The Supreme Court verdict on demonetisation of currencies has drawn afresh the line in the sand as it were between the government and judiciary. EPISODE #107
Anil the judgement is in line with the past judgements of the Apex Court , drawing clear distinctions between the responsibilities of Legislature, Judiciary and Executive. What is important to note here is that the Judgement has brought out , that a difficult policy decision was taken without compromising on the norms of propriety. Going beyond the judgement, it is important to note that certain policy decisions in spite of all thought process behind them may result in unindented inconvenience ( long ques at ATMs ) yet taken with boldness and fairness will be appreciated by the public at large ( UP Election Results ) . To refer to another event mentioned by you viz Covid Pandemic , again a bold decision of Total Lockdown may have caused certain noticeable inconvenience yet India is being cited today as a Success Story . Therefore it cannot be denied that certain costs entailed by bold policy decisions may be far better than to have policy paralysis !!
You have laid out the distribution of power between the three pillars of Indian democracy so well. Exactly the essence of the judgement.
Agree with you that policy decisions have unintended/unmanageable consequences. But like you said if the intent is honest then the public takes the missteps in their stride. Also, one unintended gain was the dramatic birth of the digital economy in the aftermath of DeMo.
And, finally can't agree with you enough about the alternative: policy paralysis. Preserving status quo is disastrous.
Look forward to your continued participation Balesh.
One more topical issue picked up promptly for discussion in Capital Calculus; one that was in the eye of the storm for years for all economic woes that was faced by the nation and raised the hackles of all opposition political parties in India. My take was that the election fighting funds of the opposition parties took a body blow and agitated them like nothing else could. More than the verdict of the court, it was the people's verdict in many subsequent elections that guaged the mood of the majority who backed the decision for reasons ranging from weeding out counterfeit currency, hoarding of unaccounted money and checking of terrorism by putting a curb on the funding. The court verdict has made it clear that the judiciary will limit itself to the role of ensuring that the legal process is correctly followed. A very important article Anil, considering the number of matters that are being referred to the judiciary by the legislature. Interesting read.
Thank you for your thoughts and kind words. Much appreciated. You are so right. The demonstration effects of DeMo were unexpected. Regardless of whether it was a plan, it was the trigger for the rise of the digital economy.
Thanks for your interesting article which brought back memories of November 2016. I didn't remember the date so vividly but can clearly recall the chaos and confusion which prevailed for so many days. Those serpentine queues outside ATMs and banks plus the sense of insecurity is not something which is easy to forget. As you have rightly pointed out, even the idea of a UPI hadn't caught on. These days one avoids cash transactions but it was unimaginable in 2016.
The political opposition is always looking for opportunities to attack the Modi regime. It again fell flat as is obvious from the 4-1 verdict. It is suddenly very difficult to unearth scams or other instances when the law of the land has been violated.
The heartening fall out is the clarity of the duties and powers of the apex court. Earlier one rarely heard of the Supreme Court settling so many disputes but these days it has become commonplace. It is best if there is clarity about the distribution of powers of the judiciary.
Interesting article on a much debated topic!! Demonetisation in 2016 was a surprise move which badly hurt our cash dependant Economy,led to months of financial chaos,losses for small Businesses and manufacturers, around 1.5 million people lost their jobs and there was economic slump.Another blow came in 2017when GST was introduced.
Despite the chaos and losses, still people supported demonetisation as the PM framed the well intentioned decision as a fight for the poor against the corrupt rich !!
Our economy has come out of the mess and we are switching to a cashless economy.
Thank you for your thoughts. You are right. Both--DeMo and GST--were structurally disruptive. The latter was a necessity as the idea of 'One Nation, One Tax' was long overdue--and we can see the efficiencies it has generated in the economy.
The Indian economy's resilience is remarkable. It rebounded from these shocks as well as the once in a century pandemic. The after shocks in the form of the Russia-Ukraine conflict as well as the tightening of interest rates by the US Fed continue to test this resilience. Fingers crossed.
As you rightly pointed out, this judgement of the court upholds the sanctity of the horizontal division of power between the executive & the judiciary. Our courts are anyways overburdened and this judgement hopefully will act as a precedent.
What we must all ensure that the fourth pillar of democracy-journalism is not allowed to weaken & infact strengthened to ensure accountability. My view this is extremely important.
Thank you for your thoughts. Couldn't agree with you more. Journalism needs to be preserved. Unfortunately the underlying business model has collapsed. And most of them are unable to figure the emerging digital era. So their wherewithal is gradually shrinking, which in turn diminishes their ability to send out reporters to capture the rapid ongoing transformation of India. Fingers crossed.
Anil the judgement is in line with the past judgements of the Apex Court , drawing clear distinctions between the responsibilities of Legislature, Judiciary and Executive. What is important to note here is that the Judgement has brought out , that a difficult policy decision was taken without compromising on the norms of propriety. Going beyond the judgement, it is important to note that certain policy decisions in spite of all thought process behind them may result in unindented inconvenience ( long ques at ATMs ) yet taken with boldness and fairness will be appreciated by the public at large ( UP Election Results ) . To refer to another event mentioned by you viz Covid Pandemic , again a bold decision of Total Lockdown may have caused certain noticeable inconvenience yet India is being cited today as a Success Story . Therefore it cannot be denied that certain costs entailed by bold policy decisions may be far better than to have policy paralysis !!
Dear Balesh,
Thank you for your inputs. Much appreciated.
You have laid out the distribution of power between the three pillars of Indian democracy so well. Exactly the essence of the judgement.
Agree with you that policy decisions have unintended/unmanageable consequences. But like you said if the intent is honest then the public takes the missteps in their stride. Also, one unintended gain was the dramatic birth of the digital economy in the aftermath of DeMo.
And, finally can't agree with you enough about the alternative: policy paralysis. Preserving status quo is disastrous.
Look forward to your continued participation Balesh.
Best
Anil
One more topical issue picked up promptly for discussion in Capital Calculus; one that was in the eye of the storm for years for all economic woes that was faced by the nation and raised the hackles of all opposition political parties in India. My take was that the election fighting funds of the opposition parties took a body blow and agitated them like nothing else could. More than the verdict of the court, it was the people's verdict in many subsequent elections that guaged the mood of the majority who backed the decision for reasons ranging from weeding out counterfeit currency, hoarding of unaccounted money and checking of terrorism by putting a curb on the funding. The court verdict has made it clear that the judiciary will limit itself to the role of ensuring that the legal process is correctly followed. A very important article Anil, considering the number of matters that are being referred to the judiciary by the legislature. Interesting read.
Dear Gautam,
Thank you for your thoughts and kind words. Much appreciated. You are so right. The demonstration effects of DeMo were unexpected. Regardless of whether it was a plan, it was the trigger for the rise of the digital economy.
Look forward to your continued participation.
Best
Anil
Dear Anil
Thanks for your interesting article which brought back memories of November 2016. I didn't remember the date so vividly but can clearly recall the chaos and confusion which prevailed for so many days. Those serpentine queues outside ATMs and banks plus the sense of insecurity is not something which is easy to forget. As you have rightly pointed out, even the idea of a UPI hadn't caught on. These days one avoids cash transactions but it was unimaginable in 2016.
The political opposition is always looking for opportunities to attack the Modi regime. It again fell flat as is obvious from the 4-1 verdict. It is suddenly very difficult to unearth scams or other instances when the law of the land has been violated.
The heartening fall out is the clarity of the duties and powers of the apex court. Earlier one rarely heard of the Supreme Court settling so many disputes but these days it has become commonplace. It is best if there is clarity about the distribution of powers of the judiciary.
Dear Ranjini,
Thank you for your thoughts. Absolutely, the queues were crazy. Wonder how we got past it. I wonder the same about the covid-19 pandemic.
Glad you also see the point about drawing the lines as a reminder about distribution of power between the judiciary and the government.
Look forward to your continued participation.
Best
Anil
Dear Anil,
Interesting article on a much debated topic!! Demonetisation in 2016 was a surprise move which badly hurt our cash dependant Economy,led to months of financial chaos,losses for small Businesses and manufacturers, around 1.5 million people lost their jobs and there was economic slump.Another blow came in 2017when GST was introduced.
Despite the chaos and losses, still people supported demonetisation as the PM framed the well intentioned decision as a fight for the poor against the corrupt rich !!
Our economy has come out of the mess and we are switching to a cashless economy.
Dear Vandana,
Thank you for your thoughts. You are right. Both--DeMo and GST--were structurally disruptive. The latter was a necessity as the idea of 'One Nation, One Tax' was long overdue--and we can see the efficiencies it has generated in the economy.
The Indian economy's resilience is remarkable. It rebounded from these shocks as well as the once in a century pandemic. The after shocks in the form of the Russia-Ukraine conflict as well as the tightening of interest rates by the US Fed continue to test this resilience. Fingers crossed.
Best
Anil
Hi Anil,
As you rightly pointed out, this judgement of the court upholds the sanctity of the horizontal division of power between the executive & the judiciary. Our courts are anyways overburdened and this judgement hopefully will act as a precedent.
What we must all ensure that the fourth pillar of democracy-journalism is not allowed to weaken & infact strengthened to ensure accountability. My view this is extremely important.
Thanks,
Saurabh
Dear Saurabh,
Thank you for your thoughts. Couldn't agree with you more. Journalism needs to be preserved. Unfortunately the underlying business model has collapsed. And most of them are unable to figure the emerging digital era. So their wherewithal is gradually shrinking, which in turn diminishes their ability to send out reporters to capture the rapid ongoing transformation of India. Fingers crossed.
Best
Anil