-CaravanMagazine.in India is often hailed for its democracy, for empowering its poor and ordinary citizens to participate in the electoral process and play a role in shaping the country. This narrative has increasingly come under strain since the Supreme Court, through its March 2003 judgment in Union of India vs Association for Democratic Reforms, made it mandatory for candidates contesting elections to disclose their wealth, educational qualification, and criminal cases pending...

-TheWire.in Former CICs say 'independent minded commissioners' are being targeted by the Centre and question why similar mechanisms do not exists for judges and election commissioners. New Delhi: The move by the Centre to set up two separate committees to receive complaints against Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) and the central information commissioners has not gone down well with former incumbents. They argue that it is a bid to rein in “independent minded...

-The Indian Express The Indian Express has learnt that the proposal envisages setting up of two committees — one, to receive and decide on complaints against the CIC and a second one for complaints against Information Commissioners. In what is being seen by the Central Information Commission as an attempt to erode its independence and undermine its role as per the Right To Information (RTI) law, the government has proposed setting...

-Hindustan Times From a constitutional point of view, the scheme fails the tests of rationality and non-arbitrariness Earlier this month, the Supreme Court indicated that it would hear the long-pending constitutional challenge to the electoral bonds scheme. The electoral bonds scheme, which was introduced by the government in early 2018, provides new channels for private funding of political parties, and has been subjected to severe criticism, including by a former Chief Election...

-TheWire.in No new appointments have been made to the Central Information Commission since 2016. New Delhi: From Monday, the Central Information Commission (CIC) will function with only three commissioners – as opposed to a sanctioned strength of 11, including the chief. The present crisis has arisen because the Narendra Modi government has since 2016 failed to fill any vacancies in the body – probably because the commission has been at the forefront...