The Evening Wrap: Independence of Election Commission mere lip-service, says Supreme Court

Dear reader, We have now made it easier for you to manage your The Hindu newsletter subscriptions in one place! Visit The Hindu newsletters page here Click MANAGE tab and then click LOGIN / SIGN UP If you don’t have an account with The Hindu, please click SIGN UP OR If you already have an account with The Hindu with this email ID, please login using the email ID The Supreme Court on Tuesday said the government pays mere “lip-service” to the independence of the Election Commissioners and this is evident from the way the tenures of Chief Election Commissioners (CECs) have “slid” down from over eight years in the 1950s to just about a few hundred days after 2004. “Their (CECs) tenure is highly truncated and known from the very beginning… In this way, this so-called independence that you pay lip-service to, I am sorry to say, is completely destroyed by getting this kind of a term,” Justice K.M. Joseph, heading a Constitution Bench, addressed the Union government. Justice Joseph said the previous UPA government had six CECs in just eight years. “After the present government took over, from 2015 to 2022, for seven years, we have had eight CECs!” Justice Joseph, leading a five-judge Bench, addressed Attorney General R. Venkataramani, appearing for the government. Justice Joseph said successive governments, particularly after 2004, have “picked” people whom it knew would “never ever” get close to the full term of six years prescribed under the Election Commission (Conditions of Service of Election Commissioners and Transaction of Business) Act of 1991. Section 4 of the 1991 Act says the term of a CEC and Election Commissioners is six years or till the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier. “This is a very, very, very disturbing trend! After 2004, particularly, the slide has begun in terms of picking up those persons whom of course the government knows the date of birth of… They (government) know that these persons would never ever get anywhere close to six years,” Justice Joseph observed orally. Justice Joseph said protections under Article 324, like removal through impeachment, available under the Constitution to the CECs would only be of any use if he or she had a full term. “All these protections you can avail of, provided you have the term… When you have a term of just 188 days or 160 days, what is the point?” Justice Joseph asked. Justice Joseph said the “most important” thing for a person heading an institution was a full term in office. “What is the most important thing for anybody at the helm of affairs of an institution? The time he gets to do what he wants to do,” Justice Joseph said. The judge said he had personally researched the tenures of all the CECs right from the first CEC Sukumar Sen, who served eight years and 273 days, till the 24th CEC Sushil Chandra, whose tenure was a little over a year. Justice Joseph passed on his research findings to the other judges of the Bench, Venkataramani and petitioners’ lawyers, senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan and advocate Prashant Bhushan. The judge said the government needed to respond as to why there had been “no checks and balances” in the issue. He referred to the constitutional mechanisms prevalent in countries like Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan and the United Kingdom in the appointment of Election authorities. “Do you want us to remain behind other countries, particularly after the disturbing trend we have found?” Justice Joseph questioned the Attorney General. The Constitution Bench is hearing a series of petitions seeking functional independence for Election Commissioners. The court is specifically examining the question of setting up an “independent, neutral mechanism”, outside the control of the government, for the appointment of Election Commissioners. Bhushan pointed out how the government had “hurriedly” appointed retired IAS officer Arun Goel as the third Election Commissioner shortly after the previous Constitution Bench hearing on November 17. “We are conscious of that,” Justice Joseph responded. In the last hearing, the court had orally remarked that a person appointed Election Commissioner could be completely honest, but may end up displaying a definite political leaning while in office. At least six killed in Assam-Meghalaya border firing; Assam police on ‘alert’ Six people were killed and several others injured in a firing incident on the Assam-Meghalaya border early on November 22 morning. An Assam Forest guard along with five villagers died in the incident. According to a statement issued by the Assam government, a probe by a retired Judge of the Gauhati High Court has been ordered into the firing between Assam Forest officials and unknown miscreants at Mukhrow under Jirikinding police station in West Karbi Anglong district. The inquiry panel has been asked to submit its report within three months. “The incident reportedly took place when the forest party attempted to stop a truck smuggling out illegal timber. When the truck was stopped, the forest personnel were gheraoed by unknown miscreants who resorted to violence. In order to save their lives, the forest party resorted to firing. In the incident, three civilians and one forest guard died,” the statement read. But Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma said six people were killed, five of them residents of Meghalaya, “due to firing by Assam police and Assam Forest guards”. He referred to the village as Mukroh in West Jaiñtia Hills district. “Our government will take necessary steps to ensure that justice is done and action is taken against all those responsible for the inhuman act. As a mark of respect and mourning for the deceased, the State government decided to cancel all upcoming official festivals,” he said. He also announced ex-gratia of ₹5 lakh each to the families of the deceased while appealing to the people of Meghalaya to maintain peace and harmony. From 10:30 am on Tuesday, the Meghalaya government suspended mobile internet or data services in seven districts for 48 hours. This has been done “to prevent misuse” of social media platforms that might “disturb peace and tranquillity”, a notification from Meghalaya’s Home Secretary C.V.D. Diengdoh read. Apprehensive of a backlash, the Assam police restricted the movement of vehicles travelling to Meghalaya capital Shillong and the headquarters of East Khasi Hills district, one of the seven where mobile internet has been suspended. “There is no ban on vehicular movement, only a precautionary measure,” an Assam police spokesperson said. The incident happened at a time when the two State governments are moving toward resolving their differences in the remaining six of the 12 disputed sectors on the interstate boundary. The dispute in first six sectors were resolved through an agreement on March 29. Supreme Court to hear appeal by NIA against bail granted to Anand Teltumbde in the Bhima Koregaon case The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to list on November 25 an appeal by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) challenging the bail granted by the Bombay High Court to activist Anand Teltumbde in the Bhima Koregaon case. Appearing before a Bench led by Chief Justice of India D. Y. Chandrachud, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for NIA, urged for a hearing in the next few days as the implementation of the High Court’s bail order was on hold only for a week. “We will hear it on Friday,” the CJI told the law officer. The Bombay High Court had granted bail to Teltumbde on November 18 while noting that the only prima facie case made out against him related to alleged association with a terror outfit and support given to it, for which the maximum punishment was imprisonment upto a period of 10 years. The High Court had noted that Teltumbde had already spent more than two years in jail. The High Court, however, had stayed its order for a week so that NIA could approach the Supreme Court. First time in 8 years, Air India is the most punctual airline Air India was the most punctual airline in the country last month, according to the DGCA’s monthly data on domestic air traffic. This is the first time in eight years it has occupied that slot. Air India recorded an on-time performance (OTP) of 90.8%, which is computed for four metro airports -- Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai -- and indicates the percentage of flights that arrived or departed at the gate under 15 minutes of the scheduled arrival or departure time. The other two Tata-owned airlines, including Vistara and AirAsia India, were tied at the second place with an OTP of 89.1%. The largest budget carrier, IndiGo, was at the third spot at 87.5%. The fourth airline of the Tata group and Air India’s low-cost international arm, Air India Express, doesn’t fly on domestic routes. GoFirst, which has been facing numerous passenger complaints, was the lowest among all airlines with an OTP of only 60.7%. An airline’s on-time performance is among the key operational parameters, alongside passenger load factor or seat occupancy of an aircraft. It is also an important service differentiator that airlines often use to woo passengers. Since 2014, there has not been a single month when Air India was at the top in punctuality, its CEO Campbell Wilson said during a recent media interaction about the progress the airline was making. In October 2019, Air India had an OTP of 54.3% and was ranked lowest among all the six airlines. FIFA World Cup 2022: Saudi Arabia comes from behind to beat Messi’s Argentina Saudi Arabia produced one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history to beat Argentina 2-1 in their Group C opener with goals by Saleh Al-Shehri and Salem Al-Dawsari stunning the favourites on Tuesday. The 51st-ranked Saudis were trailing to Lionel Messi’s 10th minute penalty, but Al-Shehri squeezed in an angled shot in the 48th minute after punishing poor Argentine defending. Saudi Arabia’s fans were then sent into delirium five minutes later as Al-Dawsari curled a stunning shot into the top corner from the edge of the area. Argentina were on course to match Italy’s record 37-match unbeaten run after the mercurial Messi opened his fifth and final World Cup by stroking home a 10th-minute penalty. But for three goals being chalked off for offside, one for Messi and two for Lauturo Martinez, Argentina would have been home and dry before halftime but the game was turned on its head after the break in extraordinary fashion. In Brief: Indian wildlife biologist Dr. Purnima Devi Barman is among the honourees of this year’s Champions of the Earth award, the U.N.’s highest environmental honour, accorded for their transformative action to prevent, halt and reverse ecosystem degradation. Dr. Barman has been honoured with the UN Environment Programme’s (UNEP) 2022 Champions of the Earth award in the Entrepreneurial Vision category. A wildlife biologist, Dr. Barman leads the ‘Hargila Army’, an all-female grassroots conservation movement dedicated to protecting the Greater Adjutant Stork from extinction. The women create and sell textiles with motifs of the bird, helping to raise awareness about the species while building their own financial independence. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 22 NOVEMBER 2022 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [[Arrow]Open in browser]( [[Mail icon]More newsletters]( Independence of Election Commission mere ‘lip-service’ in the face of truncated CEC tenures, says Supreme Court Dear reader, We have now made it easier for you to manage your The Hindu newsletter subscriptions in one place! Visit The Hindu newsletters page here Click MANAGE tab and then click LOGIN / SIGN UP If you don’t have an account with The Hindu, please click SIGN UP OR If you already have an account with The Hindu with this email ID, please login using the email ID The Supreme Court on Tuesday said the government [pays mere “lip-service” to the independence of the Election Commissioners]( and this is evident from the way the tenures of Chief Election Commissioners (CECs) have “slid” down from over eight years in the 1950s to just about a few hundred days after 2004. “Their (CECs) tenure is highly truncated and known from the very beginning… In this way, this so-called independence that you pay lip-service to, I am sorry to say, is completely destroyed by getting this kind of a term,” Justice K.M. Joseph, heading a Constitution Bench, addressed the Union government. Justice Joseph said the previous UPA government had six CECs in just eight years. “After the present government took over, from 2015 to 2022, for seven years, we have had eight CECs!” Justice Joseph, leading a five-judge Bench, addressed Attorney General R. Venkataramani, appearing for the government. Justice Joseph said successive governments, particularly after 2004, have “picked” people whom it knew would “never ever” get close to the full term of six years prescribed under the Election Commission (Conditions of Service of Election Commissioners and Transaction of Business) Act of 1991. Section 4 of the 1991 Act says the term of a CEC and Election Commissioners is six years or till the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier. “This is a very, very, very disturbing trend! After 2004, particularly, the slide has begun in terms of picking up those persons whom of course the government knows the date of birth of… They (government) know that these persons would never ever get anywhere close to six years,” Justice Joseph observed orally. Justice Joseph said protections under Article 324, like removal through impeachment, available under the Constitution to the CECs would only be of any use if he or she had a full term. “All these protections you can avail of, provided you have the term… When you have a term of just 188 days or 160 days, what is the point?” Justice Joseph asked. Justice Joseph said the “most important” thing for a person heading an institution was a full term in office. “What is the most important thing for anybody at the helm of affairs of an institution? The time he gets to do what he wants to do,” Justice Joseph said. The judge said he had personally researched the tenures of all the CECs right from the first CEC Sukumar Sen, who served eight years and 273 days, till the 24th CEC Sushil Chandra, whose tenure was a little over a year. Justice Joseph passed on his research findings to the other judges of the Bench, Venkataramani and petitioners’ lawyers, senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan and advocate Prashant Bhushan. The judge said the government needed to respond as to why there had been “no checks and balances” in the issue. He referred to the constitutional mechanisms prevalent in countries like Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan and the United Kingdom in the appointment of Election authorities. “Do you want us to remain behind other countries, particularly after the disturbing trend we have found?” Justice Joseph questioned the Attorney General. The Constitution Bench is hearing a series of petitions seeking functional independence for Election Commissioners. The court is specifically examining the question of setting up an “independent, neutral mechanism”, outside the control of the government, for the appointment of Election Commissioners. Bhushan pointed out how the government had “hurriedly” appointed retired IAS officer Arun Goel as the third Election Commissioner shortly after the previous Constitution Bench hearing on November 17. “We are conscious of that,” Justice Joseph responded. In the last hearing, the court had orally remarked that a person appointed Election Commissioner could be completely honest, but may end up displaying a definite political leaning while in office. At least six killed in Assam-Meghalaya border firing; Assam police on ‘alert’ [Six people were killed and several others injured]( in a firing incident on the Assam-Meghalaya border early on November 22 morning. An Assam Forest guard along with five villagers died in the incident. According to a statement issued by the Assam government, a probe by a retired Judge of the Gauhati High Court has been ordered into the firing between Assam Forest officials and unknown miscreants at Mukhrow under Jirikinding police station in West Karbi Anglong district. The inquiry panel has been asked to submit its report within three months. “The incident reportedly took place when the forest party attempted to stop a truck smuggling out illegal timber. When the truck was stopped, the forest personnel were gheraoed by unknown miscreants who resorted to violence. In order to save their lives, the forest party resorted to firing. In the incident, three civilians and one forest guard died,” the statement read. But Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma said six people were killed, five of them residents of Meghalaya, “due to firing by Assam police and Assam Forest guards”. He referred to the village as Mukroh in West Jaiñtia Hills district. “Our government will take necessary steps to ensure that justice is done and action is taken against all those responsible for the inhuman act. As a mark of respect and mourning for the deceased, the State government decided to cancel all upcoming official festivals,” he said. He also announced ex-gratia of ₹5 lakh each to the families of the deceased while appealing to the people of Meghalaya to maintain peace and harmony. From 10:30 am on Tuesday, the Meghalaya government suspended mobile internet or data services in seven districts for 48 hours. This has been done “to prevent misuse” of social media platforms that might “disturb peace and tranquillity”, a notification from Meghalaya’s Home Secretary C.V.D. Diengdoh read. Apprehensive of a backlash, the Assam police restricted the movement of vehicles travelling to Meghalaya capital Shillong and the headquarters of East Khasi Hills district, one of the seven where mobile internet has been suspended. “There is no ban on vehicular movement, only a precautionary measure,” an Assam police spokesperson said. The incident happened at a time when the two State governments are moving toward resolving their differences in the remaining six of the 12 disputed sectors on the interstate boundary. The dispute in first six sectors were resolved through an agreement on March 29. Supreme Court to hear appeal by NIA against bail granted to Anand Teltumbde in the Bhima Koregaon case The Supreme Court on Tuesday [agreed to list on November 25 an appeal]( by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) challenging the bail granted by the Bombay High Court to activist Anand Teltumbde in the Bhima Koregaon case. Appearing before a Bench led by Chief Justice of India D. Y. Chandrachud, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for NIA, urged for a hearing in the next few days as the implementation of the High Court’s bail order was on hold only for a week. “We will hear it on Friday,” the CJI told the law officer. The Bombay High Court had granted bail to Teltumbde on November 18 while noting that the only prima facie case made out against him related to alleged association with a terror outfit and support given to it, for which the maximum punishment was imprisonment upto a period of 10 years. The High Court had noted that Teltumbde had already spent more than two years in jail. The High Court, however, had stayed its order for a week so that NIA could approach the Supreme Court. First time in 8 years, Air India is the most punctual airline [Air India was the most punctual airline in the country last month]( according to the DGCA’s monthly data on domestic air traffic. This is the first time in eight years it has occupied that slot. Air India recorded an on-time performance (OTP) of 90.8%, which is computed for four metro airports -- Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai -- and indicates the percentage of flights that arrived or departed at the gate under 15 minutes of the scheduled arrival or departure time. The other two Tata-owned airlines, including Vistara and AirAsia India, were tied at the second place with an OTP of 89.1%. The largest budget carrier, IndiGo, was at the third spot at 87.5%. The fourth airline of the Tata group and Air India’s low-cost international arm, Air India Express, doesn’t fly on domestic routes. GoFirst, which has been facing numerous passenger complaints, was the lowest among all airlines with an OTP of only 60.7%. An airline’s on-time performance is among the key operational parameters, alongside passenger load factor or seat occupancy of an aircraft. It is also an important service differentiator that airlines often use to woo passengers. Since 2014, there has not been a single month when Air India was at the top in punctuality, its CEO Campbell Wilson said during a recent media interaction about the progress the airline was making. In October 2019, Air India had an OTP of 54.3% and was ranked lowest among all the six airlines. FIFA World Cup 2022: Saudi Arabia comes from behind to beat Messi’s Argentina Saudi Arabia produced one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history [to beat Argentina 2-1 in their Group C opener]( with goals by Saleh Al-Shehri and Salem Al-Dawsari stunning the favourites on Tuesday. The 51st-ranked Saudis were trailing to Lionel Messi’s 10th minute penalty, but Al-Shehri squeezed in an angled shot in the 48th minute after punishing poor Argentine defending. Saudi Arabia’s fans were then sent into delirium five minutes later as Al-Dawsari curled a stunning shot into the top corner from the edge of the area. Argentina were on course to match Italy’s record 37-match unbeaten run after the mercurial Messi opened his fifth and final World Cup by stroking home a 10th-minute penalty. But for three goals being chalked off for offside, one for Messi and two for Lauturo Martinez, Argentina would have been home and dry before halftime but the game was turned on its head after the break in extraordinary fashion. In Brief: Indian wildlife biologist [Dr. Purnima Devi Barman]( is among the honourees of this year’s Champions of the Earth award, the U.N.’s highest environmental honour, accorded for their transformative action to prevent, halt and reverse ecosystem degradation. Dr. Barman has been honoured with the UN Environment Programme’s (UNEP) 2022 Champions of the Earth award in the Entrepreneurial Vision category. A wildlife biologist, Dr. Barman leads the ‘Hargila Army’, an all-female grassroots conservation movement dedicated to protecting the Greater Adjutant Stork from extinction. The women create and sell textiles with motifs of the bird, helping to raise awareness about the species while building their own financial independence. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. Today’s Top Picks [[Who will become history's first 'parastronaut'?] Who will become history's first 'parastronaut'?]( [[Is escalation built into the Russia-Ukraine war? | In Focus podcast] Is escalation built into the Russia-Ukraine war? | In Focus podcast]( [[Watch | When jail was better than slogging in Qatar’s World Cup stadiums] Watch | When jail was better than slogging in Qatar’s World Cup stadiums]( [[Today’s Cache | How Amazon uses feedback from video reviewers to train algorithms?] Today’s Cache | How Amazon uses feedback from video reviewers to train algorithms?]( Copyright @ 2022, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. If you are facing any trouble in viewing this newsletter, please [try here]( If you do not wish to receive such emails [go here](