Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Marital rape issue
Context
On 11 May, two judges of the Delhi High Court handed down separate judgments in RIT Foundation v Union of India.
Background
- Section 375 of the IPC defines “rape” as when a man has sex with a woman without her consent.
- Exception to Section 375 of IPC: An exception to Section 375 provides that it is not rape for a husband to have sex with his wife, regardless of consent.
The two judgements
1] Violation of rights:
- In his judgment, Justice Rajiv Shakdher concluded that the marital rape exception violated the rights to life, equality, non-discrimination, and freedom of speech and expression under the Constitution.
- There is no reasonable basis to distinguish between married and unmarried women.
- Marriage is a relationship of equals, and women do not forfeit their agency and sexual autonomy upon marriage.
2] Issues with Constitutional validity of exception
- Justice C Hari Shankar took a different view, concluding that the marital rape exception is constitutionally valid.
- First, the judge held that it is the wrong starting point to assume that a husband who has sex with his wife without her consent “commits rape”.
- 1] Exclusion from definition argument: The judge noted that the effect of the exception to Section 375 of the IPC is that any sex between a husband and wife, whether or not consensual, is excluded from the definition of rape.
- That analysis does not bear scrutiny.
- It makes little difference whether the starting point is that non-consensual sex within marriage should be characterised as rape or, for example, sexual assault.
- The critical question is whether it is unconstitutional to exclude non-consensual sex from the definition of rape.
- 2] Preservation of marital institution argument: The judge held that the marital rape exception was “aimed at preservation of the marital institution, on which the entire bedrock of society rests”.
- The difficulty with that proposition is obvious — is it the policy of the law that marriage is to be preserved at all costs?
- If so, does that withstand constitutional scrutiny?
- 3] Impact argument: the judge rejected the challenge to the martial rape exception based on the right to equality on the spurious assumption that the impact on a woman who is raped by her husband cannot “be equated with the impact of a woman who is raped by a stranger”.
- No evidence is cited in support of those claims.
- They also defy logic. Being raped by someone in whom you have reposed trust is likely to have an indelible emotional impact.
- 4] Reluctance to file complaint: The judge concluded that, as a practical matter, a “majority of Indian women” would be reluctant to file a complaint of rape against their husbands in any event.
- Even if that were true, it is no reason to disempower, by the operation of the law, women who do have the resolve to make a rape complaint against their husbands from doing so.
- 5] Creation of new offence: Justice Shankar held that it is not within the court’s power to create a new offence, and striking down the marital rape exception would have that effect.
- There is no question of creating a new offence — the court would simply be striking down an exception carved out of an existing offence.
- The only principled basis for the judge’s objection is that it may be unfair to punish someone for rape for conduct that was excluded from the definition of rape when it was undertaken.
- But that is not a reason to avoid striking down the marital rape exception.
- The easy solution is for the court to declare that its judgment will apply only to conduct after the date of the judgment.
Conclusion
Whether the marital rape exception violates fundamental rights under the Constitution is a question that falls within the Court’s core competency. There is only one reasonable answer to that question.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Abortion rights
Context
The leaked Roe vs Wade draft opinion has been in the news for its possible impact on abortion rights, but it also paves the way for the erosion of gay rights in America.
Background of abortion rights cases in the U.S.
- Almost 50 years earlier, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Roe vs Wade(1973) that it was unconstitutional for states to ban or restrict abortions before fetal viability.
- Later, Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania vs Casey (1992) reaffirmed Roe’s central holding on viability.
- In December 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court concluded oral arguments in Dobbs vs Jackson Women’s Health Organization, an ongoing case that looks at a 2018 Mississippi law (The Gestational Age Act) that bans most abortions after 15 weeks.
- Keeping Roe and Casey in mind, lower courts permanently enjoined the Mississippi law, but the case eventually moved up to the Supreme Court, with the following question: are all pre-viability prohibitions on elective abortions unconstitutional?
- This question (and the court’s acceptance to answer it) is at the heart of Roe and Casey because the Roe court had already decided that answer in the affirmative back in 1973; and this was re-affirmed in 1992 by the Casey court.
- The leaked first draft of the court’s majority decision in Dobbs, however, departs from precedent and signals a completely different turn.
Originalist reading of the US Constitution
- A running theme in this first draft of the Dobbs judgment was the court’s emphasis on originalism.
- The very first page of the draft says that “the constitution makes no mention of abortion”.
- On page 9 it reads “the abortion right, which is not mentioned in the Constitution, is part of a right to privacy, which is also not mentioned.
- An originalist reading of the Constitution and an application of similar reasoning as the one applied in this draft opinion (minus the emphasis on protecting “life or ‘potential life”) could invalidate all rights for gay and lesbian Americans.
Implications for other rights
- Gay rights do not have any place in American history and tradition; it is quite the opposite with American history.
- Simply put, a rollback of Roe and Casey could allow state legislatures across the country to re-instate bans or restrictions on gay rights such as limitations on same-sex couple adoptions or sexuality education in schools.
- Moreover, because the Constitution makes no explicit mention of “privacy”, “sexual orientation”, “gay”, “lesbian”, or “gay rights” anywhere, these rights could be challenged further.
- The constitutional recognition of same-sex marriage is, after all, only a recent phenomenon, both globally and nationally.
- In 1992, the Casey court affirmed what was already decided two decades ago in Roe — namely, that women in America had the “liberty” to an abortion under the Fourteenth Amendment.
- However, the Dobbs draft ruling discards this right to “liberty” just as it does the right to “privacy”.
- By specifically re-defining “liberty” and calling into question its applicability in the case of abortions, the court paves the way for potentially reviewing other “liberty” rights not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution — such as the right to travel ( Kent vs Dulles, 1958), the right to inter-racial marriage ( Loving vs Virginia, 1967), and the right to engage in same-sex activity in private ( Lawrence vs Texas, 2003), among others.
Conclusion
The bottom line is that if 50 year-old constitutionally guaranteed rights could be revoked today, then more recent and similarly, situated rights could also be revoked under an originalist reading of the Constitution.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Delimitation Commission
Mains level: Paper 2- Challenges after delimitation freeze ends
Context
Four years from now, when the delimitation of the constituencies will take place, India’s electoral democracy will stand on an existential crossroads.
Historical background of North-South tension
- There was a time, not all that long ago, when English speakers in the south of India routinely referred to our north as ‘Upper India’.
- The Imperial Legislative Council, with its Central Legislative Assembly as the Lower House and the Council of State as the Upper House, being located in Delhi pushed that upperness further up.
- Later, the Constituent Assembly continued the ‘India’s north as India’s peak’ image.
- Role of Congress: The Indian National Congress was from the very start, aware of the need for India’s regions to be seen as equal, bereft of any asymmetry.
- Its very third session after Bombay (1885) and Calcutta (1886) was held in Madras (1887, and many times later).
- The All India Kisan Sabha, the peasant wing of the Communist Party of India, likewise, which had first met in a ‘founder-conference’ in Lucknow in 1936, met at its fifth session in 1940 in Palasa, Srikakulam.
- These considered arrangements embody the opening Article 1 of our Constitution: India, that is Bharat.
What would be the Impact of delimitation
- A delimitation of the constituencies that will elect Members of the Lok Sabha, following the population figures returned by the next decennial Census, is to take place in 2026.
- Need to increase number of members: We cannot have, should not have, the same number of Members of Parliament — 543 — representing a vastly increased population in the Lok Sabha.
- Mathematically speaking, the higher the number of people per constituency, the lower the impact each voter has on parliamentary representation — clearly an undesirable situation.
- Reduced representation to States that stabilised their population: Re-arranging and standardising the number of people per constituency through the scheduled delimitation exercise will inevitably lead to a reduced representation for States that have managed to stabilise their populations, and to a higher representation for States that have not stabilised their populations.
- Considering the Census data for 2011, almost half (48.6%) of our population (of approximately 1.38 billion) is contributed by the States of Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh.
- Issues with population-based marking: A population-based marking out or re-arrangement of constituencies, as envisaged in Article 82 of the Constitution, will have the effect of giving more MPs to the States and Union Territories that have let their numbers grow, and will give markedly less MPs to those that have held their numbers in some check.
- Realising the anomaly that a delimitation based on Census data would cause, a delimitation freeze was put in position by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi through the 42nd Amendment of the Constitution in 1976.
- This was extended by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee through the 84th Amendment.
- It is this extension that is to end in 2026, placing us at a crossroads.
Way forward
- There are two alternatives before us:
- 1] Onother freeze: One, we go in for another freeze, this time not for any specific period but for until all States have achieved population stabilisation.
- 2] Mathematically equitable formula: Two, we request demographic and statistical experts to devise a mathematical model along the lines of the ‘Cambridge Compromise’ based on a mathematically equitable “formula” for the apportionment of the seats of the European Parliament between the member-states.
Conclusion
The population-stabilising States of India that is Bharat, which include all the southern States, must continue to enrich our legislative and parliamentary processes as they have been doing since the time of the Imperial Legislative Council, with no penalties having to be paid for their sense of responsibility. We need to limit population, not representation.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Various articles mentioned in news
Mains level: Death penalty
The Supreme Court has invoked its extraordinary powers to do complete justice under Article 142 of the Constitution and ordered the release of A.G. Perarivalan in former PM assassination case.
Among the factors that sustained Perarivalan’s long battle was the determination and commitment of his mother, Arputham Ammal, who emerged as the face of an anti-death penalty movement, and the sympathy and empathy that he received from people from all walks of life.
What is the news?
- A Bench led by Justice L. Nageswara Rao, in its judgment, took into consideration Perarivalan’s long jail term for over 30 years to order his release.
- The court held that the TN Council of Ministers’ advice to pardon Perarivalan was binding on the Governor under Article 161 (Governor’s power of clemency) of the Constitution.
- The advice of the State Cabinet is binding on the Governor in matters relating to commutation/remission of sentences under Article 161.
Note: As per Article 161, the Governor of a State shall have the power to grant pardons, reprieves, respites or remissions of punishment or to suspend, remit or commute the sentence of any person convicted of any offence against any law relating to a matter to which the executive power of the State extends
What branded Perarivalan as a murderer?
- He had bought two 9 volt battery cells on behalf of the bomber.
- These were used to make the bomb explode.
- This confession statement taken under Section 15(1) of TADA to establish his link with the assassins and his knowledge and role in the assassination.
Why was this a case for Governor?
- Perarivalan was not a death sentenced convict.
- Earlier, the apex court had commuted his death penalty to life sentence for murder in 2014.
- The Governor had no business forwarding the pardon plea to the President after sitting on it for years together.
- Had this been a death penalty, the case would have been different.
Why did the Supreme Court intervene?
- Governor’s delay to decide Perarivalan’s pardon for more than two years has compelled the apex court to employ its constitutional powers under Article 142 to do justice to Perarivalan.
- After all, the court said, a Governor’s non-exercise of power under Article 161 of the Constitution was not immune from judicial review.
What is Article 142?
- Article 142 provides discretionary power to the Supreme Court.
- It states that the court in the exercise of its jurisdiction may pass such decree or make such order as is necessary for doing complete justice in any cause or matter pending before it.
- Such decree shall be enforceable throughout the territory of India in such manner as may be prescribed by or under any law made by Parliament.
- It is usually used in cases involving human rights and environmental protection.
Other legal aspects of this pardon
- The Court dismissed the Centre’s argument that the President exclusively, and not the Governor, had the power to grant pardon in a case under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code.
- The court had said that such a contention would render Article 161 a “dead-letter”.
- This would rather create an extraordinary situation whereby pardons granted by Governors in murder cases for the past 70 years would be rendered invalid.
Back2Basics:
Pardoning powers of the President
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Ethanol blended petrol (EBP) Program
Mains level: India's quest for clean mobility
The Union Cabinet has approved amendments to the National Policy on Biofuels, 2018, to advance the date by which fuel companies have to increase the percentage of ethanol in petrol to 20%, from 2030 to 2025.
What is the news?
- The policy to introduce 20% ethanol in petrol will take effect from April 1, 2023.
Why such move?
- A 2021 report by the NITI Aayog said that 20% ethanol blending by 2025 could accrue immense benefits such as:
- Saving ₹30,000 crore of foreign exchange per year
- Increased energy security
- Lowered carbon emissions
- Better air quality
- Self-reliance
- Better use of damaged foodgrains
- Increase farmers’ incomes and investment opportunities
What is the present status of ethanol blending in India?
- India achieved 9.45% ethanol blending as on March 13, 2022, according to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
- The Centre projects that this will reach 10% by the end of financial year 2022.
- The government first announced its plans of advancing the 20% blending target in December 2020.
Why is it so difficult to raise the blending?
- A 10% blending of petrol does not require major changes to engines.
- But a 20% blend could require some changes and may even drive up the prices of vehicles.
- A greater percentage of blending could also mean more land being diverted for water-intensive crops such as sugar cane, which the government currently subsidises.
Back2Basics: Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme
- EBP programme was launched in January, 2003 for supply of 5% ethanol blended petrol.
- The programme sought to promote the use of alternative and environment-friendly fuels and to reduce import dependency for energy requirements.
- OMCs are advised to continue according to priority of ethanol from 1) sugarcane juice/sugar/sugar syrup, 2) B-heavy molasses 3) C-heavy molasses and 4) damaged food grains/other sources.
- At present, this programme has been extended to the whole of India except UTs of Andaman Nicobar and Lakshadweep islands with effect from 01st April 2019 wherein OMCs sell petrol blended with ethanol up to 10%.
Also read:
[RSTV ARCHIVE] Ethanol Blending: Significance & Road Ahead
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Drought
Mains level: Read the attached story
A United Nations report ‘Drought in Numbers’ has revealed that many parts of India fall under the list of regions that are vulnerable to drought globally.
What are Droughts?
- Drought is a prolonged dry period in the natural climate cycle that can occur anywhere in the world.
- It is a slow-onset disaster characterized by the lack of precipitation, resulting in a water shortage.
Types of Droughts
- Meteorological drought is defined usually on the basis of the degree of dryness (in comparison to some “normal” or average amount) and the duration of the dry period.
- Agricultural drought should be able to account for the variable susceptibility of crops during different stages of crop development, from emergence to maturity.
- Hydrological drought is associated with the effects of periods of precipitation (including snowfall) shortfalls on surface or subsurface water supply (i.e. streamflow, reservoir and lake levels, and groundwater).
- Socioeconomic drought is associated with the supply and demand of some economic goods with elements of meteorological, hydrological, and agricultural drought.
What is the Drought in Numbers report?
- The Drought in Numbers report is a collection of data on the effects of droughts on our ecosystem and how they can be mitigated through efficient planning for the future.
- The report also helps inform negotiations surrounding key decisions by the UNCCD’s 197 member parties at the 15th Conference of Parties (COP15), currently underway in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
- Drought, land restoration, and related aspects such as land rights, gender equality and youth empowerment are among the top considerations at COP15.
What is COP15?
- The UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) COP15 focuses on desertification, land degradation, and drought.
- The theme for the conference is “Land. Life. Legacy: From scarcity to prosperity.”
- The conference has brought together government representatives, private sector members, and civil society stakeholders to ensure that land continues to benefit present and future generations.
What does the report entail?
- The number and duration of droughts around the world has increased by an alarming 29% since 2000.
- Globally, droughts in the same period caused economic losses of approximately $124 billion.
- Drought conditions can force up to 216 million people to migrate by 2050.
- Other factors at play along with drought could be water scarcity, declining crop productivity, rise in sea levels, and overpopulation.
- The report also stated that India’s GDP reduced by 2 to 5% between 1998 and 2017 due to severe droughts in the country.
Gendered impacts of drought
- Research shows that women and girls in emerging and developing countries suffer more in terms of education levels, nutrition, health, sanitation, and safety as a result of droughts.
- The burden of water collection also disproportionately falls on women (72%) and girls (9%).
- The report notes that they may spend up to 40% of their caloric intake fetching water.
What are the environmental aspects?
- The largest increase in drought losses is projected in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic regions of Europe.
- Australia’s megadrought in 2019-2020 contributed to “megafires” resulting in one of the most extensive losses of habitat for threatened species.
- About three billion animals were killed or displaced in the Australian wildfires.
- Around 12 million hectares of land are lost each year due to drought and desertification.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Stockholm+50
Mains level: Not Much
Stockholm+50 conference — a follow-on to the 1972 conference to be held in Stockholm from 2-3 June 2022 is the one that started the environmental movement we see today.
What is Stockholm +50?
- Stockholm +50 is an international environmental meeting hosted by the United Nations General Assembly to be held in Stockholm, Sweden from 2-3 June 2022.
- The theme of Stockholm+50 is “a healthy planet for the prosperity of all – our responsibility, our opportunity.
- In 1972, the UN Conference on the Environment in Stockholm was held, and it was essentially the first conference that managed to address environmental issues on the right level.
- Fifty years later, the United Nations is back in Stockholm to commemorate that important milestone.
Significance: Establishment of UNEP
- In 1972, some 122 countries attended, and participants adopted a series of principles on the environment, including the Stockholm Declaration and Action Plan for the Human Environment.
- The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) was created as a result of the conference.
What is India’s connection with this?
- Then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in her seminal speech in the conference brought forward the connection between ecological management and poverty alleviation.
- Her call remains as pertinent now as then: “We have to prove to the disinherited majority of the world that ecology and conservation will not work against their interest but will bring an improvement in their lives.”
Why is Stockholm +50 important?
- There was a lot of media attention around COP26 last year where world leaders gathered to continue the work to uphold the actions promised by the Paris Agreement, 2015.
- Later this year, there will be COP27 in Egypt, where organizers will aim to make the conference a radical turning point in international climate efforts.
What will be happening at Stockholm +50?
- The event in the beginning of June will see representatives from around the world gather in Stockholm to discuss how to achieve a sustainable and inclusive future for all.
- Stockholm +50 could usher in a much-needed new boost to environmental awareness and action for the next half-century, just as it did five decades ago.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Sela Pass
Mains level: Strategic border infrastructure
The strategically-significant Sela Tunnel project in Arunachal Pradesh is nearing completion well before the deadline.
What is Sela Tunnel Project?
- The Sela Tunnel is the longest bi-lane road tunnel in the world.
- The total length of the project, including the tunnels, the approach and the link roads, will be around 12 km.
- The tunnel is being constructed by the Border Roads Organisation at an altitude of 13,800ft near the Indo-China border.
- It is being built on the 317km long Balipara-Charduar-Tawang (BCT) road which connects West Kameng, East Kameng and Tawang districts of Arunachal Pradesh to the rest of the country.
Why is the project important?
- All-weather connectivity to Tawang and other forward areas in the sector will be the most important advantage that the project promises.
- At the moment, Sela pass stays closed for a few winter months.
- The project will provide a new alignment on the axis towards the LAC, and allow movement of military and civil vehicles all through the year.
Significance of the tunnel
- China is undertaking massive infrastructure development and troop build-up in the Rest of Arunachal Pradesh (RALP) area.
- In military parlance, the RALP is an area in Arunachal Pradesh other than the Kameng area.
- Other than the Kameng area consisting of East and West Kameng districts, the rest of the State is referred to by the Army as the RALP.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)
Mains level: Not Much
A team of scientists from Australia have found that babies at risk of the mysterious Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS, generally have low levels of an enzyme called butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) in their blood.
What is SIDS?
- Sudden Infant Death Syndrome refers to the sudden and unexpected death of an otherwise healthy infant under the age of one, generally while they are sleeping.
- Most SIDS-related deaths occur in infants between the age of 1-4 months.
- According to the NHS website, parents can reduce the risk of SIDS by not smoking while pregnant or after the baby is born and ensuring that the baby is placed on their back when they sleep.
- Some health experts have said that it is associated with issues in the part of an infant’s brain that controls breathing and waking up.
Prevalence of SIDS
- SIDS, also known as ‘cot death’, has claimed the lives of thousands of children across the West.
- US estimates that about 3,400 babies die suddenly and unexpectedly every year.
- Meanwhile, the United Kingdom reports about 200 such deaths annually.
What does the new study say?
- The study assessed whether there was something inherently different in babies that succumbed to SIDS.
- The researchers compared dried blood samples from 655 healthy babies, 26 babies who died due to SIDS and 41 babies who died of other causes.
- The team found that around nine of ten babies who died from SIDS had lower levels of BChE enzymes than the babies in the other two groups.
What is the BChE (Butyrylcholinesterase) enzyme responsible for?
- These enzymes are responsible for sending out signals that make a baby wake up, turn her head, or gasp for breath.
- It is part of the autonomic system, and controls function like blood pressure and breathing.
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