Rajya Sabha passes Bill making ECs' status same as Supreme Court judges

Tribune News Service

Shubhadeep Choudhury

New Delhi, December 12

The Rajya Sabha on Tuesday passed the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill by voice vote even as Opposition members accused the government of bringing the Bill to manipulate the process of elections by appointing people close to the regime as the CEC and ECs.

Raghav Chadha opposes it

Aam Aadmi Party’s Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha opposed in Parliament on Tuesday the Bill related to the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and other Election Commissioners. Chadha alleged that the BJP wanted to control the Election Commission (EC) by introducing the Bill. TNS

The Opposition also walked out of the House later protesting against the Bill.

Moving the Bill for consideration and passage, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said the legislation has been brought in view of the Supreme Court judgment of March while hearing a PIL.

Meghwal said the Bill was introduced in the Upper House on August 10 to replace the 1991 Act. The Act did not have a clause related to appointment of CEC and other ECs, he said and added that the Bill proposed to constitute a search and selection committee for this purpose.

The government has now decided to keep the status of Election Commissioners equivalent to the status of Supreme Court judges. It was earlier proposed to be same as the Cabinet Secretary.

One more amendment in the Bill protects the sitting Election Commissioners from civil or criminal proceedings.

Moreover, the committee, which is tasked with providing five names to the selection panel will be now headed by the Union Law Minister. In the earlier Bill, the Cabinet Secretary was leading the search committee.

Opposing the Bill, Congress MP Randeep Singh Surjewala said it was against the very spirit of the debate that had taken place in the Constituent Assembly. Members of the Constituent Assembly showed great concern to ensure the independence of the process of elections and keeping the process free from executive interference, he said.

Surjewala said the appointment of the CEC and EC has been reduced to an “empty formality” by the Bill as the committee empowered to make the appointments comprises the Prime Minister and a member nominated by him and the Leader of Opposition, giving the government an obvious advantage regarding appointment.

Surjewala further said that Bill had reserved the post of CEC for serving and retired secretaries of the government who did not have any experience of contesting elections.

Speaking on the Bill, Trinamool Congress member Jawahar Sircar said the proposed law threatened the very basis of democracy in the country with an electorate of 92 crore, the largest in the world.

Opposing the Bill, DMK’s Tiruchi Siva said the objective of the Bill was to appoint “yes man” by the government as ECs. “The BJP thinks it is always going to be in power. One day, you will face the wrath of all the Bills you brought,” Siva said.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said the Election Commission also adjudicated in matters related to splits in political parties. Its decision on such matters would come under cloud if the Bill was adopted, she said.

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