NATIONAL NEWS
CJI for forming special panels led by HC CJs to probe plaints against ‘atrocities’ by police, bureaucracy
Chief Justice of India (CJI) N.V. Ramana said he was in favour of forming standing committees headed by the Chief Justices of the High Courts to investigate complaints received from the common man of atrocities committed by the bureaucracy, especially police officers, in the country. The CJI’s oral observation comes even as police officers are in the spotlight for committing serious crimes. Recently, police officers in Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh have been accused of causing the death of a businessman during a raid in a hotel. In Tamil Nadu, the CBI had charge-sheeted nine policemen for the custodial deaths of the father-son duo, P. Jayaraj and J. Benicks. There have been instances in which district administration officers were recorded on video physically manhandling citizens during the lockdown. We are very disturbed by what the bureaucracy, particularly police officers, are doing… I was in favour of forming standing committees led by Chief Justices of High Courts to look into complaints of atrocities committed by bureaucrats, especially police officers, in this country, Chief Justice Ramana said in court. The observation came when the court was reserving judgment on petitions filed by suspended Additional Director General of Police Gurjinder Pal Singh in Chhattisgarh. He had sought protection from arrest in various criminal cases, including sedition, extortion and criminal intimidation, arraigned against him by the current government. The court recently made oral observations in the case about how police officers act with impunity with one government but have to pay back with interest when there is a regime change. It had, in an earlier instance, wondered at the plight of police officers caught between rival political parties who come to power one after the other. The Bench had highlighted how police officers become targets of political vendetta, stating that it was a sad state of affairs. The CJI said orally, When a political party is in power, police officers side with a particular party. Then when a new party comes into power, the government initiates action against those officials. The court stated that this new trend needed to be checked in its tracks. The court had granted Singh protection from arrest in the sedition case. Senior lawyers F.S. Nariman and Vikas Singh appeared for him and the State government was represented by senior advocates Mukul Rohatgi and Rakesh Dwivedi. Cases of sedition and other offences were lodged against Singh by the Congress-led Chhattisgarh government.
Farmers strangulating New Delhi with protests against farm laws, says Supreme Court
The Supreme Court on Friday accused farmers of strangulating the city [New Delhi] with their protest against farm laws. A Bench led by Justice A.M. Khanwilkar was hearing a petition filed by Kisan Mahapanchayat, a farmers’ body, for a direction to the Delhi Police to permit them to go on ‘satyagraha’ at the iconic Jantar Mantar in the heart of the national capital. On one hand, you have been strangulating the entire city and blocking highways… now you want to enter the city and protest here? Justice Khanwilkar lashed out at the farmers’ body. The Bench asked why the farmers’ organisations continued with protests even after the laws were under challenge or sub judice in the Supreme Court. Are you then protesting against the judiciary? Once you have approached the court, let the law take its own course… But, instead, you continue with the protests and block the national highways… You have to trust us, Justice Khanwilkar, flanked by Justice C.T. Ravikumar, chided the farmers’ organisation. Justice Khanwilkar asked the farmers whether they had taken the permission of citizens who live near the protest sites on the national highways and public roads. Have you taken permission of the citizens living nearby? There is a right to protest, but there is a right to use public roads and free movement… You are even obstructing defence personnel’s movement. You block trains and then say you are protesting peacefully. There is no point in continuing to protest once you have come to the court, Justice Khanwilkar said. The Mahapanchayat’s counsel, advocate Ajay Choudhary, said the police had blocked the highways and not the farmers. The farmers only stressed on their right to protest peacefully. The Bench directed the petitioner to serve an advance copy of their petition to the Attorney-General and listed the case for Monday. The court also ordered the organisation to file an affidavit declaring they are not part of the protest being carried out, blocking the highways. Kisan Mahapanchayat has argued that the patently discriminatory, arbitrary and unreasonable action of the Delhi Police in preventing it from holding peaceful, unarmed and non-violent Satyagraha at a designated place in Jantar Mantar is in violation of basic democratic rights enunciated as fundamental rights under the Constitution.
Amarinder Singh, Harish Rawat in war of words as Congress crisis continues
Amid the ongoing crises in the Congress party’s Punjab unit, the party’s State affairs in-charge Harish Rawat and former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Friday were embroiled in a war of words. After Rawat accused Capt. (retd.) Amarinder of failing to keep his promises on important issues and insisted that the latter was never humiliated in the Congress, the former chief minister rejected the claims, saying they were clearly prompted by the pathetic situation the party now found itself in Punjab after being on a winning spree for four and a half years. Three weeks before stepping down as CM, I had offered my resignation to Sonia Gandhi but she had asked me to continue, said Capt. Amarinder, adding that the humiliating manner in which he was pushed into resigning just hours before the CLP meeting that was clearly convened to oust him, was a matter of public record. The world saw the humiliation and the insult heaped on me, and yet Rawat is making claims to the contrary, he said, adding If this was not humiliation then what was it? The ex-CM of Punjab recalled that Rawat himself had publicly stated after meeting him that he was satisfied by his government’s track record on the 2017 poll promises. In fact, the Congress in-charge of Punjab had categorically stated, as recently as September 1, that the 2022 elections would be fought under his (Captain Amarinder’s) leadership and the high command had no intention of replacing him, he pointed out. So how can he now claim that the party leadership was dissatisfied with me, and if they were, then why did he deliberately keep me in the dark all this time? he said. On Rawat’s remarks that he [Capt. Amarinder] seemed to be under pressure, the former Chief Minister said the only pressure he had been under for the past few months was that of his own loyalty to the Congress, because of which he continued to tolerate insult after insult.
GoM to decide on winning bidder for Air India
A Group of Ministers (GoM) led by Union Home Minister Amit Shah will meet soon to take a decision on the winning bidder for Air India, a top government official said. Air India Specific Alternative Mechanism [AISAM] will meet soon to decide, the official told The Hindu. AISAM is the name given to the GoM headed by Shah. It includes Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. The statement means that while a decision has been taken on who has bagged Air India by the Committee of Secretaries, it is yet to be approved by the GoM. Earlier this month, Tata Sons and a grouping led by SpiceJet’s Ajay Singh placed their financial bids for Air India. The government will divest its 100% stake in Air India, Air India Express, and a 50% stake in ground handling company AISATS. The bids for the national carrier are being sought at enterprise value instead of equity value as the government had changed the bidding parameter for Air India. As per the plan, 15% of the total enterprise value will have to be paid upfront in cash to the government and the rest will be used to reduce the debt burden on the airline.
Process of renunciation of Indian citizenship simplified
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has simplified the process for Indians who want to renounce their citizenship. Provisions have been made for applicants to upload documents online, with an upper limit of 60 days for the renunciation process to be completed. Over 6.7 lakh Indians renounced their citizenship between 2015-19, the Lok Sabha was informed in February. In 2018, the MHA revised the Form XXII under the Citizenship Rules for declaration of renunciation of citizenship, which for the first time included a column on circumstances/reasons due to which applicant intends to acquire foreign citizenship and renounce Indian citizenship. An official familiar with the subject said there was no sudden surge in the number of applications to renounce citizenship but the online process has been initiated to check fraudulent documents and reduce the compliance burden. As many as 1,41,656 Indians renounced their citizenship in the year 2015, while in the years 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019, the numbers stood at 1,44,942, 1,27,905, 1,25,130 and 1,36,441, respectively. The Ministry issued new guidelines on September 16 stating that the form, after being filled online, has to be downloaded, signed and submitted at the District Magistrate’s office, if the applicant is in India, or at the nearest Indian mission, if she or he is in a foreign country. The applicant will also be interviewed by the DM before the certificate is issued, the Ministry said. Other than the passport, the applicant also needs to submit proof of address and proof of payment of fee. The Ministry stated that once a copy of the form had been received, the entire process for issuance of renunciation certificate would take 60 days after verification of documents. According to the 2009 Citizenship Rules, the fee to renounce citizenship for an applicant in India is ₹5,000, and for someone applying through an Indian mission in a foreign country is ₹7,000. The guidelines said that when a person ceases to be a citizen of India under Section 8(1) of Citizenship Act, 1955, every minor child of that person shall thereupon ceases to be a citizen of India. The minor child may, however, within one year of attaining full age apply to resume Indian citizenship. The guidelines are not clear if minors would also lose citizenship if only one of the parents gives up her/his Indian citizenship.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
India slaps tit-for-tat travel curbs on U.K. nationals
India on Friday imposed reciprocal quarantine measures on citizens of the United Kingdom. Sources said the new regulations will enforce a 10-day quarantine on all British nationals in the way that the UK currently enforces similar quarantine measures on fully vaccinated Indian nationals. The new measures will come into effect from October 4, indicating that India-UK negotiations over the latter’s 10-day mandatory quarantine requirement have broken down. Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla had first mentioned the possibility of imposing reciprocal measures on September 21 as the UK had not relaxed the quarantine requirement till then. According to the new regulations, all British nationals arriving in India from the UK, irrespective of their vaccination status, will have to undertake pre-departure COVID-19 RT-PCR test within 72 hours before travel, followed by similar tests upon arrival at the Indian airport which is to be followed by another RTPCR test on the 8th day after arrival in India. That apart, the British travellers to India will have to be in mandatory quarantine at home or in the destination address for 10 days after arrival in India. The deepening dispute regarding vaccination certificates and the quarantine period has cast a shadow on expected high level visits from London to India. Sources explained that the move will not affect the Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) staying in the UK with permits but is likely to affect PIOs and OCI-card holders as they may be citizens of the UK. The new measures have been imposed though there is no tourist traffic from the UK to India at the moment as New Delhi has not resumed issuing tourist visas. However, it is understood that the Indian move is being perceived as unexpected by the British side which had witnessed some positive progress in the dialogue over relaxing the UK’s quarantine requirement for Indian citizens. Informed Indian sources have, however, told The Hindu that the UK can make the necessary adjustments in its policy by October 4. The Indian announcement comes days after the UK recognised Covishield vaccine produced by the Serum Institute of India but retained the 10-day quarantine period for fully vaccinated travellers from India, which intensified the rift between the two sides. The UK had moved India from the ‘Red List’ to the ‘Amber List’ on August 8, reopening tourist visas for Indian travellers but maintained that the 10-day quarantine period would remain in place. British sources had earlier said that there were no issues related to the Covishield vaccine but there are technical difficulties that were preventing the UK from connecting with the Indian side, which is a requirement for verifying vaccination certificates.
India, US to set up joint working group on defence industrial security
As Chinese and Russian cyber-spies increase snooping via the internet to pick up American defence secrets, including stealth and long-range unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology, the US and Indian defence industrial establishments are developing joint protocols to block any leakage of classified information from their communications. To formalise and refine their joint security protocols, Washington and New Delhi held a five-day Industrial Security Agreement (ISA) summit that began on Monday and ended on Friday in the national capital. The summit was led by Designated Security Authorities (DSAs) from both sides. The Indian DSA is Anurag Bajpai from the Ministry of Defense (MoD), while the American DSA is David Paul Bagnati. The two sides reached an In principle agreement to establish an Indo-US Industrial Security Joint Working Group, said an Indian MoD statement on Friday. The Group is to meet regularly to align policies for defence industries to collaborate on critical defence technologies, it said. The US-India framework for industrial technology security began with an agreement termed General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA), which was signed on January 17, 2002 between the Indian and US defence ministers of that time, George Fernandes and Donald Rumsfeld. GSOMIA 2002 prescribes security standards and protocols for safeguarding information shared by the Pentagon with India’s defence ministry; and by US defence firms with Indian defence public sector undertakings (DPSUs). However, GSOMIA does not cover the exchange of classified information with Indian private industry. Washington wanted this covered too, given New Delhi’s emphasis on the proposed strategic partnership (SP) model of procurement. The SP model involves the manufacture of defence equipment by Indian private firms, using technology supplied by American original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). For this, Washington asked New Delhi to sign an annexure to GSOMIA 2000, which would cover the Indian private sector. That agreement, called the Industrial Security Agreement (ISA), was signed in December 2019. Now that is being taken further. During the summit, both sides agreed in principle to establish the Indo-US Industrial Security Joint Working Group. This group will meet periodically to align the policies and procedures expeditiously that will allow the (two countries’) defence industries to collaborate on cutting edge defence technologies, stated the Indian MoD on Friday. The DSAs also visited selected Indian defence industries to prepare for setting up a roadmap. GSOMIA 2000 is not a public document. It is one of four agreements – initially termed foundational agreements by Washington, but subsequently toned down to enabling agreements – that US legislation requires for facilitating deeper defence cooperation with India. A second agreement, the Logistic Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) that facilitates mutual logistical inter-dependence, was signed in 2016 and the Communications Compatibility and Security Arrangement (COMCASA) in 2018. The last of the four — the so-called Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA) for Geospatial Intelligence – was signed last October. This allows India’s military to access a range of US topographical, nautical and aeronautical data that enables more accurate missile and long-range unmanned airborne vehicle guidance and targeting.
