The Evening Filter: SC won't stop farmer rally

The Hindu Newsletter - Here are the biggest news stories of the day [The Hindu Logo]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Youtube]( [Linkedin]( [Instagram]( Wednesday 20, January 2021 [alt_text]( The Evening Filter Here are the biggest news stories of the day [alt_text]( Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. We hope you are staying safe. Won’t disallow farmers’ tractor rally, says SC Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sharad A. Bobde on Wednesday [told the government]( that it was both “improper and irregular” for the Supreme Court to disallow any rally by protesting farmers on Republic Day. “It is irregular and improper for this court to disable any rally. It is for the police to decide. We will allow you to withdraw. You are the executive of the country. You decide,” said Chief Justice Bobde, heading a three-judge Bench. He was addressing Attorney General K.K. Venugopal and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who were appearing for the government. The CJI’s remarks were in response to a submission by Mehta to adjourn the hearing on a government plea to bar farmers from holding rallies to “disrupt” Republic Day celebration. Mehta submitted, “Consider hearing it on January 25... Let us see how the situation develops”. But the CJI asked the government to withdraw its plea and decide for itself. “You [government] decide what has to be done,” he said. However, the court said farmers should ensure that the citizens of Delhi were assured of “complete peace” on January 26. Farm unions welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision. “This is a win for the farmers,” said Rashtriya Kisan Mahasangh spokesperson Abhimanyu Kohar. “In this decision, by asking the Delhi Police to withdraw [their application for an injunction against the parade], I think that in one way, the Supreme Court is saying that this is the fundamental and constitutional right of the farmers to stage a peaceful protest, and it is now up to the government to decide.” He was speaking just before entering Vigyan Bhavan for the 10th round of talks. Meanwhile, at the end of the 10 round of talks, early reports indicate that the Centre has offered to submit an affidavit in the Supreme Court that it will [suspend the laws for a mutually-agreed period of up to 1.5 years](, and in the interim, have a committee look into the farmers’ demands. The unions have said they want a full repeal, but will discuss the government’s proposal among themselves tomorrow before responding. CJI lashes out at media coverage of SC-appointed committee Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sharad (CJI) A. Bobde said it had become “almost a cultural thing” to brand people as he [lashed out at articles suggesting “bias” on the part of members of an expert committee constituted by the Supreme Court]( to intercede between the protesting farmers and the government. “They [committee members] are brilliant minds in the field of agriculture... Branding of people whom you do not want, this has become almost like a cultural thing. You malign people’s reputation and then you say the court is interested in these people... I am sorry that these kinds of opinions are appearing in the press,” he said. There was criticism in social media and articles in newspapers over the court’s choice of members for the committee constituted on January 12. The court said the reputation of the members have been torn to shreds. The committee had been given no power to decide on the farm laws. They have been constituted only to hear out the farmers. “We formed the committee only to hear the farmers’ grievances and submit a report to the court. They were given no adjudicatory powers. So, where is the question of bias here? If you don't want to appear before the committee, don’t. But why cast aspersions on the court and brand people? We did not want to intervene, but we did so only for the sake of the common people and the farmers,” Chief Justice of India Bobde said. Newspaper reports do not decide disputes in court, he pointed out. “We are adjudicating the dispute. Are we going to read newspapers and decide disputes? Public opinions cannot be used to determine court proceedings,” he said. Supreme Court dismisses Aadhaar review petitions The Supreme Court, in a majority view, [dismissed a series of petitions]( seeking a review of its 2018 judgment upholding the Lok Sabha Speaker’s certification of Aadhaar law as a Money Bill and its subsequent passage in Parliament. However, Justice D.Y. Chandrachud dissented with the majority, saying the Aadhaar review petitions should be kept pending. The Bench sat in review on January 11 in their chambers. The decision, however, was published on Wednesday. Two questions had come up for review regarding the five-judge Aadhaar Bench’s judgment in 2018. One, whether the Speaker’s decision to declare a proposed law as Money Bill was “final” and cannot be challenged in court. The second, whether the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016, was correctly certified as a ‘Money Bill’ under Article 110(1) of the Constitution. On the first question, the majority judgment in 2018 said the Speaker’s decision could be challenged in court only under “certain circumstances”. On the second, it concluded that the Aadhaar Act was rightly called a Money Bill. Justice Chandrachud, who was on the Bench, had dissented on the second conclusion in 2018. [ ] Two years later, marking his dissent again on January 11, Justice Chandrachud differed with the four other judges on the Bench led by Justice A.M. Khanwilkar. This time, he said that another five-judge Bench in a separate case, Rojer Mathew vs South Indian Bank Ltd., in November 2019, had questioned the conclusions arrived at by the Aadhaar Bench and referred the issues to a seven-judge Bench for an authoritative take. He said the Review Bench should hence wait for the seven-judge Bench, which has not yet been constituted, to take a call. The review petitions should be kept pending for the time being. Dismissing the Aadhaar review even before the seven-judge Bench got a chance to apply its mind and arrive at a verdict would amount to “judicial indiscipline” and have “adverse consequences”, Justice Chandrachud noted in his dissent. However, the majority on the Review Bench refused to budge and dismissed the review pleas, arguing that a “change in the law or subsequent decision/judgment of a coordinate or larger Bench by itself cannot be regarded as a ground for review”. Besides Justices Kahnwilkar and Chandrachud, the other judges on the Bench were Justices Ashok Bhushan, S. Abdul Nazeer and B.R. Gavai. The review petitions, primarily the one by Rajya Sabha member Jairam Ramesh, had highlighted how the Aadhaar Act was passed as a Money Bill by superseding the Rajya Sabha. He had called it a “fraud on the Constitution”. Biden plans to issue 15 executive orders on Day 1 As [Joe Biden is sworn in as the 46th President of the United States of America](, and Kamala Harris as the country’s first woman Vice-President, he plans to immediately begin undoing President Donald Trump’s policies on immigration, climate change, and other issues on Wednesday with [at least 15 executive actions](, including moves to reverse U.S. withdrawals from the Paris Agreement and the World Health Organisation, and stop the construction of a border wall. [(Left to right) Doug Emhoff, U.S. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, incoming U.S. First Lady Jill Biden, U.S. President-elect Joe Biden arrive for the inauguration on January 20, 2021 at the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C.](Left to right) Doug Emhoff, U.S. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, incoming U.S. First Lady Jill Biden, U.S. President-elect Joe Biden arrive for the inauguration on January 20, 2021 at the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C. Biden will also sign orders revoking a permit for the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, imposing a mask mandate on federal property to combat the coronavirus pandemic, and ending Trump’s travel ban against some predominantly Muslim and African countries. Biden’s aides said he’ll sign more Day One executive actions than any of his predecessors, to be followed by additional regulatory and policy changes over the coming weeks. PM to chair all-party meeting of floor leaders ahead of Budget session Prime Minister Narendra Modi will [chair an all-party meeting of floor leaders]( in Parliament on January 30, a day after the Budget session of Parliament commences. While it is customary for such a meeting to be held before the session begins, with the government putting forward its legislative agenda for the session and holding a discussion with the Opposition on the issues to be taken up, this time around it will be held a day after the session commences. “The meeting will be held on January 30 where the government will present its legislative agenda for the session and also listen to what the Opposition leaders would like to discuss,” said Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi. He said invitations were being sent out for the virtual meet. The first part of the session will commence on January 29 and end on February 15, with the second part commencing on March 8 to continue till April 8. The Budget will be presented on February 1. HC grants transit anticipatory bail to ‘Tandav’ director, Amazon content head and others The Bombay High Court on Wednesday granted a transit pre-arrest bail to Ali Abbas Zafar, director of the [web series Tandav](, Amazon Prime India content head Aparna Purohit, producer Himanshu Mehra, and the show’s writer Gaurav Solanki, PTI reported. All four of them have a case registered against them in Lucknow for allegedly hurting religious sentiments through the web series. Justice P D Naik granted the relief to the four for a period of three weeks to enable them to approach the concerned court at Lucknow where the FIR against them is registered. [ Saif Ali Khan in ‘Tandav’: Wasted potential ] Saif Ali Khan in ‘Tandav’: Wasted potential Earlier in the day, a [four-member team of the Uttar Pradesh Police arrived in Mumbai]( to conduct a probe into the case registered in Lucknow, an official said. The UP Police team is likely to record statements of the makers and cast and crew of the show. Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments The [number of reported coronavirus cases from India]( stood at 1,06,08,245 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 1,52,892. The [total number of vaccinated healthcare workers]( across the country stood at 7.86 lakh as per the latest figures released by the Health Ministry. In Brief: Former AIADMK leader V.K. Sasikala, who is due to be released from the Parappanna Agrahara prison on January 27, [has been admitted to the prison hospital]( following complaints of fever and breathlessness. Prison authorities said that they would be taking her to Bowring Hospital for a second opinion. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. 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