• China missile worries India
• Ninth Schedule: Legal fraternity cautious
• Basic structure now ironcast
• TN nervous over fate of quota law
• Ninth Schedule laws open to judicial review: SC
• Media influences public opinion:VC

• India to overtake United States by 2050: Report
• The most fundamental
• OBC lobby ill at ease over ruling
• SC cuts deeper into parliamentary turf
• Ninth Sechedule laws open to judicial review: SC
• Laws in 9th Sechedule open to judicial review: SC

Productivity growth will help India sustain over 8% growth until 2020 and become the second largest economy in the world, ahead of the US, by 2050, Goldman Sachs has said, scaling up estimates of the country's prospects in its October 2003 research paper widely known as the BRICs report. The original report had projected that India's GDP would outstrip Japan's by 2032 and that in 30 years, it would be the world's third largest economy after China and the US. The new report goes one step further by moving India up from No. 3 and No. 2 in the global sweepstakes of tomorrow. Goldman Sachs' research arm said in a global research paper released on Monday that India's growth acceleration since 2003 represented a structural increase rather than simply a cyclical upturn. It said productivity growth drove nearly half of overall growth and expected it to continue for some years. "We project India's potential or sustainable growth rate at about 8% until 2020. The implication is that India's contribution to world growth will be even greater (and faster) than implied in our previous BRICs research," Goldman Sachs Global Research said. The vote of increased confidence from the world's largest investment bank, whose previous chairman Henry Paulson is now treasury secretary in the Bush administration, comes when India is easing into its new seat in the global political arena as a nuclear power and consolidating its economic might as the world's services backbone. The paper said a turnaround in manufacturing productivity was central to the ratcheting up of productivity growth. The private sector was the principal driver of this turnaround, as it improved efficiency in the face of increased competition due to the cumulative effects of a decade of reforms. "The underlying reasons are: increased openness to trade, investment in information and communication technology, and greater financial deepening. These factors still have some distance to run," it said.

Courtesy: www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com, January 24, 2007

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The Dragon has done it again. China's test of a ballistic missile to knock down a satellite in space, apart from evoking widespread concern around the globe, has sent alarm bells ringing in India's defence and security establishment. Though it is believed that China's ASAT (anti-satellite) weapon system test on January 11 was meant to be a direct challenge to the overpowering US military dominance of space, it does have some implications for India, which has a robust space programme. The test comes at a time when the Indian armed forces are slowly moving towards exploitation of space for purposes like "real-time" military communications and reconnaissance missions, apart from dreaming about ballistic missile defences and delivery of precision-guided munitions through satellite signals. With the launch of Cartosat-2 satellite atop the PSLV on January 10, for instance, India's satellite-based surveillance and reconnaissance (SBS) programme is now finally heading towards completion. It will allow India to keep closer tabs on troop movements, missile silos, military installations and airbases of neighbouring countries, as well as augment surveillance over Indian airspace.

"Countries like US, Russia, Israel and China are, of course, leagues ahead of us. But in times of war, we too will be highly-dependent on satellites for communications and surveillance," said a senior military officer. "Though our relations with Beijing are on the upswing, we always have to factor in China as a potential threat. Moreover, there are deep military links between China and Pakistan. If China deploys ASAT weapons, then it's certainly a matter of concern," he added. Talking about the need for an Aerospace Command some time ago, IAF chief Air Chief Marshal S P Tyagi had told TOI that space would play a major role in all future wars. "If we have assets in space, somebody will try to knock them off through hard kills or soft kills. We must be ready for all this," he had said. Coupled with China's expanding military infrastructure in Tibet, the rapidly modernising 2.5 million-strong People's Liberation Army more than double the Indian forces has always been a source of worry for India. "China's ASAT test is definitely a concern for all countries with satellite launch capabilities. Satellites, after all, form an important part of C3I (communications, command, control and intelligence) systems," said K Santhanam, former chief advisor at DRDO. "But what has to be seen is whether China is sending a political or a military signal (to the US)," he added. With China's ASAT test being conducted against an aging weather satellite orbiting 537-km over earth, the US is obviously worried about its huge dependence on low-orbiting civilian and military satellites. The US, after all, owns around 50% of the estimated 300 dedicated or dual-use military satellites in space for surveillance, electronic intelligence, communication and early warning of missiles.

Courtesy: www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com, January 20, 2007

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by Dhananjay Mahapatra
In articulating the test of legality for ninth schedule laws, the Supreme Court on Thursday virtually carved out the fundamental among the fundamental rights that form the basic structure of the Constitution and hence, inviolable. A nine-judge Bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Y K Sabharwal said right to equality (Articles 14, 15 and 16), right to freedom of speech and expression (Article 19) and right to life (Article 21) with all their extended interpretations form the core of the Constitution, which could by no means be violated by Parliament's amending power. The court took the extended interpretations of the fundamental rights as an integral part and demonstrated it by examples their vitality to the system of governance in the country. The first example cited by the court was that of secularism. It said though secularism as a principle is not to be found as a constitutional provision, it has been understood to be a basic feature of the constitutional scheme of governance and hence, any ninth schedule law found to be tinkering with this cannot pass muster during a judicial scrutiny. The second illustration painted by Justice Sabharwal, writing the judgment for the Bench, was that of freedom of press. He reminded the legislatures that it is not codified in the Constitution but implicit in the right to freedom of speech and expression. The legislature, depending on the situation, can limit it, but cannot pass a law totally abrogating it and the moment they pass such a law, it will be liable to be quashed even if given the protection of the ninth schedule, the court remarked. It said: "The general right of equality under Article 14 has to be balanced with Article 15(4) when excessiveness is detected in grant of protective discrimination. Article 15(1) limits the rights of the state by providing that there shall be no discrimination on the grounds only of race, religion, caste, sex etc. and yet it permits classification for certain classes, hence social content exists in fundamental rights as well. All these are relevant considerations to test the validity of the ninth schedule laws." Conferring Parliament unlimited power to legislate even if it meant defeating the fundamental rights would translate into a licence to enact laws in the name of giving shape to the social justice principles under the Directive Principles, even if it practically breached fundamentals of Constitution that also incorporated social interest clauses.

Courtesy: www. timesofindia.indiatimes.com, January 12, 2007

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PMK founder leader S Ramadoss expressed fear that the review of laws under the Ninth Schedule would lead to confusion. He demanded immediate action to avoid such a 'danger'. He even requested Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to convene a chief ministers' meeting and urged chief minister M Karunanidhi to organise an all-party meet to discuss the issue. "In a democracy, public welfare is the most important thing and if the courts start scrutinising laws enacted for public welfare, Parliament and state legislatures will lose their individuality," he said. As the implication of the judgment sank in, reactions were slowly emerging. However, Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy welcomed the judgment and said said such scrutiny would check the violation of fundamental rights. The legal fraternity was more cautious. "Reservation is a necessity and a human rights issue. But the creamy layer, which has already benefited from reservations so far, should give up quota for others who need it. I know of people who have voluntarily done that. As for the 69% reservation itself falling under the scanner, one does not know how the issue would be tackled. It is again a sensitive humane issue and may not fall on the wrong side of the judgment. So I would like to watch what is happening before reacting," said senior advocate Sudha Ramalingam.

Courtesy: www. timesofindia.indiatimes.com, January 12, 2007

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The SC verdict on the Ninth Schedule has thrown several crucial laws open to scrutiny. Among these is the legislation enacted by Tamil Nadu to extend the quantum of reservation well beyond the Supreme Court-mandated 50% ceiling. Over the years, politicians have sought to take advantage of the provision Article 31B, conceived to protect land reforms laws from challenges from landlords to inoculate all sorts of laws from judicial scrutiny. In the most recent instance, the Centre had come under pressure to put anti-sealing laws in the Capital in the Schedule. The Tamil Nadu Reservation Act, which was inserted in the Ninth Schedule in 1994, will straightaway be examined on the twin parameters fundamental rights and basic structure by a three-judge bench to be constituted shortly. This particular implication is sure to cause churn in the political class, with the OBC establishment not concealing its unease over the development. The nine-judge Bench, however, was remarkably unanimous as it, in the 108-page judgment, strongly argued that the Ninth Schedule cannot fetter the court from nullifying laws which fail the twin tests. "The jurisdiction conferred on the Supreme Court by Article 32 is an important and integral part of the basic structure of the Constitution and no act of Parliament can abrogate it or take it away...," CJI Sabharwal said, writing the judgment for the Bench. Building on the doctrine of the inviolability of basic structure of the Constitution propounded by the apex court on April 24, 1973, the Bench comprising Justices Ashok Bhan, Arijit Pasayat, B P Singh, S H Kapadia, C K Thakker, P K Balasubramanyan, Altamas Kabir and D K Jain ruled that Parliament's powers to amend the Constitution and put laws in the Ninth Schedule cannot reach such proportions to bar court's powers from testing the validity of laws. The Bench, however, assured that any action taken on the basis of a Ninth Schedule law will not be invalidated even if the law concerned now gets struck down. The court further said that those Ninth Schedule laws whose validity has already been upheld by the SC cannot be challenged afresh on the basis of Thursday's order.

Courtesy: www. timesofindia.indiatimes.com, January 12, 2007

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by Dhananjay Mahapatra
In 1973, a 13-judge Bench of the Supreme Court judicially conjured the 'basic structure doctrine' of the Constitution and fired the imagination of the common man that their most important fundamental rights cannot be subservient to Parliament's amending powers. That was in Keshavananda Bharti case and the epoch-making verdict, though fractured, was stitched together for arriving at a common conclusion on the inviolability of the 'basic structure' of the Constitution. What the nine-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice Y K Sabharwal did was to give solid shape to the 34-year-old doctrine and prescribe twin touchstones of fundamental rights and basic structure of Constitution as the tests to examine the validity of ninth schedule laws, which till today were widely believed to be immune from judicial scrutiny. It identified, and then spelled out, areas in the Constitution while marking them out of bounds for Parliament's power to amend the Constitution. In doing so, the Bench posed a self-query: "Can Parliament increase the amending power by amendment to Article 368 to confer on itself unlimited power of amendment and destroy and damage the fundamentals of the Constitution?" The effect of the 1973 judgment is that "secularism, separation of power, equality etc, to cite a few examples, would fall beyond the constituent power in the sense that the constituent powers cannot abrogate these fundamentals of the Constitution", the Bench said. "Without equality, the rule of law, secularism etc would fail. That is why Justice (H R) Khanna held that some of the fundamental rights like Article 15 form part of the basic structure," Justice Sabharwal, writing the judgment for the Bench, said. In reverse, it said if Parliament itself cannot have unlimited power to amend the Constitution, how could the ninth schedule route for laws under Article 31B be so used to arrive at an absurdity that the legislations in the schedule may be violative of the basic strcuture, but still would not be amenable to judicial scrutiny.

Courtesy: www. timesofindia.indiatimes.com, January 12, 2007

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Persisting with its assertive mode vis-a-vis the legislature, the Supreme Court on Thursday said laws put in the Ninth Schedule after April 1973 cannot escape judicial scrutiny if they appeared to breach citizens' fundamental rights or undermine the basic structure of the Constitution. The unanimous verdict by the nine-judge Constitution Bench led by Chief Justice Y K Sabharwal, like the one by the apex court on Wednesday in the MPs' expulsion case, asserted the court's role as the final arbiter at the expense of the notions of parliamentary supremacy, expanding the frontiers of judicial review. In practical terms, it means that many crucial laws, such as the one enacted by Tamil Nadu to extend reservation well beyond the SC-mandated 50% ceiling, would now be open to challenge in courts on grounds of being contrary to the basic structure as well as violative of fundamental rights. The court upheld Parliament's power to put certain laws in the Ninth Schedule, but that can be of little comfort for politicians.

Courtesy: www. timesofindia.indiatimes.com, January 12, 2007

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The political class in Tamil Nadu is in a tizzy over the Supreme Court's verdict on laws placed under the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution not being immune to judicial review. For, the ruling puts the state's law providing 69% reservation to backward classes directly in its firing range. The Tamil Nadu Reservation Act was inserted in the ninth schedule in 1994. The law is ex-facie violative of the 50% ceiling put on reservations by the Supreme Court. The discomfort in the state is palpable, especially in political circles and those benefiting from the special quota law. Even when the whole country had gone on strike over the new reservation policy proposed by the Centre last year, in Tamil Nadu, there were protests against the protest. The first to react on Thursday was Patalli Makkal Katchi (PMK) that enjoys the most backward class status.

Courtesy: www. timesofindia.indiatimes.com, January 12, 2007

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In a significant ruling, the Supreme Court on Thursday said the laws included in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution after April 24, 1973 were open to judicial review. A nine-judge constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice Y K Sabharwal was unanimous on the verdict that laws placed under Ninth Schedule after April 24, 1973, shall be open to challenge in court if they violated fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 14, 19, 20 and 21 of the Constitution. If laws put in the Ninth Schedule abridge or abrogate fundamental rights resulting into violation of the basic structure of the Constitution, such laws have to be invalidated, it said. The verdict is expected to have far-reaching implications on various issues, including the reservation policy of the Centre and the various State Governments. On November 3, the Bench had reserved its verdict after hearing the arguments of the Government, constitutional experts on a PIL challenging the actions of Government to make laws beyond the review powers of the courts. The Ninth Schedule was created by an amendment in 1951 by former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to push land reforms.

Courtesy: www. timesofindia.indiatimes.com, January 11, 2007

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In a significant ruling, the Supreme Court on Thursday said the laws included in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution after April 24, 1973 were open to judicial review. A nine-judge constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice Y K Sabharwal was unanimous on the verdict that laws placed under Ninth Schedule after April 24, 1973 shall be open to challenge in court if they violated fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 14, 19, 20 and 21 of the Constitution. If laws put in the Ninth Schedule abridge or abrogate fundamental rights resulting into violation of the basic structure of the Constitution, such laws have to be invalidated, it said. The verdict is expected to have far-reaching implications on various issues, including the reservation policy of the Centre and the various State Governments. On November 3, the Bench had reserved its verdict after hearing the arguments of the Government, constitutional experts on a PIL challenging the actions of Government to make laws beyond the review powers of the courts. The Ninth Schedule was created by an amendment in 1951 by former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to push land reforms.

Courtesy: www. timesofindia.indiatimes.com, January 11, 2007

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In one of its landmark judgement the Supreme Court on Thursday said all the laws placed under Ninth Schedule of the Constitution after 1973 are open to judicial review. The nine-member full Constitutional bench headed by Chief Justice Y K Sabharwal said that the Parliament could not hide from the judicial scrutiny by placing the laws under the Ninth Schedule. The judgement can question the legality of numerous laws that has been placed under the Schedule, the prominent being the laws enabling reservation for the backward class that were enacted by Centre and few State Governments. The Ninth Schedule, which came into existence after the first Constitutional Amendment in 1951, was drafted by former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. It was kept beyond judicial review so that courts could not get in the way of socialist policies, such as land reforms. However, more laws were added subsequently most of which were populist to avoid judicial scrutiny. In today`s verdict the condition of the judicial review has been placed in all post-1973 laws, since in the historic 1973 Keshavanand Bharti case, the concept of the "basic structure of the Constitution" for the first time came into place, when the apex court ruled that any legal act not in line with the basic structure of the Constitution will be termed "null and void". Today`s verdict could be play a spoilsport to the Centre`s plan to shift the latest reservation Act for OBC students into the Ninth Schedule and thereby bypassing the judicial scrutiny. The hearing that went for almost a week began two months earlier. During the argument in the case Centre had tried to support the exclusion of judicial review from the Ninth Schedule Acts and had stated, "Once a piece of legislation is included in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution (Article 31-B) it gets protection and the scope for judicial review of such law and its inclusion is very limited". It also stated that the object of introducing Article 31 B was to achieve the Constitutional objectives of social equality and that the validity of the Ninth Schedule requires no further examination. The uncertainties regarding the constitutional validity of the Ninth Schedule was cleared in 1980 when the Supreme Court in its ruling in Waman Rao vs Union of India, said that the Ninth Schedule was constitutional, adding that the laws figuring in the schedule must comply the doctrine of basic features. The verdict is important and should be seen in the context of the growing differences between legislature and judiciary. Some of the important acts under the Ninth Schedule are FERA Act, COFEPOSA, MRTPC and Tamil Nadu Reservation Act.

Courtesy: www.zeenews.com, January 11, 2007

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'Media reports and modern journalism particularly investigative journalism with the use of advance technology brings out the hidden facts, at the same time it also sensationalises a particular issue', S Ramachandran, Vice-Chancellor, University of Madras has said. Addressing a national seminar on 'Investigative Journalism: Issues and Practices' organised by the Department of Criminology, University of Madras here yesterday, Ramachandran said, 'though media has emerged as a powerful tool, at times it overplays certain issues which can create communal divide on religion, language and brings a social disharmony. Media not just influences the public opinion but also provides guidelines in governance of the society and offers opportunity to the government agencies for correctional measures,' he said. Investigative capsules like Tehelka, Stock market scam, Bofors, Godra riots are some of the prime investigation carried by journalists, the Vice-Chancellor pointed out. Journalists particularly those indulged in investigation reports should work with commitment, identify problems and should take up serious issue like violation of human rights, atrocity against dalits, women and children, he added. At the seminar major topics like investigative journalism: an overview, crime reporting and writing in various form of media, relevance of photo journalism in crime reporting, forensic journalism and the criminal justice agencies were covered. Eminent journalists from leading news papers and television channels participated at the seminar.

Courtesy: www.newstodaynet.com, January 11, 2007

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