{"id":1479,"date":"2025-09-01T08:07:55","date_gmt":"2025-09-01T08:07:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arkreflectionsias.com\/studentportal\/?p=1479"},"modified":"2025-09-30T08:17:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T08:17:07","slug":"current-affairs-2nd-september-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arkreflectionsias.com\/studentportal\/2025\/09\/01\/current-affairs-2nd-september-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Current Affairs 2nd September 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

Is India\u2019s Fight Against Corruption Turning into a Political Weapon?<\/strong>
\nThe Election Commission, investigative agencies like ED and CBI, and the legal architecture are designed to
\nensure free and fair democracy. However, recent trends indicate that enforcement actions are disproportionately
\ntargeting opposition parties, raising doubts about institutional neutrality. This is not just a political debate\u2014it
\nchallenges the foundational principles of the Constitution: equality, liberty, and fairness.<\/p>\n

Is the Political Battlefield Overtaking the Constitutional Playing Field?<\/strong>
\n\u2022 The editorial highlights a disturbing trend: agencies are acting less like independent institutions and more
\nlike instruments of executive power.<\/p>\n

1. Does Targeting Opposition Violate Equality Before Law? (Article 14)<\/strong>
\n\u2022 Article 14 guarantees equality and non-arbitrariness.
\n\u2022 Selective action against opposition leaders fails the test of fairness laid down in E.P. Royappa v. State of
\nTamil Nadu (1974):
\n\u2022 \u201cEquality is antithetical to arbitrariness.\u201d
\n\u2022 Value Addition: E.P. Royappa and Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India (1978) strengthen due process
\nagainst arbitrary state action.<\/p>\n

2. Is Political Freedom Being Choked?<\/strong>
\n\u2022 Article 19(1)(a) & 19(1)(c): Freedom of speech and association.
\n\u2022 Article 21: Personal liberty and due process.
\n\u2022 Arbitrary arrests and raids during elections hamper the right to political participation.
\n\u2022 Judgment: Maneka Gandhi (1978) \u2192 Expanded Article 21 to include fairness and reasonableness.
\n\u2022 Justice K.S. Puttaswamy (2017) \u2192 Right to Privacy & proportionality principle applies to raids and
\nsurveillance.<\/p>\n

3. Does the Executive Overshadow Federalism? (Articles 75, 164 & 239AA)<\/strong>
\n\u2022 Articles 75 & 164: Mandate collective responsibility of the council of ministers; not unilateral executive
\ndominance.
\n\u2022 Article 239AA: Special provisions for Delhi.
\n\u2022 Recent ED\/CBI actions in Delhi underline Centre\u2013State tension, violating the spirit of cooperative
\nfederalism.
\n\u2022 Judgment: NCT of Delhi v. Union of India (2018) \u2192 Strengthened State executive control in Delhi.<\/p>\n

4. Are Legislative Privileges Being Compromised? (Articles 105 & 194)<\/strong>
\n\u2022 These Articles protect freedom of speech in Parliament and State Legislatures.
\n\u2022 Raids on legislators during sessions \u2192 Potential violation of legislative privilege and basic structure
\ndoctrine.<\/p>\n

5. Is the Right to Remedy Effective? (Articles 32 & 226)<\/strong>
\n\u2022 Article 32: Right to move Supreme Court for enforcement of fundamental rights.
\n\u2022 Article 226: High Courts\u2019 power to issue writs.
\n\u2022 Frequent judicial interventions indicate erosion of institutional self-regulation.
\n\u2022 Judgment: Rameshwar Prasad v. Union of India (2006) \u2192 Struck down arbitrary dissolution of
\nAssemblies, reaffirming judicial review.<\/p>\n

Key Judgments to Reflect On<\/strong>
\n\u2022 Indira Gandhi v. Raj Narain (1975) \u2192 Free and fair elections are part of the basic structure.
\n\u2022 E.P. Royappa (1974) \u2192 Equality \u2260 arbitrariness.
\n\u2022 Maneka Gandhi (1978) \u2192 Due process under Article 21.
\n\u2022 K.S. Puttaswamy (2017) \u2192 Privacy & proportionality principle.
\n\u2022 Rameshwar Prasad (2006) \u2192 Judicial review on arbitrary executive actions.
\n\u2022 S.R. Bommai (1994) \u2192 Misuse of power to dismiss state governments = unconstitutional.<\/p>\n

Value Additions: Why Should This Worry Us?<\/strong>
\n\u2022 Basic Structure Doctrine: Kesavananda Bharati (1973) \u2013 Neutrality of institutions is non-negotiable.
\n\u2022 Global Models:
\n\u2022 UK \u2192 Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) ensures financial ethics.
\n\u2022 USA \u2192 Special Counsel mechanism under DOJ for political neutrality.
\n\u2022 Indian Examples: CAG during coal scam retained credibility because of institutional independence.<\/p>\n

How Do We Restore Faith in Institutions?<\/strong>
\n1. Legislative Safeguards
\n\u2022 Amend Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to ensure parliamentary oversight of ED\/CBI.
\n\u2022 Introduce fixed tenure & removal safeguards for agency heads (like CVC model).
\n2. Judicial Oversight
\n\u2022 Fast-track benches for politically sensitive cases during elections to avoid selective delays.
\n3. Strengthening Federalism
\n\u2022 Institutionalize Inter-State Council (Article 263) to deliberate on Centre\u2013State agency coordination.
\n4. UK-Style Independent Accountability
\n\u2022 Adopt a statutory body similar to UK IPSA for oversight of financial integrity in politics.
\n5. Transparent Appointment Mechanism
\n\u2022 Collegium-type model for appointing ED\/CBI chiefs to avoid executive dominance.
\n6. Digital Transparency
\n\u2022 Mandatory public disclosure of ongoing investigations with judicial approval to prevent misuse.<\/p>\n

Is Neutrality a Luxury or a Necessity?<\/strong>
\nDemocracy survives not on laws alone but on institutional trust. When agencies appear as political weapons rather
\nthan guardians of justice, the Constitution\u2019s soul is at stake. A democracy without credible institutions is not a
\ndemocracy\u2014it\u2019s a fa\u00e7ade. Restoring institutional neutrality is the true fight against corruption.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Is India\u2019s Fight Against Corruption Turning into a Political Weapon? The Election Commission, investigative agencies like ED and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-current-affairs"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":"","thumbnail":"","medium":"","medium_large":"","large":"","1536x1536":"","2048x2048":"","morenews-large":"","morenews-medium":""},"author_info":{"display_name":"ArkReflections","author_link":"https:\/\/arkreflectionsias.com\/studentportal\/author\/arkreflectionsiaspost\/"},"category_info":"DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS<\/a>","tag_info":"DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkreflectionsias.com\/studentportal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkreflectionsias.com\/studentportal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkreflectionsias.com\/studentportal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkreflectionsias.com\/studentportal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkreflectionsias.com\/studentportal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1479"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/arkreflectionsias.com\/studentportal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1479\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1786,"href":"https:\/\/arkreflectionsias.com\/studentportal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1479\/revisions\/1786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkreflectionsias.com\/studentportal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkreflectionsias.com\/studentportal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkreflectionsias.com\/studentportal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}