Indian Economy 2018-19

Mid- Monsoon 2019 Lightning Report

Context: For the first time, a report- Mid- Monsoon 2019 Lightning Report- has mapped lightning strikes across the country, and the lives they have claimed.

It has been prepared by Climate Resilient Observing Systems Promotion Council (CROPC), a non-profit organisation that works closely with India Meteorological Department (IMD).

Lightning strikes have caused at least 1,311 deaths in the four-month period between April and July this year.

How does it strike?

1. The base of these clouds typically lies within 1-2 km of the Earth’s surface, while their top is 12-13 km away. 
2. Temperatures towards the top of these clouds are in the range of minus 35 to minus 45 degrees Celsius.

3. As they move to temperatures below zero degrees celsius, the water droplets change into small ice crystals.

4. smaller ice crystals are moving up and bigger crystals are coming down.
5. Collisions follow, and trigger the release of electrons — a process that is very similar to the generation of sparks of electricity.
6. his process results in a situation in which the top layer of the cloud gets positively charged, while the middle layer is negatively charged.
7. The electrical potential difference between the two layers is huge — of the order of a billion to 10 billion volts. In very little time, a massive current, of the order of 100,000 to a million amperes, starts to flow between the layers.
8. An enormous amount of heat is produced, and this leads to the heating of the air column between the two layers of the cloud. This heat gives the air column a reddish appearance during lightning. As the heated air column expands, it produces shock waves that result in thunder.

How does this current reach the Earth from the cloud?

While the Earth is a good conductor of electricity, it is electrically neutral. However, in comparison to the middle layer of the cloud, it becomes positively charged. As a result, about 15%-20% of the current gets directed towards the Earth as well.

Once it is about 80-100 m from the surface, lightning tends to change course towards these taller objects. This happens because air is a poor conductor of electricity, and electrons that are travelling through air seek both a better conductor and the shortest route to the relatively positively charged Earth’s surface.

Quasi Judicial Bodies

Quasi Judicial Bodies:

• Quasi-judicial bodies are institutes which have powers analogous to that of the law imposing bodies but these are not courts.
• They primarily oversee the administrative zones.
• The courts have the power to supervise over all types of disputes but the quasi-judicial bodies are the ones with the powers of imposing laws on administrative agencies.

Important quasi-judicial bodies in India are as under:

• National Human Rights Commission
• Central Information Commission
• Election Commission of India
• Finance Commission
• State Human Rights Commission
• State Information Commission
• Competition Commission of India
• Appellate Tribunal for Electricity
• State Electricity Regulatory Commission
• Banking Ombudsman
• Insurance Ombudsman
• Income tax Ombudsman
• Electricity Ombudsman

Appointment of Judges

How did this come into being?

1. ‘1st Judges Case’ (1981) ruled that the “consultation” with the CJI in the matter of appointments must be full and effective. However, the CJI’s opinion should have primacy.

2. 2nd Judges Case (1993) introduced the Collegium system, holding that “consultation” really meant “concurrence”. It added that it was not the CJI’s individual opinion, but an institutional opinion formed in consultation with the two senior-most judges in the Supreme Court. 
3. 3rd Judges Case (1998): SC on President’s reference expanded the Collegium to a five-member body, comprising the CJI and four of his senior-most colleagues.

Procedure followed by the Collegium:

1. The President of India appoints the CJI and the other SC judges.
2. For other judges of the top court, the proposal is initiated by the CJI.
3. The CJI consults the rest of the Collegium members, as well as the senior-most judge of the court hailing from the High Court to which the recommended person belongs.
4. The consultees must record their opinions in writing and it should form part of the file.
5. The Collegium sends the recommendation to the Law Minister, who forwards it to the Prime Minister to advise the President.
6. The Chief Justice of High Courts is appointed as per the policy of having Chief Justices from outside the respective States.
7. The Collegium takes the call on the elevation.

How Supreme Court chooses the Chief Justice of India?

Context: Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi has recommended Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde as his successor and the 47th Chief Justice of India in keeping with convention and the seniority norm.

How it works?

The CJI is traditionally appointed by the outgoing CJI on the day of his (or her) retirement.

By convention, the outgoing Chief Justice of India selects the most senior then-sitting Supreme Court judge.

Seniority at the apex court is determined not by age, but by:

1. The date a judge was appointed to the Supreme Court.
2. If two judges are elevated to the Supreme Court on the same day:
3. The one who was sworn in first as a judge would trump another.
4. If both were sworn in as judges on the same day, the one with more years of high court service would ‘win’ in the seniority stakes.
5. An appointment from the bench would ‘trump’ in seniority an appointee from the bar.

Is it a part of the Constitution?

• The Constitution of India does not have any provision for criteria and procedure for appointing the CJI. 
• Article 124(1) of the Indian Constitution says there “shall be a Supreme Court of India consisting of a CJI”.
• The closest mention is in Article 126, which deals with the appointment of an acting CJI.
• In the absence of a constitutional provision, the procedure relies on custom and convention.

What is the procedure?

The procedure to appoint the next CJI is laid out in the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) between the government and the judiciary:

1. The procedure is initiated by the Law Minister seeking the recommendation of the outgoing CJI at the ‘appropriate time’, which is near to the date of retirement of the incumbent CJI.
2. The CJI sends his recommendation to the Law Ministry; and in the case of any qualms, the CJI can consult the collegium regarding the fitness of an SC judge to be elevated to the post.
3. After receiving recommendation from the CJI, the law minister forwards it to the Prime Minister who then advises the President on the same.
4. The President administers the oath of office to the new CJI.
5. government has no say in the appointment of the CJI - the government cannot send the recommendation of the CJI (or the collegium) back to them for reconsideration; while in appointment of SC judges, the government can do so.

Appointment of CJI for High Courts:

1. High Court judges are recommended by a Collegium comprising the CJI and 2 senior-most judges.
2. The proposal, however, is initiated by the Chief Justice of the High Court concerned in consultation with two senior-most colleagues.
3. The recommendation is sent to the Chief Minister, who advises the Governor to send the proposal to the Union Law Minister.

Who appoints judges to the SC?

• In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (2) of Article 124 of the Constitution of India, the appointments are made by the President of India.
• The names are recommended by the Collegium.

What is the collegium system of appointment of judges?

• The Collegium of judges does not figure in the Constitution. It is the Supreme Court’s invention.
• Constitution says judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts are appointed by the President and speaks of a process of consultation.
• Therefore, Collegium is a system under which judges are appointed by an institution comprising judges.
• Collegium also recommends the transfer of Chief Justices and other judges. 

• The collegium system was commissioned by two judgments of the Supreme Court in 1990s. It has no mention in the original Constitution of India or its successive amendments.
• In the Third Judges case (1998), the Supreme Court opined that the chief justice of India should consult a collegium of 4 senior most judges of the Supreme Court and even if 2 judges give an adverse opinion, he should not send the recommendation to the government.

Is the collegium’s recommendation final and binding?

The collegium sends its final recommendation to the President of India for approval. The President can either accept it or reject it. In the case it is rejected, the recommendation comes back to the collegium. If the collegium reiterates its recommendation to the President, then he/she is bound by that recommendation.

Eligibility to become a Supreme Court judge:

1. The norms relating to the eligibility has been envisaged in the Article 124 of the Indian Constitution.
2. To become a judge of the Supreme court, an individual should be an Indian citizen.
3. In terms of age, a person should not exceed 65 years of age.
4. The person should serve as a judge of one high court or more (continuously), for at least 5 years or the person should be an advocate in the High court for at least 10 years or a distinguished jurist.

Can an individual simultaneously be a member of both Houses of Parliament?

What are the procedures and timelines for effecting this?

Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha:

• If a person is elected simultaneously to both Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha, and if he has not yet taken his seat in either House, he can choose, within 10 days from the later of the dates on which he is chosen to those Houses, the House of which he would like to be a member. [Article 101(1) of the Constitution read with Section 68(1) of The Representation of the People Act, 1951]
• The member must intimate his choice in writing to the Secretary to the Election Commission of India (ECI) within the 10-day window, failing which his seat in Rajya Sabha will fall vacant at the end of this period.
• if a sitting RS/LS member contests and wins a LS/RS election, his seat in the RS/LS becomes automatically vacant on the date he is declared elected to LS/RS. . [Sec 69 read with Sec 67A, RPA 1951]

Elected on two Lok Sabha seats:

• Under Sec 33(7) of RPA, 1951, an individual can contest from two parliamentary constituencies but, if elected from both, he has to resign one seat within 14 days of the declaration of the result, failing which both his seats shall fall vacant.

State Assembly and Lok Sabha:

• Under Article 101(2) of the Constitution (read with Rule 2 of the Prohibition of Simultaneous Membership Rules, 1950, made by the President under this Article) members of state legislatures who have been elected to Lok Sabha must resign their seats within 14 days “from the date of publication in the Gazette of India or in the Official Gazette of the State, whichever is later, of the declaration that he has been so chosen”, failing which their seats in Lok Sabha shall automatically fall vacant.

Registration of political parties under Section 29A of the RP Act, 1951

Context:The Election Commission of India has declared the National People’s Party as a national party. This made the NPP, formed in 2013, the first from the north-eastern region to earn the tag.

List of all the National Parties in India are given below:

S.No.	Name	Abbreviation	Foundation year
1.	Indian National Congress	INC	1885
2.	Communist Party of India	CPI	1925
3.	Communist Party of India (Marxist)	CPI-M	1964
4.	Bharatiya Janata Party	BJP	1980
5.	Bahujan Samaj Party	BSP	1984
6.	All India Trinamool Congress	TMC	1998
7.	Nationalist Congress Party	NCP	1999
8.	National People's Party	NPP	2013

Section 11 of the Representation of the People Act

Context: Delhi High Court has sought a response from the Centre and the Election Commission (EC) on a petition challenging the EC’s decision to reduce the disqualification period of Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang from six years to 13 months.

This was done in accordance with the Section 11 of Representation of the People Act.

Section 11 of the RP Act:

The Election Commission may, for reasons to be recorded, remove any disqualification under this Chapter 1 (except under section 8A) or reduce the period of any such disqualification.

Election Commission of India (ECI)

Election Commission of India (ECI)

• ECI is an autonomous constitutional authority
• The body administers elections to the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, state legislatures, and the offices of the President and Vice President in the country.

• The Election Commission operates under the authority of Constitution per Article 324, and subsequently enacted Representation of the People Act.
• The Commission has the powers under the Constitution, to act in an appropriate manner when the enacted laws make insufficient provisions to deal with a given situation in the conduct of an election.
• A Three - Member Body i.e. one Chief Election Commissioner and two Election Commissioners.
• Appointed by - President of India
• Terms of office- 6 Years OR until retirement age 65 (whichever comes first)
• Removal - Same manner and on same ground as a judge of the Supreme Court.
• Other Election Commissioner - can only be removed on the recommendation of CEC.
• Constitution - has not prescribe the qualification+term of the member of EC.
• The conditions of service and tenure of office of the election commissioners and the regional commissioners shall be determined by the President
• The Constitution has not debarred the retiring election commissioners from any further appointment by the government.

It is not necessary for every association to get registered by the Election Commission for contesting elections.