Polity & Governance Current Affairs September 2026

The Centre has notified 1 October 2026 as the date from which the Bankers' Books Evidence Act, 2026 takes effect, retiring the colonial-era Bankers' Books Evidence Act, 1891. The commencement notification is dated 10 September 2026; the Act received Presidential assent on 13 August 2026. It is technology-neutral, recognising banking records held in physical, electronic, digital, virtual and cloud-based forms, and standardises certification through manual, digital or electronic signatures. It defines 'special cause' for the first time, narrowing when courts may summon bank officers, and empowers the Centre to extend the framework to other financial-sector entities by notification.

The Collegium led by CJI Surya Kant recommended on 23 September 2026 that 12 additional judges be made permanent in the Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Uttarakhand and Gauhati High Courts. The Collegium comprised Chief Justice of India Surya Kant with Justices Vikram Nath and B. V. Nagarathna. Andhra Pradesh and Kerala account for five names each, while Uttarakhand and Gauhati get one each. Additional judges are appointed under Article 224 of the Constitution for a term not exceeding two years, and the Collegium reviews their performance before confirming them as permanent judges under Article 217. The recommendation now goes to the Union Government for notification.

The Supreme Court of India is hosting the BRICS Chief Justices' Forum 2026 in New Delhi from 4 to 6 September 2026, with Chief Justice of India Surya Kant leading the proceedings. Chief Justices and senior judges from Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, South Africa and the UAE, plus partner countries including Belarus, Kazakhstan, Malaysia and Uzbekistan, are taking part. Sessions cover international business litigation and arbitration, mediation, artificial intelligence in courts and environmental adjudication. CJI Surya Kant held bilateral meetings with ten visiting delegations on day one. The forum is the judicial track of India's 2026 BRICS chairship, which also delivered the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi.

The Supreme Court of India on 4 September 2026 directed seven consenting states to amend their judicial service rules and raise the retirement age of district judges from 60 to 62 years. The move addresses chronic vacancies and mounting pendency in the subordinate judiciary by retaining experienced judicial officers for two more years. Under the Constitution, High Court judges retire at 62 and Supreme Court judges at 65, while district judiciary service conditions are governed by state rules framed under Articles 233–235, which vest control of subordinate courts in the High Courts.

President Droupadi Murmu has amended the Inter-State Council Order, 1990 through the Inter-State Council (Amendment) Order, 2026, notified by the Ministry of Home Affairs on 9 September 2026 and effective immediately on publication. The amendment was made under powers conferred by Article 263 of the Constitution. It provides that the Governor of a State shall be invited to Inter-State Council meetings when a President's proclamation under Article 356 is in force in that State. For the National Capital Territory of Delhi, the Lieutenant Governor shall be invited when a President's order under Article 239AB is in force, filling a representation gap when an elected government is not functioning.

The Union government has dissolved the Digital Communications Commission (DCC), the apex inter-departmental decision-making body of the Department of Telecommunications, through a resolution dated 19 September 2026, after the Union Cabinet approved the winding up on 16 September. Created as the Telecom Commission in April 1989 and renamed the DCC in October 2018 under the National Digital Communications Policy, 2018, it functioned for nearly 37 years. The government cited duplication between DCC members and DoT's departmental advisers, and long-vacant posts. Its last meeting, on 3 September 2026, cleared satellite spectrum decisions including a five-year administrative assignment and a spectrum usage charge of 5% of adjusted gross revenue.

In September 2026 the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting reconstituted the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) with 18 members for a period of three years. The panel functions under Chairperson Shashi Shekhar Vempati, who took charge in May 2026, and includes actors Preity Zinta, Suniel Shetty, Pankaj Tripathi, Prosenjit Chatterjee, Pallavi Joshi and Roopali Ganguly, along with Grammy-winning musician Ricky Kej. The reconstitution was carried out under Section 3(1) of the Cinematograph Act, 1952 and Rule 3 of the Cinematograph (Certification) Rules, 2024. The previous Board had been formally reconstituted in August 2017.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla constituted a 31-member Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) in September 2026 to examine the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, with BJP MP Sanjay Jaiswal as Chairperson. This completes the process begun when the Bill was referred to a JPC on 12 August 2026, which followed the Centre's revision of FCRA rules for NGOs in June 2026. The panel has 21 Lok Sabha and 10 Rajya Sabha members, including Tejasvi Surya, A. Raja, Supriya Sule and Harsh Vardhan Shringla. It must report by the first week of the Winter Session (November–December 2026), scrutinising foreign-funding transparency and NGO functioning.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah chaired the 28th Western Zonal Council meeting at Panaji, Goa, on 7 September 2026, organised through the Inter-State Council Secretariat. The Western Zonal Council covers Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa and the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, with the Goa Chief Minister serving as Vice-Chairman. The agenda covered cooperative federalism, inter-state coordination, crimes against women, fast-track special courts and village-level banking. Zonal Councils are statutory advisory bodies created under the States Reorganisation Act, 1956; India has five of them — Northern, Central, Eastern, Western and Southern — and the Union Home Minister chairs each one.

Bihar and Jharkhand signed a Memorandum of Understanding in New Delhi on 31 August 2026 to share the waters of the Sone River, settling a dispute pending since Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar in November 2000. Of the 7.75 million acre-feet (MAF) allotted to undivided Bihar under the 1973 Bansagar Agreement, Bihar will receive 5.75 MAF and Jharkhand 2 MAF. The pact was signed in the presence of Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah, Jal Shakti Minister C. R. Patil, and Chief Ministers Samrat Choudhary of Bihar and Hemant Soren of Jharkhand. It is the fourth inter-state water agreement of 2026.

The Centre extended the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 in notified areas of Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh for six months from 1 October 2026, through Ministry of Home Affairs Gazette notifications issued on 25 September 2026 after a law-and-order review. In Manipur the whole state is covered except areas under 13 police stations across Imphal West, Imphal East, Thoubal, Bishnupur and Kakching. Nagaland's extension covers nine districts - Dimapur, Niuland, Chumoukedima, Mon, Kiphire, Noklak, Phek, Peren and Meluri - plus 21 police stations elsewhere. In Arunachal Pradesh it applies to Tirap, Changlang and Longding districts and three Namsai police stations.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated the 3rd National Conference of Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) Heads of States and UTs in New Delhi on 22-23 September 2026, with 36 States and UTs taking part. Organised by the Narcotics Control Bureau under the Ministry of Home Affairs on the theme "United Resolve, Shared Responsibility", it advanced the Vision Document on Narcotics Control (2026-2029) and set a target of a drug-free India by 31 December 2029, aligned with the Viksit Bharat 2047 vision. Shah released four anti-narcotics television commercials, launched a revamped NCB website and laid foundation stones for NCB zonal complexes at Lucknow and Dehradun.

The Centre notified the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Fourth Amendment Rules, 2026 on 21 September 2026, making origin-based symbols mandatory on soaps, shampoos, toothpastes, cosmetics and other toiletries. A green dot marks vegetarian origin and a red or brown dot non-vegetarian origin, and the symbol must appear at the top of the principal display panel. The amendment inserts the requirement as new Rule 6(4A)(d) and omits the earlier Rule 6(8), which had carried a similar provision since 2014. It follows a February 2026 Delhi High Court direction asking regulators to take a clear position, and is administered by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs.

The Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA) under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution notified the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) (Amendment) Rules, 2026, overhauling the 2020 rules and coming into force on 1 January 2027. E-commerce entities must become National Consumer Helpline (NCH) convergence partners, give complainants a copy of the complaint recorded by the grievance officer, and are barred from manipulating search results to mislead users. Sponsored listings must carry clear and prominent disclosures separating paid placements from organic results. Platforms must display both the reduced price and the prior price, defined as the lowest price offered during the preceding 30 days.

The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) launched the Quarterly Progress Report (QPR) portal on Data Harmonisation in September 2026 to strengthen India's National Data System (NDS) and improve the use of administrative data. It was inaugurated by Shaktikanta Das, Principal Secretary-2 to the Prime Minister, at Rang Bhawan Auditorium, New Delhi. All Central Ministries, Departments and Organisations will use it to catalogue, standardise and quality-check machine-readable datasets under the Statistical Quality Assurance Framework (SQAF). Features include automated validation, dashboards and cross-verification with the National Metadata Structures (NMDS) portal, supporting evidence-based policymaking.