Ritika
In order to break the supremacy of the Central Government in the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners and make this process fair, the Supreme Court has given an important decision, according to which now only the President will no longer make appointments to these posts. A 5-judge constitution bench headed by Justice KM Joseph said in a unanimous decision that the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners will be done by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Chief Justice of India. If there is no Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, then in that case the leader of the largest party will be in the committee to appoint the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners. This rule will remain in force until the Parliament makes a law on this issue.
This decision will prevent the Central Government from making anyone Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioner at its own will. The Leader of the Opposition and the CJI will also have to be included in the selection process for these posts. Justice Ajay Rastogi, Justice. Aniruddha Bose, Justice. Hrishikesh Rai and Justice. Stating that democracy is intrinsically linked to Janakanksha or the will of the people, a bench of CT Ravikumar stressed on the purity of the election process. Justice Rastogi though concurred with the main judgment authored by Justice Joseph but also gave a separate judgment with his own arguments.
Giving important guidelines regarding the Election Commission, the Supreme Court said that it should work within the constitutional framework and law. He cannot act improperly. The basis of democracy is the ‘rule of law’. Merely talking about the rule of law in lip service is not enough. For this, the Election Commission will have to ensure its independent and fair role. Elections in a democracy should be completely fair. It is the responsibility of the Election Commission to ensure its correctness.
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If cleanliness is not maintained, it will have disastrous consequences. Why the Supreme Court had to issue such a warning is also worth considering. The Election Commission as an autonomous body is no longer as effective as T.N. Seshan was during his tenure as the Chief Election Commissioner. Seshan had worked hard to make elections free and fair and had made extensive reforms.
The provisions buried in the law books were used fearlessly. He had implemented the model code of conduct and made it mandatory for the candidates to give account of election expenses. During the election, the government machinery was under the control of the Chief Election Commissioner so that politicians could not interfere. To prevent rigging and bogus voting in elections, he had taken strict steps and ensured the deployment of central security forces in sensitive election areas.
Seshan was never subdued in front of the government or politicians. It was because of his attitude that the government had made the Election Commission a three-member body. The indication of the Supreme Court is clear that the Election Commission should not blindly act on the direct or indirect instructions of the government, should not act according to the convenience of the ruling party. As an autonomous body, its commitment should be only to conduct free and fair elections.
