Summary of the Month
Dear Reader,
Today is the fourth Sunday of the month and hence I will be giving a summary of the previous posts I’ve made this month.
I will analyse the legislative, judicial and executive decisions of the past month. I will then state what their political leanings are. I will do this to show which political ideology has been the most influential in this month.
I will also give my personal analysis of the decisions made in the last month.
Legislative decision:
The Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Act (GNCT), 2021.
The legislation I analysed this month is the Government of the National Capital Territory (Amendment) Act (GNCT).
It is an amendment to the GNCT Act of 1993. That Act gave the framework for the working of the Delhi Legislative Assembly.
This amendment states that the Lieutenant Governor is the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. That he is the representative and the highest functionary of the government.
It also goes on to say that the Rules of Conduct of the Delhi Legislative Assembly must be consistent with the Rules of Conduct of the Lok Sabha.
The amendment also prohibits the Assembly from making any rule that would let it conduct any inquiry into administrative decisions and also that the opinion of the LG must be taken before taking any executive action on decisions of the Delhi Government on such matters as may be specified by the LG.
This Act unambiguously places the LG above the elected Delhi government. As It is an Authoritarian, Right-Wing Act.
I mostly agree with the GNCT (Amendment) Act, except for the provision that the Delhi Legislative Assembly’s rules of conduct must be consistent with those of the Central Government. Otherwise its provisions that the Legislative Assembly must not inquire into administrative activities and that the LG’s opinion must be sought on certain matters are in my opinion appropriate.
As I have analysed in this post — https://aadityamurali360.medium.com/the-government-of-national-capital-territory-of-delhi-amendment-act-8d9c013518bd —
It is an Authoritarian, Right-Wing Act.
Judicial Decisions:
Indian School, Jodhpur vs State of Rajashtan and others
The Supreme Court in this judgment has held that private schools demanding fees from students for the activities and facilities not availed by them due to the lockdown.
The reasoning for this judgment is that because students have not been using certain facilities of the schools due to not attending them, the schools in turn should deduct from their fees the amount that is spent on such facilities.
As I have assessed in this post - https://aadityamurali360.medium.com/school-fees-during-lockdown-west-bengal-housing-industry-act-rates-of-covid-19-equipment-fb3328431a51. — that this is an Authoritarian, Left-wing judgment.
I agree with this judgment wholeheartedly.
Forum For People’s Collective Efforts vs State of West Bengal & Anr.
The Supreme Court struck down the West Bengal Housing Industry Regulation Act, 2017 (HIRA). It held the Act to be unconstitutional because it infringed on the 2017 Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (RERA) which is the central legislation on the identical subject-matter.
It violated Article 256 and Article 162 which together direct the Sate Government to make laws that are in consonance with those of the Union Government.
In this post — https://aadityamurali360.medium.com/school-fees-during-lockdown-west-bengal-housing-industry-act-rates-of-covid-19-equipment-fb3328431a51- I have shown that this is an Authoritarian, Right-wing judgment.
I agree with this judgment. I believe it to be legally sound.
Executive Decision:
Central Government Orders 160 million doses of Covishield and Covaxin
The central government ordered 160 million doses of Covishield and Covaxin combined, which will be delivered across May, June and July.
This decision did not allow the private hospitals to order vaccines by themselves and kept the Central government’s control over the vaccine’s supply.
As I analysed in this post — https://aadityamurali360.medium.com/covid-19-orders-by-government-f7bbc108dc77- This is an Authoritarian Leftist decision.
I agree with this order.
Conclusion:
Throughout this month I have analysed 1 Act, 2 Judgments and 1 Order.
The Act is an Authoritarian, Right-Wing Act.This is because it increased the power and unequal position of the Central Government over a Union Territory.
The first Judgment is an Authoritarian, Left-wing judgment. This can be said because it increases the control of the State over educational institutions, in order to reduce the financial burden of school fees on the common man.
The second Judgment is an Authoritarian, Right-wing judgment. The justification for this statement is because it maintains the legislative control that the Central Government has over the State Government.
The Order is an Authoritarian Leftist Order. This can be seen in how it maintains the Central Government as being in charge of the response to the Covid-19 pandemic and puts more emphasis on modern medicine over traditional medicine.
Therefore, since each of these were Authoritarian in nature but there was an equal balance between the right and left wings, we can say that Authoritarianism was the most influential political ideology of the month. This is because the nation is in a crises and hence the State — all 3 branches- has taken on a larger role in our lives in order to protect its citizens. This authoritarianism that is growing also affected decisions not related to the Covid-19 pandemic. This shows that the State became more powerful in various areas.
Thank you for reading.
