June-Polity & Governance

1. Constitutional & Statutory Notifications

A. 16th National Census (2027) Official Notification

On June 16, 2025, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued the official gazette notification for the next decadal census under the Census Act, 1948.

• Reference Date: The reference time for the census is 00:00 hours of March 1, 2027 (except for Ladakh and snow-bound areas of J&K, HP, and Uttarakhand, where it is October 1, 2026).
• The "Caste" Milestone: This will be India's first census in 16 years (since 2011) to include caste-based enumeration for all communities, following a Cabinet Committee decision on April 30, 2025.
• Phased Rollout: * Phase 1 (April–Sept 2026): House Listing Operations (HLO) and Housing Census (Houselisting Block creator web maps will be used).
  • Phase 2 (Feb 2027): Population Enumeration (PE) which captures socio-economic and caste data.
• Digital Transformation: It is India’s first digital census. Data will be collected via mobile apps (Android/iOS), and an online Self-Enumeration portal will be available for citizens.

B. Headquarters of the National Turmeric Board (NTB)

On June 29, 2025, Union Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated the headquarters of the NTB in Nizamabad, Telangana.

• Statutory Status: The Board functions under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. It was notified in 2023 but became fully operational with this HQ.
• Governance Significance: It is the 6th such commodity-specific board (joining Tea, Coffee, Rubber, Spices, and Tobacco).
• Objective: To empower turmeric farmers (especially in Telangana, the 3rd largest producer) by eliminating middlemen and targeting $1 billion in exports by 2030.

2. Legislative Business (Monsoon Session Prep)

While the session peak is in July, June saw the finalization and introduction of several reformative legal frameworks.

A. The Jan Vishwas Act & "Trust-Based Governance"

The government pushed for the full implementation of the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act and drafted the "Jan Vishwas 2.0."

• Core Concept: Decriminalizing minor procedural lapses to improve the Ease of Doing Business.
• Mechanism: Shifting from criminal penalties to civil monetary penalties. It introduces a system of "censure" or "improvement notices" for first-time offenders instead of immediate fines or imprisonment.

B. New Criminal Laws Implementation Anniversary

June marked the first year of the transition to the new criminal codes:

• Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS)
• Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS)
• Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA)
• Significance: State-level exhibitions (e.g., in Rajasthan) were held to review the digitisation of FIRs and the "Zero FIR" facility.

3. Judiciary & Landmark Judgments

A. Eligibility for District Judges (Article 233)

The Supreme Court (5-judge Bench) clarified a major constitutional point regarding the recruitment of District Judges.

• Ruling: Judicial officers (who are already Civil Judges) but have 7 years of combined experience (at the Bar as advocates and in Judicial Service) are eligible for direct recruitment as District Judges.
• Impact: States were directed to amend recruitment rules to ensure they don't exclude sitting judicial officers who possess the requisite Bar experience before joining service.

B. Limited Power to Modify Arbitral Awards

In Gayatri Balasamy v. ISG Novasoft Technologies, a 5-judge Bench delivered a landmark ruling on the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996.

• Article 233 (District Judges): The Supreme Court clarified that the 7-year Bar experience required for District Judges doesn't necessarily mean "active practice at the time of appointment." It can be a combined experience of Bar + Judicial Service.
• Gayatri Balasamy v. ISG Novasoft: This is a major win for Ease of Doing Business. The 5-judge bench ruled that courts can modify parts of an arbitral award (like interest rates or clerical errors) without throwing out the entire legal victory.
• Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 (Interim): The SC refused a blanket stay but stayed specific provisions, such as the requirement of "five years of Islamic practice" to create a waqf, calling it arbitrary.

4. Electoral Reforms & State Governance

A. India's First E-Voting System (Bihar)

Bihar became the first state to implement a mobile-based e-voting system during its urban body polls on June 28, 2025.

• Technology: Uses the "e-Voting SECBHR" app (developed by C-DAC) featuring Blockchain technology, face-matching, and liveness detection.
• Target Group: Specifically designed for senior citizens, migrant laborers, and "divyang" (disabled) voters to cast votes from home.

B. Special Intensive Revision of Electoral Rolls (Bihar)

The Election Commission (ECI) announced a special drive starting July 1, 2025 (notified in late June) to clean up electoral rolls.

• Significance: Focuses on removing "Dead/Shifted/Absentee" (DSA) voters to ensure the integrity of the upcoming 2025 Assembly elections.

5. The 16th National Census (Legal & Administrative Depth)

The Ministry of Home Affairs issued the notification on June 16, 2025. Here is the technical breakdown:

• The Freeze Date: Jurisdictional boundaries (districts, tehsils, villages) were frozen on January 1, 2025. No changes to boundaries can be made until the Census is over.
• Self-Enumeration: For the first time, the Census includes an "Online Self-Enumeration" portal. Citizens can fill in their own details, which are later verified by a field enumerator.
• Caste Categorization: Unlike the Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) 2011, this is part of the main Decadal Census under the Census Act, 1948.
  • Crucial Note: It will not have a consolidated "OBC" category; instead, it will list all castes individually to provide granular data for the Delimitation Commission.
• Constitutional Link: Under the 84th Amendment Act (2001), the first census conducted after 2026 will be the basis for redrawing Lok Sabha and Assembly seats (Delimitation).

6. Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Rolls

The ECI notified a Special Intensive Revision for Bihar in June.

• Legal Power: Derived from Article 324 and Section 21 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
• Target: To eliminate "Ghost Voters" (dead or shifted) using door-to-door verification by Booth Level Officers (BLOs). This was challenged in the SC by activists (ADR) claiming it might disenfranchise migrants, making it a hot topic for "Mains" discussions on civil rights.

7. Key Constitutional Appointments