Editorial 1. What a tangled web
Context: Pratap Bhanu Mehta writes: Conduct of the Supreme Court over the appointment of Justice Victoria Gowri is yet another spectacular own goal.
Collegium system
- Collegium system is the system of appointment and transfer of judges that has evolved through judgments of the SC, and not by an Act of Parliament or by a provision of the Constitution.
- The Supreme Court Collegium is headed by the Chief Justice of India and comprises four other senior most Judges of the court.
- The High Court collegium is led by the incumbent Chief Justice and two other senior most judges of that court.
Issues in the Collegium system
- The process for appointments and transfers of judges of the Supreme Court and high courts is one of the system’s dark areas.
- The complete exclusion of the executive from the judicial appointment process created a system where a few judges appoint the rest in complete secrecy.
- There is no specific criteria for testing the candidate for the post of Chief Justice of India which leads to wide scope for nepotism and favouritism.
- It is a close door mechanism as there are no official minutes of collegium proceedings.
- Collegium has not been able to prevent the increasing cases of vacancies of judges and cases in courts.
Issues in this Case
- The issues in this case should not be seen in the context of a particular individual. Let us, for a moment, put aside the question of whether Justice Gowri is worthy of appointment. Instead, focus on the institutional dynamics at play:
- The first is an odd structural situation where the Court becomes a judge in its own cause. It is true that the petition challenging the Justice’s appointment was heard by judges who were not part of the Collegium. But this is, as Gautam Bhatia has forcefully pointed out, a case of the Court sitting in judgment of its own decision, where the bench is constituted by the Chief Justice who is party to the decision. This is a total legal anomaly, to put it mildly.
- The second issue is the question of what facts about a potential appointee are placed before the Collegium and the process by which it is done. If it has the power to recommend appointment, it has to have all the means and process to ensure that full due diligence is done on the candidates.
- The Court admits a challenge to the appointment, but then put the presiding judges in an impossible position. First of all, it is not clear what a judicial review of suitability of a candidate might actually mean.
Conclusion
- The basic question of whether the Collegium system is essential to preserving the basic structure of the Constitution cannot be answered by the Supreme Court alone through a judicial verdict. It requires a wider conversation.
- There’s no doubt that the credibility of the Supreme Court as the defender of our fundamental freedoms and protector of constitutional values would be enormously enhanced if it constructively engaged with other branches of the state on the above issues.
- After all, along with judicial review, the separation of powers and checks and balances are also important features of the basic structure of the Constitution as elucidated by the Supreme Court.
Editorial 2- Take-Off Point
Context: Launch of new rocket by ISRO opens up new possibilities. Space research agency’s stewardship will be critical
Introduction
- India’s space programme received a major boost on Friday when the ISRO’s Small Satellite Vehicle (SSLV-D2) lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota on Friday.
- Last August, the rocket’s maiden flight was a partial failure because it could not place the satellites it was carrying in their intended orbits. The glitch has been rectified.
- An 8 kg satellite developed by 750 government school girls from all over the country shared space with another small payload created by an American software company and a conventional earth observation satellite, weighing about 150 kg, developed by the ISRO.
Utility of Small Satellites
- Small satellites have utility in fields as diverse as:
- education,
- defence,
- earth sciences,
- emergency-related data services and smart power grids.
- In most parts of the world, these satellites hitch onto conventional rockets. With its PSLV (polar satellite launch vehicle), ISRO carved a niche for itself in the traditional launch segment.
- But in its 44-year history, the space research agency has averaged less than five launches a year. Today’s data-driven world requires more frequent rocket launches.
- Private players, especially in China and the US, are stepping up to this challenge. Elon Musk’s SpaceX, for instance, launched an orbital mission once every six days last year. Such rockets can be assembled, on-demand, at a fraction of the cost of conventional satellites in three to four days — the turnaround time for the PSLV, in contrast, is at least a month.
Private Sector Participation in India
- The ISRO plans to transfer the SSLV technology to private players.
- In 2020, the government set up the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) to enhance the diffusion of ISRO’s research.
- The launch of India’s first private sector-developed rocket last year is an early indication of the initiative’s success. The presence of more than 100 start-ups testifies to the appetite of private players for the space sector.
Conclusion
- However, the country has a long way to go to become a significant player in the small satellite-driven space economy — its share is about 2 per cent.
- The private sector’s learning curve is likely to be steep. The success of such players in the US, including Musk’s venture, owes much to the enabling partnerships forged with NASA. India’s premier space research agency would do well to emulate its American counterpart.