06 August 2022

DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS ANALYSIS

1 – Privileges of Members of Parliament: GS II – Parliament-related issues

Context:

• Venkaiah Naidu, the chairman of the Rajya Sabha, stated in the Upper House on Friday that lawmakers were not exempt from arrest in criminal matters, whether or not the House was in session. He claimed that MPs could not evade police summonses.

Rationalization of the Rajya Sabha:

• Since 1978, Rajya Sabha’s productivity has been measured. The House’s production was over 100% for the first 19 years, from 1991 to 1996, but it has subsequently started to fall.
• The House recorded yearly output of over 100% in 16 of these 19 years, but in the 24 years prior to that, just two of those years—1998 and 2009—saw productivity over 100%. In the last 12 years, the Rajya Sabha has not once had a productivity rate of 100 percent.

Parliamentary Privileges: What Are They?

• Members of Parliament have specific privileges and immunities that they might use to “effectively fulfil their tasks” individually and collectively.
• The freedom of speech in Parliament and the right to publish its proceedings are two privileges that are specifically mentioned in Article 105 of the Constitution.
• In addition to the privileges outlined in the Constitution, the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, guarantees members’ immunity from civil process arrest and custody while the House or a committee of the House is in session, as well as for forty days prior to and for forty days following the meeting.

Motion to prevent Breach of Privilege:

• A violation of privilege is an offence that is punishable by legislation of Parliament when any of these rights and immunities are violated.
• Any member of either House may move a notification in the form of a motion against people who are believed to have violated a privilege.

Speaker/Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha (RS) role:

• A privilege motion is initially examined by the Speaker/RS chairperson.
• The privilege motion may be decided on by the Speaker/Chair or referred to the Parliamentary privileges committee.
• The member in question is given the chance to make a brief statement if the Speaker/Chair grants permission in accordance with applicable rules.
• Application: According to the Constitution, anybody who is allowed to speak and participate in a House of Parliament or any of its committee meetings is also entitled to parliamentary privileges. The Indian Attorney General is one of them.
• The President, who is an essential member of the Parliament, is not granted any privileges granted to other members of the body. The President is granted privileges under Article 361 of the Constitution.

Source The Indian Express

2 – 10^th Schedule: GS II – Indian Constitution

Context:

• The 10th schedule of the Constitution should be strengthened, horse trade should be discouraged, and threats against women should be punished on social media, among other things. These and other Private Member’s Bills were introduced in Rajya Sabha on Friday.

The anti-defection law:

• By virtue of the 52nd Amendment Act, the Tenth Schedule was added to the Constitution in 1985.
• It outlines the procedure by which parliamentarians may be disqualified from serving on a legislative body on the basis of defection based on a petition by any other member of the House.
• The Chairman or Speaker of that House is tasked with making the final determination regarding disqualification due to defection.
• Both the Parliament and state legislatures are subject to the statute.

Disqualification:

Whenever someone belonging to a political party’s house:

• Voluntarily resigns from his political party membership, votes against his party’s wishes, or abstains from voting in the legislature.
• The member will not be disqualified, however, if they obtained prior approval or received forgiveness from the party within 15 days of the vote or abstention.

• If an independent candidate changes their party affiliation following the election.
• Six months after being elected to the legislature, a nominated member joins a party.

Exceptions to the rule:

• In some situations, lawmakers are allowed to switch parties without running the risk of being disqualified.
• A party may combine with or into another party in accordance with the legislation if at least two-thirds of its legislators support the merger.
• In such a case, neither the individuals who choose to unite with the original party nor those who choose to remain with it will be disqualified.

A judge may examine the Presiding Officer’s decision:

• The Presiding Officer’s decision is not subject to judicial review, according to the original law. The Supreme Court overturned this requirement in 1992, opening the High Court and Supreme Court to appeals against the Presiding Officer’s ruling. However, it was decided that no judicial action could be taken until the Presiding Officer issued his order.

Benefits of anti-defection legislation:

• Gives the government stability by preventing changes in party affiliation.
• Ensures that candidates continue to be loyal to both the party and the voters.
• Helps maintain party discipline.
• Enables political party mergers without triggering the requirements of Anti-defection
• Anticipated to minimize political corruption.
• Outlines the sanctions that will be taken against a member who switches parties.

To address the difficulties caused by the statute, various recommendations are made:

Dinesh Goswami Committee: Disqualification should only occur under the following circumstances, according to the committee on electoral reforms:

• A party member willingly resigns from that organization.
• During a vote on a motion for or against confidence, a member abstains or votes against the party whip. Whips could only be issued by political parties when the government was in peril.
• Law Commission (170th Report): It is recommended to remove provisions that exclude mergers and splits from disqualification. Pre-election electoral fronts ought to be handled like political parties for anti-defection purposes. Political parties should reserve the use of whips for emergency situations where the safety of the government is at risk.
• Election Commission: Based on the Election Commission’s legally-binding recommendations, the President or Governor should make decisions under the Tenth Schedule.

Source The Hindu

3 – Private Members Bill: GS II – Parliament related issues

Context:

• Sunil Kumar Singh, a member of the BJP, introduced a private member’s bill on Friday in the Lok Sabha to create a body that will be responsible for outlawing the publication and dissemination of offensive religious materials, with penalties including up to five years in prison and derecognition of any publishers or advertising firms involved.

About:

• A private member of parliament (MP) is an MP who is not a minister.
• The member in question is in charge of writing it. It needs a month’s notice before being introduced in the House.
• Government legislation can be introduced and discussed on any given day as public bills, however private member bills can only be introduced and discussed on Fridays.
• A ballot system is used to determine the order of bills to be introduced when there are several measures.
• All such bills are examined by the Parliamentary Committee on Private Member’s Bills and Resolutions, which classifies them according to their urgency and importance.
• The House’s rejection of it has no bearing on the government’s departure or the level of parliamentary confidence in it.
• After the discussion, the member who is guiding the measure has the option of withdrawing it at the minister’s request or continuing with its passage.

Private Member Bills from the Past:

• A private member’s bill was last approved by both Houses in 1970.
• The Supreme Court (Enlargement of Criminal Appellate Jurisdiction) Bill of 1968 was the legislation at issue.
• Five of the 14 private member’s bills that were introduced in Rajya Sabha were eventually passed into law. Other private member legislation that was passed into law in the Lok Sabha is the Proceedings of Legislature (Protection of Publication) Bill from 1956.
• The Lok Sabha was presented with the Salaries and Allowances of Members of Parliament (Amendment) Bill, 1964.
• The Rajya Sabha was first introduced to the 1967 Indian Penal Code (Amendment) Bill.

Significance:

• The private member’s bill seeks to bring the government’s attention to what certain MPs believe to be problems and holes in the current legal system that call for legislative action.
• As a result, it reflects the opposing party’s position on important issues. 

Source The Indian Express

4 – Cabinet Secretary: Prelims Specific Topic

Context:

• Rajiv Gauba’s contract as cabinet secretary has been extended by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) till August 30, 2022, for an additional year.

About:

• A cabinet secretary is hired for a set period of time, usually two years.
• The All India Services (Death-Cum-Retirement-Benefits) Rules, 1958 state that the government may extend a cabinet secretary’s tenure as long as the overall length of service does not exceed four years.
• In accordance with the new guidelines, the central government may grant a cabinet secretary an extension in service for a further period of up to three months after the initial four-year period.

Cabinet Secretary’s duties:

• The prime minister has direct control over the cabinet secretariat.
• The cabinet secretary, who serves as the ex-officio chairman of the civil services board, is the administrative head of the secretariat.

Functions:

• By providing inter-ministerial coordination, resolving conflicts across ministries or departments, and developing agreement through the use of standing or special committees of secretaries, the cabinet secretariat supports decision-making in government.
• One of the duties of the cabinet secretariat is to manage significant crisis situations in the nation and to coordinate the actions of several ministries in such a situation.
• The Government of India (Transaction of Business) Rules, 1961 and the Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961 are administered by the Cabinet Secretariat to ensure efficient business operations in Government Ministries and Departments.

Source The Hindu