Delhi Confidential: The Beeline

ADDRESSING THE inauguration ceremony of International Judicial Conference 2020, Chief Justice of India Sharad Arvind Bobde noted that a feature of the Indian Constitution that is “neglected” is the fundamental duties. The CJI quoted Mahatma Gandhi in his speech: “Real rights are a result of performance of duty.” However, the Department of Justice, under the Law Ministry, which is the administrative wing that looks after judicial appointments, is going an extra mile to promote fundamental duties. The department has created an exhaustive list that includes a nodal officer and resource persons for every district of the country. This “resource person list”, which mostly includes members of legal aid services, will be carrying out the activities in spreading legal awareness on fundamental duties.

Time Share

A FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND analysis undertaken by Rajya Sabha Secretariat has revealed that parties have indeed got their fair share of time in the House, commensurate with their strength. The BJP with 82 members — accounting for 34 per cent of the House strength of 239 — got 480 opportunities, or 33 per cent of the total. The Congress with 46 members, constituting 19 per cent of the strength, got 345 opportunities, which is 24 per cent of the total. The 10 recognised parties in the House with five members and above each, with a total of 190 members accounting for 80 per cent of the House strength, got about 81 per cent of the total opportunities. Others including regional parties and Independents, with the rest 20 per cent of the House membership, got 19 per cent share of participation.