The Law Ministry through a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner and the Election Commissioner to attend a meeting of the Prime Minister’s Office. Even though this meeting took place on November 16, but now questions are being raised regarding the constitutional rules regarding this. Even the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) objected to this meeting. This has been termed as a compromise on the autonomy of the institutions.
What is the whole matter?
In fact, Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra and Election Commissioners Rajiv Kumar and Anoop Chandra Pandey had to attend an “informal meeting” with the Prime Minister’s Office after a letter was issued by the Law Ministry. It was said in this letter that this meeting would be held by PK Mishra, Principal Secretary to PM Modi, in which the election of CEC was said to be necessary.
The CEC did not like this letter and is angry with the attitude of the government, as the kind of language used seems like a summon. However, such meetings have taken place in the past as well in which the Chief Election Commissioner did not attend while other election officials were involved.
The Chief Election Commissioner expressed grief over this letter. At the same time, a senior official associated with the commission said that when the Law Ministry was questioned about this letter, they refused to comment on it.
The senior official also said that the Chief Election Commissioner and two Election Commissioners did not attend the video meeting. But after the meeting was over, all three were talked informally. This meeting took place to improve the electoral process. Recently, some amendments have been made related to the cabinet elections, they were discussed. At the same time, while the Chief Election Commissioner has expressed displeasure about this meeting, the opposition has also raised questions.
How is this against the constitutional rules?
Can any government official send a letter to the Election Commission stating that the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) “expects” the Chief Election Commissioner to attend a meeting that will be presided over by the PMO? The answer is ‘no’.
The Election Commission is a constitutional body that functions independently of the executive branch. The Chief Election Commissioner and the Election Commissioner keep a distance from the government. Say that the Election Commission is kept completely separate from the ruling party or the executive party. According to Article 324 of the Constitution of India, the Election Commission is the apex body to conduct elections in India in a free and fair manner, so as to ensure public participation in the election process.
The Supreme Court had also emphasized the need for the Election Commission to remain independent in its 1995 order in TN Seshan vs Union of India.
However, there have been several occasions when the Chief Election Commissioners have written to the Prime Minister in the past. For example, in 1999, Chief Election Commissioner MS Gill wrote a letter to the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee for electoral reforms. In the year 2016, Chief Election Commissioner Naseem Zaidi wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding immediate release of funds to buy VVPAT machines.
In both these cases, it was the Chief Election Commissioner who had written to the government only on his own terms, to the executive on a matter of importance to him. It is not so in the present case. In the present case it is the government which is asking the Chief Election Commissioner and the Election Commissioners to attend the meeting which is unusual.
Nevertheless, later the three election commissioners agreed to hold talks with PK Mishra, the principal secretary to PM Modi. This raises questions about the autonomy of this body. This is being called a violation of Article 324.
However, it is also a fact that the three election commissioners did not attend the meeting or discussion called by the officials of the government to maintain democracy. In fact it is the government officials who connected the ECs through video calls. However, the manner in which the letter was sent by the government to the Election Commission and later all three became part of the meeting, it has become a matter of protocol. This is the reason why the opposition has strongly attacked this attitude of the government.
Opposition raised questions
The opposition has termed this meeting of the government and the election commissioners as unconstitutional. Congress MP Manish Tewari has given notice of an adjournment motion to discuss the “propriety and autonomy of the Election Commission and the independence of institutions” in the Lok Sabha on Friday.
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