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1.  Daughters have equal rights in Property

The Supreme Court declared that a daughter’s right in coparcenary property – the ancestral property of a Hindu undivided family – is equal to a son’s, and that these rights can be claimed by the daughter even if her father had died before September 9, 2005, which is the date an amendment to the Hindu Succession Act came into effect granting daughters an equal share.

Sisters who have been deprived of an equal share of their deceased father’s ancestral property will now have the right to claim their due.

What is Hindu undivided family?

·    Hindu undivided family or a Hindu joint family is an extended family arrangement where every member is a lineal descendant of a common ancestor. This family includes a common ancestor who is generally the eldest and three generations of his descendants.

What is coparcenary property?

·    It includes only those persons who acquire by birth an interest in the joint or coparcenary property. These are the sons, grandsons and great-grandsons of the holder of the joint property for the time being, in other words, the three generations next to the holder in unbroken male descent.

·    Coparcener is the person who acquires interest on property right from birth. Coparcenary owns the unity, possession and ownership of the title.

History of Hindu Succession Act

·    The Mitakshara school of Hindu law codified as the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 governed succession and inheritance of property but only recognised males as legal heirs. The law applied to everyone who is not a Muslim, Christian, Parsi or Jew by religion. Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains and followers of Arya Samaj, Brahmo Samaj are also considered Hindus for the purposes of this law. Traditionally, only male descendants of a common ancestor along with their mothers, wives and unmarried daughters are considered a joint Hindu family.

·    Changes through 2005 Act: Section 6 of the Act was amended that year to make a daughter of a coparcener also a coparcener by birth “in her own right in the same manner as the son”. The law also gave the daughter the same rights and liabilities “in the coparcenary property as she would have had if she had been a son”. The law applies to ancestral property and to intestate succession in personal property — where succession happens as per law and not through a will. But issue was -  whether the law applied retrospectively, and if the rights of women depended on the living status (alive or dead) of the father through whom they would inherit.

·    Supreme Court Verdict

®   The ruling extends the scope of legislation introduced in 2005 to cases where the father had died before the law was introduced.

®   The daughter shall remain a coparcener [one who shares equally with others in inheritance of an undivided joint family property] throughout life, irrespective of whether her father is alive or not.

2.     National Digital Health Mission

Based on the principles of health for all, inclusivity, accessibility, affordability, education, empowerment, wellness, portability, privacy and security by design, government has launched the National Digital Health Mission which will build the backbone necessary to create an integrated digital health infrastructure. 

NDHM is also a purposeful step towards the achievement of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal of Universal Health Coverage — it encompasses key aspects of this goal including financial risk protection, access to quality essential healthcare services, medicines and vaccines for all.

Salient features

Privacy of data

·        The NDHM's document also states that health records will be accessible and shareable by the patient with appropriate consent and complete control of the records will remain with the patient.

·        The mission will also require doctors/hospitals to upload a digital copy of any health reports being physically shared with the patient to enable the creation of health records.

·        “An appropriate digital consent framework as per standards specified by NDHB (leveraging DigiLocker consent management framework to the extent possible) will be adopted for consent management,

NDHM aims to build a Digital Health Nation on the pragmatic principle of “Think Big, Start Small, Scale Fast”. It is a mission whose time has come because health is the first step towards self-reliance and only a healthy nation can become Atma Nirbhar.

3.     Privilege Motion

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who heads the parliamentary panel on information technology, has given a notice for breach of privilege against BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, alleging that he made “disparaging remarks” on social media over his decision to summon a panel meeting to discuss alleged “misconduct” of Facebook.

In return MP Nishikant Dubey in his ‘breach of privilege’ notice sent to Speaker Om Birla, complained about Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for “questioning the integrity of all BJP MPs”.

So, Read about parliamentary Privileges

What is parliamentary privilege? 

     ·        Parliamentary privilege refers to rights and immunities enjoyed by Parliament as an institution and MPs in their individual capacity, without which they cannot discharge their functions as entrusted upon them by the Constitution. 

Are these parliamentary privileges defined under law? 

     ·        Article 105 of the Constitution of India which provides for powers, privileges and immunities of the Houses of Parliament and of the members and the Committee.

     ·        Originally, the Constitution (Article 105) expressedly mentioned two privileges, that is, freedom of speech in Parliament and right of publication of its proceedings. Later it has been added on through conventions.

     ·        The Constitution has also extended the parliamentary privileges to those persons who are entitled to speak and take part in the proceedings of a House of Parliament or any of its committees. These include the attorney general of India and Union ministers.

Collective Parliamentary privileges

·           In has the right to publish its reports, debates and proceedings and also the right to prohibit others from publishing the same.

·           It can exclude strangers from its proceedings and hold secret sittings to discuss some important matters.

·           It can make rules to regulate its own procedure and the conduct of its business and to adjudicate upon such matters.

·           It can punish members as well as outsiders for breach of its privileges or its contempt by reprimand, admonition or imprisonment (also suspension or expulsion, in case of members).

·           It has the right to receive immediate information of the arrest, detention, conviction, imprisonment and release of a member.

·           It can institute inquiries and order the attendance of witnesses and send for relevant papers and records.

·           The courts are prohibited to inquire into the proceedings of a House or its committees.

·           No person (either a member or outsider) can be arrested, and no legal process (civil or criminal) can be served within the precints of the House without the permission of the presiding officer.

Individual Privileges

    ·        They cannot be arrested during the session of Parliament and 40 days before the beginning and 40 days after the end of a session. This privilege is available only in civil cases and not in criminal cases or preventive detention cases.

     ·        They have freedom of speech in Parliament. No member is liable to any proceedings in any court for anything said or any vote given by him in Parliament or its committees. This freedom is subject to the provisions of the Constitution and to the rules and standing orders regulating the procedure of Parliament.

    ·        They are exempted from jury service. They can refuse to give evidence and appear as a witness in a case pending in a court when Parliament is in session.

Breach of Privileges

    ·        When any of these rights and immunities are disregarded, the offence is called a breach of privilege and is punishable under law of Parliament. A notice is moved in the form of a motion by any member of either House against those being held guilty of breach of privilege. Each House also claims the right to punish as contempt actions which, while not breach of any specific privilege, are offences against its authority and dignity.

What are the rules governing privilege?

        ·        Rule No 222 in Chapter 20 of the Lok Sabha Rule Book and correspondingly Rule 187 in Chapter 16 of the Rajya Sabha rulebook governs privilege.

        ·        It says that a member may, with the consent of the Speaker or the Chairperson, raise a question involving a breach of privilege either of a member or of the House or of a committee thereof.

        ·        The rules however mandate that any notice should be relating to an incident of recent occurrence and should need the intervention of the House. Notices have to be given before 10 am to the Speaker or the Chairperson.

What is the role of the Speaker/Rajya Sabha Chair?

        ·    The Speaker/RS chairperson is the first level of scrutiny of a privilege motion. The Speaker/Chair can decide on the privilege motion himself or herself or refer it to the privileges committee of Parliament.

            ·     If the Speaker/Chair gives consent under Rule 222, the member concerned is given an opportunity to make a short statement.

What is the punishment in case of breach of privilege or contempt of the House? 

        ·        The person can be given a warning and let go or be sent to prison as the case may be. In the case of throwing leaflets and chappal, the offending individuals were sentenced to simple imprisonment.

4.     One nation, One Ration card scheme

        ·        The One Nation One Ration Card facility was started as inter-State portability of ration cards in 4 States w.e.f. August 2019. Since then, a total of 20 States/UT have been integrated together into a seamless national portability cluster w.e.f. June 2020. Thus, this facility is currently enabled for NFSA card holders in 20 States/UTs.

       ·        These States/UTs are Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Sikkim, Mizoram, Telangana, Kerala, Punjab, Tripura, Bihar, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

        ·        Now, trial and testing in 4 more States/UTs of Jammu & Kashmir, Manipur, Nagaland and Uttarakhand have been completed for enabling national portability features under One Nation One Ration Card in these states

So, learn about One Nation One Ration Card Scheme

        ·        Under the National Food Security Act, 2013, about 81 crore persons are entitled to buy subsidized foodgrain — rice at Rs 3/kg, wheat at Rs 2/kg, and coarse grains at Re 1/kg — from their designated Fair Price Shops (FPS) of the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS).

        ·        In the present system, a ration cardholder can buy foodgrains only from an FPS that has been assigned to her in the locality in which she lives.

      ·        The One Nation One Ration Card facility is an ambitious plan and endeavour of Department of Food & Public Distribution to ensure the delivery of food security entitlements to all beneficiaries covered under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013, irrespective of their physical location anywhere in the country, by implementing nation-wide portability of ration cards under the ongoing central sector scheme on ‘Integrated Management of Public Distribution System (IM-PDS)’ in association with all States/UTs.

        ·        Through this system, the migratory NFSA beneficiaries, who frequently change their place of dwelling in search of temporary employments, etc. are now enabled with an option to lift their entitled quota of foodgrains from any Fair Price Shop (FPS) of their choice anywhere in the country by using their same/existing ration card with biometric/Aadhaar based authentication on an electronic Point of Sale (ePoS) device installed at the FPSs.

       ·        Thus, installation of ePoS devices at the FPSs and Aadhaar seeding of beneficiaries for biometric/ Aadhaar authentication are the main enablers of this system, which can be accessed by beneficiaries by quoting either their ration card number or the Aadhaar number to any FPS dealer across the country. 

      ·        Anyone in the family, who have seeded Aadhaar in the ration card can undergo authentication and lift the ration. There is no need to share or carry the ration card or Aadhaar card with ration dealer to avail the benefit. Beneficiaries can undergo Aadhaar authentication by using their finger prints or iris based identification.

How will the system of ration card portability work?

·        Ration card portability is aimed at providing intra-state as well as inter-state portability of ration cards.

·        While the Integrated Management of Public Distribution System (IM-PDS) portal provides the technological platform for the inter-state portability of ration cards, enabling a migrant worker to buy foodgrains from any FPS across the country,

·        The Annavitran portal enables a migrant worker or his family to avail the benefits of PDS outside their district but within their state. While a person can buy her share of foodgrains as per her entitlement under the NFSA, wherever she is based, the rest of her family members can purchase subsidised foodgrains from their ration dealer back home.

·        For, this purpose it used a technological solution involving the use of Aadhaar to identify beneficiaries. Under the scheme, the seeding of ration cards with Aadhaar is being done.

·        Simultaneously, PoS machines are being installed at all FPSs across the country. Once 100 per cent of Aadhaar seeding and 100 per cent installation of PoS devices is achieved, the national portability of ration cards will become a reality.

·        It will enable migrant workers to buy foodgrains from any FPS by using their existing/same ration card.

5.     Sixth Schedule for Arunachal Pradesh

The People's Party of Arunachal, the lone regional party representing the indigenous aspirations of the tribal people has resolved to fight for inclusion of the state in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.

Why demanded?

Inclusion of the state under the Sixth Schedule would enable the state to own the legitimate ownership rights over its own natural resources and make it self-sufficient without having to depend too much on central grants

What is the Sixth Schedule?

        ·        The Sixth Schedule consists of provisions for the administration of tribal areas in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram, according to Article 244 of the Indian Constitution. 

        ·        Passed by the Constituent Assembly in 1949, it seeks to safeguard the rights of tribal population through the formation of Autonomous District Councils (ADC).

        ·        ADCs are bodies representing a district to which the Constitution has given varying degrees of autonomy within the state legislature.   

        ·        The governors of these states are empowered to reorganise boundaries of the tribal areas. In simpler terms, she or he can choose to include or exclude any area, increase or decrease the boundaries and unite two or more autonomous districts into one. They can also alter or change the names of autonomous regions without a separate legislation.  

Autonomous districts and regional councils

        ·        Along with ADCs, the Sixth Schedule also provides for separate Regional Councils for each area constituted as an autonomous region. In all, there are 10 areas in the Northeast that are registered as autonomous districts – three in Assam, Meghalaya and Mizoram and one in Tripura. These regions are named as district council of (name of district) and regional council of (name of region).

        ·        Each autonomous district and regional council consists of not more than 30 members, of which four are nominated by the governor and the rest via elections. All of them remain in power for a term of five years.

        ·        The Bodoland Territorial Council, however, is an exception as it can constitute up to 46 members out of which 40 are elected. Of these 40 seats, 35 are reserved for the Scheduled Tribes and non-tribal communities, five are unreserved and the rest six are nominated by the governor from unrepresented communities of the Bodoland Territorial Areas District (BTAD). 

ADCs empowered with civil and judicial powers

        ·        The ADCs are empowered with civil and judicial powers, can constitute village courts within their jurisdiction to hear trial of cases involving the tribes.

        ·        Governors of states that fall under the Sixth Schedule specifies the jurisdiction of high courts for each of these cases.

        ·        The councils are also empowered to make legislative laws on matters like land, forests, fisheries, social security, entertainment, public health, etc. with due approval from the governor.

        ·        The roles of the central and state governments are restricted from the territorial jurisdiction of these autonomous regions.

        ·        Also, Acts passed by Parliament and state legislatures may or may not be levied in these regions unless the President and the governor gives her or his approval, with or without modifications in the laws for the autonomous regions.

6.     No Audit for PM Cares Fund: Supreme Court

About PM Cares Fund

●       Keeping in mind the need for having a dedicated national fund with the primary objective of dealing with any kind of emergency or distress situation, like posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and to provide relief to the affected, a public charitable trust under the name of ‘Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund’ (PM CARES Fund)’ has been set up.

●       Prime Minister is the ex-officio Chairman of the PM CARES Fund and Minister of Defence, Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Finance, Government of India are ex-officio Trustees of the Fund.

●       The fund is administered on an honorary basis by a Joint Secretary (Administration) in the PMO as Secretary to the fund, who is assisted on honorary basis by an Officer of the rank of Director/Deputy Secretary (Administration) in the PMO.

Supreme Court Verdict related to it

        ·        Supreme Court stated that the PM Cares Fund is a voluntary fund registered as a public charitable trust necessitated due to the emergent situation borne out of Covid-19 pandemic, hence it is not open for the petitioner to question the government on the wisdom to create PM Cares Fund.

        ·        Any individual or institution can contribute to PM cares. It does not get any budgetary support and no government money is credited in the PM Cares Fund.

Why there is provision for Audit of National Disaster Response Fund?

        ·        National Disaster Response Fund is defined in Section 46 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005 (DM Act) as a fund managed by the Central Government for meeting the expenses for emergency response, relief and rehabilitation due to any threatening disaster situation or disaster.

        ·        It is a statutory fund. NDRF is constituted to supplement the funds of the State Disaster Response Funds (SDRF) of the states to facilitate immediate relief in case of calamities of a severe nature.

        ·        The financial assistance from SDRF/NDRF is for providing immediate relief and is not compensation for loss/damage to properties /crops. In other words, NDRF amount can be spent only towards meeting the expenses for emergency response, relief and rehabilitation. For projects exclusively for the purpose of mitigation, i.e, measures aimed at reducing the risk, impact or effect of a disaster or threatening disaster situation a separate fund called National Disaster Mitigation Fund has to be constituted.

        ·   The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the National Disaster Management Authority takes decisions on the expenses from National Disaster Response Fund, in accordance with the guidelines laid down by the Central Government in consultation with the National Authority.

Criticism

·        There is no public report of exactly how much money has been collected till date by this fund. Granted that PM CARES is a public charitable trust and a voluntary fund to which any individual or institution can make voluntary contributions.

·        But when contributions have been reportedly made by entities like the Indian Railways, the armed forces and defence PSUs, it is the taxpayers’ money that is involved here. Therefore, people have a right to know where exactly the money is going and how it is being utilised. This is where PM CARES needs to be audited by the CAG, not by independent auditors.