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Tarun Khaitan Profile picture
@tarunkhaitan
Apr 5 • 23 tweets • 8 min read • Read on X
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#CongressManifesto promises on #DemocracyDefence: A 🧵

1/n
Welcome promises on privacy and freedom
2/n
1.We promise you freedom from fear. 2. We promise to restore freedom of speech and expression including full freedom of the media. 3. We promise to de-criminalise the offence of defama- tion and provide, by law, a speedy remedy by way of civil damages. 4. We promise to end the arbitrary and indiscriminate suspension of the Internet. 5. We will review the Telecommunications Act, 2023 and remove the provisions that restrict freedom of speech and expression and that violate the right to privacy. 6. We promise to review all laws that interfere with the right to privacy and make suitable amendme...
7. We promise to uphold the people’s right to assemble peacefully and to form associations. 8. We promise not to interfere with personal choices of food and dress, to love and marry, and to travel and reside in any part of India. All laws and rules that interfere unreasonably with personal freedoms will be repealed
Extremely important promise to restore primacy of the legislature, + a promise of an #OppositionDay every week. Will need to be put on statutory footing, if not enshrined in the constitution by amendment. Needs to include making #LeaderOfOpposition a constitutional office.
3/n 9. We promise that the two Houses of Parliament will each meet for 100 days in a year and the great traditions of Parliament that prevailed in the past will be revived and scrupulously observed. We promise that one day in a week will be devoted to discuss the agenda suggested by the opposition benches in each House. We promise that the presiding officers of the two Houses will be required to sever their connection with any political party, remain neutral, and observe the age-old norm that the ‘Speaker does not speak’.
Important promise on electoral integrity--elections must be fair and seen to be fair. If implemented, should set all doubts about voting machines to rest. Needs statutory footing.
4/n 11. We promise to restore the voters’ trust in the election process. We will amend the election laws to combine the efficiency of the electronic voting machine (EVM) and the transparency of the ballot paper. Voting will be through the EVM but the voter will be able to hold and deposit the machine-generated voting slip into the voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) unit. The electronic vote tally will be matched against the VVPAT slip tally.
Extremely important promise on independence of guarantor/fourth-branch institutions--but lacks details. Will need to be done properly. I suggest how to go about it in this piece:
5/n drive.google.com/file/d/1QgkuJG…
12. We promise to strengthen the autonomy of the Election Commission of India, the Central Information Commission, the Human Rights Commission, the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General, the Commis- sions for SC, ST, minorities and OBC, and other constitu- tional bodies.
Promise to amend 10th schedule to mandate automatic disqualification on aisle crossing. Critical to end Operation Black Lotus & protect less-wealthy parties. But needs to be restricted to confidence/budget motions. Pakistani anti-defection law is a good model to learn from.
6/n 13. We promise to amend the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution and make defection (leaving the original party on which the MLA or MP was elected) an automat- ic disqualification of the membership in the Assembly or Parliament.
Important, but vague, promises on criminal justice reform. Extremely essential for the rule of law, but the devil will be in the detail. Coordination with states will be key as policing is a state subject. Constitutionality of CBI/NIA needs to be settled.
7/n 15. We promise to ensure that the police, investigation and intelligence agencies will function strictly in accordance with law. They will be brought under the oversight of Parliament or the state legislatures, as the case may be. 16. We promise to put an end to the weaponisation of laws, arbitrary searches, seizures and attachments, arbitrary and indiscriminate arrests, third-degree methods, prolonged custody, custodial deaths, and bulldozer justice. 17. We promise to enact a law on bail that will incorpo- rate the principle that ‘bail is the rule, jail is the excep- tion’ in all criminal ...
Promise on media ownership pluralism very welcome. Australian & other countries' laws on media pluralism need to be studied for guidance. Should also consider mandating all private news media companies to register as not-for-profit (s. 25) companies.
8/n 4. Congress will pass a law to curb monopolies in the media, cross-ownership of different segments of the media, and control of the media by business organisa- tions. Congress will refer cases of suspected monopo- lies to the Competition Commission of India.
Another stab at National Judicial Commission promised, in consultation with the judiciary. Ensuring equal political membership of treasury & opposition benches will be key. Should include a promise to raise retirement age for all SC/HC judges. See
9/n thewire.in/politics/unite…
1. The independence and quality of the judiciary is reflected in the independence and quality of the judges. Congress will unswervingly uphold the independence of the judiciary. In consultation with the Supreme Court and the Chief Justices of the High Courts, Congress will establish a National Judicial Commission (NJC). The composition of the NJC will be decided in consultation with the Supreme Court. The NJC will be responsible for the selection and appointment of judges of the High Courts and the Supreme Court.
Promise to divide the SC into a constitutional and an appellate division. Welcome move to ringfence constitutional defence, as I argued here: doi.org/10.1080/247305…
Congress will amend the Constitution to create two divisions in the Supreme Court: a Constitutional Court and a Court of Appeal. The Constitutional Court consist- ing of the seven seniormost judges will hear and decide cases involving the interpretation of the Constitution and other cases of legal significance or national impor- tance. The Court of Appeal will be the final court of appeal that will, sitting in Benches of three judges each, hear appeals from the High Court and National Tribu- nals.
Accessibe version of 👆🏾paper here:
11/npapers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cf…
Lots of community-specific promises to end discrimination, but I cannot see a repeat of a 2019 promise to enact a general, comprehensive, antidiscrimination law for all groups. This UN guidance is a good place to begin thinking about such a law
12/nohchr.org/en/publication…
Diversity promotion should be a goal of a single, autonomous, Equality Commission. Proliferation of multiple equality bodies creates turf-battles and silos, encouraging a politics of competitive disadvantage.
13/n Image
Rather vague & minimalistic promises on religious minority rights. Nothing about ensuring justice & healing after a decade of persecution of Muslims. Or how they will deal with the poison of fascism that has percolated deep. A Truth & Reconciliation Commission anyone?
14/n 1.We will respect and uphold the fundamental right to practice one’s faith and the rights guaranteed to religious minorities under Articles 15, 16, 25, 26, 28, 29 and 30 of the Constitution. 2. We will also respect and uphold the rights of linguis- tic minorities guaranteed under Articles 15, 16, 29 and 30 of the Constitution. 3. We will encourage and assist students and youth belonging to the minorities to take full advantage of the growing opportunities in education, employment, business, services, sports, arts and other fields. 4. We will restore the Maulana Azad Scholarships for study a...
Progressive promises on disability & sexual orientation, including recognising civil unions.
15/n 5. We will expand Articles 15 and 16 of the Constitution to prohibit discrimination on the ground of ‘disability’, ‘impairment’ or ‘sexual orientation’. 11. After wide consultation, Congress will bring a law to recognize civil unions between couples belonging to the LGBTQIA+ community
Promise to restore academic freedom. Details missing. Abolishing governmental control over leadership appointments & democratised governance structures key to realising the promise.
16/n We will restore the autonomy of colleges and universities. Higher educational institutions will have academic freedom and will be encouraged to experi- ment, innovate and promote research. We will protect and preserve students’ freedom of speech and expres- sion and the right to have elected student unions.
Welcome promise to fast-track quotas for women in legislatures.
17/n The Constitution (106th) Amendment Act marks the BJP’s great betrayal of women. The Amendment Act contains sinister provisions that will allow the reserva- tion of seats in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies to come into operation only beyond 2029. Congress will delete the sinister provisions and bring the Amendment Act into force immediately. The one-third reservation for women will be applied to State Assemblies that will be elected in the next round of Assembly elections in 2025. The one-third reservation for women will also be applied to the Lok Sabha that will be elected in 2029
Vague promise on artistic freedom. Little detail.
18/n 1. Congress will guarantee artistic freedom. We will oppose censorship. Attempts by vigilante groups to censor or intimidate artists will be dealt with firmly and according to law.
Extremely important promise to strengthen federalism by transferring more powers to states.
19/n We will review the distribution of legislative fields in the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution and build a consensus on transferring some fields from List III (Concurrent List) to List II (State List).
Promise of full statehood to Puducherry, but not to Delhi--although LG's powers will be curtailed. Nothing on extending the freeze on inter-state constituency delimitation.
20/n
Promise of a Right to Homestead Act for rural areas. Important progressive move to realise a positive right to property. Details will matter.
21/n For rural areas, Congress will pass the Right to Homestead Act, extend the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana to all villages and habitations, and increase the funds to and quicken the pace of implementation of the National Drinking Water Mission.
There is something on each of the 11 points I asked for in my @thewire_in piece, except 1: nothing on changing the electoral system from first-past-the-post to a ranked-choice vote system. On why this is critical, see thewire.in/politics/unite…
@thewire_in In sum--lots of good ideas, although some important gaps. Understandably, details & feasibility missing for many ideas, making them seem aspirational at best, insincere at worst. If they miraculously win, civil society will have it task cut out of holding them to these promises.

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More from @tarunkhaitan

Tarun Khaitan Profile picture
Aug 14, 2023
Ran plagiarism checks on Turnitin against the official repository of existing laws :

83% of #BharatiyaNyayaSanhita, it seems, is lifted from Indian Penal Code. You can download turnitin report (with cut-pasted text in red) here: https://t.co/oyEAOPDYvX https://t.co/qlcxdwwvOSindiacode.nic.in
tinyurl.com/mtrem98a
image of report showing 83% similarity
Plagiarism check using Turnitin against the official repository of existing laws :
82% of #NagarikSurakshaSanhita, it seems, is lifted from Criminal Procedure Code. You can download turnitin report (with cut-pasted text in red) here: https://t.co/ZnNWnCIlaE https://t.co/6mc9tmeyOWindiacode.nic.in
tinyurl.com/578stvzd
Image of report showing 82% similarity
Ran plagiarism checks on Turnitin against the official repository of existing laws :

82% of #BharatiyaSakshyaBill, it seems, is lifted from Indian Evidence Act. You can download turnitin report (with cut-pasted text in red) here: https://t.co/fpfmOs9wT3 https://t.co/DX2cdbWBnvindiacode.nic.in
tinyurl.com/mv2uuybd
plagiarism report image showing 82% similarity
Read 5 tweets
Tarun Khaitan Profile picture
May 30, 2022
Possible 2025 scenario:🧵
The newly reelected Modi govt refuses to extend the constitutional pause on decadal census-based constituency delimitation exercise expiring in 2026. Huge protests in Southern states, whose relative share in state power will nosedive. 1/5
The proposal will not reduce the extant seats of any state, only increase seats for the Hindi belt in proportion of their population--nearly doubling the size of Lok Sabha to about a 1,000 MPs (who, fortuitously, can now be accommodated in the larger new Parliament building). 2/5
This may pacify sitting MPs worried about losing their seats, but not Southern political parties who will feel penalised for managing their population better. Added strain on asymmetric federalism where the larger financial contributor states have dwindling political voice. 3/5
Read 6 tweets

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