📰 UAE helped defuse India, Pak tensions: envoy
‘Crown Prince spoke to Modi, Imran’
•In an announcement that goes against India’s steady official narrative, the envoy of the United Arab Emirates declared on Monday that his country has played a major role in de-escalating tension between India and Pakistan after the Pulwama terror attack and Balakot strike.
•Speaking at an event at IIT Delhi, UAE ambassador Dr Ahmed Al Banna said, “We have played an important role in reducing tension between India and Pakistan. On the day of the huge escalation, our Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Mohammed Bin Zayed had a telephonic conversation with Prime Minister Modi and the Pakistani PM Imran Khan. Our role was to sort out differences between two sides in a peaceful manner through negotiations.”
India’s stance
•The envoy’s declaration regarding the Crown Prince’s conversations with PM Modi is at variance with India’s statements on the issue.
•An official statement issued on March 11 had no mention of the UAE’s role to help with the de-escalation process.
•However, Mohammed Bin Zayed had himself stated in a social media message on March 1 about his conversation with the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan about the “recent events”.
First public statement
•This is also a first major public admission of a negotiating role by a third country in India-Pakistan crisis.
•India had traditionally denied the space for third party role in the conflict with Pakistan.
•This consistent position is rooted in the Simla Accord of 1972.
•The envoy pointed out that the role of UAE was not in the nature of mediation but more in the nature of reducing an emergent crisis that grew out of “escalation of tension” following the Pulwama terror attack and India’s Balakot strike.
•“We tried to decrease tension between India and Pakistan by using the special relationship that we have with both India and Pakistan,” the ambassador said.
‘Can’t be applied in absence of Council of Ministers’
•A petition was on Monday filed in the Jammu and Kashmir High Court challenging the extension of 77th and 103rd amendments of the Indian Constitution to the State through a presidential order earlier this month.
•Advocates Mohammad Ashraf Bhat and Adil Asimi filed the petition on the grounds that the Constitution of India cannot be applied to Jammu and Kashmir in the absence of a Council of Ministers.
•They pleaded that as the State was under the President’s Rule since December last year, there could be no consultation and concurrence of the State government which has to act on the advice of the Council of Ministers.
•“There was hardly any need to apply 77th and 103rd constitutional amendment to the State. Similarly, there was no emergent situation to issue J&K Reservation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019. The timing of these amendments especially when the State was in war-like situation, makes the entire exercise suspect,” the petition reads.
‘Damage to the State’
•“It appears that the Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order, 2019 and Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019, have been issued to pave way for a greater constitutional damage to the State,” it added.
•The petitioners said there are already a number of petitions pending before the Supreme Court, which seek the striking down of Article 35-A of the Indian Constitution which has been inserted in the said Constitution by virtue of Constitutional (Application to Jammu & Kashmir) Order, 1954.
•They said it is possible that by using the mechanism, which has been adopted for issuing Constitutional (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order and J&K Reservation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019, the respondents will do away with Article 35-A.
•They said it is also possible that the respondents will amend any State law, including J&K Transfer of Property Act, for doing away with the requirement of being a permanent resident for acquiring any property in the State or applying for a job.
📰 Mizoram Assembly passes Bill to detect illegal foreigners
State to develop database of residents
•The Mizoram Assembly on Monday unanimously passed a Bill that seeks to detect foreigners illegally residing in the north-eastern State that shares over 700-km-long border with Bangladesh and Myanmar.
•Introducing ‘The Mizoram Maintenance of Household Registers Bill, 2019’, Chief Minister Zoramthanga said the influx of foreigners into the State through its porous borders has remained a serious concern for several decades.
Identification system
•The measures proposed under the legislation are intended to provide credible individual identification system and to prevent “usurpation” of benefits of developmental schemes by those who are not entitled, the Bill said. It defines “citizens” as a person registered as such, or having requisite qualification as prescribed under the Citizenship Act, 1955, the Bill said.
•The Chief Minister said that in many cases the benefits of development are found to have been eaten away to a large extent by foreigners who “clandestinely” stay back and get assimilated with the people of the State by taking advantage of the mistaken identity and of difficulties in detecting them.
•Even the Supreme Court had expressed concern over such continuous influx of foreigners and their assimilation into the mainstream and it was felt imperative by the State to invoke its legislative powers to enact a suitable law, he said.
•Such influx had resulted in an abnormal increase in the population which posed a serious threat to law and order as well as the State’s internal security, Mr. Zoramthanga said.
•“It is, therefore, a strongly felt necessity to develop a comprehensive database in respect of all the residents of Mizoram — whether in villages or in towns and whether permanent or temporary — and to ensure its updation and maintenance,” he said.
Benefits delivery
•The Chief Minister said the update is required for improvement of the system of delivery of benefits of welfare schemes as well for security purposes by way of enumerations and verification from time to time.
•The Centre, he said, had mooted a system of National Register of Indian Citizens and issue of multipurpose national identity cards based on such a register. It had also suggested this before the apex court.
📰 Life imprisonment is the rule to which death penalty is the exception, says Supreme Court
The judgment was based on an appeal filed by a man sentenced to death for the rape and murder of a five-year-old in Madhya Pradesh.
•If a court finds it difficult to make a choice between death penalty and life imprisonment, it should opt for the lesser punishment, the Supreme Court said in a recent judgment.
•“Life imprisonment is the rule to which the death penalty is the exception. The death sentence must be imposed only when life imprisonment appears to be an altogether inappropriate punishment, having regard to the relevant facts and circumstances of the crime,” a Bench of Justices N.V. Ramana, Mohan M. Shantanagoudar and Indira Banerjee observed in its March 12 verdict.
•The judgment was based on an appeal filed by a man sentenced to death for the rape and murder of a five-year-old in Madhya Pradesh. He had promised her family to drop her at school where his own daughter was studying, but the victim did not return home that day. The school authorities informed the parents about the absence of the child. Her body was found in a well.
•Both the trial and high courts concluded the man, Sachin Kumar Singhraha, deserves death.
•Writing the judgment for the Bench, Justice Shantanagoudar agreed the man has indeed committed a horrifying crime. It was both heinous and premeditated. He had gained the trust of the victim’s family on a false pretext. His intention was to gain custody of the child. By this, he had not only abused the faith reposed in him but also “exploited the innocence and helplessness of a child as young as five years of age.”
•At the same time, Justice Shantanagoudar said there is a probability that the man would reform, considering he never had prior criminal record. The court also kept in mind his “overall conduct”.
•“With regard to the totality of the facts and circumstances of the case, we are of the opinion that the crime in question may not fall under the category of cases where the death sentence is necessarily to be imposed,” the court held.
•But having commuted his death sentence, the apex court said a life imprisonment simplictor would be grossly inadequate. Instead, it ordered, the convict to serve his life imprisonment with a minimum of 25 years’ imprisonment without remission.
•“We have arrived at this conclusion after giving due consideration to the age of the accused/appellant, which is currently around 38 to 40 years,” the judgment observed.
📰 ‘Govt.’s prerogative to frame schemes’
Courts should stay out, says SC
•It is the sole prerogative of the government to frame schemes and courts should stay out of governance, the Supreme Court has said in a judgment.
•A Bench led by Justice A.M. Sapre criticised the Uttarakhand High Court for framing a scheme to regularise hundreds of casual workers engaged by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) under the Ministry of Defence in the construction of roads for Char Dham Yatra pilgrimage.
•“The High Court failed to see that it is not the function of the courts to frame any scheme but it is the sole prerogative of the government to do it… All that the High Court, in exercise of its extraordinary power under Article 226 of the Constitution, can do is to direct the government to consider framing an appropriate scheme,” Justice Sapre, who wrote the judgment for the Bench, observed in the judgment dated March 15.
•Such directions to the government to “consider” framing a scheme should be with regard to the facts and circumstances of each case.
•“It is only in exceptional cases when the court considers it proper, should it issue appropriate mandatory directions,” the Supreme Court held.
•Instead, in the present case, a single judge of the High Court framed “a scheme itself to regularise the services of the casual labourers and granted them benefits similar to those of regular employees under the labour law.”
•The case was filed in the High Court by unions representing the casual workers, including the All India Trade Union Congress. They submitted that the Centre had not regularised the labourers though they had worked for BRO for years.
📰 The death penalty: a fatal margin of error
The inconsistent and arbitrary application of the death penalty remains a matter of great concern
•On March 5, 2019, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice A.K. Sikri (now retired) found Khushwinder Singh guilty and befitting of the death sentence (Khushwinder Singh v. State of Punjab). In 2013, the Fatehgarh Sahib sessions court had convicted and sentenced him to death for killing six relatives of his wife with the motive of committing theft. The last time the death penalty was upheld by the Supreme Court was in July 2018 in the Delhi gang rape case. Since then, the court has acquitted 10 death row prisoners and reduced the sentence to life imprisonment of 23 others. As Singh’s case moves closer to the gallows, the judgment highlights the processes that cause cases to slip through the cracks of the ‘rarest of the rare’ doctrine, which mandates a consideration of both the crime and the criminal. The judgment exemplifies the varied standards of legal representation that impacts the imposition of the death penalty.
A contrast
•Singh’s death sentence stands in contrast to nine cases decided by three-judge benches headed by Justice Sikri since November 2018 which resulted in six commutations to life imprisonment and eight acquittals. In these judgments, the duty of the court to conduct an effective sentencing hearing was emphasised and factors such as good conduct in custody, education, age, social, emotional and mental condition of the offender, and the possibility of reform were highlighted as relevant considerations in the sentencing scheme. However, none of these factors appear to have been considered for Singh. The judgment declares at the outset that Singh’s lawyer “is not in a position to point out any mitigating circumstance”. Without commenting on the effect of that deficiency on the quality of the sentencing exercise being carried out by the court, it erroneously relies only on the pre-planned nature of the crime, its brutality and the number of victims to impose the death sentence. Grounds relating to the criminal such as his conduct in prison, his socio-economic and educational backgrounds, or the probability of reformation receive no comment from the court.
•In late 2018, another three-judge bench of the Supreme Court reversed its own finding in M.A. Antony v. State of Kerala, involving the murder of six relatives of the accused. The court chose to commute the death penalty factoring the ‘lack of evidence’ to show that the convict was a hardened criminal or that he was beyond reform. The similarities in the nature of the crime between the cases of Singh and Antony are unfortunate and uncannily similar. In both cases, six family members lost their lives, including two children. The motive in both, according to the prosecution, was money and the victims were close relatives. Both convicts were middle-aged men with families of their own. While in Antony’s case, his socio-economic conditions and lack of criminal antecedents were considered by the court in deciding that there was a probability of his reformation, in Singh’s judgment, there is a complete silence on this aspect, providing yet another instance of the arbitrary imposition of the death penalty.
Eliciting information
•The irreversibility of the death penalty has fundamentally affected the jurisprudence around it. It is commonly accepted that a judge in adversarial proceedings cannot go on a ‘truth searching exploration’ beyond what is presented. Yet, death penalty jurisprudence is rife with examples where duty has been placed upon the courts to elicit information relating to the question of sentence, even if none is adduced before it. Justice K.S. Radhakrishnan’s judgment in Ajay Pandit v. State of Maharashtra (2012), held that the court has a ‘duty and obligation’ to elicit relevant facts even if the accused was totally silent in such situations. In Santosh Kumar Satishbhushan Bariyar v. State of Maharashtra (2009), while discussing the responsibility of courts with respect to the sentencing scheme laid out in Bachan Singh v. State of Punjab, Justice Sinha opined that Bachan Singh makes no distinction on the roles and responsibility of appellate courts and therefore it was incumbent upon all courts to ensure the ratio laid down in Bachan Singh was ‘scrupulously’ followed, adding, “if anything, inverse pyramid of responsibility is applicable in death penalty cases”.
•Unlike Khushwinder Singh’s case, in the past few months the Supreme Court has rightly considered evidence about the criminal by calling for medical records, reports of prison conduct, including poetry written by a convict post-incarceration to ascertain the appropriate sentence. This was not attempted in Singh’s case. At the core of the arbitrariness in death penalty sentencing is the inconsistent approach to mitigating factors. The Supreme Court has, unfortunately, not developed any requirements that guide the collection, presentation and consideration of mitigating factors. Very often, barely any mitigating factors are presented on behalf of death row prisoners; if they are, they are of poor quality. Judges are often left only with information concerning the crime to determine the punishment. And, undoubtedly, Singh is a victim of this. He ended up being defined only by his crime with no other information about his life coming up before the judges. The quality of legal representation continues to affect the administration of the death penalty, even when cases are decided by pro-active and sensitive judges.
•The inconsistent and arbitrary application of the death penalty remains a matter of great concern to the judiciary. Justice Kurian Joseph’s parting words in Chhannu Lal Verma v. State of Chhattisgarh, calling for the gradual abolition of the death penalty, require serious introspection from the court and the body politic, and for us to recognise that the efforts to make the administration of the death penalty fairer are like chasing the wind. Our institutions may persist with attempts to ‘tinker with the machinery of death’ until there is a collective realisation that the death penalty is untenable in a fair criminal justice system. Till such time, the setting of established benchmarks for practice, and a system of oversight are necessary to ensure that the quality of legal representation does not become the difference between a sentence of life and death.
📰 Lokpal, at last
The establishment of the anti-graft body is a welcome development
•The selection of Justice P.C. Ghose as the first Lokpal has come after an unjustified delay of five years. Nevertheless, it ought to be welcomed as a milestone in the cause of fighting corruption in high places. The concept of an institutional mechanism, or an anti-corruption ombudsman, has been around for over 50 years. It was finally enacted as a law in 2013, and came into effect on January 16, 2014. Some of the credit for driving this legislation must be given to Anna Hazare’s movement against what many saw as unreasonable levels of corruption under the previous UPA regime. However, since then, barring a report by the Standing Committee of Parliament and a couple of amendments passed in 2016 on the declaration of assets by public servants, there has been very little progress. At one point, the government’s lack of political will to establish a Lokpal became obvious, leading to the Supreme Court repeatedly asking it to show progress in its efforts. Ultimately, it was the court’s stern ultimatum to appoint a Lokpal within a timeframe that worked. The appointment system is quite long, a two-stage process. A search committee has to be formed. It recommends a panel of names to the high-power selection committee, which comprises the Prime Minister, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, the Leader of the Opposition, the Chief Justice of India (or his nominee) and an eminent jurist. The selection panel has to choose from a short-list consisting of names for the posts of Lokpal chairperson, and judicial and non-judicial members.
•The government had initially taken the position that it was awaiting the passage of amendments based on the parliamentary committee report. One amendment pertained to including the leader of the largest party in the Opposition in the selection committee, in the absence of a recognised Leader of the Opposition. In a verdict in April 2017, the Supreme Court rejected the excuse and said there was no legal bar on the selection committee moving ahead even if there was a vacancy. It is not clear why this simple amendment, carried out in respect of selection committees for the posts of CBI Director and Chief Information Commissioner, was not made in the Lokpal Act. The Congress leader in the Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, did not want to attend selection committee meetings as a ‘special invitee’ and wanted full membership. Now that the Lokpal has been chosen, victims of corruption have a viable avenue of redress. The Lokpal will take over the work of sanctioning prosecution, besides exercising its power to order preliminary inquiries and full-fledged investigations by any agency, including the CBI. It may be unrealistic to expect any dramatic impact on the lives of the common people, but the Lokpal and other members have a historic responsibility to live up to popular expectations.
📰 Alert after boy dies of West Nile fever
The death of Malappuram lad could be the first in the State due to the viral infection
•The Health Department has issued an alert in Malappuram after a six-year-old boy from the district undergoing treatment for West Nile fever died at the Government Medical College Hospital on Wednesday morning.
•Health experts claimed this could be the first confirmed death in the State due to the relatively unknown viral infection that leads to neurological diseases. Birds are the natural hosts of the virus and vaccine is not available for it.
Suspected case
•There had been a suspected case of the infection last year in Kozhikode district but the National Institute of Virology had not confirmed it. There is an increased surveillance on encephalitis cases after last year’s Nipah outbreak in Kozhikode, which could have helped in diagnosis, the experts added. The viral infection was confirmed on Mohammed Shan of A.R. Nagar, near Vengara in the district, around a week ago after he was admitted to the intensive care unit of the Kozhikode Government Medical College Hospital.
•K. Sakeena, District Medical Officer, Malappuram, told The Hindu on Monday that private and government hospitals had been directed to report suspected fever cases. The Animal Husbandry Department would keep a surveillance on birds, especially in areas such as the Kadalundy bird sanctuary, which was frequented by a large number of migratory birds, she said. According to the World Health Organization, this viral infection is most often the result of mosquito bites. Mosquitoes are infected when they feed on birds, which circulate the virus.
•It may also be transmitted through contact with other infected animals, their blood, or other tissues. Symptoms of the virus infection include cold, fever, fatigue and nausea. Dr. Sakeena said that samples of birds and mosquitoes had been collected from A.R. Nagar and Venniyoor in Malappuram district.
No need to panic
•Earlier, Health Minister K.K. Shylaja told the media in Thiruvananthapuram that there was no need to panic and steps were being taken to prevent the virus spreading to others.
•The Director of Health Services had been asked to take steps to contain the virus, she added. The Union Health Ministry had last week sent a four-member team from the National Centre for Disease Control to Malappuram and it collected vector and bird samples from the boy’s premises. As the presence of Culex mosquitoes, which spread the infection, has been found from there, the Health Department is coordinating with the local bodies.
📰 Future-proofing cities
It is important to build infrastructure that is resilient to shocks brought about by a changing climate
•The stark statistics jump out at anyone trying to understand why resilient infrastructure is so important in a world that is urbanising at an unprecedented pace, not least here in India. Already around 34% of India’s population lives in cities and this demographic cohort is expected to grow in the years ahead. This growing rate of urbanisation and the subsequent increase in population density is bringing massive new investments in infrastructure. Bridges, roads, dams, power stations and electrical grids are just some of the services and facilities that need to be built to serve burgeoning urban populations. Half of the infrastructure needed in Asia by 2050 is yet to be built. It is estimated that, globally, $6 trillion needs to be invested in infrastructure every year until 2030 to meet current demands.
•This level of investment provides a window of opportunity to ensure that all new infrastructure is made resilient to withstand future shocks, including those brought by a changing climate. Disasters in heavily populated urban areas can lead to high numbers of human casualties. It is sobering to note that unsafe infrastructure which collapses in an earthquake or tsunami kills more people than any other type of natural hazard, such as a tornado or a storm. Economic losses from disasters that damage infrastructure can reach huge proportions. The World Bank estimates that annual disaster losses are already close to $520 billion and that disasters push up to 24 million people a year into poverty.
•Ensuring that all new investments in infrastructure are made in a risk-sensitive way can play a significant role in reducing economic losses from disasters. There is no excuse for infrastructure to continue to be damaged or destroyed by recurrent hazards when we know that a small investment — often just a small percentage of the total cost of investment — can make the infrastructure resistant to many shocks. The dividend is that money saved from relief and rebuilding costs can be invested in development objectives, such as education, health care or improved transportation, helping countries achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
•One of the objectives of the Second International Workshop on Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, being hosted on March 19-20 under the initiative of the Indian government and with support from the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, is to pursue the creation of a global coalition for resilient infrastructure. The coalition will also ensure that new risks are not created, as enshrined in the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, the global plan for reducing disaster losses. Such international cooperation and shared commitment are needed to “future-proof” our cities and lock-in resilience for generations to come.
📰 ‘Anti-profiteering body can act sans complaints’
Can do mock purchases to see invoice
•Consumer complaints are not the only trigger for the National Anti-Profiteering Authority (NAA) to act, said its chairman B.N. Sharma.
•Mock purchases can be made by NAA offices to check a trader’s invoice for profiteering.
•“This invoice could later be cancelled and the cancelled invoice be taken cognisance of for checking out matters if need be,” he said, participating in a special session on ‘Anti Profiteering in GST’, organised by the Merchants Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI).
•The NAA was set up under Section 171 of the Central GST Act, 2017 to check whether trade and industry were passing on rate reductions under the Goods and Services (GST) Tax.
•Besides interested parties, the NAA chairman, as a civilian, could also take note of any instance, he said.
•Citing instances of some tax payers increasing prices of products whose rates have been reduced, he said, “Industry has to first pass on the benefits and then increase prices, say two months later, in a justifiable manner.” MCCI president Vishal Jhajharia said as per the Lok Sabha proceedings of January 4, 2019, NAA had issued orders against nine businesses which were found not to have passed on rate cut benefits to the tune of ₹559.8 crore.
