The following is a statement about Ecuador. What similarities or
differences do you find between this example and the judicial system
in India?
“It would be helpful if a body of common law, or judicial precedent,
existed that could clarify a journalist’s rights. Unfortunately,
Ecuador’s courts don’t work that way. Judges are not forced to
respect the rulings of higher courts in previous cases. Unlike the
US, an appellate judge in Ecuador (or elsewhere in South America,
for that matter) need not provide a written decision explaining
the legal basis of a ruling. A judge may rule one way today and
the opposite way, in a similar case, tomorrow, without explaining
why.”
Read the news report below and identify the following aspects:
√ What is the case about?
√ Who has been the beneficiary in the case?
√ Who is the petitioner in the case?
√ Visualise what would have been the different arguments put
forward by the company.
√ What arguments would the farmers have put forward?
Supreme Court orders REL to pay Rs 300 crore to Dahanu
farmers
Our Corporate Bureau 24 March 2005
Mumbai: The Supreme Court has ordered Reliance Energy to pay
Rs. 300 crore to farmers who grow the chikoo fruit in the Dahanu
area outside Mumbai. The order comes after the chikoo growers
petitioned the court against the pollution caused by Reliance’s
thermal power plant.
Dahanu, which is 150 km from Mumbai, was a self-sustaining
agricultural and horticultural economy known for its fisheries
and forests just over a decade ago, but was devastated in 1989
when a thermal power plant came into operation in the region.
The next year, this fertile belt saw its first crop failure. Now, 70 per cent of the crop of what was once the fruit bowl of Maharashtra
is gone. The fisheries have shut and the forest cover has thinned.
Farmers and environmentalists say that fly ash from the power
plant entered ground water and polluted the entire eco-system.
The Dahanu Taluka Environment Protection Authority ordered
the thermal station to set up a pollution control unit to reduce
sulphur emissions, and in spite of a Supreme Court order backing
the order the pollution control plant was not set up even by 2002.
In 2003, Reliance acquired the thermal station and re-submitted
a schedule for installation process in 2004. As the pollution control
plant is still not set up, the Dahanu Taluka Environmental
Protection Authority asked Reliance for a bank guarantee of Rs.
300 crores.
What are the different provisions in the constitution in order to
maintain the independence of judiciary?
Does independence of the judiciary mean that the judiciary is not
accountable to any one? Write your answer in not more than 100
words.
What are the different ways in which the independence of the
judiciary is ensured? Choose the odd ones out.
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is consulted in the
appointment of other judges of Supreme Court.
Judges are generally not removed before the age of retirement.
Judge of a High Court cannot be transferred to another High
Court.
Parliament has no say in the appointment of judges.
How has the system of parliamentary committee affected the
overseeing and appraisal of legislation by the Parliament?
Arrange the different stages of passing of a bill into a law in their
correct sequence:.
√ A resolution is passed to admit the bill for discussion
√ The bill is referred to the President of India – write what happens
next if s/he does not sign it
√ The bill is referred to other House and is passed
√ The bill is passed in the house in which it was proposed
√ The bill is read clause by clause and each is voted upon
√ The bill is referred to the subcommittee – the committee makes
some changes and sends it back to the house for discussion
√ The concerned minister proposes the need for a bill
√ Legislative department in ministry of law, drafts a bill
Dolly and Sudha are debating about the efficiency and effectiveness
of the Parliament in recent times. Dolly believed that the decline of
Indian Parliament is evident in the less time spent on debate and
discussion and increase in the disturbances of the functioning of
the House and walkouts etc. Sudha contends that the fall of different
governments on the floor of Lok Sabha is a proof of its vibrancy.
What other arguments can you provide to support or oppose the
positions of Dolly and Sudha?
Which of the following statements you agree with the most? Give
your reasons.
√ Legislators must be free to join any party they want.
√ Anti-defection law has contributed to the domination of the party
leaders over the legislators.
√ Defection is always for selfish purposes and therefore, a
legislator who wants to join another party must be disqualified
from being a minister for the next two years.
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