DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS ANALYSIS
1 – Judicial Recusals: GS II – Judiciary-related issues
Context:
- A former SC judge last week declined to recuse himself from hearing a plea, calling it an attempt to engage in “bench hunting.”
Recusal: what is it?
- It is the decision not to participate in a government-sponsored event, like a court case, because the administrative or judicial authority presiding over it has a conflict of interest.
- This conflict of interest can occur in a variety of ways, such as by owning stock in a party to a lawsuit or having a prior or personal connection to a party.
The custom of judicial recusals is a result of:
The fundamental rules of due process of law are:
- No one shall be a judge in his or her own cause (Nemo judex in sua causa).
- In addition to being carried out, justice must also be seen to be carried out.
- The SC and HC judges take the same oath of office, promising to carry out their responsibilities in line with the Constitution’s III Schedule without regard to personal gain, favour, or animosity.
- The SC’s adoption of the Restatement of the Values of Judicial Life prohibits judges from hearing cases in which they have financial stakes unless the parties involved explicitly express that they have no objections.
Recusals by judges in recent cases:
- Recusal was requested in the previously mentioned case involving a former member of the Indian Police Service (Sanjiv Bhat) on the grounds that there was a potential of bias because the same Judge, a Gujarat High Court judge, had previously censured the IPS officer.
- An application to have the CJI recuse himself from hearing applications for same-sex marriage legal recognition was denied.
- Rahul Gandhi appealed his conviction in the criminal defamation case, asking for a stay of execution. Gujarat High Court Justice Gita Gopi recused herself from the case.
Why do judges resign?
- to avoid the impression that the judge’s decision in a case was biassed.
- whenever a SC appeal is brought against an HC decision rendered by the subject judge prior to his promotion.
How does the recusal process work?
- India lacks written laws governing recusals despite the fact that the matter has been addressed in a number of SC decisions.
- Recusals can be either automatic (when the judge recuses himself from the case) or when a party makes a recusal request.
- No party can force a judge to disqualify themselves from a case; that choice is totally up to the judge’s conscience and judgement.
- If a judge recuses himself, the Chief Justice lists the matter for assignment to a different Bench.
Should judges keep track of their excuses?
- The process is frequently left up to the judges themselves to record the reasons for recusals because there are no statutory regulations guiding it.
Concerns:
- The majority of the time, the reasons for the recusal are kept a secret, which jeopardises judicial openness.
- However, the Delhi High Court recently decided that any inquiry into the grounds for the recusal would amount to meddling in the legal process.
What guidelines has the SC previously created?
- The rationality of the suspicion of bias in the view of the interested party is relevant in determining whether a judge should recuse himself or herself, according to Ranjit Thakur v. Union of India (1987).
- In the case of State of West Bengal v. Shivananda Pathak (1998), judicial bias was defined as a mental state that prevents a judge from being impartial in a particular case.
- Union of India v. SC Advocates-on-Record Association (2015): There is no need for additional investigation to determine whether there is a “real danger” of bias when a judge has a financial interest.
- In Indore Development Authority v. Manoharlal and Ors (2019), it was held that being impartial was still possible even if one had a legal opinion.
Practise in other countries:
- The United States has a clear legislation on recusals that outlines the reasons for doing so, including a judge’s financial or corporate interest, their affiliation to a party, or their involvement as a lawyer or crucial witness in the case.
- The law of the United Kingdom established a criteria to consider the possibility of prejudice from the viewpoint of an objective and reasonable observer.
Conclusion:
- Recusal reasons must be stated since it is the judge’s “constitutional duty” to be “transparent and accountable” (Justice Kurien Joseph).
- To address the rising number of recusal pleas, there is a need for “procedural and substantive rules” (Justice Madan Lokur).
Source The Hindu
2 – Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation: GS II – International Relations:
Context:
- The PM of India spoke at the opening session of the FIPIC-3 summit (in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea/PNG) and emphasised the significance of the 14 FIPIC members.
The nations of the Pacific Islands (PICs):
- Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia are the three main island groups that make up this region, which is also used to describe the 14 nations strewn around the South-West Pacific Ocean.
- These include the Solomon Islands, Palau, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu as well as the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, the Solomon Islands, the Marshall Islands, and the Marshall Islands.
- The region is made up of small island nations with sparse populations and abundantly resourced Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) that are strategically situated (at the intersection of important maritime trade routes).
- Due in part to the popularity of the Indo-Pacific framework, their profile is growing.
India’s interactions with PICs:
- Indian labourers were brought to the area at the beginning of the 19th century to work as indentured plantation employees; the majority of them settled mostly in Fiji and PNG.
- The region did not find significant significance in India’s foreign policy after independence.
- However, India’s Pacific policy has been updated and redesigned as a result of the shifting geopolitical landscape, strategic and economic imperatives, and growing naval capabilities.
- India’s rekindled interest should also be viewed in the context of its own Act East policy, which has been renamed.
- Currently, India and PICs conduct roughly $300 million in annual trade, including about $200 million in exports and $100 million in imports.
FIPIC, or the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation:
- It features 14 of the PICs and was introduced during the 2014 visit of the Indian PM to Fiji.
- The FIPIC programme is a significant effort to advance India’s strategic and economic interests in the Pacific area (from the Indian Ocean).
The PICs’ primary projects for Indian support include:
- establishing a trade office in India, a special USD 1 million fund for sustainable energy and climate change adaptation, and a Pan Pacific Islands e-network to enhance digital connection.
- India has introduced a new Visitors Programme for PICs and boosted the annual “Grant-in-Aid” to each of the 14 PICs from USD 125,000 to 200,000 for community initiatives of their choice.
- The FICCI introduced the Business Accelerator for FIPIC at the FIPIC-2 (Jaipur, 2015) to give businesspeople on both sides the essential knowledge and assistance.
- India has the advantage of a huge Indian Diaspora; 3000 Indians live in PNG, while approximately 40% of the population of Fiji is of Indian descent.
Challenges:
- India still focuses mostly on its relationships with Fiji and PNG when it comes to its interactions with PICs.
Way Forward:
- An important area of shared concern where closer collaborations might be established for practical, effective solutions is climate change.
- For India, it’s crucial to create a thorough and precisely defined strategy for communicating with all the PICs.
Conclusion:
- The Indian Prime Minister referred to PICs as “large ocean states” during the FIPIC-3, underlining their strategic and economic significance for India.
- India and PICs are now considerably closer together thanks to recent efforts, and in order to further their relationship, India should support the PICs’ development objectives.
Source The Hindu
3 – Open Network for Digital Commerce: GS II – Government Policies and Interventions
Context:
- The benefits and difficulties of implementing an Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) in India are discussed in the essay.
About ONDC:
- The Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) is a government effort that seeks to restructure the Indian e-commerce business by converting it to an open-network paradigm from a platform-centric model.
- The Unified Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) aims to ease transactions between buyers and sellers regardless of the platforms they are registered on, building on the success of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) initiative, which facilitates seamless money transfers across various payment networks.
Explanation using a concrete instance:
- Consider that you wish to purchase a product—say, a smartphone—online. Although you have an Amazon account, you discover a better offer for the identical smartphone on Flipkart. You wouldn’t be able to buy it from Flipkart under the existing setup because you aren’t registered there.
- However, ONDC functions as a sizable network that links all the various e-commerce platforms together. You can so purchase goods from various platforms, even if you are only enrolled on one of them, rather than being restricted to a single one.
- The goals of ONDC are to democratise and decentralise e-commerce, increase access and variety for sellers, give consumers more power and choice, and lower the cost of goods and services.
The next steps and conclusion:
- The effectiveness of the product listings from diverse vendors and the upkeep of service quality will be key factors in determining the outcome of the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC). The government needs to concentrate on creating a better digital environment, putting a digital education strategy into effect, running a well-funded adoption drive, and offering a secure one-stop shop for problem solving.
Source The Hindu
4 – Bushfire Management Program: GS III – Environmental Conservation
Context:
- Wildfires called “bushfires” are those that start in bushland or wooded regions. It is characterised by raging, uncontrollable flames that can seriously harm property, wildlife, and vegetation.
About:
- Due to its hot, dry environment, combustible vegetation like eucalypt forests, weather patterns like droughts and high winds, and human activity like land clearing and arson, Australia has regular bushfires.
- Over the past 20 years, a highly successful wildfire management programme has been created to combat it. Fire managers utilise tiny controlled fires from April to June every year to lessen fuel loads and create a safer landscape. This method, also referred to as “painting with fire,” combines satellite data with pastoralists’ and park rangers’ Indigenous knowledge and experience.
Significance:
- The initiative has significantly reduced the number of fires in the area and is now recognised globally as a successful fire management strategy. It emphasises how crucial it is to combine technology, local expertise, and a variety of skills in order to achieve resilient and sustainable environmental management.
Source The Hindu
