CURRENT AFFAIRS
22 May 2021
NATIONAL NEWS:
A) GST on oxygen concentrators imported for personal use ‘unconstitutional’, says Delhi High Court.
The Delhi High Court on Friday held the Government’s action of imposing Goods and Services Tax (GST) on Oxygen concentrators imported for personal use as ‘unconstitutional’ and said persons looking to import oxygen concentrators should furnish an undertaking that the devices won’t be used for commercial purposes. A Bench of Justices Rajiv Shakdher and Talwant Singh held that oxygen concentrators constitute a life-saving device during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and therefore, should be treated on par with life-saving drugs. Oxygen concentrator, on the face of it, is a life-saving device, Justice Shakdher said. In times of war, famine, floods, pandemic, a different approach needs to be adopted. We have also indicated and taken judicial notice of the fact that funds have been allocated for healthcare in this Budget… We would have liked more time to delve into these issues but both of us thought that time is of the essence and waiting too long would take away the meaning of the judgement, the High Court Judge said. Referring to the potential impact of the GST levy on such imports on overall GST collections, Justice Shakdher said that without giving us details as to why this will debilitate the State if tax on such transactions was not collected where individuals import oxygen concentrators for personal use, we have said you have not really discharged the burden. You have to justify it in these situations. The petitioner in the case, a senior citizen whose nephew had shipped him a concentrator as a gift, had challenged a May 1 notification that levied 12% GST on such imports from 28% earlier. He invoked Article 21 of the Constitution which enshrines the fundamental right to life. The court had earlier asked the government to consider temporarily dropping the 12% GST levied on such imports altogether, citing the shortage of oxygen in the second wave of the pandemic. However, the Finance Ministry had turned it down, stating that if the petitioner’s argument about Article 21 is accepted, it will lead to absurd consequences and interpretations, where in citizens will be seeking exemption from Property tax, since housing is an essential facet of Right of Life… or exemption from taxes imposed on several food items since Right to Food has been held by the Supreme Court to be a part of Right of Life under Article 21.
B) Govt asks Twitter to remove ‘manipulated media’ tag from ‘toolkit’-related tweets by BJP leader.
The government has asked Twitter to remove the manipulated media tag for tweets on an alleged ‘Congress toolkit’ to discredit Covid-19 efforts, calling it prejudicial, a clear overreach and unwarranted, sources said today. The official complaint has been spurred by Twitter marking BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra’s tweet as ‘manipulated media’. The Ministry of Electronics and IT, in a strong communication to the global team of Twitter, has objected to the use of the manipulated media tag on certain tweets made by Indian political leaders with reference to a toolkit created to undermine, derail and demean the efforts of the government against Covid-19, sources said. Sambit Patra’s tweet on May 18, shared by several BJP leaders, had screenshots of what he had called a Congress toolkit that aimed to smear Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the government’s handling of Covid-19. The Congress filed FIRs in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan the same day, accusing BJP leaders of sharing a fake toolkit based on forged screenshots. The party yesterday wrote to Twitter urging it to remove tweets by Sambit Patra and other BJP leaders and suspend their accounts permanently for spreading misinformation and unrest in society. Last evening, a manipulated media tag appeared below Patra’s tweet.
C) SC upholds Centre’s notification permitting banks to proceed against personal guarantors under IBC.
The Supreme Court on Friday upheld a government move to initiate proceedings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) against personal guarantors (usually promoters of big business houses) of corporate debtors facing corporate insolvency resolution process. In a judgment which will ring loud and clear across the business community, a Bench of Justices L. Nageswara Rao and S. Ravindra Bhat held that the November 15, 2019 notification of the Centre allowing creditors, usually financial institutions and banks, to move against personal guarantors under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) was legal and valid. The notification of November 15, 2019 invoking IBC against personal guarantors was challenged before several High Courts initially. The Supreme Court had transferred the petitions from the High Courts to itself on the request made by the government. The court had transferred the cases from the High Courts in October last year, saying the IBC was at a nascent stage and the interpretations of the provisions of the Code should be taken up by the apex court to avoid any confusion and to authoritatively settle the law. The concept of ‘guarantee’ is derived from Section 126 of the Indian Contracts Act, 1872. A contract of guarantee is made among the debtor, creditor and guarantor. If the debtor fails to repay the debt to the creditor, the burden falls on the guarantor to pay the amount owed to the lender. The creditor reserves the right to begin insolvency proceedings against the personal guarantor if the latter does not pay. Usually, promoters of big businesses submit personal guarantees to creditors to secure loans and assure repayment.
D) Environmentalist Sunderlal Bahuguna passes away.
Well-known environmentalist and Gandhian Sunderlal Bahuguna has died from Covid-19-related complications at AIIMS in Rishikesh. He was 94. He was admitted to the hospital on May 8 after testing positive for Covid-19. He had been critical since last night with his oxygen level dropping drastically. A pioneer in environmental protection, Bahuguna led the charge against the construction of big dams in the Himalayas in the 1980s. He was fervently opposed to the construction of the Tehri dam. He, along with local women, founded the Chipko movement in the Seventies to prevent the felling of trees in the ecologically sensitive zones. The movement’s success led to the enactment of a law to ban the felling of trees in ecologically sensitive forest lands. He also coined the Chipko slogan, ecology is permanent economy.
E) Sessions Court acquits Tarun Tejpal of rape charges.
The Mapusa District and Sessions Court in Goa on May 21 acquitted former Tehelka editor Tarun Tejpal in a 2013 sexual harassment and rape case filed by his colleague. Tejpal was accused of raping his colleague in an elevator of a five-star hotel. He was arrested on November 30, 2013, by the Goa Crime Branch and was granted bail on July 1, 2014, by the Supreme Court. In February 2014, the Goa Crime Branch filed a 2,846-page chargesheet against Tejpal. Former journalist Tarun Tejpal arrives for the verdict hearing of the sexual assault case in which he is accused of raping a female journalist in the lift of a five-star hotel in Goa in November 2013, at the district court of Mapusa in Goa on May 21, 2021. Tejpal has been acquited of the rape charge. Special judge Kshyama Joshi pronounced the judgment, and the reasons for acquittal will be known in due course of time. On September 29, 2017, the court framed charges against him under various Sections of the Indian Penal Code. The trial commenced in March 2018 but got interrupted due to several factors, one of them being Tejpal seeking a discharge in the case, for which he first moved the sessions court, then the High Court, and later the Supreme Court. In August 2019, the top court declined his plea and ordered that the trial be held in-camera (not open to the public) and be completed in six months. The trial finally began on December 7, 2020, and the survivor was examined and cross-examined for an entire month till January 7, 2021, by physical appearance and through video-conferencing. The trial concluded at the end of February 2021 and, after final arguments were made by both sides, the judgment was reserved. The court was earlier supposed to pronounce the judgment on April 27 but was adjourned to May 12 due to shortage of staff in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. It was again adjourned to May 19 because of Cyclone Tauktae and then to May 21. Public Prosecutor Francisco Tavora said, We are seriously aggrieved and the State will be appealing the judgment.
F) Calcutta HC refers Narada case to a larger bench.
The Calcutta High Court on Friday referred the Narada case to a larger bench and directed that the accused be put under house arrest instead of judicial custody. The division bench of Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice Arijit Banerjee directed that the matter be heard before a larger bench since one of the judges thought it was fit to grant interim bail to the four arrested while the other did not. The order stated that the court found that the guidance in this regard given by the Supreme Court on May 12, 2021 in case titled as Gautam Navlakha vs. National Investigation Agency is fully applicable in these cases. As far as interim relief is concerned, while modifying the earlier order dated May 17, 2021, we direct that considering the age and health issues of the accused, three of whom are said to be admitted in hospital, instead of custody in jail, all the accused persons can be put under house arrest in their own homes, the order by the division bench read. The Court also added that during house arrest, while being in home comfort, they shall be entitled to all medical facilities and shall be bound by all applicable restrictions. Any violation thereof can result in recall of this order, the order stated. Four leaders including two Ministers in the West Bengal government Subrata Mukherjee and Firhad Hakim, MLA Madan Mitra and former Minister Sovan Chatterjee were arrested by the CBI in connection with Narada sting videos on Monday. The four leaders have been in judicial custody since then.
G) Jaishankar talks of ‘dishonoured commitments’ during Covid-19 pandemic.
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has hinted that countries failed to live by commitments during the Covid-19 pandemic. The pandemic had prompted countries to become self-seeking, often resorting to a broader definition of national security that disrupted supply chains, he said in a speech at a ‘Future of Asia’ event organised by Nikkei on Thursday. In the past, defence, politics and intelligence drove calculations, with some extrapolation into domains like resources, energy or technology. With some notable exceptions, its demands were balanced out by the requirements of global exchanges, economic efficiency, and perhaps by social habits. These trends, in fact, became stronger as the globalisation mantra took deeper root. The pandemic, however, saw capabilities leveraged, commitments dishonoured, supply chains blocked, logistics disrupted, and shortages created, with all the accompanying anxieties, said Jaishankar, distinguishing the pandemic-era response of nation-states from the usual globalisation-driven concerns. The policy-oriented speech is being interpreted as an admission by the Minister to the problems that India itself is facing in continuing with the Vaccine Maitri project, under which it had promised to deliver vaccines all over the world, and especially to the South Asian partner countries. On Wednesday, Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen called Jaishankar and reminded him that Dhaka did not get the Covishield vaccine from Pune’s Serum Institute of India (SII) despite placing orders. The shortage of vaccine from the SII has created a crisis for the required second round of doses for the recipients. Similar problems have been reported from Nepal, Sri Lanka and African countries that were promised vaccine from the SII.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
A) Israel and Hamas both claim victory as fragile ceasefire takes hold.
Israel and Hamas both claimed victory on Friday after their forces ended 11 days of fighting, but a clash between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters in Jerusalem underscored the fragility of the truce, Reuters reported. Egypt, which mediated the pre-dawn end to the worst hostilities between Israelis and Palestinians in years, discussed measures to avoid a resumption of the militant rocket attacks from Gaza on Israel and Israeli strikes on the enclave. The Gaza violence was set off on May 10 in part by Israeli police raids on the al-Aqsa mosque compound and clashes with Palestinians during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Thousands gathered there again for this Friday’s prayers, with many staying on to demonstrate in support of Gaza. Israeli police fired stun grenades towards demonstrators, who threw rocks and petrol bombs at officers, and Palestinian medics said some 20 Palestinians were wounded. The confrontations died down within about an hour, with Israeli police pulling back to the compound’s gates. In Gaza, five more bodies were pulled from the rubble in the densely populated Palestinian enclave, taking the death toll to 243, including 66 children, with more than 1,900 wounded. The Israeli military said an Israeli soldier had been killed as well as 12 civilians; hundreds have been treated for injuries after rocket salvoes that caused panic and sent people as far away as Tel Aviv rushing into shelters.
B) Biden hails truce, says it’s an opportunity towards peace.
President Joe Biden on Thursday hailed the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, saying he sees a genuine opportunity towards the larger goal of building a lasting peace in West Asia. Mr. Biden credited the Egyptian government with playing a crucial role in brokering the ceasefire and said he and top White House aides were intensely involved in an hour by hour effort to stop the bloodletting. He believe the Palestinians and Israelis equally deserve to live safely and securely and enjoy equal measures of freedom, prosperity and democracy, Mr. Biden said. My administration will continue our quiet, relentless diplomacy toward that. The ceasefire was announced one day after Mr. Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a telephone call that he expected significant de-escalation of the fighting by the day’s end, according to the White House. However, Mr. Netanyahu came right back with a public declaration that he was determined to continue the Gaza operation until its objective is achieved. Hours before the ceasefire agreement was reached, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the Israelis had achieved significant military objectives in their strikes intended to degrade Hamas military capabilities and reiterated that Mr. Biden expected the Israelis to start winding down their operations. Mr. Biden, who studiously avoided extensive public comment about the Israeli military strikes, was facing mounting pressure from fellow Democrats to speak out against the Israelis as the death toll climbed in Gaza and tens of thousands of Palestinians were displaced by the aerial bombardment.
