Govt policy on funding political parties bad news for democracy

The government decided to issue electoral bonds as a money bill. This was unconstitutional because electoral bonds are not covered by the definition of ‘money bill’ in the Constitution. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the sole authority to issue currency under Section 31 of the RBI Act, was approached four days before the announcement […]

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Democracy cannot be used to derive private benefit at public cost

The ensuing December 5 bypolls to 15 Assembly constituencies in Karnataka are the result of defections from the then ruling coalition. The government fell, the Supreme Court was approached, and now we have 165 candidates contesting these elections. The court upheld their disqualification (of the rebels), but said they were eligible to contest again. Engineering […]

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Chief Justice of India is now covered by the RTI Act. Political parties must come next

There was never any doubt that the Supreme Court of India is a “public authority” under the Right to Information Act. This story began on November 10, 2007, when the veteran RTI activist Subhash Chandra Agarwal filed an RTI application “seeking information on declaration of assets made by the judges to the Chief Justices in […]

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How candidates and political parties are using social media for electoral campaigning?

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The idea of social media as a force-multiplier in politics has gained virality in our minds, especially in last four years. According to Datareportal’s Digital 2019: India report, 1 out of total population of 1.361 billion, around 41% i.e. 560 million Indians are active users of internet and total no. of active social media users […]

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Crime and Money in Electoral Politics: How can this trend be reversed?

Systemic corruption and sponsored criminalization have corroded the fundamental core of elective democracy and consequently, the constitutional governance. On one hand there is a free flow of unaccounted money at the disposal of political parties during elections and on the other hand, criminal elements have been playing a major role in the electoral process in […]

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Justice Denied: The Curious Case of an Inordinate Delay in a Judge’s Elevation

  The Centre’s disregard for procedure and recommendation when it comes to Justice A.A. Kureshi is mysterious and telling. Consider the following sequence of events: In 1983, a  young man – let’s call him Y.M. – gets an LL.B. degree and starts practicing as an advocate in the high court of state ABC. In March […]

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