was allowed to operate this 500 MW unit on coal instead of gas or oil. This entire sequence of events gives us an understanding of how things can go horribly wrong if institutions that are meant to protect the people forget their responsibilities and bend over back- wards to accommodate hazardous and highly polluting projects to come up in densely populated areas. In addition to the 2,600 MW of power plants operating in Mumbai, there are also two refineries at Mahul. As its newly translocated residents have discovered, living in Mahul is a prelude to living in hell. These residents, who have been forced to occupy slum tene- ments a few metres away from the refineries, are suffering from a wide range of chronic illnesses, caused by the severe pollution. And after two years of battling with the insensitive authorities, the High Court directed the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) to relocate them to alternative sites, or to give them `15,000 per month as rent for staying in a safer environment. Instead of complying with the order, the MCGM has gone in appeal to the Supreme Court. Due to its peculiar v-shaped topogra- phy, surrounded by the rising sea on three sides, road space in Mumbai is restricted. But the vehicular population of Mumbai continues to grow. The solu- tion is actually quite simple—instead APATHY AND INACTION (Left) The declining air quality in the MMR has not received enough attention; social activist Medha Patkar with Mahul residents at their protest against deaths due to pollution UNI Twitter.com

30. Environment/ Pollution in Mumbai 30 January 20, 2020 of causing further environmental havoc by building sea links and coastal roads, the best option would be to follow the Singapore or London models, and res- trict the number of private vehicles on the road. Unfortunately, the best option is not the most lucrative option, since our system is geared to adopt the most expensive and time-consuming options, for reasons that we all understand. Since there is no restriction on the purchase and use of private vehicles, the number of vehicles on our roads keeps doubling every six to seven years, while motorable roads remain practically the same. The problem has been further aggra- vated by the fact that almost all the arte- rial roads in Mumbai have been simul- taneously dug up for building the Metro. While these projects are being touted as solutions to our traffic problems, there is no clarity on how much they will cost, and whether the public will be able to afford these services. And in the bar- gain, the real lifeline of Mumbai, which are our suburban train networks, are starved of funds. It has been estimated that for less than 10 percent of the cost of the Metro, it would be possible to double the capacity of these train sys- tems. This would not involve any more land acquisition or displacement. The slowdown in the economy seems to have had little impact on the builders in Mumbai. Construction continues un- abated, and thanks to all the Metro and other projects, Ready Mix Concrete (RMC) plants are mushrooming all over the city. This creates a huge amount of SPM within the city. And since all these materials have to be transported by road, one can well imagine the chaos that Mumbai is being subjected to. A s part of the National Clean Air Campaign, the MPCB was re- quired to prepare a Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP) for Mumbai, and get it approved by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). Three draft plans were prepared by MPCB. While the first two drafts were rejected, the third one was approved by the CPCB. Unfortunately, neither the CPCB nor the MPCB thought it necessary to consult those who mattered—the Mumbaikars. At a series of workshops organised by civil society groups in Mumbai (including CAT), the CAAP was found to be full of holes. The introduction is a combina- tion of copy and paste from documents written by other organisations—without any attribution. The actual action plan document is even worse—there is no clarity about the steps to be taken; nor is there any clarity about who will be responsible for the implementation of these actions. Here are some of the recommendations arising out of the civil society workshops: 1. The Mumbai plan lacks coherence, appears to have drawn from different reports without reference or attribution and there is a disconnect between the narrative and the actions suggested. 2. It fails to clarify what the reduction targets actually are, and by when these will be achieved. 3. Comprehensive sector-wise plans need to be prepared. 4. Comprehensive Environmental Pollution Index (CEPI) was computed several years ago for all highly polluted areas within the country. Greater Mum- bai was classified as critically polluted as per CEPI. This exercise needs to be carried out every year for Greater Mumbai. 5. Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) needs to be prepared for Grea- ter Mumbai and linked to the air quality levels as has been done for NCR. 6. There is an urgent need to set up a real-time air quality monitoring net- work within Mumbai city. Data should be made available online and the GRAP should automatically be enforced depen- ding on the air quality. 7. Wardwise/zonal air quality maps with date from continuous air quality monitoring instruments need to be prepared periodically, and the trends analysed. It is to be hoped that these and other specific recommendations are included in the CAAP. The alternative would be to go back to the courts. —The writer is Executive Trustee, Conservation Action Trust Twitter: @indialegalmedia Website: www.indialegallive.com Contact: editor@indialegallive.com TheroadspaceinMumbaiisrestricted butthenumberofvehiclesisontherise, leadingtopollution.Theproblemisaggra- vatedbyMetroconstruction,whichhas ledtoallarterialroadsbeingdugup. metrorailnews.in

31. Daughters are the pride of home Take full care of their education and health Mukhyamantri Kanya Sumangla Yojana Schemecategoriesandfunds First grade ` 2000/- on the birth of a child Permanent residence certificate of Uttar Pradesh Annual Family Income of more than Rs 3 Lakh Benefit of the scheme limited to maximum 2 girls Maximum two children in a family Second grade ` 1000/- on full immu- nization till one year Third grade ` 2000/- on admission in Class-1 Fourth grade ` 2000/- on admission in Class-6 Fifth grade ` 3000/- on admission in Class-9 Sixth grade ` 5000/- on admission in graduation or in diploma courses of more than 2 years after completion of 10th/12th standard Qualificationsfortheschemeeligibility Application procedure Girl child herself (if adult), parent or guardian can be applicant Online application - Apply through the Common Service Centers / Cyber Cafe / own smartphone or computer etc. by logging in to https://mksy.up.gov.in or contact the office of the District Probation Officer of your district Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Women Welfare Department, Uttar Pradeshhttps://mksy.up.gov.inCar drivers should wear seat belts

32. Environment/ Electric Vehicles 32 January 20, 2020 S Delhi emerges from the grip of a severe cold wave, poor air quality continues to make headlines. Recent fog conditions and tem- perature dips contributed to soaring pollutant concentration in the air. Air pollution has been established to be the second largest killer in India. In Delhi-NCR, vehicles contribute up to 40 percent of these pollutants. As awareness around air pollution grows, multiple initiatives are being started to tackle it. The latest initiative is an electric vehicle (EV) policy approved by the Delhi Government. According to the policy, by 2023, 25 percent of new vehicle registration will be electric ones. The focus is on two- and three-wheelers, shared transport and commercial vehicles. The policy is to exclusively promote fast-track adoption of battery EVs to improve Delhi’s air quality by reducing vehicular pollution. Incidentally, all EVs have batteries —the difference is in how they are used. This is a welcome move for clean air campaigners, environmentalists, and sustainable mobility planners as well as the automobile industry. The EV market in India has not made much headway yet. Both the government and the automobile industry expect this policy to fuel consumer interest in this segment. Cu- rrently, only 0.2 percent electric two- wheelers and 0.1 percent electric cars are sold every year. It is almost negligi- ble for three-wheelers. The Society for Indian Automobile Manufacturers lauded the policy, calling it comprehensive with the ability to create a market demand for EVs. This is All Charged Up Inanefforttobringdownpollution,theDelhigovernmenthascomeoutwithanEV policywhichaimstoincreasethenumberofthesevehiclesby2023 By Papia Samajdar A PROBLEM AREA Infrastructure gaps like providing enough charging centres for electric vehicles are issues that deter people from buying EVs india.uitp.org

33. | INDIA LEGAL | January 20, 2020 33 the sentiment of automotive components manufacturers. “Electric vehicle adoption in India over the next five years is going to be largely driven by two-wheelers and three-wheelers. Electric two-wheelers are seen to have lower cost of ownership and acquisition compared with scooters which account for 34 percent of the two-wheeler industry. EV adoption in the car segment will be led by cab aggre- gators and the policy has been framed keeping this in mind,” said Shalini Chopra, who represents an Indian automobile components manufacturer. The Delhi government aims to put 35,000 vehicles (two-, three- and four- wheelers and buses combined) on the roads along with 1,000 EVs for interme- diate transport and last mile connectivity. In the next five years, the target is to register five lakh EVs. The policy also puts in place 250 public charging stations and aims to change building by-laws to increase parking space by 20 percent—big enough to accommodate more than 10 cars in new non-residential buildings accessible to charging. For existing residential building owners, non-residential building owners and market associations with similar parking space, the policy offers subsidy to instal one station for every three cars. The policy also provides for battery swapping facilities and concessional locations at selected public parking. The aim is to provide public charging facilities within three kilometres anywhere within Delhi. T he policy also incentivises buyers by providing waivers of road tax, registration charges, provision for one-time MCD parking and permit fee and subsidies up to `29,000 on two- wheelers. It also provides incentives for recycling of non-EVs and consumers wi- lling to switch to EVs. This would boost employment in the sector and assist authorities in managing waste generated by scrapping vehicles. “It is great to know that Delhi is taking action to tackle air pollution and the EV policy is an attempt in the right direction. However, the authorities need to fix the infrastructure gap like charging machines to convince the public to switch. Focussing on public transport is a right approach,” said Saurav Banerjee, an executive who uses Uber taxis regularly. Vivek Chattopadhaya, programme manager, Clean Air Campaign, at the Centre for Science and Environment, told India Legal: “Lack of charging facilities is an issue. Facilities should be targeted segment by segment such as buses, auto-rickshaws, shuttle buses and such. Electric bikes can also be promot- ed in a big way for last mile connectivity. As electric rickshaws are highly popular, their quality of service, design, parking and charging facilities should be looked into. If taxis also switch to EVs, there will be more reduction of pollution as they operate higher number of kilometres every day in Delhi-NCR.” Delhi has the advantage of experi- encing fuel transition when it moved from petrol and diesel to CNG for all public transport. This policy also promotes a similar transition to cut vehicular pollution. “If lesser number of internal combus- tion engine vehicles are sold and replaced by EVs in Delhi, potential pollution from new vehicles will reduce. But at the same time, proper infrastructure planning and public and neighbourhood charging facilities need to set up quite like the way CNG was pro- TheDelhigovernment’sEVpolicyplansto registerfivelakhvehiclesinthenextfive years.Italsoputsinplace250public chargingstations.Therewillbeincen- tivesforconsumersswitchingtoEVs. FOR CLEAN AIR More electric vehicles on Delhi’s roads will reduce vehicular pollution considerably Anil Shakya

34. Environment/ Electric Vehicles 34 January 20, 2020 Twitter: @indialegalmedia Website: www.indialegallive.com Contact: editor@indialegallive.com moted in Delhi,” said Chattopadhaya. India is gearing towards cutting its dependency on traditional fuels when it comes to vehicles. The National Electric Mobility Mission Plan 2020 was launched by the central government in 2013 along with schemes like Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Elec- tric Vehicles (FAME). Subsequent to this mission and related schemes, Kar- nataka, Kerala, Telangana, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh will also take it up. B attery EVs pledge zero tailpipe emissions, along with the schemes to adopt non-internal com- bustion engines with a goal to achieve 30 percent penetration across India by 2030. Emissions will be cut to the tune of 846 million tonnes of CO2 and reduce oil dependency by 474 million tonnes. Companies like Mahindra & Mahin- dra have already committed to investing `18 billion over the next few years for EV production. Other companies such as Bajaj, Maruti and Hero Corp, however, prefer a slower transition and a more robust market demand. Automobile companies have been anticipating the push from the government. “Transition as big as this is an expensive affair,” said Ghan Shyam Dass Takkar, former CFO at Omax Autos Ltd. “Though this is an expected push, the industry is still not completely prepared.” “The lower battery cost, reduced GST rate of five percent and FAME-II demand incentives are expected to improve the cost of ownership and hence viability of EVs. The subsidy provided by the Indian government is lower compared with other countries such as Norway and China. In these countries, demand subsidy is nearly twice the cumulative incentive given in India. Availability of batteries (50 percent of the cost of the vehicles) and low indige- nization need a boost,” said Chopra. The industry also expects the government to incentivise manufacturing to plug these gaps. The policy to fasten up adoption of cleaner vehicles has been in the offing. However, implementation depends on numerous factors when it comes to changing market trends. There is a considerable gap when it comes to pre- paredness of the automobile industry as well as its ancillary sectors. Standard infrastructure, clear policy, realistic timelines, power grid surplus, incentives on battery pack manufacturing and knowledge gaps are some of the key challenges the industry is grappling with. It is also worried that low awareness about product development and indigenisation of technology can result in job losses. As the automobile industry is a big employment provider, it is important the government also promotes local manufacturing to ensure India doesn’t depend on Chinese imports. Learning from other countries should be looked at by the authorities, to embark on this programme. All aspects around infrastructure facilities, pricing and ease of operation need to be carefully planned and executed to achieve the goal, said Chattopadhaya. It is time to get all charged up. VAST POTENTIAL The Tata Tigor EV (left) and Hyundai Kona Electric (below) are among the popular brands available in India UNI

35. B ollywood star Deepika Padukone is on a roll. Images of her gutsy appearance at JNU in support of the students have gone viral but what is really breaking the internet is her debut on the insanely popular social media platform TikTok. That it was a smart way to promote her latest film, Chhapaak, based on acid attack survivors, was evident in the fact that she attracted 3.7 million followers on TikTok shortly after she joined the platform. No amount of pre-release press appearances can match the power of social media. TikTok has been in India for almost two years and already has 45.5 million followers and counting. Deepika, in typical TikTok style, shared the image she put up with Laxmi Agarwal, the acid attack victim on whom the film is based. She is the first Bollywood star to use TikTok to promote her film and is likely to set off a trend. N ewspapers in Britain have broken a story on how much money newly-elected Prime Minister Boris Johnson made while he was an MP, and yes, it comes with an Indian connection. According to what is called a Register of MPs’ Interests, the India Today media group paid Johnson a humongous £122,899.74 (`1.16 crore) for a 20-minute speech at the India Today Conclave last March, with transport and five-star accommodation also provided. The latest Register of Interests was published last week. Johnson declared amounts received for other spee- ches he gave at the time but none mat- ched the cheque he got from India Tod- ay. Whether it is the India Today Con- clave or the Hindustan Times Leader- ship Summit, foreign speakers are selected from a list of paid speakers who are registered on lists available online. Of course, the costs are covered by the sponsors of the respective events. N ational newspapers like The Times of India and Hindustan Times have been crowing about the results of the latest Indian Readership Survey (IRS) and their dominance in respective markets but the truth is that the survey is hardly a reliable currency. The Media Research Users Council (MRUC), which conducted the last quarter’s survey, admits that the survey does not reflect an all-India sampling since some states were left out, namely, J&K and Andhra Pradesh. Moreover, for a truly accurate measure, the sample size of the readership survey is too small. It should be at least three times of what it is. At present, the IRS fig- ures are on the basis of interviews done with a mere 3.30 lakh households, a fraction of the literate population. In a recent interaction, the head of MRUC admitted that limitations include costs incurred on the survey and the lack of trained professionals to conduct the interviews on which the IRS is based. Readership Restrictions | INDIA LEGAL | January 20, 2020 35 Media Watch Star Turn The Boris Bonanza

36. My Space/ Complaints Against RS Members Vivek K Agnihotri 36 January 20, 2020 Venkaiah Naidu, the chairman of the Rajya Sabha, rued the fact that action could not be taken against 19 MPs of the House in the past four years despite complaints against them. This was because the complaints did not comply with the procedure pre- scribed in the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) and the Ethics Committee could not take them up for preliminary examination because they did not comply with the rules. Naidu has directed the chairman of the Committee to review the rules in order to simplify the procedure. Rajya Sabha Rules, in the chapter “Committee on Ethics”, talk about the Constitution, functions, procedure for making complaints, procedure for inquiry and sanctions that can be imposed on the erring member. Rule 295 (procedure for making complaint) lays down that a complaint against a member of the Rajya Sabha can be made by anyone, including another member. The Ethics Committee may also take cognisance suo motu. The complaint has to be addressed in writing to the Committee or to an officer autho- rised by it in such form and manner as it may specify. A person making a complaint must declare his identity and sub- mit supporting evidence, documentary or otherwise, to substantiate his allega- tions. A complaint based merely on an unsubstantiated media report shall not be entertained. The Committee shall not take up any matter which is sub judice and its decision shall be treated as final. Rule 296 (procedure for inquiry) states that if the Committee is satisfied that a complaint is proper and the matter is within its jurisdiction, it may take it up for preliminary inquiry. If there is a prima facie case, the matter shall be taken up by the Committee for examination and report. However, if a complaint is found to be false or vexatious or made in bad faith, the matter may also be taken up as an issue of breach of parlia- mentary privilege. The Committee on Ethics of the Rajya Sabha was constituted by the chairman of the Rajya Sabha on March 4, 1997, to oversee the moral and ethical Make it Simple Inaprogressivemove,thechairmanoftheHousewantsrules tobesimplifiedsothatactioncanbetakeneasilywhenthere arecomplaintsagainstMPs M RajyaSabhachairmanMVenkaiahNaiduruedthefactthatactioncouldnotbetaken against19MPsoftheHouseinthepastfouryearsdespitecomplaintsagainstthem. TheEthicsCommitteecouldnottakeupthecasesforpreliminaryexamination. Photos: UNI

37. | INDIA LEGAL | January 20, 2020 37 conduct of the members and to examine cases referred to it. In its first report presented to the House on December 8, 1998, the Committee recommended a Framework of Code of Conduct for Ra- jya Sabha MPs. In its second report, presented on December 13, 1999, it made recommendations relating to the procedure for making complaints, which provides the basis for Rules 295 and 296. I n addition to provisions relating to the examination of complaints against Rajya Sabha members, the Committee prescribes that a member, as soon as he takes his seat in the House, shall furnish information within 90 days relating to his own assets and liabilities as well as those of his immediate family members. Further, a “Register of Me- mbers’ Interests” is to be maintained and the information contained in it may be given to the general public in accor- dance with such rules and procedures as may be determined by the Committee from time to time. The Committee acts as a record-keeper and overseer of the declarations of assets and liabilities by members under the Members of Rajya Sabha (Declaration of Assets and Liab- ility) Rules, 2004, framed by the chairman of the Rajya Sabha under sub-section (3) of Section 75A of the Repres- entation of the People Act, 1951. Rule 297 (sanctions) provides that where it has been found that a member has contravened the code of conduct or indulged in unethical behaviour, the Committee may recommend imposition of one or more of the following sanctions, viz. censure, reprimand, suspen- sion from the House for a specific period or any other appropriate sanction. The Committee was formally made a part of the Rajya Sabha Rules on July 20, 2004. It consists of 10 members, including the chairman. By convention, the members of the Committee are leaders/deputy leaders/chief whips/whips of political parties/groups in the Rajya Sabha. The functions of the Committee require it to prepare a code of conduct for members, to examine cases concern- ing alleged breach of the Code and alle- gations of any other ethical misconduct of members, and to tender advice to TheCommitteeonEthicsoftheRajya Sabhawasconstitutedbythechairmanof theRajyaSabhaonMarch4,1997,to overseethemoralandethicalconductof membersandtoexaminespecificcases.

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