This weeks newsletter from Monojit Majumdar, the Explained editor.
| |
| Dear Express Explained reader, We published several explainers relating to law and government policy this week, on issues that have been part of ongoing disputes and discussions. These issues are somewhat niche in themselves, but they are important in the context of the broad political discourse that ultimately shapes policies that impact all citizens. The acceptance of the recommendations of the Mandal Commission changed Indian politics in fundamental ways. But issues associated with the reservation in government jobs and educational institutions for Other Backward Classes continue to be debated even now. Shyamlal Yadav, who had earlier reported that the government was considering a proposal to bring “equivalence” in the exclusion of candidates for reason of belonging to the “creamy layer”, explained the concept of creamy layer among OBCs, why the government has long grappled with the problem of implementing with fairness and uniformity this criterion for exclusion among the wide range of candidates at the central and state levels, and who are likely to benefit the most from the efforts that are currently underway. The Election Commission of India and the government of West Bengal appear to have at least partially resolved their differences on the action to be taken against state employees who have been accused by the poll panel of malpractice. The fundamental question underlying the disagreement has been debated for long: are state officials put on election duty controlled by the Election Commission or by the respective state governments when the Model Code of Conduct is not in force? Ritika Chopra went into the history of the debate – what India’s election laws say, the position that governments have taken over the years, and the ways in which the Election Commission has responded. The government has tabled a Bill in Parliament that seeks to amend the Constitution to ensure the removal of a central or state Minister facing allegations of corruption or serious offences, and who has been detained for at least 30 days consecutively. For context, it may be recalled that former Tamil Nadu Minister V Senthil Balaji and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal both stayed on in their positions even after they had been arrested for alleged corruption. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi has publicly articulated the need for such a law given the widespread concerns over the criminalisation of politics, the Bill raises important constitutional and legal questions, including those of due process and the principle of natural justice. Amaal Sheikh and Vineet Bhalla unpacked some of the issues in this complex question, and recalled what the Supreme Court and the Law Commission of India have said about them earlier. Thank you for reading The Indian Express Explained. There is a large body of explanatory journalism, on a wide range of topics, on our website, and I hope you will check it out soon if you haven’t already. Also, many of our best explainers are now behind a paywall, so I hope you will subscribe. Sincerely, Monojit | | | |
| |
| From the Explained section | | | | |
| |
No comments:
Post a Comment