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Greeting Tamilians on the occasion of Puthandu, the Tamil New Year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi harked back to ancient Tamil culture and the various references to democratic politics in it, stating that an over 1,100 year old inscription from Tamil Nadu talks about rules for a local body, including provisions for disqualifying a member.
India is the world’s oldest democracy, it is the mother of democracy. There are numerous historical references to this. An important reference is in Tamil Nadu.
Tamil Nadu’s Uthirameur, an inscription around 1100-1200 years old, gives a glimpse of democratic values in the country.
The inscription found there is like a local constitution for the gram sabha. In this, it has been told how the Assembly should run, what should be the process to elect the members. Not only that, in that era, they had decided how a member would be disqualified.
As a country, it is our responsibility to take forward this culture and tradition but we all know what happened earlier. Now I have been given this responsibility.
Speaking of his deep regard for Tamil Nadu and its people, Mr. Modi spoke at length about his visit to Jaffna in Sri Lanka, and being the first Prime Minister of India to do so.
He also spoke of the successful organisation of the “Kashi-Tamil Sangamam” held in his Lok Sabha constituency of Varanasi.
Referring to Sangam literature, “It is there that we hear of descriptions of various kinds of millets or Shri Anna, which our government is also promoting.”
Lok Ayukta cannot probe selection of poll candidates (Page no. 5)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court has held that the Lok Ayukta cannot investigate matters relating to selection of candidates by political parties for contesting elections.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice S. Manikumar and Justice Murali Purushothaman made the ruling recently while allowing a petition filed by CPI leader Pannian Ravindran challenging the Lok Ayukta order holding that the complaint seeking a probe into the selection of Bennet P. Abraham as Left Democratic Front (LDF) candidate in the Thiruvananthapuram constituency in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections was maintainable.
The complainant, Shamnad A., alleged that Mr. Abraham was selected on receiving illegal gratification by party leaders.
The Bench observed that the selection of candidates was an internal affair of the political party and the party selected its candidates as per its constitution, political principles, policies, winnability, etc.
Once the candidate is set up by the political party, then, on the date of poll, the public exercise their electoral right for any of the candidates in the fray.
Therefore, we are unable to subscribe to the view of the Lok Ayukta that selection of candidate by a political party is a matter in which the public or the community at large has an interest.
Editorial
The goal of building a popular Dalit agenda (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 1, Significant Personalities)
It is to the credit of modern liberal ideas, capitalist development and democratic churning that Dalits are now a well-recognised social and political force — a transformation made possible under the maverick leadership of B.R. Babasaheb Ambedkar. However, Ambedkar’s vision to elevate Dalits as an independent religious community or to improvise their lot as the dominating political force in the democratic battles has not yet been realised.
There is a looming fear as the government of the day has been aggressive in adopting neo-liberal economic policies that often undermine social justice safeguards meant for the emancipation of historically marginalised communities.
Further, the Hindutva ideological agenda considers independent Dalit assertions as a challenge to the politics of cultural nationalism.
The threats and surveillance against the Dalit socio-political movement have been accentuated, relegating it to a passive powerless location today.
Ambedkar realised that the colonial regime opened the doors of modern institutions to various marginalised social groups, welcoming them to become an integral part of democratic processes.
Constitutional principles allowed the untouchable castes in particular to raise their grievances effectively and reprimanded the social elite leadership for their exclusive exploitation of state power and social privileges.
Ambedkar hoped that the policy of job reservation or Dalit representation in legislative bodies would induce the substantive democratisation of political power and introduce Dalits as influential shareholders in modern institutions.
Opinion
Is the current regulatory system equipped to deal with AI? (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
The growth of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies and their deployment has raised questions about privacy, monopolisation and job losses.
In a discussion moderated by Prashanth Perumal J., Ajay Shah and Apar Gupta discuss concerns about the economic and privacy implications of AI as countries try to design regulations to prevent the possible misuse of AI by individuals and governments. Edited excerpts:
Technological change improves aggregate productivity, and the output of society goes up as a result. People today are vastly better off than they were because of technology, whether it is of 200 years ago or 5,000 years ago.
There is nothing special or different this time around with AI. This is just another round of machines being used to increase productivity.
AI as a killer robot — that is, in terms of AI becoming autonomous. However, I think the primary risks which are emerging from AI happen to be the same risks which we have seen with other digital technologies, such as how political systems integrate those technologies.
For instance, AI is used today in facial recognition in airports in India and also by law-enforcement agencies. There needs to be a greater level of critical thought, study and understanding of the social and economic impact of any new technology.
AGI, which stands for artificial general intelligence, which people are using to emphasise the uniqueness and capability of the human mind. The human mind has general intelligence.
Explainer
The rules for recognition as a national party (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
Ahead of the upcoming Karnataka Assembly elections, the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) received a shot in the arm from the Election Commission of India, as the poll body accorded it the status of a national party on April 10.
Meanwhile, the Trinamool Congress (TMC), the Communist Party of India (CPI), and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) lost their national party status. The EC also revoked the recognition of some parties as State parties.
The Election Commission reviews the poll performance of recognised parties after every State Assembly election or general election to the Lok Sabha.
The rules for recognition as a national party are specified by the Commission in para 6B of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968.
A party becomes eligible to be accorded national status if it manages to fulfil one of the following conditions: (a) if it is recognised as a State party in at least four States, (b) if it secures 6% of the total votes polled in four States in the last Lok Sabha or Assembly elections, and in addition, gets four of its members elected to the Lok Sabha, or (c) if it wins 2% of seats in the Lok Sabha from at least three States.
Besides this, the Symbols Order of 1968 was amended in 2016 to give parties one additional “pass over”. As per this amendment, deemed to have been in force since January 1, 2014, if a national or State party fails to fulfil the eligibility criteria in the next general elections (March 2014 Lok Sabha polls in this case) or the Assembly election after the election in which it received recognition, it will continue to be recognised as a national or State party, meaning it will not be stripped of its status.
However, whether it will continue to be recognised after any subsequent election would again have to be determined by the eligibility criteria.
What is ‘Dabba trading’ and how does it affect the economy? (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
In the past week, the National Stock Exchange (NSE) issued a string of notices naming entities involved in ‘dabba trading’. The bourse cautioned retail investors to not subscribe (or invest) using any of these products offering indicative/assured/guaranteed returns in the stock market as they are prohibited by law. It added that the entities are not recognised as authorised members by the exchange.
Dabba (box) trading refers to informal trading that takes place outside the purview of the stock exchanges. Traders bet on stock price movements without incurring a real transaction to take physical ownership of a particular stock as is done in an exchange. In simple words, it is gambling centred around stock price movements.
For example, an investor places a bet on a stock at a price point, say ₹1,000. If the price point rose to ₹1,500, he/she would make a gain of ₹500. However, if the price point falls to ₹900, the investor would have to pay the difference to the dabba broker.
Thus, it could be concluded that the broker’s profit equates the investor’s loss and vice-versa. The equations are particularly consequential during bull runs or bear market.
The primary purpose of such trades is to stay outside the purview of the regulatory mechanism, and thus, transactions are facilitated using cash and the mechanism is operated using unrecognised software terminals.
Other than this, it could also be facilitated using informal or kaccha (rough) records, sauda (transaction) books, challans, DD receipts, cash receipts alongside bills/contract notes as proof of trading.
News
‘No external monitoring mechanism in India to take erring police officers to task (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
Following a case of custodial violence in Ambasamudram in Tamil Nadu, the issue of police excesses are back at the forefront. There were 478 custodial deaths reported in Tamil Nadu between 2016-17 and 2021-22 and no arrests, chargesheets or convictions in the period. Retired Madras High Court judge Justice K. Chandru says that there needs to be some external monitoring, rather than only government mechanisms, to hold the police accountable.
Following the 1986 case of D.K. Basu vs West Bengal, the Supreme Court issued 11 guidelines to accompany Article 22.1.
According to them, a Magistrate should ask the accused whether he has a medical problem, caused by the police. They generally don’t ask and write “no complaints”, meaning the accused never said anything. At the time, the accused is sufficiently warned [by the police].
In America, wrongful procedure leads to mistrial. But, in India, when the police do something illegal, it does not vitiate the outcome of the trial. Even if they illegally enter your house and find contraband, they can chargesheet it.
So when an illegality takes place, all that you may get is bail or compensation. Beyond that, we do not have a mechanism by which these officers can be taken to task. In the U.S., you can sue the police for civil damage, we can’t do that here. There is no external check, it is through the mechanisms of the government you are trying to supervise them.
When it comes to SCs and adivasis, the custodial torture and killings are much higher. In case of “Denotified Tribes” too it’s much higher as nobody in the village is going to support them.
Even in the chargesheet, the police write “KR” before their name for Koravar, and “IR” for Irular. The High Court said it should not be used, but none agreed.
The only way to stop oppression is to accept them as part of the village. Unless there is social mobility and organisation, this will not stop.