The previous Chief Election Commissioner of India and the writer of ‘An Undocumented Surprise — The Making of the Nice Indian Election’, S Y Quraishi, warns towards the Election Fee of India moving into the “political area” over the query of ballot guarantees, and says that the EC neither has the powers to observe ballot guarantees, nor punish the violators. Excerpts from an interview.
Is it throughout the scope or powers of the Election Fee of India to observe ballot guarantees made by political events?
The mandate and accountability of the EC is to make sure free and truthful elections. It’s true that false guarantees can vitiate the political ambiance. Nevertheless, the EC acts throughout the ambit of the Structure and the regulation. There is no such thing as a regulation within the nation which says {that a} political get together can’t make guarantees, even false guarantees, or distribute freebies.
The EC shouldn’t be drawn into this debate, particularly since it’s wedged between the conduct of elections and politics. It’s for Parliament to make a regulation on the topic.
When the case got here up within the Supreme Court docket, it had referred to as for discussions with political events. The events had then questioned the scope of the powers of the EC and mentioned that making guarantees to voters, and making their insurance policies and plans identified by means of election manifestos, is their “authorized proper and responsibility”.
In my humble opinion, neither the Supreme Court docket nor the EC have the powers to intervene on this reliable democratic train. It appears the Supreme Court docket was aware of the truth that it has no energy, which is why it pronounced that this can’t be described as a ‘corrupt observe’ below the RP (Illustration of the Individuals) Act. It handed the buck to the EC to name a gathering of political events, and, primarily based on dialogue, body essential tips. Nicely, if it isn’t a corrupt observe, what energy does the EC should situation any tips?
How then did the EC come into the image once more this time round?
The EC didn’t act on this situation suo motu. As a matter of truth, I strongly disagree with the allegation that the EC took a U-turn on the problem, having submitted to the Court docket earlier its stance, rightly so, that the matter of guarantees and freebies is subjective and topic to interpretation. The EC got here into the image solely after having been directed, reasonably harshly, by the Supreme Court docket to take action. If certainly there is a matter with political events making irresponsible guarantees, then the Court docket ought to have declared it a corrupt observe, which it has not, as a result of the Court docket has passed by the letter of the regulation.
In 2013, the EC had carried out an train of calling political events and framing tips nearly perfunctorily. All it mentioned was {that a} political get together has to make guarantees responsibly, and they should inform the general public on how these guarantees are going to be met and financed.
What powers does the EC have then?
Nothing. All it could possibly do is amplify its personal 2013 tips which requested political events to declare how they might finance their manifesto guarantees and put this on its web site. The one motion potential towards these not offering the data is to admonish them, like all different violations of the mannequin code of conduct: ask them to ‘watch out in future!’. As it’s, folks name the EC toothless when it takes this sort of motion, which is definitely the one out there energy it has.
The EC can’t make the regulation nor can it amend the RP Act, which is solely a legislative area. If any political get together had been to violate these tips or refuse to submit particulars on how they financially plan to satisfy their guarantees, what’s the EC going to do? The EC has zero powers for imposing any punishment, besides reprimand.
Can’t the EC deregister a celebration?
The EC doesn’t have the facility to impose even a token effective, to not converse of deregistering a celebration, for even the gravest of violations of the mannequin code of conduct. The Supreme Court docket itself had denied this energy to the EC over 20 years in the past. The Fee has been demanding this energy ever since. If the EC had the facility to deregister political events, then it might be a really totally different political panorama altogether.
There’s a parallel case to this — that of criminalisation of politics, by which the Supreme Court docket itself had directed that candidates should disclose prison circumstances towards them. What the EC does on this case is put up the data on its web site in order that the voter can know and make an knowledgeable alternative. However the Fee doesn’t have the facility to debar the candidate from preventing the election. Why not debar the candidate altogether by means of laws, because the EC has been demanding? The EC has been making this demand, however the authorities will not be listening.
What can the EC do then?
The EC should not be dragged into the political area of sitting in judgment on whether or not a celebration’s manifesto guarantees are possible or not. Even much less, whether or not the get together has fulfilled the guarantees. It will probably at finest evolve a proforma to be hooked up to the manifesto explaining how the get together will fulfil its guarantees and put it within the public area. Let the voters resolve, simply as they’re purported to do with the data of the prison antecedents of candidates.
Which political events have saved their guarantees and which haven’t, is an endless debate. The EC is neither geared up nor competent to take a seat in judgment.
Let’s do not forget that there are some guarantees that are intangible in nature. For example, if a political get together has claimed to enhance the standard of schooling, how precisely do you quantify this?
Do electoral guarantees vitiate the ambiance of elections?
Lots of the schemes which can have begun as freebies forward of an election have turned out to be efficient welfare schemes – whether or not it’s distribution of rice at Rs 2 a kg or free bicycles for women going to varsities. The primary has led to the tip of hunger deaths and the second to an elevated enrolment of women in colleges and diminished the dropout charge. Moreover, the ‘freebies’ are often given by the federal government, and never by the Opposition events, as a result of they’ve the sources to take action. So how is one to evaluate what a freebie is and what a welfare scheme is? Your freebie is my welfare scheme, and vice-versa.
Moreover, political events can promise the moon of their manifestos — legally. It’s a reliable democratic doc that reveals the place of the get together on totally different points and its proposals and plans for the longer term.
One factor is totally clear: the Election Fee should not be dragged into politics. And the present situation has the potential to take action. This spells catastrophe.
