News

• Minority report, Indian style by Inder Malhotra. This piece vividly portrays the dateline of preventive detention laws and judicial responses
• Laws without Accountability. A critical review of the new anti-terror law from EPW
• Cash for Votes Sham . Another blot on Indian democracy. EPW on the skewed investigation on the cash for vote scam
• The Competition (Amendment) Bill 2007: A Review and Critique by Subhadip Ghosh , Thomas W Ross in EPW
• China makes medicare more affordable
• Call it by any name, a forced marriage is a forced marriage

News

• Parliament approves cyber crime Bill
• Insurance staff strike work against tabling of Bills
• Parliament adjourned sine die, loosing 21 precious hours of business time due to interruptions and adjournments

Reflections

The way laws are being made

The Hindu today carrys a news on the displeasure of the left parties on the way bills were passed in Parliament yesterday. Please also see the links of yesterday's post by Badri on parliamentary proceedings. The bills that were passed amongst others are the High Court and Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Amendment Bill, Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill, Compensatory Afforestation Fund Bill and the South Asian University Bill. All these bills were passed by voice vote with nil discussion among pandemonium, screaming for the blood of A.R Antulay. BJP was putting up a face of nationalism and patriotism by the fracas they were creating. What is forgotten there is the fact that it is equally patriotic to pay due attention to the law making process for which the legislature is primarliy responsible.

The bills that were passed have reach beyond the small poitical ends and populist voice that were staged in the Parliament. The way in which the treasury bench passed the bill were equally opportunistic and it is as if they got a walk over. In the end there is no attention is paid to what is going to be the law.

Proceedings in the Parliament

Rajya Sabha:

The links to Rajya Sabha proceedings on 22.12.2008 can be obtained here, here, here, and here.

Summary of discussions:

1. THE SCHEDULED CASTES AND THE SCHEDULED TRIBES (RESERVATION IN POSTS AND SERVICES) BILL, 2008 introduced
2. THE APPROPRIATION (No.4) BILL, 2008 "to authorize payment and appropriation of certain further sums from and out of the Consolidated Fund of India for the services of the financial year 2008-2009, as passed by Lok Sabha, be taken into consideration.
3. THE SOUTH ASIAN UNIVERSITY BILL, 2008
4. On the comments of AR Antulay in relation to the killing of ATS Chief.