Supreme Court Collegium
Context:
In a significant step to fill vacancies in the higher judiciary, the Supreme Court Collegium headed by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana on Monday approved and recommended to the Centre the proposal for the elevation of 20 advocates and 15 judicial officers as judges in six High Courts.
Relevance:
GS-II: Governance, GS-II: Polity and Constitution
Dimensions of the Article:
- What is the Collegium System?
- Working of the Collegium System and NJAC
- Appointment procedure of HC Judges
- Transfer procedure of HC Judges
What is the Collegium System?
- The Collegium System is a system under which appointments/elevation of judges/lawyers to Supreme Court and transfers of judges of High Courts and Apex Court are decided by a forum of the Chief Justice of India and the four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court.’ There is no mention of the Collegium either in the original Constitution of India or in successive amendments.
- The recommendations of the Collegium are binding on the Central Government; if the Collegium sends the names of the judges/lawyers to the government for the second time.
Evolution of the Collegium system
- In the First Judges case (1982), the Court held that consultation does not mean concurrence and it only implies an exchange of views.
- In the Second Judges case (1993), the Court reversed its earlier ruling and changed the meaning of the word consultation to concurrence.
Third Judges Case, 1998:
- In the Third Judges case (1998), the Court opined that the consultation process to be adopted by the Chief Justice of India requires “consultation of a plurality of judges”.
- The sole opinion of the CJI does not constitute the consultation process. He should consult a collegium of four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court and even if two judges give an adverse opinion, he should not send the recommendation to the government.
- The court held that the recommendation made by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) without complying with the norms and requirements of the consultation process is not binding on the government.
- The Collegium system was born through the “Third Judges case” and it is in practice since 1998. It is used for appointments and transfers of judges in High courts and Supreme Courts.
- There is no mention of the Collegium either in the original Constitution of India or in successive amendments.
Working of the Collegium System and NJAC
- The collegium recommends the names of lawyers or judges to the Central Government. Similarly, the Central Government also sends some of its proposed names to the Collegium.
- Collegium considers the names or suggestions made by the Central Government and resends the file to the government for final approval.
- If the Collegium resends the same name again then the government has to give its assent to the names. But the time limit is not fixed to reply. This is the reason that appointment of judges takes a long time.
- Through the 99th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2014 the National Judicial Commission Act (NJAC) was established to replace the collegium system for the appointment of judges.
- However, the Supreme Court upheld the collegium system and struck down the NJAC as unconstitutional on the grounds that the involvement of Political Executive in judicial appointment was against the “Principles of Basic Structure”. i.e., the “Independence of Judiciary”.
Issues involved in appointment
- Cumbersome Process: There are inordinate delays in the appointment of High Court judges and it leads to the pendency of cases.
- Lack of Transparency: There is no objective criteria for selection and people come to know about judges only after selection. It also promotes nepotism in the judiciary. The consultations of the Collegium are also not discussed in any public platform.
- Instances of Politicisation: In many cases, there is indication that due to the unfavorable judgments of certain judges the political executive hinders their appointments, elevation, or transfer. This reflects poorly on the concept of independence of the judiciary.
- Improper Representation: Certain sections of societies have higher representation whereas many vulnerable sections have nil representation.
Appointment procedure of HC Judges
- Article 217 of the Constitution: It states that the Judge of a High Court shall be appointed by the President in consultation with the Chief Justice of India (CJI), the Governor of the State.
- In the case of appointment of a Judge other than the Chief Justice, the Chief Justice of the High Court is consulted.
- Consultation Process: High Court judges are recommended by a Collegium comprising the CJI and two senior-most judges.
- The proposal, however, is initiated by the Chief Justice of the High Court concerned in consultation with two senior-most colleagues.
- The recommendation is sent to the Chief Minister, who advises the Governor to send the proposal to the Union Law Minister.
Transfer procedure of HC Judges
- Article 222 of the Constitution makes provision for the transfer of a Judge (including Chief Justice) froms one High Court to any other High Court. The initiation of the proposal for the transfer of a Judge should be made by the Chief Justice of India whose opinion in this regard is determinative.
- Consent of a Judge for his first or subsequent transfer would not be required.
- All transfers are to be made in public interest i.e., for promoting better administration of justice throughout the country.
Kargil Vijay Diwas
Context:
India is celebrating the 23th anniversary of the Kargil Vijay Diwas on 26th July 2022. On this day in 1999, the Kargil War, also known as the Kargil conflict, formally came to an end, with Indian soldiers successfully recapturing mountain heights that had been seized by Pakistani intruders.
Relevance:
GS-I History
Background: History of the conflict
- After the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, there had been a long period with relatively few direct armed conflicts involving the military forces of the two neighbours.
- During the 1990s escalating tensions and conflict due to separatist activities in Kashmir, as well as the conducting of nuclear tests by both countries in 1998, led to an increasingly belligerent atmosphere.
- Both countries signed the Lahore Declaration in 1999 promising to provide a peaceful and bilateral solution to the Kashmir conflict.
- During the winter of 1998–1999, some elements of the Pakistani Armed Forces were covertly training and sending Pakistani troops and paramilitary forces, into territory on the Indian side of the line of control (LOC).
- Initially the Indian troops in the area assumed that the infiltrators were jihadis.
- Subsequent discovery of infiltration elsewhere along the LOC, along with the difference in tactics employed by the infiltrators, caused the Indian army to realize that the plan of attack was on a much bigger scale.
The Government of India responded with Operation Vijay, a mobilization of 200,000 Indian troops. The war came to an official end on July 26, 1999, thus marking it as Kargil Vijay Diwas.
Human – Elephant Conflict
Context:
As per the data released by the Minister of State for Forest, Environment and Climate Change, between 2018-19 and 2020-21, 222 elephants were killed by electrocution across the country, 45 by trains, 29 by poachers and 11 by poisoning.
- Among tigers, too, 29 were killed by poaching between 2019 and 2021, while 197 tiger deaths are under scrutiny.
Relevance:
GS-III: Environment and Ecology
Dimensions of the Article:
- Key Points
- Human-Elephant Conflicts
- Way Forwards to prevent Man – Animal Conflicts
Key Points:
- Human casualties: Among human casualties of conflict with animals, elephants killed 1,579 humans in three years — 585 in 2019-20, 461 in 2020-21, and 533 in 2021-22.
- Odisha accounted for the highest number of these deaths at 322, followed by Jharkhand at 291 (including 133 in 2021-22 alone), West Bengal at 240, Assam at 229, Chhattisgarh at 183, and Tamil Nadu at 152.
- Tigers killed 125 humans in reserves between 2019 and 2021. Maharashtra accounted for nearly half these deaths, at 61.
- Animal Casualties: Among the 222 elephant deaths caused by electrocution, Odisha accounted for 41, Tamil Nadu for 34 and Assam for 33.
- Odisha (12 out of 45) also had the highest number of elephant deaths caused by trains, followed by West Bengal (11) and Assam (9).
- Poaching deaths were highest in Meghalaya (12 out of 29) while poisoning deaths were highest in Assam (9 out of 11, including 8 in 2018-19 alone).
Human-Elephant Conflicts
- Elephant-human conflict is a result of habitat loss and fragmentation.
- When elephants and humans interact, there is conflict from crop raiding, injuries and deaths to humans caused by elephants, and elephants being killed by humans for reasons other than ivory and habitat degradation.
- Such encounters foster resentment against the elephants amongst the human population and this can result in elephants being viewed as a nuisance and killed.
- In addition to the direct conflicts between humans and elephants, elephants also suffer indirect costs like degradation of habitat and loss of food plants.
Way Forwards to prevent Man – Animal Conflicts
- Surveillance- Increased vigilance and protection of identified locations using hi-tech surveillance tools like sensors can help in tracking the movement of animals and warn the local population.
- Improvement of habitat- In-situ and ex-situ habitat conservation measures will help in securing animals their survival.
- Re-locating of animal habitats away from residential and commercial centres will serve to minimize animal-man conflict for illegal and self-interested motives
- Awareness Programmes- To create awareness among people and sensitize them about the Do’s and Don’ts in the forest areas to minimize the conflicts between man and animal.
- Training programs– Training to the police offices and local people should be provided for this purpose forest department should frame guidelines.
- Boundary walls- The construction of boundary walls and solar fences around the sensitive areas to prevent the wild animal attacks.
- Technical and financial support- For the development of necessary infrastructure and support facilities for immobilization of problematic animals through tranquilization, their translocation.
- Part of CSR- Safeguarding Tiger corridors, building eco-bridges and such conservation measures can be part of corporate social responsibility.
Lumpy Skin Disease
Context:
Cattle herders in western Rajasthan have suffered heavy losses due to an outbreak of the contagious Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD).
Relevance:
GS-II: Health
Dimensions of the Article:
- Key Points
- About Lumpy Skin Disease
Key Points:
- Hundreds of cattle have died from infection, according to data from the state animal husbandary department.
- The state’s dairy sector has also been badly affected.
- The LSD outbreak also poses a threat to Rajasthan’s position as a stronghold of cattle and livestock populations.
- The state had 56 million livestock according to the 20th Livestock Census.
- Western Rajasthan is witnessing an LSD outbreak for the first time. The area is home to community-owned livestock.
About Lumpy Skin Disease:
- Lumpy skin disease is a viral infection of cattle.
- It is an infectious, eruptive, occasionally fatal disease of cattle characterized by nodules on the skin and other parts of the body.
- Secondary bacterial infection often aggravates the condition.
- Its incidence is highest in wet summer weather, but it may occur in winter.
- It is most prevalent along water courses and on low ground.
- History:
- Traditionally, lumpy skin disease is found in southern and eastern Africa, but in the 1970s it extended northwest through the continent into sub-Saharan west Africa.
- Since 2000, it has spread to several countries of the Middle East and in 2013 extended west into Turkey and several countries in the Balkans.
- Symptoms:
- Fever
- Lacrimation
- Hypersalivation, and
- Characteristic skin eruptions.
- The incubation period is 4–14 days.
- Treatment and Prevention:
- Attenuated virus vaccines may help control spread
- Administration of antibiotics to control secondary infection and good nursing care are recommended.
