August 2025
In short: India's governance, law & order and appointments this month — distilled for SI/Constable Prelims.
Current Affairs — India › Polity & Governance · 16 min read · Free to read · English & Telugu
Bilingual study notes for the Andhra Pradesh Police SI & Constable exams (SLPRB AP) by AP Police Hub, a product of Anvil Academy.
26 governance stories from August 2025 — the Constitution (130th Amendment) Bill on jailed ministers, the Online Gaming Act, four Supreme Court rulings, PM Modi's Japan visit plus three incoming Heads of State/Government, and the Speaker's anti-defection powers under judicial review.
Telangana Legislative Assembly, Hyderabad — whose Speaker the Supreme Court directed this month to decide, within three months, disqualification pleas against 10 BRS MLAs who switched to Congress · Wasiul Bahar / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
August 2025 — At a Glance
August 2025 was dense for Indian governance news. Parliament's Monsoon Session passed a raft of laws — the Online Gaming Act, the Income-tax Act, the Jan Vishwas (Amendment) Bill — and introduced a bill that could remove a jailed PM/CM/Minister from office. The Supreme Court delivered four separate rulings (surrogacy age-cap, Telangana Speaker anti-defection, stray dogs, Kancha Gachibowli forest). India hosted three foreign Heads of State/Government and PM Modi visited Japan; Telangana's Kaleshwaram project was indicted by a judicial commission.
1. New Central Legislation
Parliament's Monsoon Session 2025 was unusually productive — a constitutional amendment bill on jailed ministers, a sweeping ban on real-money online gaming, and a decriminalisation drive across 16 Central Acts all moved forward.
Constitution (130th Amendment) Bill, 2025 — no governance from jail
- What — A PM, any CM, or a Union/State Minister would be automatically removed from office if held in custody for 30 consecutive days for an offence carrying 5+ years' imprisonment.
- Removal process — Union Ministers removed by the President (on PM's advice); State Ministers by the Governor (on CM's advice); the PM/CM must resign or face automatic cessation by the 31st day. Released ministers may be reappointed.
- Companion bills — Extend the same rule to Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu & Kashmir. Currently the Constitution has no such provision — Articles 102/191 need conviction, not mere arrest.
- Status — Referred to a 31-member Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for scrutiny; JPC recommendations are persuasive, not binding.
Online Gaming Act, 2025 bans real-money games
- What — Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 bans 'online money games' entirely, bans their advertising, and bars banks/payment gateways from facilitating related transactions.
- Passed — Lok Sabha 20 Aug, Rajya Sabha 21 Aug 2025.
- Penalties — First offence up to 3 years/₹1 crore (up to 5 years/₹2 crore for repeat); offences are cognizable and non-bailable.
- Also allows — Promotes e-sports and non-monetary 'online social games' via a licensing/registration framework.
Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2025
- What — Building on the Jan Vishwas Act, 2023, this Bill shifts to an 'inform-rectify-penalize' model, decriminalising 288 provisions and rationalising 67 more across 16 Central Acts.
- Status — Presented in the Lok Sabha during the Monsoon Session; referred to a Select Committee.
- Acts amended (examples) — RBI Act 1934, Electricity Act 2003, Motor Vehicles Act 1988, MSME Development Act 2006, Legal Metrology Act 2009.
- New mechanisms — Warnings/improvement notices for first-time offenders replace jail terms with monetary penalties for minor lapses.
Other new central laws in the news
- Carriage of Goods by Sea Act, 2025 — Replaces the 1925 Act governing sea-cargo bills of lading and carrier liability, aligning India's maritime trade law with modern practice.
- Indian Ports Act, 2025 — Replaces the 1908 colonial-era Act; creates a modern regulatory and dispute-resolution framework for India's major and minor ports.
- Section 436-A, CrPC 1973 — Entitles an undertrial who has served half the maximum sentence for their alleged offence to be released on a personal bond — in the news amid prison-overcrowding debates.
- Section 152, BNS 2023 — The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita's successor provision to the colonial sedition law (IPC 124A) — penalises acts endangering India's sovereignty, unity and integrity; in the news over its scope and misuse concerns.
2. Judiciary & Rulings
The Supreme Court was especially active in August — on surrogacy, anti-defection, environmental restoration, stray dogs, and refugee status — while a judicial commission indicted senior former Telangana ministers.
SC reserves verdict on age cap for surrogacy
- What — Petitions challenge the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021's upper age limits for intending parents (46 for women, 55 for men) as arbitrary and violative of reproductive autonomy.
- Status — The Supreme Court reserved its verdict after hearing arguments on the constitutionality of the age caps and the Act's single/unmarried-women restrictions.
SC directs Telangana Speaker on anti-defection cases
- What — SC directed the Speaker of the Telangana Assembly to decide, within three months, disqualification petitions against 10 BRS MLAs who switched to Congress after the 2023 elections.
- Background — BRS filed petitions under the Tenth Schedule in 2024; the Speaker issued notices only after seven months' delay and Court intervention.
- Ruling — Speakers acting as tribunals under the Tenth Schedule do not enjoy immunity from judicial review.
SC halts Kancha Gachibowli tree-felling, seeks restoration
- What — Large-scale destruction of the Kancha Gachibowli forest (~100 acres, Hyderabad) to make way for an IT park.
- Date — 13 August 2025 — CJI B.R. Gavai reiterated all felled trees must be replanted, citing Article 48A and the Forest Conservation Act, 1980.
Kaleshwaram controversy — the Ghose Commission report
- The project — Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP) — the world's largest multi-stage lift irrigation project, on the Godavari in Telangana (~1,800 km canals, ~16 lakh acres target).
- Trigger — Barrages at Medigadda, Annaram, Sundilla and Ramadugu developed cracks and structural damage within a few years of commissioning.
- Findings — The Justice (Retd.) P.C. Ghose Commission report (submitted July 2025) found serious technical and financial irregularities; named former CM K. Chandrasekhar Rao and former Irrigation Minister T. Harish Rao.
SC modifies its suo-motu directive on stray dogs
- What — SC modified its earlier order mandating confinement of all strays in shelters — a 3-judge bench clarified that dewormed, vaccinated strays can now be released back into their original localities, keeping the release-ban in abeyance.
- Background — Triggered by a July 2025 report on child deaths from stray-dog attacks in Delhi; conflicts with the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules, 2023' capture-vaccinate-release model.
Two new Supreme Court judges — Court reaches full strength
- What — Justice Vipul M. Pancholi and Justice Alok Aradhe were sworn in as judges of the Supreme Court of India by CJI B.R. Gavai.
- Date — Collegium recommendation 25 Aug 2025; Law Ministry notification 27 Aug 2025; sworn in on 29 August 2025.
- Who — Justice Pancholi — formerly Chief Justice, Patna High Court. Justice Aradhe — formerly Chief Justice, Bombay High Court.
- Effect — The two elevations brought the Supreme Court to its full sanctioned strength of 34 judges.
Other legal questions in the news
- Collusive Litigation — A legal term for cases where opposing parties secretly cooperate to obtain a favourable court ruling rather than genuinely contest the dispute — courts treat such suits as an abuse of process.
- Are the Rohingya 'Refugees'? — India is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention; it treats Rohingya as 'illegal migrants' under the Foreigners Act, 1946, not 'refugees' — a distinction courts and the government have reaffirmed in recent deportation cases.
- When can courts order a recount of votes? — Courts may order a recount only on a strong prima facie case of material irregularity in counting, established through cogent evidence — not on mere suspicion or a narrow victory margin alone.
- Who decides nominations to UT Assembly seats? — For UTs with a Legislative Assembly (e.g., Puducherry), the President (in practice, the Union Government) nominates members under the relevant UT Act — a recurring Centre-UT friction point.
- Government tightens OCI rules — New rules narrow the scope of activities Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cardholders can undertake without prior permission, tightening compliance amid security and equivalence-with-citizens concerns.
3. Diplomacy & Foreign Visits
India hosted three foreign Heads of State/Government in quick succession, PM Modi travelled to Japan, and New Delhi navigated pressure from Washington, London and Beijing simultaneously.
- PM of Fiji's visit to India — Fiji's Prime Minister paid an official visit to India, reviewing bilateral cooperation with a Pacific Island nation under India's 'Neighbourhood First' and Indo-Pacific outreach.
- China's Foreign Minister's visit to India — China's Foreign Minister visited India ahead of PM Modi's SCO Summit trip — part of a broader thaw in India-China relations after the 2020 border stand-off.
- State visit of the President of the Philippines — The President of the Philippines paid a State Visit to India, deepening maritime security and defence-industry cooperation between two nations facing shared concerns in the South China Sea/Indo-Pacific.
- PM Modi's visit to Japan — PM Modi visited Tokyo for the 15th India-Japan Annual Summit — his eighth Japan visit. Japan pledged an investment target of $68 billion over the next decade; 21 pacts concluded, including an ISRO-JAXA agreement on the LUPEX/Chandrayaan-5 mission.
- India-US 2+2 Intersessional Dialogue — Held virtually amid tariff tensions; discussed energy security and a proposed 10-year Framework for the India-US Major Defense Partnership.
- 3rd India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable (ISMR) — Held in New Delhi; ~10 pacts finalised covering connectivity, digitalisation, healthcare, skills and advanced technology, including an ambitious undersea cable project for solar energy and data connectivity.
- China to build Xinjiang-Tibet rail link 'near' the LAC — China plans a railway linking Shigatse (Tibet) to Hotan (Xinjiang) through Aksai Chin — Indian territory under Chinese occupation since 1950 — raising concern over faster troop mobilisation near the LAC.
- UK expands 'Deport Now, Appeal Later' policy to include India — UK expanded the policy from 8 to 23 countries, including India, allowing deportation of foreign nationals with pending asylum/human-rights appeals; 320 Indian citizens were imprisoned in England and Wales as of 30 June 2025.
4. Governance & Internal Security
Money laundering — parliamentary data on PMLA cases
- Data — The Finance Ministry told the Rajya Sabha the Enforcement Directorate (ED) took up 5,892 cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) since 2015, securing conviction of just 15 people.
- Key legal point — PMLA shifts the burden of proof onto the accused; an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) alone can initiate proceedings without an FIR (upheld in *Vijay Madanlal Chaudhary vs UOI*, 2022).
Decline of Maoists in the Red Corridor
- Data — Maoist-affected districts have shrunk from nearly 180 in the late 2000s to just 18 today; incidents fell from 1,936 (2010) to 374, deaths from 1,005 to 150 (2024).
- Target — The Centre has set 31 March 2026 as the target date for eliminating Left-Wing Extremism.
NDA names C. P. Radhakrishnan as Vice-Presidential candidate
- What — The NDA named Maharashtra Governor C. P. Radhakrishnan as its candidate for the 2025 Vice-Presidential election, filling the vacancy left by Jagdeep Dhankhar's July 2025 resignation.
- Who — C. P. Radhakrishnan — Governor of Maharashtra since July 2024; earlier Governor of Jharkhand, and held additional charge of Telangana and Puducherry.
- Date — Named NDA candidate on ~17 August 2025; filed his nomination on 20 August 2025.
- Opposition candidate — The joint Opposition fielded former Supreme Court judge Justice B. Sudershan Reddy.
- Note — The election itself was held on 9 September 2025 — outside this month; only the August nomination belongs to this digest.