(Current Affairs) List of Important Bills (Part-I)

1. Central Information Commission:-

• Central information commission is constituted by the central government through a gazette notification.
• The commission includes one chief information and not more than 10 information commission.
• All are appointed by the president.
• Oath of office is administered by the president of India according to the form set out in the first schedule.
• Central information commission and state information commission have power of civil court.

2. Election Commission celebrates diamond jubilee:-

• The president of India recently inaugurated the diamond jubilee celebration of the election commission of India.
• The commission was set up on Jan 25, 1950. While the rest of the constitution came into force on Jan 26, 1950.
• Article 324 that created the commission was one of those exceptional provisions given effect as early as on Nov 26, 1949.
• Until Oct 1989 there was just one chief election commission. In 1991 a law providing for the appointment of two election commissioners. This law was amended and renamed in 1993.
• The election commission enjoys complete autonomy and is insulated from any kind of executive interference.
• It also functions as a quasi-judicial body in matters of electoral disputes and other matters involving the conduct of elections.
• However the decisions of the body are liable for independent judicial reviews by courts acting on electoral petitions.

Principal functions of Election Commission of India:-

• Demarcation of consistencies
• Preparation of electoral rolls
• Recognition of political parties and allotment of symbols
• Scrutiny of nomination papers
• Conduct of polls
• Scrutiny of election expenses of candidates.
• The national health bill – 2009
• It seeks to provide health , health equity and justice for all Indians

3. National Health Bill- 2009

It seeks to provide health, health equity and justice for all Indians.

Its Important Features are:-

• Right to heath care:- the bill seeks to legalize the right to health care along with other issues associated with health rights.
• Emergency care:- no individual should be denied emergency treatment because of his inability to pay fees or due to the requirement for police clearance.
• Patient complaints:- bill seeks to make it mandatory for the hospitals to address patient complaints on 24x7 basis.
• Name of doctor involved in treatment:- every patient has the right to know the name of doctor/ nurse involved in his treatment.

4. National Arrears Grid:-

• Union law minister had announced that the national arrears grid and the special purpose vehicle would implement the action plan to bring down the arrears of cases pending in various courts.
• The action plans should focus on human resource development, infrastructure development and procedural reforms.
• It is decided that special judges to deal with all pending criminal cases where the term of sentences was less than 3 years.
• It favored creation of a national pool of judicial officers from retired judges to enable persons from the pool to be appointed as high court judges.

5. Gram Nyayalayas:-

• The Gram Nyayalayas act 2008 had been enacted to provide for the establishment of the gram nyayalayas at the grass root level for the purpose of providing access to justice to the citizens at their door steps.

Salient features:-

• It is aimed at providing inexpensive justice to people in rural areas at their door steps.
• It will have its court of judicial magistrate of the first class and its presiding officers ( Nyayadhikri) shall be appointed by the state government in consultation with the High Court.
• The Gram Nyayalaya shall be established for every panchyats at intermediate level in a district or where there is no panchayat at intermediate level in any state for a group of contiguous panchayats.
• Gram nyayalaya shall be a mobile court and shall exercise the powers of both criminal and civil courts.
• Officiating nyaydhikari will go to villages work there and dispose of the cases.

6. Law commission:-

• It is a non- statutory body.
• Constituted by the government from time to time originally constituted in 1955 and it is reconstituted every three years.

7. Judges ( inquiry) bill , 2006:-

• The judges ( inquiry ) bill 2006 established a national judicial council ( NJC) to conduct Inquiries into allegations of incapacity or misbehavior by high court and Supreme Court judges.
• The proposed NJC would consist of the chief justice of India, two Supreme Court judges and two high court chief justices to investigate high court judge (It has been change again in the new draft).
• The chief justice of India and four Supreme Court judges to investigate Supreme Court judges.
• The NJC shall investigate complaints submitted by any persons, or upon receiving a references from parliament based on a motion moved by 50 Rajya Sabha or 100 Lok Sabha m.p.
• If the allegations are proven, the NJC may impose minor  measures or recommended the removal of judges. Removal of judges shall be through impeachment by parliament.

8. Biotechnology Regulating Authority of India (BRAI) bill:-

• This Bill would bring about wide ranging changes in the process of regulating research, transport, import, manufacture and use of G.M product in the country.

Controversy regarding the Bill:-

• According to section 81 of the bill the act will have an overriding effect over other state – level acts. Activists allege that this ignores the constitutional powers of states over agriculture and health
• This bill has no provisions for public participation, which is a violation of article 23.2 of the Cartagena Protocol on bio- safety to which India is a signatory.
• The bill also states that whoever without any evidence or scientific record misleads the public about the safety of organism and products shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than six months. But which may extend to one year and with fine which may extend to two lakh rupees or with both.
• The bill serves to over ride state specific concerns by making the proposed authority solely responsible for releasing and controlling genetically modified organisms (GMOs) through out the country and envisages only an advisory role for state.

9. The prohibitions of unfair practices in technical, medical educations institutions and universities bill:-

• It is drafted by the Human Resource development ministry to provide for a central law to curb malpractices.
• However in the T.M.A pai , case supreme court held that establishment of private unaided educational institutions was in the exercise of fundamental rights to occupations under article 19 (1) (g) of the constitution.

10. Communal violence bill:-

• It is communal violence (prevention, control and rehabilitation) bill.
• The bill empowers the centre to intervene to tackle communal violence without the concurrence of the state government , if it is believe that state is not doing enough to control the violence.
• The bill also empowers the centre to declare any area in any state communally disturbed, if it is convinced that the state government is not following its directions to control or to check communal violence.
• The bill gives the central government exclusive power to constitute a unified command to deal with communal violence

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