View Articles

On July 17 last year, the Supreme Court of India in Tehseen S. Poonawalla vs Union Of India described “lynching” as an affront to the rule of law and to the exalted values of the Constitution itself. The court termed it an extrajudicial attempt under the guise of the protection of the law – a situation that had to be nipped in the bud “lest it would lead to the rise of anarchy and lawlessness that would plague and corrode the nation like an epidemic”.

A recent proposal by the government of India to install nuclear power plants in Punjab has once again generated debate on whether the nuclear energy is a viable option for electricity generation? According to Global Energy Statistical Yearbook 2018 India is 3rd largest energy consumer. This accounts for about 6 per cent of global energy for 130 crore people which is roughly 17 per cent of total global population. The sources of electricity production include Thermal (Coal, Diesel, Gas), Hydro Electric, Renewables (Solar, wind) Residual Biomass etc.

The Congress party is going through one of its worst phases, after the disastrous election verdict in May, 2019. Its governments in few States have become immensely vulnerable to BJP’s constant attempts to bribe them, and destabilise the governments. On 1st July, 2019, the Congress-JDS led Karnataka Government fell into major crisis when 15 MLAs Congress and JD (S) MLAs resigned from their assembly seats, and sought to give the resignations to the Speaker of the Karnataka Assembly, but the Speaker refused to meet them. The MLAs had been taken to a hotel in Mumbai, and there were apprehensions that the BJP personnel were also with them and not allowing any Congress representatives to meet the rebel MLAs. Further, the Speaker rejected the resignations of the some of the MLAs and returned them to be filed in proper form. The five MLAs, whose resignations were in order, were asked by the Speaker to meet them to discuss their resignations. None of the MLAs then met the speaker. The MLAs then, 10 in number, moved the Supreme Court against the rejection of these resignations.

The 134 year old Indian National Congress, the oldest party of the country, which still remains the largest opposition party, is going through its worst phase — the party had ever seen after the independence of the country. Congress lost the Lok Sabha elections very badly despite being in opposition for the last five years with the party almost being wiped out in the Hindi heartland and its the then president Rahul Gandhi himself losing his seat from Amethi, the traditional Gandhi family burrow. Adding to that, Rahul Gandhi's resignation from the post of presidentship of the party has completely left the party headless.

The first session of the 17th Lok Sabha has begun well without much disturbance with even first timers getting an opportunity to make their maiden speeches. While the 16th Lok Sabha saw a divided and fractured Opposition, the current one has so far seen only feeble voices with no effort to speak in one voice. This could be because the Opposition is yet to recover from the blow it has received in the elections.

Weekly Round-Up of Major Decisions of the Courts in India as also Legal Policy Developments

In an election last week in Bremen, Germany’s poorest state, the voters put into power the first red-red-green coalition ever elected in a state that was part of the old West German Federal Republic of Germany.

World is watching with curiosity as Prime Minister Modi pledged to make India a $5 trillion economy by the fiscal year 2024-25. It is always good to have a target and do the necessary to achieve the goal. If the prime minister really means what he says he should sincerely implement the programme put in place with the intent of catching up the target. At present the global headwinds are challenging. World economy remained subdued in 2018 with growth rate falling to 3.6 per cent from 3.8 per cent in 2017. It is projected to fall further to 3.3 per cent in 2019. Also Indian economy moderated in 2018-19 with a growth of 6.8 per cent which is lower than 7.2 per cent in 2017-18.

The full impact of the phenomenon of “aya Ram, gaya Ram” on the BJP’s and the Congress’s ideological postures and organizational set-up will only be known after some time. For the present, the BJP is basking in the glory of augmenting its legislative strength in the states via what is generally considered to be dubious means, while the Congress is striving to protect its crumbling house from a predatory rival.

With galloping annual trade deficit, high current account deficit, falling international exchange value of rupee and rising consumer prices, the government’s target of making India a $5-trillion economy in five years looks highly ambitious. Government economists seem have created a wrong impression before the prime minister and the finance minister about the strong potential of Indian economy hitting a $5-trillion mark by 2025, from the present level of $2.75 trillion. A simplistic calculation says it is possible if the GDP grows at eight per cent annually in the coming years.