Podcasts about chief election commissioner

This week on Hafta, Newslaundry's Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Raman Kirpal, Jayashree Arunachalam, and Anand Vardhan are joined by former Chief Election Commissioner Dr SY Quraishi and cartoonist Rachita Taneja. The show starts with a detailed discussion on the controversy surrounding the USAID funds allegedly released to “increase voter turnout in India” and an Indian Express fact-check that found that the said amount was meant for Bangladesh, never India.“The Election Commission is allergic to the thought of taking money from anyone outside India…We had enough funds and enough self-respect,” says Dr Quraishi, adding that he is also “very confident” about his successors.On Donald Trump cancelling USAID funding for several projects, Jayashree says, “What he's doing is terrible…but there is a tendency to paint US aid as US generosity.” The US has used aid programs as part of its foreign policy, she points out.The panel then moves to discussing the midnight notification issued to appoint Gyanesh Kumar as the new Chief Election Commissioner. “If you need to be bipartisan, you have to have someone who is not a politician,” Raman says about Kumar's appointment. On the selection process, Dr Quraishi says that India has the “most defective system of appointment” despite having the “most powerful election commission in the world.” The panel also discusses the Indian government blocking Tamil news website Vikatan after it published a critical cartoon depicting PM Narendra Modi and Trump.Rachita, who runs the popular page Sanitary Panels, says: “I don't know where to draw the line between censorship and self-censorship. If you are being given threats or being told that you can land up in jail, is that not part of censorship itself?”This and a lot more. Tune in!We have a page for subscribers to send letters to our shows. If you want to write to Hafta, click here. Check out the Newslaundry store and flaunt your love for independent media. Download the Newslaundry app. Contribute to our latest NL Sena here.Timecodes00:00:00 - Introductions and announcements 00:02:57 - Headlines 00:09:19- USAID controversy00:34:30 - CEC appointment process00:53:06 - Blocking of Vikatan website01:30:14 - Recommendations Check out previous Hafta recommendations, references, songs and letters Produced and recorded by Priyali Dhingra and Ashish Anand. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First, we talk with The Indian Express' Chief of National Bureau Ritika Chopra about the appointment of the new Chief Election Commissioner and the petitions filed in the Supreme Court against the current appointment procedure.Next, The Indian Express' Deeptiman Tiwary discusses the granting of bail in cases under investigation by the Enforcement Directorate. (13:08)Lastly, we talk about BJP leader Rekha Gupta taking oath as the chief minister of Delhi along with the cabinet ministers of the national capital. (22:54)Hosted by Niharika NandaProduced by Niharika Nanda and Shashank BhargavaEdited and mixed by Suresh Pawar

On December 29, 2024, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accused each other of manipulating the Delhi electoral rolls in an attempt to win the Delhi Assembly elections, scheduled to be held in February. While the AAP has accused the BJP of submitting applications to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to get the names of voters removed from the list in its strongholds, the BJP has claimed that the AAP government is aiding Rohingya immigrants to settle in the capital so that it can secure their votes. Earlier, the Congress had accused the ECI of arbitrarily deleting or adding voters' names in electoral rolls before the Maharashtra Assembly elections. Should voter IDs be linked to Aadhaar to ensure transparency and put all these political claims and counterclaims to rest? Here we discuss the question. Guests: S.Y. Quraishi, former Chief Election Commissioner of India; R.S. Sharma, former Chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India and the first Director General of the Unique Identification Authority of India Host: Sreeparna Chakrabarty Edited by Jude Francis Weston

On May 22, the Election Commission of India (ECI) asked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress to desist from raising divisive issues in the campaign. In recent years, and particularly during the campaign to the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, critics of the ECI have accused the body of being late or ineffective or partial in responding to alleged violations of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC). Does the MCC need legal teeth for better implementation? Here we discuss the question. Guests: T.S. Krishnamurthy, former Chief Election Commissioner; P.D.T. Achary, former Secretary General of the Lok Sabha Host: Sreeparna Chakrabarty You can now find The Hindu's podcasts on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Stitcher. Search for Parley by The Hindu. Write to us with comments and feedback at socmed4@thehindu.co.in

In this episode of The Morning Brief's election special series “Polls On My Pod," we delve into the recent challenge of credibility surrounding the Lok Sabha Elections 2024. As the battle of rhetoric escalates between political heavyweights, the Election Commission of India has taken the unprecedented step of serving notices to the BJP and Congress for alleged violations of the model code of conduct by their star campaigners: PM Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi. Join your hosts Nidhi Sharma and Anubhuti Vishnoi from ET and OP Rawat, former Chief Election Commissioner of India, as they dissect the implications of the EC's actions.Check out the other interesting episodes like Polls On My Pod: Saturation States of Rajasthan & MP, Polls On My Pod: Muted Manipur & The Tamil Nadu Triangle, Arvind Kejriwal's Arrest: An Opposition Shaken or Stirred?, Alliance Arithmetic: Decoding the Political Jigsaw of Lok Sabha Elections 2024, and more! You can follow our host Nidhi Sharma on her social media: Twitter & Linkedin Catch the latest episode of ‘The Morning Brief' on ET Play, The Economic Times Online, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, JioSaavn,  Amazon Music and Google Podcasts.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is the Catch Up on 3 Things for the Indian Express and I'm Flora Swain.It's the 21st of March and here are today's headlines.The Supreme Court today stayed the operation of the Centre's March 20 notification regarding the Press Information Bureau's Fact Checking Unit (FCU). The stay will be in effect until the Bombay High Court takes a final decision on petitions challenging the 2023 amendments to the Information Technology Rules. A three-judge bench noted that the Centre had assured the HC that the FCU will not be notified till the petitions challenging Rule 3(1)(b)(v) of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules 2023 (IT Amendment Rules, 2023 are decided by the HC.In other news from the apex court, the SC today dismissed applications challenging the appointment of retired IAS officers Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu as election commissioners. The bench also declined to stay The Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment Conditions of Service and Terms of Office) Act, 2023 which put in place a selection committee comprising the Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, and a Union cabinet minister in place of a committee comprising the PM, Leader of Opposition and Chief Justice of India as directed by the Supreme Court.The Election Commission today instructed the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to immediately stop sending a letter by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the account “Viksit Bharat Sampark” to WhatsApp users. In a letter to the MeitY Secretary, the EC asked the Ministry to submit a compliance report immediately. The EC told the Ministry that it had received “complaints from various quarters that such messages are still being delivered on citizens' phones”.The Congress today hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with veteran leader Sonia Gandhi saying that the PM was making “a systematic effort to cripple the Congress financially”. Addressing a press briefing, senior leaders Sonia and Rahul Gandhi and party president Mallikarjun Kharge spoke about the freezing of their bank accounts ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, saying that the issue was extremely serious with “far-reaching consequences for not just their party but for our country's democracy.”Two days after the gruesome murder of two minor brothers in Uttar Pradesh's Budaun district, the police today arrested the second accused who had been allegedly absconding after the crime. Officers said Javed, the brother of accused Sajid, surrendered before the Bareilly police late on Wednesday after a reward of Rs. 25,000 was declared on him. Budaun SSP added five teams were formed to arrest Javed, who is around 25 years old.This was the Catch-Up on the 3 Things by The Indian Express.

First, Indian Express' Anonna Dutt joins us to talk about an alleged Cash for Kidney racket, implicating India's Apollo Hospital and what the country's law says about organ transplantation.Second, we talk to Damini Nath from The Indian Express who dives deeper into an amendment that restores the salary of the Chief Election Commissioner and the Election Commissioners to the equivalent of that of a Supreme Court Judge. (08:45)Lastly, we give you details on a security breach at the Parliament of India, when two men entered the Lok Sabha and opened smoke canisters. (13:21)Hosted by Utsa Sarmin Written and produced by Utsa Sarmin, Rahel Philipose, and Niharika NandaEdited and mixed by Suresh Pawar

The government introduced a new Bill in the Rajya Sabha in August – the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill, 2023. It repeals the Election Commission (Conditions of Service of Election Commissioners and Transaction of Business) Act, 1991. This Bill was initially listed for discussion in the special session of Parliament this month, before being held back. But it has sparked a big debate about the implications of this Bill, especially the provisions that removed the Supreme Court Chief Justice from the selection panel, and altered the status of the Election Commissioner – from being equivalent to a Supreme Court judge, to that of a Cabinet Secretary. 

SpeakIn Podcast - IAS Series In Conversation with Dr. S. Y. Quraishi - IAS Officer - What drew him to Indian Administrative Service - Key highlights of his journey in the IAS - Her views on India's public health women and child landscape and more... Dr. S. Y. Quraishi was the 17th Chief Election Commissioner of India, he has been figured in The Indian Express list of 100 Most Powerful Indians of 2011 and again in 2012. He also figured in India Today's  Power List of 100 most powerful Indians, 2012. He was a Member of the Board of Advisors of  International IDEA (Institute of Democracy and Electoral Assistance) Stockholm for 9 years and also a Member of the Advisory Committee to assist and advise the Global Commission on Elections, Democracy and Security, headed by Mr Kofi Annan, former Secretary General, UN (2010-12). Nominated  as Global Ambassador of Democracy alongside Kofi Annan by International IDEA ((Institute of Democracy and Electoral Assistance) Stockholm in Oct 2018. During his service he has contributed to the policy and program development in the health sector, women and child development.

Tasneem Noorani is a retired Pakistani civil servant who has served in BPS-22 grade as the Interior Secretary and Commerce Secretary of Pakistan. 00:00 Introduction  00:47 The journey of civil services 02:46 Competition in bureaucracy 03:51 Why government need bureaucracy to operate 07:23 Criticism on bureaucracy 12:05 Problem of short tenure in civil service 14:06 Solution of short term tenure problem 15:56 Nepotism in civil services 16:48 Tasneem Noorani on his NGO 28:07 How can someone contribute in his NGO 30:39 Tasneem Noorani on his master's in Geology 33:30 Departments under Interior Ministry 42:59 Pressure of politics in bureaucracy 45:53 Tasneem Noorani's work for provision of sports Facilities 48:57 Tasneem Noorani's opinion on "Public Private Battle" 52:13 Emirates and Qatar the prestigious products 54:20 What's come under as a commerce secretary of Pakistan 59:27 Tasneem Noorani as Chief Election Commissioner 1:04:18 Tasneem Noorani's opinion on Pakistan's current economic situation 1:10:11 How government rank middle and high class people 1:11:22 Daniyal on his father's generosity 1:13:58 Contribution to the country 1:16:06 Character building in boarding school 1:22:44 Outro

First, Indian Express' Liz Mathew joins us to talk about the assembly poll results of Tripura, Nagaland, and Meghalaya and what it means for the BJP. Next, Indian Express' Amitabh Sinha talks about the origins of covid-19 and the Wuhan lab leak theory, and why it has been contentious. (07:55)And in the end, Indian Express' Apurva Vishwanath discusses the Supreme Court verdict on the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and the Election Commissioners. (18:15)Hosted by Rahel Philipose Produced and scripted by Utsa Sarmin and Shashank Bhargava Edited and mixed by Suresh Pawar

A version of this essay was published by thepamphlet.in at https://www.thepamphlet.in/en/shadow-warrior-a-deplorable-supreme-court-decision-on-demonetization/The Supreme Court, in a 4:1 judgment, held that the 2016 Demonetization was acceptable. The dissenting judge, well, dissented, saying that it was flawed. This decision sets an awful precedent that will come back to haunt us all, and the judiciary is respectful of precedent. The law of unintended consequences will strike.It is not that demonetization per se was a bad idea, or that it was executed poorly, or that its goals were not met. It was a pretty good idea, it was executed moderately well, and the declared goals, to reduce corruption, terror funding through counterfeit notes, and to increase the proportion of ‘white' money in circulation, were met to an extent. No, the problem is twofold: one, an unprecedented and unwarranted level of judicial overreach and encroachment into the domain of the Executive; two, the common sense principle of fait accompli: this is a done deal, and it is essentially impossible to undo it. The point is that the judiciary has its role, which is in hair-splitting legal jargon and in particular the verbiage of the Constitution. With all due respect, judges are not trained in other disciplines, and would be hard-pressed to understand economics, or engineering, or medicine, or military affairs. They simply will not be able to make judicious decisions (to give them credit, the majority opinion did concede this). But then, they should not take up such cases in the first place. I can imagine motivated petitioners waiting in the wings to now ask the Supreme Court to undo the 1971 Bangladesh War, the decision to impose covid-related mandates, or the Mangalyaan space probe. In fact, you could find somebody to make a cogent argument that the Constitution should not have been accepted in 1950, and that it should be rolled back. There is no end to such litigation, and if it is allowed to proliferate, it would clog up the entire judiciary. Of course, the entire judiciary is already clogged up with 30 million cases, so why open the flood-gates and invite more frivolous litigation?As for the law of unintended consequences, there is the recent experience of the Democrats in the US. After years of claiming ex-President Trump's tax returns would reveal deep, dark secrets, they forced him to reveal them: and it was a damp squib, with nothing of significance, no tax evasion. But the precedent has been set, and the Republicans will now use this to harass every Democrat alleging skeletons in their tax closets. The Indian Supreme Court should stick to its fundamental task: interpreting the Constitution. Not being a lawyer, I cannot say authoritatively that there is no constitutional issue in the anti-demonetization lawsuit, but I doubt it. It is a purely administrative issue, and thus the domain of the Executive, just as making a multitude of daily decisions is. The activist Indian courts have long been accused of interfering in everything while at the same time creating cozy little fiefdoms for themselves, for instance in the continuous creation of post-retirement sinecures for judges, the most recent being the demand that retired judges should be on the committee choosing the Chief Election Commissioner.The most obvious example of bad faith is the judiciary's closed and opaque Collegium system, wherein they nominate and appoint themselves, with the predictable result of nepotism and hereditary elites. It is high time that Parliament put a stop to this, and created new laws that mandate a role for the Executive. The proposed NJAC could be one way forward. If the NJAC is unconstitutional, well then, bring in a constitutional amendment. Many people have talked about judicial reforms; I too took a stab at it a few years ago (“Can we fix the deeply troubled judiciary?” Swarajya, May 2018). One of my points was the radical restructuring of the system into a Supreme Court that only hears constitutional cases, and a new set of regional Courts of Appeal, with status almost equivalent to the Supreme Court, that hear other things beyond the ken of state High Courts. There is a serious concern about which cases the Supreme Court chooses to hear. At the moment, it appears whimsical. Why on earth would the SC hear cases about cricket, which is a mere entertainment? Why on earth would the SC not hear petitions about the 1990s ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Hindus (it has refused to do so three times already).The terror onslaught in Jammu and Kashmir is not history. We saw with horror the terrorist attack on Hindus in Jammu's Rajouri just days ago, where the attackers reportedly identified Hindus by their Aadhar cards, and then shot them. This is an urgent, ongoing problem, and why does the court refuse to hear it, while at the same time accepting a case on the 1948 assassination of Mahatma Gandhi? Next, someone will file a PIL demanding the undoing of that assassination.Why does the SC accept PILs (Public Interest Litigations) put up by motivated NGOs, often with foreign funding? These people are able to get, through the back door, rapid decisions that affect the entire country, whereas the cases should properly be heard at the local level in District Courts, and only be elevated to the Supreme Court through a proper process if they actually have merit.Apart from this, some actions are virtually impossible to undo: time and tide wait for no man. How could the SC, like King Canute who ordered the waves to retreat, even possibly consider the undoing of demonetization? How will it be done? What about the major moves in digitization that resulted, the UPI revolution, the trillions of rupees flowing through a payment system that is now ubiquitous and available to anyone with a mobile phone?India has now become one of the most digitally connected countries in the world, but the amount of cash in the system is now even greater than at the time of demonetization. Can the court explain why? So it is not as though cash suddenly disappeared. Yes, there was a temporary crunch, and yes, it was hardship for many, but on average, most people have recovered.Malign NGOs have continually opposed national interests: remember Sterlite? Or the Sardar Sarovar dam? By accepting a plea that was clearly inappropriate, probably politically motivated, and in any case something that would be virtually impossible to undo, the Supreme Court has set a poor precedent. The Indian judiciary acts as a law unto itself, unaccountable to anybody else. This is wrong. As the President and the Vice President mentioned recently, it is time the judiciary reformed itself. I suspect it will have to be done forcibly, not voluntarily.1090 words, 3 Jan 2023 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rajeevsrinivasan.substack.com

Interview

First, Indian Express' Harish Damodaran joins us to talk about the government seeking Parliament's approval for fresh expenditure for subsidies on food, fertiliser and fuel for the financial year of 2022-2023. Second, Indian Express' Manoj CG explains a new private member bill introduced in the Parliament which seeks the formation of a high-level committee headed by the Prime Minister and consisting of the Leader of the Opposition and the Chief Justice of India to select the Chief Election Commissioner and the Election Commissioners.And in the end, Indian Express' Anonna Dutt tells us about the Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) which is an independent stand-alone navigation satellite system developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Host: Rahel Philipose Script and Producer: Utsa Sarmin Editing and Mixing: Suresh Pawar

The Congress is set for elections for the post of party president. Since 1998, barring her son Rahul Gandhi's two-year term in the interim, Sonia Gandhi has been party president. This has revived the debate on whether internal elections should be mandated for all political parties.  Here we discuss the current situation and what can be done. Host: Sobhana K Nair Guest: S.Y. Quraishi, former Chief Election Commissioner of India; Rahul Verma, fellow at the Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi

Former finance secretary Rajiv Kumar is set to take charge as the new chief election commissioner on Sunday (May 15), BSP supremo Mayawati came out in support of senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan who is incarcerated on several charges including corruption, A mob set a house, two bikes, and a shop afire in retaliation to an alleged attack on a former village head and his brother, and other top news in this bulletin.

On 21st December of last year, the Election Law (Amendment) Bill, 2021, was passed; this law allowed the linking of Aadhaar data with electoral roll data. The Union government argued that this move would make the electoral process clearer and more credible, as linking Aadhaar data would help identify duplicate entries, remove bogus voters and more. That being said, there have been some major concerns about instituting this practice; the possibility of disenfranchisement, severe data privacy concerns, and the efficacy of the Aadhaar itself as a source of relevant information, all form issues that have to be considered. In Episode 6 of The Impact, we speak with O.P. Rawat, the 22nd Chief Election Commissioner of India, and Shivam Shankar Singh, Political Analyst and Author (How To Win An Indian Election), to learn more about this. The Impact, our new video series created in collaboration with The Bastion, examines how technology impacts Indian society.

Amid the threat of the Omicron variant and the rising COVID-19 cases in the country, the Election Commission of India released new guidelines on the conduct of the upcoming Assembly elections in five states, which primarily ban all physical political rallies and roadshows till 15 January. Along with a ban on political rallies, other aspects of the poll guidelines include full vaccination of all officials on election duty, no victory processions post-results, and that political parties and candidates are advised to conduct their campaigns through digital or virtual means only. While the EC did receive some flak for not pushing the elections altogether, given the record-breaking daily COVID cases, Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra defended the decision stressing that holding timely elections is the essence of maintaining democratic governance. But the guidelines have raised eyebrows on the following two points - first, why have political rallies banned only till 15 January, and second, will this ban affect the level playing field in crucial poll-bound states like Uttar Pradesh and Punjab? Guests: Dr SY Quraishi, the former Chief Election Commissioner of India Aditya Menon, The Quint's Political Editor. Host and Producer: Himmat Shaligram Editor: Aditya Menon Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Castbox: http://bit.ly/2VqZ9ur

The option provided in the Constitution should be used with honesty, not just to tinker with politics. The sudden exit of Tirath Singh Rawat as Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, a development the Bharatiya Janata Party sought to explain in terms of a constitutional roadblock to being elected as a legislator with in six months, has led to thickening speculation about the fate of West Bengal's Mamata Banerjee, another unelected Chief Minister. Here we discuss the road ahead. Guests: M.R. Madhavan, is President and co-founder of PRS Legislative Research, a public policy research institution; S.Y. Quraishi, served as 17th Chief Election Commissioner of India from July 2010 to June 2012. Read the Parley article here You can now find The Hindu's podcasts on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Stitcher. Search for Parley by The Hindu. Write to us with comments and feedback at socmed4@thehindu.co.in

The Imran Khan-led government on Monday called for the resignation of the chief election commissioner and the reconstitution of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), which it said failed to hold the recently-held elections in a transparent manner. This and more in our weekly news segment from Pakistan’s Punjab province.

In the present case, the Appellant had approached the Court alleging that since its bank accounts are frozen illegally by the Respondents, it is not able to clear the statutory dues that it otherwise would have cleared. In response, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) did concede that while freezing the bank accounts, it did not comply with the mandate of Section 17 of PMLA. According to the ED, the apparent purpose to freeze the bank accounts is to stop the further layering/division of proceeds of crime and to safeguard the proceeds of crime. Section 17 of PMLA and Section 102 of CrPC The Court explained Section 17 of PMLA as under: - “Under Section 17 of the PMLA, the pre-requisite is that any authorized officer should on the basis of information in his possession to be recorded to in writing, have reason to believe that such person has committed acts relating to money laundering and there is need to seize any record or property found in the search. Such officer also has the power to freeze such record or property if it is not possible to seize the same. After issuance of the Freezing Order, the authorized officer shall forward a copy of the reasons along with the materials in possession to the Adjudicating Authority. The Officer who had seized or frozen any record or property shall have to file an application requesting for retention of such record/property before the Adjudicating Authority. This procedure also has to be filed in case of a Bank Account. In the present case, this procedure was not followed and hence, the freezing or the continuation thereof is without due compliance of the legal requirements and unsustainable.” The procedure relating to search and seizure under Section 102 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, was also differentiated by the Court and it was observed that the scheme of the PMLA is entirely different and when the power is available under a special enactment (PMLA), the question of resorting to the power under the general law does not arise. Thereafter the Court considered the question relating to Section 102 of CrPC that provides certain powers to the investigating agencies. The Court cited the case of Mohinder Singh Gill & Another vs. The Chief Election Commissioner, New Delhi & Ors., (1978) 1 SCC 405, that provides that: - “8. The second equally relevant matter is that when a statutory functionary makes an order based on certain grounds, its validity must be judged by the reasons so mentioned and cannot be supplemented by fresh reasons in the shape of affidavit or otherwise. Otherwise, an order bad in the beginning may, by the time it comes to court on account of a challenge, get validated by additional grounds later brought out. We may here draw attention to the observations of Bose J. in Gordhandas Bhanji:(1) Public orders, publicly made, in exercise of a statutory authority cannot be construed in the light of explanations subsequently given by the officer making the order of what he meant, or of what was in his mind, or what he intended to do. Public orders made by public authorities are meant to have public effect and are intended to effect the actings and conduct of those to whom they are addressed and must be construed objectively with reference to the language used in the order itself.Orders are not like old wine becoming better as they grow older:” The Court also observed that the arguments relating to Section 102 of CrPC has been taken at a belated stage that cannot be accepted now. Interpretative Process While explaining Section 17 of PMLA and Section 102 of CrPC, the Court also conducted an interpretative exercise and cited the case of Chandra Kishor Jha vs. Mahavir Prasad and Ors. (1999) 8 SCC 266, wherein it was held that: - “It is a well settled salutary principle that if a statute provides for a thing to be done in a particular manner, then it has to be done in that manner and in no other manner.” The Court opined that if the above-stated salutary principle is to be taken recourse to, then it would mean that though the Authorized Officer under Section 17 of PMLA is vested with sufficient powers, yet such power is also circumscribed by the very same provision and the statute. Any other manner of exercise of power except as contemplated under PMLA would mean that due process of law has not been complied with, before and after freezing the bank accounts. Concluding Remarks The Court finally directed the Respondents (ED etc.) to defreeze the bank accounts and honour the payments advised by the Appellants towards the statutory dues. I find this to be a welcome judgment and the reasoning adopted by the Courts seems to be in consonance with its earlier decision wherein the procedure prescribed under a special statute has been given due regard. The officers of many investigative agencies have become like bloodhounds and sometimes, in the name of implicating a person or a body, some officials go too far and act in utter disregard of the procedural formalities. Freezing bank accounts is a serious affair for any business entity and it is akin to cutting the financial bloodline of any such entity. Such measures should not be taken as a matter of routine recourse but should be taken only after compliance of all the procedural formalities as contemplated in the parent statute are done.

I have heard that the Former Chief Minister of erstwhile Madras State Shri. Kamraj said after taking oath as the Chief Minister that it is only by the end of his tenure the world would know if the chair added glory to him or he brought fame to the position. This was a very pertinent statement coming from a very tall and unsung leader from the southern state of India. I really believe most leaders derive fame from the chair that they occupy while legends leave glory to the position that they had occupied through their contributions. India has seen 14 different Presidents till date from 1950 but the moment I mention President the one name that comes on top of everyone's mind is APJ Abdul Kalam for the sheer contribution from the man. Leadership gives enormous scope to contribute. These days I see lots of youngsters being reluctant to take up leadership positions and I for one would urge people to occupy leadership positions. With chair comes position and power and with that also comes the responsibility to make a difference and an opportunity to leave a legacy. It is the social responsibility of every good person to rise to the position of leadership. When capable persons rise to the leadership position they would leave a legacy and add glory to that position forever. When noble people don't climb the ladder of leadership mediocres occupy those chairs and they just derive fame from that position. Think of contribution of Jack Welch who transformed the DNA of GE during his tenure as CEO, think of TN Seshan the former Chief Election Commissioner of India who transformed a toothless body called Election Commission of India into a powerful organization which took on the might of corrupt politicians. Every time you occupy a leadership position is an opportunity to leave a legacy. Every time I travel to Kenya and hit the highways the conversation would invariably feature about Kibaki the Former President of Kenya who transformed the roads across urban and rural Kenya. Occupying the chair is a once in a lifetime opportunity to bring eternal glory to the position. If these leaders had refused to occupy the chair of Leadership the world would have missed the glory of those positions. Hence if you are a parent Inspire your children to take up leadership positions right from early days and even if you are a senior citizen take up the leadership position in your community and society. And when we sit in the leadership position let us remember the words of Kamraj to bring glory to the position that we occupy. Let the mission of every leader be to “Make a Difference & Leave a Legacy.' Loving you. JVC Sreeram

Last week, the Mumbai Police said that a TRP (Target Rating Points) racket involving three news channels had been busted by its Crime Detection Branch. Since then, the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), which monitors the TRPs, has suspended ratings of news channels for three months. The alleged scam has once again highlighted the need for regulation. Television channels are driven by TRPs and it is viewership that drives their business. We discuss how TRPs are manipulated and what could be the solution. Guests: Sashi Kumar, the founder and editor in chief of Asiaville, a digital multimedia platform. He was also the founder of Asianet television channel; S.Y. Quraishi, a former Chief Election Commissioner and former Director General of Doordarshan. Host: Anuradha Raman You can now find The Hindu's podcasts on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Stitcher. Search for Parley by The Hindu. Write to us with comments and feedback at socmed4@thehindu.co.in

In today’s episode, we’re speaking with The Indian Express’s Ritika Chopra about the appointment of Ashok Lavasa, who was set to be the next Chief Election Commissioner of India, to a post in the Asian Development Bank. Then we’re speaking with The Indian Express’s Pranav Mukul about the investments by multiple foreign firms in Jio Platforms Limited.(10:34) And finally, we’re speaking with Kamal Saiyed, The Indian Express’s correspondent in Surat, about a constable who made headlines for enforcing the law. (19:08)

Former Chair of the Election Commission of India (ECI), SY Quraishi, writing in The Hindu on 7 May 2019, cited a 1977 Supreme Court ruling, in which it was observed: “Where these (the existing laws) are absent, and yet a situation has to be tackled, the Chief Election Commissioner has not to fold his hands and pray to God... to enable him... to perform his duties, or to look to any external authority for the grant of powers to deal with the situation. He must lawfully exercise his power independently, in all matters relating to the conduct of elections, and see that the election process is completed properly, in a free and fair manner.” Quraishi held this to be the EC’s bible. For more podcasts from The Quint, check out our [Podcasts](https://www.thequint.com/news/podcast) section.

Discussion with N. Gopalaswami, former CEC Discussion with N. Gopalaswami, former CEC 2016-01-23-3-N-Gopalaswami-former-Chief-Election-Commissioner-of-India-and-Rajiv-Malhotra-discuss-TBFS-QA.mp3

Discussion with N. Gopalaswami, former CEC Discussion with N. Gopalaswami, former CEC 2016-01-23-1-N-Gopalaswami-former-Chief-Election-Commissioner-of-India-and-Rajiv-Malhotra-discuss-TBFS-RM.mp3

Discussion with N. Gopalaswami, former CEC Discussion with N. Gopalaswami, former CEC 2016-01-23-2-N-Gopalaswami-former-Chief-Election-Commissioner-of-India-and-Rajiv-Malhotra-discuss-TBFS-NG.mp3