The SC does not need more judges
Gautam Bhatia | Advocate in the Supreme Court
Hindustan Times
The recent bill to increase the number of Supreme Court (SC) judges from 30 to 33, might seem like a solution to the “pendency and backlog” problem in courts, but Bhatia argues otherwise.
Earlier, only in case of a substantial question of law would a high court grant the “certificate of leave to appeal” without which a party had to file “special leave to appeal” – and that was often rejected. But now, “special leave jurisdiction” is often given which leads to the SC’s “ever-expanding jurisdiction”. Minor matters, from the likes of “motor vehicle disputes to rent control litigation” get heard in the SC.
The number of judges in the SC will also have an impact on the consistency of judgements, as a“polyvocal character” of the court can lead to confusing and inconsistent interpretations of the law. This will also lead to more centralised power in the hands of the CJI, who can assign cases to different benches at his/her discretion.
We need to urgently look at the SC’s expanding jurisdiction, how we can limit and ensure that clarity as well as consistency of judgment is maintained.
From empowerment to disenfranchisement: Lower caste mobilisation appears to have run its course
D Shyam Babu | Senior fellow, Centre for Policy Research
The Times of India
Babu writes that BSP president Mayawati’s move to appoint her brother as party vice president and nephew as national coordinator demonstrates an “expected brand of nepotism”. Even though the BSP was meant to be a “big tent for all downtrodden groups”, it has evolved from being a primarily Dalit to a Jatav party and now a famiy venture. Other “social justice” parties like SP, RJD, JD(U) and JD(S) have also done this.
Meanwhile, most poor minority groups have continued to suffer, especially Dalits in UP who are often ignored by both BSP and non-BSP parties during campaign periods. PM Modi’s re-election implies that mobilisation on “dominant sub-caste” lines no longer works. Most of these parties have proved no true “ideological commitment” or power sharing and hence followers have deserted them.
UP Dalits are stuck between the BSP, which ignores them in reality, and blatant discrimination from upper-castes. The only option they have is to join mainstream parties like Congress or the BJP.
Reforming the Law Commission
Tahir Mahmood | Distinguished jurist chair and Professor of eminence, Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, Amity University
The Indian Express
Mahmood writes that the new Law Commission is yet to be reconstituted and the last Commission had gone out of office a year ago. Even though the Law Commission is the “oldest among the national-level parastatal bodies”, it has no fixed composition, functions or “defined eligibility criteria for its chair and members”. It relies completely on the government’s will.
The Law Commission is a product of our colonial legacy and has become a “haven” for retired judges. The Commission rarely worked on issues of the Muslim personal law until the 18th Law Commission, which was chaired by SC Judge A R Lakshmanan and Mahmood himself. The 18th Commission had worked on four reports about the Muslim personal law before receiving backlash from the community. Mahmood says that if the Commission has to work on “extra-legal and political considerations”, it must have defined powers and responsibilities.
Before the 22nd Law Commission is reconstituted, a proper parliamentary charter must be put in place to define its “the composition, tenure, functions and work procedure”. It should become a “predominantly jurists’ commission, not a retired judges’ collective”, concludes Mahmood.
Why women are still being treated as unequal to men
Biju Dominic | Chief executive officer of Final Mile Consulting, a behaviour architecture firm
Mint
Biju Dominic cites a recent study which says: “86% of US adults have admitted that men and women are equally intelligent”. He writes this is a huge improvement from studies in 1946 which said that “only 35% of those surveyed thought both men and women are equally intelligent”. Citing another report, however, he says that it will take “202 years to achieve parity in the workforce”, and currently, “gender parity seems too far a goal to achieve”.
He explores the reasons why women are still not accepted as equal to men. He writes that “when it comes to the issue of gender inequality, the elephant in the room is religion”. He explains that according to many religious stories, “male bodies are created in God’s own image and so are considered better than female bodies”. He cites a paper to argue that countries where people don’t have a religious affiliation display the lowest levels of gender inequality.
Trade wars can be lost. Guess by whom?
Claude Smadja | President of Smadja & Smadja, a Strategic Advisory Firm
Business Standard
Claude Smadja writes that trade wars can be lost and Donald Trump is “beginning to have a sinking feeling about this possibility after a bad week”. He mentions that China recently announced new tariffs of $ 75 billion on American imports. He writes that China’s moves are aimed at hitting hard the “core support constituencies of the President — hence the new tariffs on agricultural and farm products and the reinstatement of tariffs on cars and auto parts”. He also writes that the recent G7 summit provided an illustration of the Trump administration’s isolation in its trade war with China, with the US president’s close ally Boris Johnson too stating his opposition to it.
He says that media reports and leaks from the White House indicate that people close to Trump are worried about the impact of trade war on the economy, and the damage this can do to the president.
Hardly the brick and mortar of a revival
Jayati Ghosh | Professor of economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
The Hindu
Jayati Ghosh writes that India’s present economic slowdown is “a crisis of inadequate effective demand in the economy”. She says that this happened because of joblessness and “fruits of growth” going disproportionately to a small elite of big capital and rich individuals. She also writes that demonetisation, followed by a poorly implemented GST “served as body blows to informal economic activity, causing major declines in employment and output”.
She argues that “the government could have countered this adverse impact of declining employment and consumption demand… by providing a fiscal stimulus”. However, it kept focusing on “optical measures” like Ease of Doing Business and “offering further incentives to foreign capital to attract more inflows”.
She argues that the FM’s recent announcement of boosting the economy are not helpful as they fail to address issues of “inadequate demand generation”, “wage suppression” and “low employment growth”.
She also recommends that the government do “a massive increase in rural public expenditure” to solve India’s economic crisis.