THE LEAFLET BULLETIN

Supreme Court grants interim bail to rights activist, Teesta Setalvad

THE?Supreme Court earlier today granted interim bail to civil rights activist and journalist, Teesta Setalvad, arrested for allegedly fabricating evidence to frame “innocent people” in the?2002 Gujarat riots/Zakia Jafri case . Although the Gujarat government vehemently opposed any relief to Setalvad, the fact that she had already spent two months in custody weighed heavily in the court’s decision.

A three-judge bench comprising the Chief Justice of India (‘CJI’) Uday Umesh Lalit, and Justices S. Ravindra Bhat and Sudhanshu Dhulia, observed that the Gujarat High Court ought to have considered her plea for interim bail.

The bench directed Setalvad to surrender her passport in the trial court till the high court decides on her regular bail application.

Activists and former Information Commissioners condemn blacklisting citizens from filing RTI applications

“THE?right to information is a fundamental right and if the Supreme Court does not have the power to take away this right, then how can a quasi-judicial authority (Information Commissions) do that?”, asked Wajahat Habibullah, India’s first Chief Information Commissioner, at a webinar on ‘Banning citizens from using the RTI (‘Right to Information’) Act: A discussion on the legality of orders of Information Commissions’, moderated by Anjali Bhardwaj of the National Campaign for Peoples’ Right to Information (‘NCPRI’), a network of organisations and individuals that use the right to information law to demand transparency and accountability of government.

India’s first Prime Minister in stoic sculpture: When I walked into Mumbai’s Saffron Art Gallery….

… I knew I would be taken in by artist Narayan Sridhar Bendre’s painting. The large canvas on display is among his various, remarkably striking representations of rural women set out in beautiful compositions. This one uses the technique of pointillism to infuse the work with an ethereal quality of restfulness, though the women at rest are not free of their burdens.

Right across Bendre is a sublime work by painter Jehangir Sabavala. I am also in the company of other modern Indian masters like the British-Indian artist F.N. Souza. Yet nothing could have prepared me to walk into an anteroom, coming face to face with Jawaharlal Nehru or Panditji – India’s first Prime Minister, who loved children, and with whom I share my birthday. In school I rued the fact, because my birthday dress was just one among the many “party dresses”, as opposed to the regular school uniform, on Children’s Day: November 14.

A missed opportunity to put drug regulations in place: Dinesh Thakur, public health activist, on the draft, Drugs, Medical Devices, and Cosmetics Bill

ON?July 8, the Draft?Drugs, Medical Devices and Cosmetics Bill, 2022 ?was released for public consultation by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The Draft Bill is intended to replace the existing, pre-independence legislation of the?Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 . It aims to address the import, manufacture, and sale of drugs and cosmetics to ensure their quality, safety, efficacy, and performance.

The Bill has?attracted ?major ?criticism ?from the relevant stakeholders.

India has?37 agencies ?tasked with enforcing drug regulation across the country – one in each state and Union Territory. The Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (‘CDSCO’), which is under the control of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, is the central drug regulator, and is headed by the Drug Controller General of India (‘DCGI’). The Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, and the?Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945 ?make provisions for the central and state drug regulators to ensure the implementation of the law.