Legislation

All three pillars of democracy must work together for citizens: CJI Gavai

All the three wings of democracy - executive, judiciary and legislature - exist for the welfare of citizens and none can work in isolation, Chief Justice of India (CJI) Bhushan Gavai said on Wednesday. Speaking at the project initiation function of the Maharashtra National Law University's (MNLU) campus in Mumbai, he said the principles of liberty, justice and equality are embodied in the Constitution. The judiciary has neither the power of the sword nor the power of words. Unless the executive is on board, it is difficult for the judiciary to provide adequate infrastructure to judiciary as well as legal education, the CJI said. He noted law education is now developing with more practical-oriented training and hence infrastructure plays a very important role. The CJI refuted criticism that the Maharashtra government was found lacking when it comes to providing judiciary infrastructure and insisted the notion was based on incorrect views. He lauded the state government and Chief .

Assent to bills: SC seeks Centre, States' reply on Prez reference timeline

In a significant development, the Supreme Court on Tuesday sought responses of the Centre and all states on the Presidential reference raising constitutional issues on whether timelines could be imposed for dealing with bills passed by assembly. Observing that the issues raised in the presidential reference will affect the entire country, a five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice of India BR Gavai sought the replies in a week and fixed the reference for fixing timelines and other procedural details on July 29. "There are issues of interpretation of the Constitution. We have requested the Attorney General to assist us. Issue notice to the Union and all state governments. The Solicitor General will appear for the Union. All state governments be served through emails. List it on next Tuesday. Notice be also served to all standing counsel," ordered the bench which also comprised justices Surya Kant, Vikram Nath, PS Narasimha and AS Chandurkar. During a brief hearing, senio

Waqf Bill on govt's agenda for Budget session, Oppn to raise its issues

The budget session will commence with President Droupadi Murmu addressing joint sitting of the two Houses

Trump meets with more Republicans as they discuss legislative roadmap

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday met with a small contingent of the most politically endangered House Republicans as the party struggles to agree on a strategy for implementing the tax cuts and other priorities that it promised voters. The meeting happened as Trump tried to advance other priorities during the first week of his second term. Roughly 160 aides at National Security Council were sent home while they are reviewed to determine if they align with Trump's agenda. "The American people have been waiting for such a time as this," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. Stephen Miller, a top Trump advisor, met with Senate Republicans to update them on plans for deportations and reinstating what's known as Title 42, a policy that was put in place during the coronavirus pandemic to stop border crossings. Although Republicans control the White House and both chambers of Congress, they have only thin majorities on Capitol Hill, and there are disagreements on how t

Political parties should have code of conduct for lawmakers, says Om Birla

Amid disruptions in Parliament and state legislatures, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Tuesday urged political parties to devise a code of conduct for their lawmakers to uphold the dignity of their respective Houses. The two-day 85th All India Presiding Officers' Conference also adopted a five-point resolution that included a collective resolve to take steps to ensure "disruption-free" debate and discussion in their respective legislatures. The presiding officers agreed to deploy technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to bring legislative bodies closer to the people by making available debates in the local and two additional languages, Birla said. The presiding officers voiced concern over the decline in the number of sittings of state legislatures and agreed to implement the resolutions of previous meetings. "In an earlier meeting of the presiding officers, we had resolved that the state legislatures would hold at least 60 sittings in a calendar year. We h

Indonesia's Prez wants key buildings in new capital ready in 4 years

Raja Juli, however, said further there should be no questions of Prabowo's commitment to continue his predecessor's legacy project, as he has already guaranteed he would complete it

Encroachment of drains widespread, law needed to tackle problem: Delhi CS

The problem of encroachment of drains in the city is so "widespread" that it cannot be resolved without a proper legislative framework, Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar has said. Kumar cited the Old Rajinder Nagar incident in which three civil services aspirants drowned in the flooded basement library of a coaching centre. In his reply to a note of Urban Development Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj on Tuesday, the chief secretary requested him to move the file on drainage plan recommendations for Delhi, including need of a 'Storm Water and Drainage Act for Delhi' so that draft of the legislation could be initiated by the Irrigation and Flood Control Department. The recommended 'Storm Water and Drainage Act' is proposed to have provisions for penalties on encroachment, dumping of construction, municipal and industrial solid waste in the city's drains. Kumar in his reply to Bharadwaj, who is also Irrigation and Flood Control (I&FC)Minister, said that the file was pending with him since .

India's AI law to focus on innovation, may skip penalties for violations

The Ministry of Electronics and IT is drafting a new AI law which will require social media platforms Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and X to include watermarks and labels on content

Laughter the best medicine in Japan: Local govt passes new health law

Explained: Japan's Yamagata prefecture's has introduced a new laughter ordinance aiming to promote better physical and mental health in the community

China broadens legislature on state security to include 'work secrets'

China's top legislative body passed the revised Law on Guarding State Secrets on Tuesday, Xinhua state news agency reported. It will take effect from May 1

7 new laws, including Delhi services bill, receive Presidential assent

Seven new laws, including the one related to the control of services matter in Delhi, passed by Parliament this week came into force on Saturday after they received the assent of President Droupadi Murmu. An official gazette notification in this regard was issued by the government. The legislations that become operational are the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023; The Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Act, 2023; The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023; The Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Act, 2023; The Indian Institutes of Management (Amendment) Act, 2023; The National Dental Commission Act, 2023; and The Offshore Areas Mineral (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2023. The Delhi services bill secured parliamentary approval on Monday after the Rajya Sabha passed the contentious measure that will give the Centre control over bureaucracy in the national capital, with the BJP-led NDA thwarting opposition challenge in

Sri Lanka parliament passes anti-corruption bill without vote: Speaker

The legislation was passed without a vote in the 225-member parliament

Legislators' collective effort will help India scale heights of success: PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said collective efforts by legislators in sharing best practices in good governance will help India scale remarkable heights of success. In a written message to the National Legislators' Conference here, the prime minister said it was remarkable that public representatives of different political parties have gathered here to strengthen democratic practices by keeping topics such as good governance, successful legislative studies and novel models of development at the forefront. The three-day National Legislators' Conference, organised by MIT-School of Governance and attended by more than 1,500 legislators from across the country, concluded here on Saturday. The prime minister's message was read out at the conference on Saturday. "In the Amrit Kaal of independence, I am confident that such collective efforts help a massive democracy such as ours scale remarkable heights of success, he said. Modi said continuous development at the grassroots level ..

Legislators keep aside rivalry, meet for 1st national conference in Mumbai

Keeping aside political rivalry, nearly 2,000 legislators from across the country have gathered here to discuss ways to improve working of legislative assemblies and councils, which often witness acrimonious scenes. The first-ever National Legislators' Conference Bharat ((NLC Bharat) that began here on Thursday will see presiding officers of legislative assemblies and councils and legislators deliberating on various issues including technology-driven economic growth, adopting international best practices in law making, welfare politics and nurturing of constituencies. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla is scheduled to formally inaugurate the three-day conference. These discussions will be spread across ten thematic parallel sessions, where 50 legislators, under the guidance of senior members, will delve deeply into the topics including stress management and maintaining work-life balance. Former Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, and former Jammu and Kashmir chief ...

In-depth debates required for passing legislations: LS speaker Om Birla

Speaker of Lok Sabha Om Birla said on Thursday that longer and in-depth discussions in assemblies and Parliament lead to better legislations. He was addressing an event on Vikasit Bharat 2047' in the Goa Assembly. It is always better that laws are passed after extensive and proper debates, Birla told MLAs from the coastal state at the programme. He stressed that the debates in assemblies and Parliament should be non-political and unbiased. Birla also hailed the Goa Assembly for holding longer sessions of more than 40 days, as he expressed concerns over shorter Assembly sessions in many states. The opposition benches boycotted the event as a mark of protest against Birla for "not allowing" former Waynad MP Rahul Gandhi to represent himself over his disqualification in connection with a defamation case.

Lazy-faire? 28 state Assemblies met only for 21 days on average in 2022

How much work do state legislatures actually do?

70 women go missing from Maha every day: LoP Danve raises concerns

Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Council Ambadas Danve has claimed that 70 women/girls go missing from the state every day and has asked the government to take steps for the safety and security of women. In a letter written on Wednesday to Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who also holds the home department charge, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Danve said it has come to light that from January to March this, more than 5,510 women and girls have gone missing from the state. Giving details, he said 1,600 went missing in January, 1,810 in February and 2,200 in March. "The graph of missing girls and women is growing in state," Danve claimed. Maharashtra is known as one of the leading states for women's security. The government should initiate steps immediately for the safety and security of women in the state, he said. Notably, Maharashtra State Commission for Woman chairperson Rupali Chakankar recently asked the state home department to set up a panel t

No proposal to take help of retired judges in drafting legislations: Govt

There is no proposal to take the help of retired judges and senior advocates in drafting legislations, the government told Rajya Sabha on Thursday. In a written reply, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju also said Legislative Department in the Union Law Ministry has been taking necessary steps to ensure that legislative drafting is simple, plain, precise and unambiguous. "Efforts are also being made to aim at clarity of expressions and use of appropriate words and expressions," he said. Rijiju was asked whether the government was aware that one of the main reasons for litigation in high courts and the Supreme Court was the "defective and faulty drafting" of legislations containing provisions admitting more than one interpretations. He was also asked whether the government has any proposal to take the assistance of retired Supreme Court and high court judges as well as senior advocates in drafting new legislations for making them more accurate. The Legislative Department is mandated with ...

Balance of powers

The constitutional bedrock should stay untouched

Maha Assembly passes Lokayukta Bill, brings CM under anti-corruption lens

Maharashtra assembly on Wednesday passed the Lokayukta Bill 2022, which brings the chief minister and council of ministers under the ambit of the anti-corruption ombudsman. The bill was passed without discussion as the opposition had staged a walkout over the alleged scam in the Teachers Entrance Test. Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis termed the bill a historic legislation, adding Maharashtra is the first state to have such a law. As per the bill, prior approval of the Assembly has to be obtained and the motion has to be placed before the immediate session of the House before initiating any inquiry against the chief minister. Such motion shall be passed by not less than two-thirds of the total members of the assembly, states the bill, which was tabled in the House on Monday.