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Dec 22nd, 2021 - Daily Quiz

1. Consider the following Statements Attorney General's Consent w.r.t. Contempt of Court: 1. The AG’s consent is mandatory when a private citizen wants to initiate a case of contempt of court against a person. 2. When the court itself initiates a contempt of court case the AG’s consent is not required. 3. The objective behind requiring the consent of the Attorney General before taking cognizance of a complaint is to save the time of the court. Which of the Statements given above is/are correct? (a) 1 and 2 (b) 2 and 3 (c) 1 and 3 (d) 1, 2 and 3 2. The ‘Right to be Forgotten’, frequently in the news, is a- (a) Fundamental Right (b) Constitutional Right (c) Legal Right (d) None of the above 3. Consider the following Statements 1. The Census provides a portrait of the Indian population, while the SECC is a tool to identify beneficiaries of state support. 2. Since the Census falls under the Census Act of 1948, all data is open for use by Government departments to grant and/or restrict benefits to households whereas all the personal information given in the SECC are considered confidential Which of the Statements given above is/are correct? (a) 1 Only (b) 2 Only (c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2 4. Consider the following pairs:
Highest (Civilian) Honour Associated Country
1. Order of Abdulaziz Al Saud Saudi Arabia
2. Order of Zayed Award Bahrain
3. State Order of Ghazi Amir Amanullah Khan Afghanistan
4. Order of St. Andrew Award Denmark
Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched? (a) 1 and 3 only (b) 2 and 4 only (c) 1, 3 and 4 (d) 1, 2, 3 and 4 5. Consider the following statements: 1. Cooperative Societies is an item in state subject. 2. Multi-State Cooperative Societies are regulated by the Union Government. Which of the above statements are correct?. (a) 1 Only (b) 2 Only (c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2 Answers 1.(d) Under what circumstances is the AG’s consent not needed?
  • The AG’s consent is mandatory when a private citizen wants to initiate a case of contempt of court against a person.
  • However, when the court itself initiates a contempt of court case the AG’s consent is not required.
  • The objective behind requiring the consent of the Attorney General before taking cognizance of a complaint is to save the time of the court.
  • Consent has been given under Section 15 of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971 read with Rule 3(c) of the Rules to Regulate Proceedings for Contempt of the Supreme Court, 1975.
  • The Contempt of Courts Act 1971 defines civil and criminal contempt, and lays down the powers and procedures by which courts can penalise contempt, as well as the penalties that can be given for the offence of contempt.
  • Contempt of court is the offense of being disobedient to or disrespectful toward a court of law and its officers in the form of behavior that opposes or defies the authority, justice and dignity of the court.
  • The objective behind requiring the consent of the Attorney General before taking cognizance of a complaint is to save the time of the court.
  • This is necessary because judicial time is squandered if frivolous petitions are made and the court is the first forum for bringing them in.
  • The AG’s consent is meant to be a safeguard against frivolous petitions, as it is deemed that the AG, as an officer of the court, will independently ascertain whether the complaint is indeed valid.  
Under what circumstances is the AG’s consent not needed?
  • The AG’s consent is mandatory when a private citizen wants to initiate a case of contempt of court against a person.
  • However, when the court itself initiates a contempt of court case the AG’s consent is not required.
  • This is because the court is exercising its inherent powers under the Constitution to punish for contempt and such Constitutional powers cannot be restricted because the AG declined to grant consent.
What happens if the AG denies consent?
  • If the AG denies consent, the matter all but ends.
  • The complainant can, however, separately bring the issue to the notice of the court and urge the court to take suo motu cognizance.
  • Article 129 of the Constitution gives the Supreme Court the power to initiate contempt cases on its own, independent of the motion brought before it by the AG or with the consent of the AG.
2. (a)
  • The Delhi High Court upheld the view that the “Right to Privacy” includes the “Right to be Forgotten” and the “Right to be Left Alone”.
  • The court said this in an order passed in response to a suit filed by an unnamed Bengali actor.
  • The Right to be Forgotten falls under the purview of an individual’s right to privacy, which is governed by the Personal Data Protection Bill that is yet to be passed by Parliament.
  • In 2017, the Right to Privacy was declared a fundamental right (under Article 21) by the Supreme Court in its landmark verdict (Puttuswamy case).
  • The court said at the time that “the right to privacy is protected as an intrinsic part of the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 and as a part of the freedoms guaranteed by Part III of the Constitution”.
  • Right to privacy is also governed by the Personal Data Protection Bill that is yet to be passed by Parliament. The bill exclusively talks about the “Right to be Forgotten.”
  • Broadly, under the Right to be forgotten, users can de-link, limit, delete or correct the disclosure of their personal information held by data fiduciaries.
  • But, what are the issues associated with this provision in the Bill?
  • The main issue with the provision is that the sensitivity of the personal data and information cannot be determined independently by the person concerned, but will be overseen by the Data Protection Authority (DPA).
  • This means that while the draft bill gives some provisions under which a user can seek that his data be removed, but his or her rights are subject to authorisation by the Adjudicating Officer who works for the DPA.
3. (a)
  • The Census provides a portrait of the Indian population, while the SECC is a tool to identify beneficiaries of state support.
  • Since the Census falls under the Census Act of 1948, all data are considered confidential, whereas all the personal information given in the SECC is open for use by Government departments to grant and/or restrict benefits to households. The precise number of the population of each caste would help tailor the reservation policy to ensure equitable representation of all of them. SECC 2011
  • The Socio-Economic Caste Census of 2011 was a major exercise to obtain data about the socio-economic status of various communities.
  • It had two components: a survey of the rural and urban households and ranking of these households based on pre-set parameters, and a caste census.
  • However, only the details of the economic conditions of the people in rural and urban households were released. The caste data has not been released till now.
  • While SC/ST details are collected as part of the census, details of other castes are not collected by the enumerators. The main method is by self-declaration to the enumerator.
  • So far, backward classes commissions in various States have been conducting their own counts to ascertain the population of backward castes.
  • Every Census in independent India from 1951 to 2011 has published data on Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, but not on other castes. Before that, every Census until 1931 had data on caste.
4. (c)
  • Recently, the Prime Minister of India has been conferred by Bhutan’s highest civilian award, 'Order of the Druk Gyalpo' also known as “Ngadag Pel gi Khorlo".
  • Other Awards Won by the Indian PM
    • Order of Abdulaziz Al Saud (2016): The highest honour of Saudi Arabia awarded to non-muslim dignitaries. 
    • State Order of Ghazi Amir Amanullah Khan (2016): The highest civilian honour of Afghanistan. 
    • Grand Collar of the State of Palestine Award (2018): The highest honour of Palestine awarded to foreign dignitaries.
    • Order of Zayed Award (2019): The highest civilian honour of the United Arab Emirates. 
    • Order of St. Andrew award (2019): The highest civilian honour of Russia
    • Order of the Distinguished Rule of Nishan Izzuddin (2019): The highest honour of the Maldives awarded to foreign dignitaries. 
    • King Hamad Order of the Renaissance - First Class (2019): Bahrain's top honour.
5. (a)
  • The item “Cooperative Societies” is a State Subject in the 7th Schedule (entry 32) of the State List in the Constitution of India. 
  • There are many Cooperative Societies such as those for sugar and milk, banks, milk unions etc whose members and areas of operation are spread across more than one state.
  • The Multi-State Cooperative Societies (MSCS) Act, 2002 governs such cooperatives.
  • According to MSCS Act, Administrative and financial control of these societies is with the central registrar, with the law making it clear that no state government official can wield any control on them. 






POSTED ON 22-12-2021 BY ADMIN
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