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The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed an appeal by its former judge Markandey Katju against resolutions by both the houses of the Parliament condemning him for his comments over Mahatma Gandhi and Subhash Chandra Bose. The court, however, held his petition to be maintainable in law, which lays down an important legal principle : The Supreme Court has the authority to judicially review even the resolutions passed by the Parliament and that they are not immune. Markandey Katju Booked For Sedition For Offering Kashmir & Bihar To Pakistan But it remained unimpressed with Katju’s arguments that the Parliament could not have passed the resolution without hearing him. He wanted the resolutions to be quashed. In March 2015, both the houses had passed resolutions condemning the former Press Council of India chairperson for his blog post in which he called Gandhi “a British agent” and Bose “a Japanese agent”. Justice Katju claimed the resolutions curtailed his right of free speech and har...

The compelling arguments against demonetisation as a policy instrument for tackling black money are now well-known. Demonetisation ignores the processes that produce black money as well as its biggest hoards in forms like foreign currency, gold or real estate; also, its toxic side-effects in terms of “collateral damage” are astronomically high. These reasons would be relevant if demonetisation were really an economic policy, but as many commentators have rightly pointed out, it is a political ploy rather than an economic initiative. There is nothing inherently wrong in this. Accusing elected governments of playing politics is like accusing fish of being wet. What matters is the kind of politics being played and its consequences for our society. Ever since it came to power, the current regime has been trying to invent or promote issues that are media-friendly, impact large numbers and seem important — but lack clear criteria for determining success or failure. Once identified, these ar...