Morning Brief: NGT Stay On Pune Metro; Service Charge At Hotels Voluntary; SC Fires BCCI President

Banks Follow SBI's Lead. After the State Bank Of India (SBI) cut itsmarginal cost of funds-based lending rates (MCLR - the benchmark for new loans) by 90 basis points (bps), other banks followed suit, and cut their MCLR by 45-75 bps. While the borrowers may welcome the news, savers are likely to resent it. However, the move is expected to boost credit growth in the country thereby improving private investment, lack of which is holding back economic growth.

The Economic costs of DeMo. New data shows that total investment proposals amounted to Rs 1.25 lakh crore in the October-December quarter, falling significantly from an average of Rs 2.36 lakh crore seen per quarter since the Modi government came to power in 2014. Also, the Nikkei India Manufacturing PMI showed that manufacturing in India contracted for the first time in 2016 in December. The index measured 49.6 in December compared to 52.3 in November. A reading below 50 signifies contraction from the previous month. In addition to this, passenger vehicles sales at country's top three automakers (Maruti, Hyundai, Mahindra) showed a decline in December.

Service Charge Not Mandatory. The Consumer Affair Ministry clarified yesterday that paying service charge at hotels/restaurants is not mandatory and consumers have the right to refuse to pay the charges if he/she is not satisfied with the service level. The Central government has directed the state governments to “sensitize the companies, hotels and restaurants in the states" regarding the same. The states have also been advised to tell the Hotels/Restaurants "to disseminate information through display at the appropriate place in the hotels/restaurants that the ‘service charges” are voluntary."

Broad And Purposive Interpretation. The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that seeking votes in the name of religion, race, community or language by a candidate, his agent or anyone with his consent would amount to a corrupt electoral practice and the candidate the in question may be disqualified. The court has effectively widened the scope of Section 123(3) of the Representation of the People Act. However, one is not certain how the Election Commission is supposed to determine if someone asking votes based on religion on a candidate's behalf has his consent or not.

On A Mission To Destroy Most Successful Sports Body In India. In an another act of unwarranted overreach, the Supreme Court yesterday sacked the president (Anurag Thakur) and secretary (Ajay Shirke) of a private entity, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). SC has ordered that Lodha panel’s eligibility criteria should be met and office bearers must cease to hold office if they are over 70 years old. Ironically, the court has asked 87-year old Fali S. Nariman to recommend the names of new office bearers.

Executive-Judiciary Feud. The Modi government has sent back 13 out of 37 names recommended to it by the Supreme Court collegium for appointment as Allahabad High Court. This is the second time the government has done so after SC refused to reconsider its suggestions. The government is supposed to clear the names second time without delay, however, this time the convention has been broken.

NGT Does It Again. Pune Metro rail project, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 24 December, has hit the "green roadblock". The Western Zone Bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued an interim stay on the proposed portion of the metro route passing through the Mula –Mutha river bed in the city. The NGT was created by an act and is not a constitutional body. It is notorious for stopping important infrastructure projects in the past or at least delaying them. Since retired judges are not experts on environment, they almost always are likely to make wrong decisions. The government would do good to repeal this act as soon as possible.

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We hope you enjoyed reading our morning brief. Have a great day ahead!