Topic: Executive, Judiciary, Ministries and Departments; pressure groups and formal/informal associations
Q1. Judicial appointments have always been seen through the prism of favouritism and elitism. Discuss the judicial appointment process given in the Constitution and the concerns in the present system. (15 marks)
Model Structure
Introduction
- Judiciary is the third pillar of a democracy as it ensures that laws of the land are implemented in letter and spirit to ensure a sense of justice prevails in the society. In India, there is an integrated and independent judiciary which is also a part of the basic structure of the constitution.
Main Body
- The appointment of judges is given in the constitution under articles and by various court cases. Some of these provisions are-
- Under article 124, every judge of the Supreme Court shall be appointed by the President upon consultation with the Chief Justice of India and other judges as provided. This provision tries to ensure judicial independence is maintained and appointments are done on merit.
- There is an important word ‘consultation’ which makes sure that no single organ of government wields absolute power in a democracy.
- There were some changes introduced post emergency which were mainly due to three judges' cases. In the first judges’ case, the Supreme Court opined that ‘consultation’ is not necessary. But this was amended in the second and third judges’ case, where the opinion of the CJI and four senior-most judges was held to be binding on the President.
- These three cases led to formation of the collegium system of today.
- Though the changes related to appointment have taken with time, but this has not solved the issues of vacancies, pendency etc due to concerns like-
- Lack of clear guidelines to collegium while recommending the names indicate opaque and authoritative judiciary.
- The current provisions make the judiciary more powerful than ever which upsets the balance between three organs.
- At the highest level, a lot of appointments have taken place from a few families only which shows nepotism and secrecy.
- Instances like striking down of NJAC have quite often resulted in executive-judiciary conflicts which cause vacancies and delays.
Conclusion
The need of the hour is a transparent and merit based appointment process to make justice delivery process better by tools like memorandum of procedure, All Indian Judicial Services and application of RTI to judiciary in total.
Q2. “India lacks a credible mechanism to discipline the judges.” Discuss. (10 marks)
Model Structure
Introduction:
- The Constitution of India provides an independent judiciary and assigns it to its guardian and protector role.
- However, many instances have shaken our faith in our judges and the justice delivery system. Example:
- An allegation of sexual harassment against the Chief Justice of India (CJI).
- The four top judges went public to air their displeasure in the manner in which the Chief Justice of India allocated Benches to hear petitions.
Main Body:
India lacks a credible mechanism to discipline the judges:
- The collegium system for the appointment of Judges in India is above the safeguards and measures for transparency, accountability, and demographic representation that apply to other institutions as the legislature at large has no say in appointing judges.
- The method for the removal of Judges is a complex and difficult process often driven by political considerations.
- The Judicial corruption and Conduct of Judges often go unnoticed and unpunished as there is no proper mechanism to punish them. Eg Justice Ramaswami Case.
- No effective mechanism to check on breaches of judicial discipline having a grave impact on the credibility of judicial institutions and encouraging litigation.
- The weak in-house mechanism working in an opaque manner fails to check any allegations of misappropriation, sexual harassment, etc., against the sitting judges.
- The lack of transparency and accountability as demonstrated in the working of the Judiciary. E.g., the judiciary is in effect partially under the Right to Information Act.
- Judges often misuse the power to punish contempt of court more on discretionary and arbitrary grounds than to uphold the majesty of the law.
Conclusion:
A new bill on setting judicial standards is necessary, but it should not be violative of the principle of separation of power, i.e. giving excessive control to the legislature or the executive as well as a regular performance evaluation system for judges, will also be extremely useful.
Q3. Attorney General is an important post at the Centre in legal matters. Discuss the functions and limitations of this office. (10 marks)
Model Structure
Introduction
- The office of Attorney General of India is provided under article 76 of the constitution and is the highest law officer of the country. Though appointed by the President, but not considered government servant.
Main Body
- To be appointed as Attorney General of India, one must be qualified to be appointed as Supreme Court judge and be a citizen of India. Functions of this office include-
- Perform legal duties assigned by the President and advise the government on legal matters.
- Represent the government in all cases in the Supreme Court and High court.
- Discharge functions which are conferred on him by the constitution.
- Represent the government under article 143 in case a reference is made by the president to the Supreme Court.
- There are some limitations to this office which impact exercise of the powers, like-
- Cannot defend accused people in criminal cases without the permission of the Indian government.
- Barred from advising or holding brief in those cases, in which he/she has to advise or appear for Indian government.
- Not being a fulltime counsel for the government means he/she is not a government servant.
- Debarred from accepting appointment in any company or corporation as director without sanction of government.
- There is a separate law minister and hence the Attorney General is not considered a member of cabinet.
Conclusion
The office of Attorney General of India is an important position and some reforms must be taken to ensure better appointment procedure.
Q4. Civil servants play a pivotal role in democracy. Discuss the importance of their role and the challenges involved. (10 marks)
Model Structure
Introduction
- Civil services are provided under Article 312 of the Indian Constitution and were called the ‘steel frame’ of governance by the first home minister of independent India.
Main Body
- Indian civil services have been in place since ancient India in an informal form but were given proper structure by the Britishers. They were further continued after independence due to significance like-
- They are the permanent executive and provide continuity to the executive by implementing laws and programs even when there is no government.
- Policy formulation and implementation by giving expert advice and inputs in line with changing times.
- Maintain law and order by ensuring divisive forces on the basis of religion, language, region etc are kept in check and not allowed to create tensions in society.
- Socio economic development by ensuring policies and programs of government are made in line with needs of the society and it is ensured that each and every citizen benefits from the policies.
- Work during calamity and crisis as was evident in recent pandemic and also during other natural and man made disasters.
- But these intended outcomes are marred by challenges like-
- Status-quoist and hierarchical bureaucracy- Everything is done as per rule to ensure accountability but this affects objectivity of laws and schemes. Also, there is delegation of work and denial of work if it doesn’t belong to a particular hierarchy.
- High corruption leads to loss of public time and money which strikes at the root of governance.
- Lot of political interference affects neutrality and many officers toe the line of the ruling establishment for future appointments.
- Lack of transparency and accountability is another issue due to multiplicity of bodies and lack of personnel.
- Decrease in public trust and lack of empathy in civil servants have created walls between the two.
Conclusion
There is a need to ensure mid career training and improving of civil servants to population ratio so that the officers are not overburdened and there is efficiency in carrying out mandates by the officers.
Q5. Pressure groups are formed to influence decision-making by the government. Discuss. How are they different from lobbyists? (15 marks)
Model Structure
Introduction
- Pressure group is an association of people organized to promote and protect their common and familial interests. Lobbying is a way to influence a government's decision-making or opposition in a more direct way by a third party, usually for something in return whether in cash or kind.
Main Body
- Pressure groups play an important role in decision making process by-
- Their diverse nature, which includes fields like trade unions, business groups, student organization, professionals and agrarian groups.
- They play an important role in political socialization by making people aware of their needs and rights by which they can assert their rights and get their demands fulfilled.
- Their role is also important in upgrading governance quality by improving deliberations and decision making.
- Pressure groups help or complement the task of opposition parties by correcting the wrongdoings of government which further helps improve accountability to electorates.
- They act as a medium of taking the needs and demands of the public to the notice of authority and getting involved in the process of administration.
- Though the idea and end objectives of both pressure groups and lobbyists are the same, but there are some differences like-
- Pressure groups aim at promotion of specific programmes and agenda with activities limited to promoting interests of their members only. Lobbyists mostly seek to promote the interests of a small section of people or an organization.
- Legitimacy of lobbying depends on laws prevalent in a country because it is legal in some of the states of the USA whereas in India it lacks any legal basis.
- At times, pressure groups adopt illegal methods like lockouts, strikes and violent activities which affect public trust and administrative integrity. While lobbying is a back stage activity which involves anonymity and the general public is unaware of what is actually happening.
- Pressure groups impact decision making and policy implementation by legitimate methods like publicity, propaganda, petition, debating and deliberation. Lobbying is an advanced task involving direct meetings and exchanges with lawmakers.
Conclusion
Deliberative democracy includes decision making by debates, discussions and consultation. Pressure groups are external instruments which at times become means of communication between citizens and the government. But sometimes their selfish interests and ends come in way of the objective of pressure groups and this needs to be checked.
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