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Those above the age of 17 can now apply in advance for getting enrolled in the voters’ list and need not wait to fulfil the pre-requisite criterion of attaining the age of 18 years on January 1 of a year, the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced.
The electoral roll will be updated every quarter and eligible youngsters can be registered in the next quarter of the year in which they have attained the qualifying age of 18 years, according to the ECI.
The ECI, led by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and Election Commissioner Anup Chandra Pandey, has directed the CEOs/EROs/AEROs of all states to work out tech-enabled solutions such that the youth are facilitated to file their advance applications with reference to three subsequent qualifying dates — April 1, July 1, and October 1 – besides January 1.
For the current round of annual revision of electoral roll, 2023, any citizen attaining the age of 18 years by April 1, July 1 and October 1 of 2023 can also submit an advance application for registration as a voter from the date of draft publication of electoral roll.
The Election Commission of India, in pursuance of the legal amendments in the Section 14(b) of the RP Act 1950 and consequent modifications in Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, has initiated the process for bringing about necessary changes for preparation/revision of electoral roll of Assembly/Parliamentary Constituency.
Earlier this year, following the recommendations of ECI, the law ministry had amended the RP Act to provide for four qualifying dates: January 1, April 1, July 1 and October 1 as the eligibility for youngsters to register in electoral rolls as opposed to the earlier single qualifying date of only January 1.
As per existing policy, revision of electoral rolls with reference to 1st January of the coming year as the qualifying date was done normally in the later part of each year in all States/UTs (normally in the last quarter of a year) so that final publication of the electoral rolls is made in the first week of January of the succeeding year.
This meant that a large number of young persons who completed 18 years after 1st January had to wait for Special Summary Revision of the next year for enrolment and were not able to participate in elections held in the intervening period.
In Parliament
Over 52000 ‘hit and run’ road accidents in 2020. (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
A total of 52,448 road accidents occurred under the 'hit and run category in the country in 2020, Parliament was informed. In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said there were 57,987 such cases in 2019 and 69,822 in 2018.
The government has notified a new scheme as 'Compensation to Victims of Hit & Run Motor Accidents Scheme, 2022', under which it made provisions to enhance compensation in case of hit and run motor accident from Rs 12,500 to Rs 50,000 for grievous hurt and from Rs 25,000 to Rs 2,00,000 in case of death. The implementation of this scheme is pan-India.
Replying to a separate question, Gadkari said the road ministry provides for Electronic Monitoring and Enforcement of Road Safety mandates that the state government shall ensure that appropriate electronic enforcement devices are placed at high risk and high-density corridors on National Highways and State Highways.
According to the minister, the provision of an Advanced Traffic Management System (ATMS) is envisaged in high traffic density corridors.
Editorial Page
Presumed Guilty (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
It is disturbing that a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court led by Justice A M Khanwilkar has upheld the constitutionality of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 — it is a law that upends first principles in criminal law, including the presumption of innocence of the accused.
Under the PMLA, statements made before the officers of the Enforcement Directorate are admissible in court and bail provisions place a reverse burden of proof on the accused, requiring them to show lack of guilt even before the trial commences.
The court’s let-down is all the more stark given that this ruling comes just days after it gave Mohammed Zubair bail and underlined that “arrest is not meant to be and must not be used as a punitive tool because it results in one of the gravest possible consequences emanating from criminal law; the loss of personal liberty”.
Parliament has the power to bring in restrictive laws, like anti-terror legislation, to deal with exceptional circumstances. It is disquieting that the SC ruling extends this exceptionalism to money laundering.
In giving a free-pass to a law enforcement agency, the SC has lowered the bar drastically for the state to encroach on individuals’ fundamental rights.
The government, led by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, had argued that there is no constitutional guarantee for the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. Worryingly, the Court, which is the custodian of the constitutional letter and spirit, its check and balance, didn’t just agree with the executive — it also added that Parliament can interdict these basic tenets with a law.
This is reminiscent of Emergency-era courtroom debates on whether Parliament can interdict the right to life without due process.
Several judges agreed, with only Justice H R Khanna remaining steadfast to the cardinal principle in a constitutional democracy — that the rule of law is omnipresent, and cannot be written away by law.
Of course, the framing of laws that increase arbitrary state powers and their weaponisation to settle political scores is not new or unprecedented.
All governments are guilty — the PMLA was brought in by an NDA government and made more stringent by
Kafka’s Law (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
We should be grateful that the Supreme Court of India has in Vijay Madanlal Choudhary and Ors versus Union of India, which challenged the constitutionality of certain provisions of the PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act), laid bare the true character of the Indian state.
Justices A M Khanwilkar, Dinesh Maheshwari and C T Ravikumar have once again demonstrated that the only stare decisis that now matters in the Supreme Court is that it will be even more executive minded than the executive.
Rather than being the guardian of rights, the Supreme Court is now a significant threat to it. This is a depressing predictability that the Court brings to Indian jurisprudence.
The PMLA was introduced in 2002, ostensibly to tackle the problem of money laundering. It has been subject to several amendments. Money laundering has become a matter of international concern and India has undertaken several international commitments in this regard.
The Court has ruled that various provisions of this Act that had been challenged are indeed constitutional. To see what is at stake in this case, it is important not just to pay attention to the details of the Act but to look at the big picture of the law it conveys.
So imagine a law that is Kafkaesque in its opacity. An investigation commences against you. Some vague ground of it is shared with you, but you are completely in the dark about the Enforcement Case Report (the analogue of an FIR).
Or, you are summoned and you do not even know if you are being summoned as a witness or as an accused. Nor are the full grounds of arrest shared with you. Now imagine further that you apply for bail.
You are considered such a threat to the state that bail cannot be granted without hearing the prosecution and you are required to prove your innocence to get bail. Now further imagine that the definition of crime under this Act is almost infinitely elastic — what counts as money laundering crimes include everything in the kitchen sink.
The sovereign has immense latitude to define what counts as the relevant crime. It can also in a classic instance of rule by law change the presumption of innocence.
Now imagine this law is a complete code in its own right: The list of crimes included overrides similar crimes in other parts of the law. The code has an exceptional procedure of its own that can trump the safeguards of the Criminal Code of Procedure.
Throwing Good Money (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 3, Indian Economy)
On Wednesday, the Union cabinet approved yet another revival package for the beleaguered public sector telecom operator, BSNL.
The package is structured around a combination of direct financial support and viability gap funding, the allocation of spectrum and a restructuring of its obligations.
Its total size has been pegged at Rs 1.64 lakh crore, of which Rs 43,964 crore is a cash component, with the balance non-cash component spread over four years.
The government has given a three-fold rationale for the package. One, to ease the stress on BSNL’s balance sheet. Two, to help improve its services, and three, to support the expansion of its fibre optics network across the country.
However, for a government that has repeatedly espoused the view that “the government has no business to be in business”, it must first ask itself.
Is improving access to telephony or increasing its affordability the reason for persisting with BSNL? On both counts, the justification does not hold. At the end of March 2022, the total telephone subscriber base (both wireless and wireline) in India stood at 1.1 billion.
In urban areas, the teledensity stood at 135 per cent, while in rural areas it was 58 per cent. In comparison, of BSNL’s 121.25 million subscribers, only 38 million are located in rural areas.
Its market share of rural subscribers is a mere 7.39 per cent. Its private sector counterparts hold a commanding market share in rural areas as well. And moreover, on the issue of affordability, India has one of the lowest tariff rates in the world.
Turning around the PSU will require a dramatic rise in subscribers, an increase in revenues, and a reduction in costs. In the current environment of cut-throat competition, this seems difficult to envisage.
While BSNL’s losses have dipped — in 2020-21, losses fell to Rs 7,441 crore, down from Rs 15,500 crore in 2019-20 — its revenues have remained flat.
Though the government is making administrative allocation of spectrum to the telco for launch of 4G services — in terms of internet subscribers, BSNL has only 30 million subscribers out of a total subscriber base of 824.89 million or 3.65 per cent share — private sector operators are currently in bidding for securing 5G spectrum.
Explained
Suspension of MPs: the rules and the powers of Presiding officers. (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 2, Indian Polity)
Over this week, the two Houses of Parliament have suspended 27 MPs between them, the latest being two AAP MPs and an independent MP from Rajya Sabha .
Lok Sabha has suspended four Congress MPs, and Rajya Sabha 23 MPs from the Trinamool Congress, DMK, TRS, CPI, CPI(M) and AAP, besides the independent. The Rajya Sabha suspensions are for the remaining part of this week, and those from Lok Sabha are for the rest of the session.
The two Houses suspended these MPs because they disrupted proceedings, demanding a debate on rising prices and increasing GST rates on essential commodities.
The suspended MPs have started a fifty-hour dharna on the Parliament complex, and Opposition parties are demanding the revocation of the suspensions.
Over the years, the presiding officers of legislatures and political leaders have discussed and identified four broad reasons leading to disorder in legislatures.
One reason is the lack of time available to MPs for raising important matters; a second is the “unresponsive attitude of the government and retaliatory posture by Treasury benches”.
The other two reasons are deliberate disruption by parties for political or publicity purposes, and the absence of prompt action against MPs disrupting parliamentary proceedings.
The government and not Parliament decides the parliamentary calendar. Therefore, the decision about the time available with Parliament for discussions rests with the government. Parliamentary procedure also prioritises government business over other debates that take place in the legislature.
In this regard, Parliament has not updated its rules over the last 70 years to give Opposition parties a say in deciding the agenda for discussion.
The stance of political parties on uninterrupted parliamentary functioning depends on whether they belong to the ruling party/coalition or are in the Opposition. And in 2001, Lok Sabha amended its rules to give the Speaker more powers to discipline MPs who disrupt House proceedings.
Rules for ensuring the smooth functioning of Parliament have been unchanged since 1952. First, the presiding officers can direct an MP to withdraw from the House for any disorderly conduct.
What is Google Street View and why has it launched in India now? (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
Google Street View is finally available for ten cities in India and is expected to roll out in about 50 more cities by the end of the year.
The 360-degree interactive panorama feature of Google Maps has been available in cities spread over 100 countries since 2007.
In India, unlike in other markets, Google Street View is powered by images from third parties as per the National Geospatial Policy, 2021.
Google Street View is an immersive 360-degree view of a location captured using special cameras mounted on vehicles or on backpacks by data collectors moving around the city streets.
The images are then patched together to create a 360-degree view which users can swipe through to get a detailed view of the location. It is available to view on Android and iOS using the app, or as a web view.
In 2011, the Bangalore City Police stopped vehicles capturing images for Google Street View. Though there was no clarity on why exactly the policy stopped the capture of data, after that Google did not proceed with the product in India, even as local companies like Wonobo and MapMyIndia came up with their own versions of immersive visual maps of some Indian cities.
The National Geospatial Policy, 2021 lets Indian companies collect map data and license it to others. After this, Google has tied up with Tech Mahindra and Mumbai-based Genesys International to enable Street View for 10 Indian cities initially.
This is the first time Google is working with partner data to enable this feature. In India, the data will be collected and owned by these partners.
Street View in India is not allowed for restricted areas like government properties, defence establishments and military areas. This means in a place like Delhi, the cantonment area will be out of bounds for Street View.
While Google Maps gives users the ability to plot a route and see the satellite view of the same, often this does not give a clear idea of the road conditions.
With Street View, users will be able to see exactly how a new destination looks like, and even explore local businesses before going there.
The World
Govt. will focus on fixing economy ending fuel shortage in Lanka: Ranil (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 2, International Relations)
Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe has said his government’s main priorities are to fix the country’s ailing economy and end the severe fuel shortage that has exacerbated after the last shipment under the Indian credit line arrived here in June.
Addressing a gathering at his party headquarters, the newly elected president said his government was not against peaceful protest and would allow them all the time if the protesters did not break the law.
I became the President at a most difficult time for the country. We have to set the economy right. Wickremesinghe said his government’s main task was to first reduce the length of fuel queues and then eliminate them completely.
Meanwhile, Wickremesinghe decided to prorogue Parliament with effect from midnight. According to the extraordinary gazette issued, the next session will commence on August 3, 2022.
The prorogation means all current business before the House are suspended and all proceedings pending at the time are quashed except impeachments that Sri Lanka will restrict fuel imports for the next 12 months as it is facing a severe shortage of foreign exchange.
QR system was introduced since the daily fuel demand cannot be fulfilled. Due to Forex issues, Fuel imports have to be restricted in the next 12 months.