EC hails court judgments, unsure of ground impact

The Election Commission (EC) on Wednesday hailed the recent court judgments seeking to correct faults in India's electoral system, but is wary of their outcome.

"It is a shot in the arm and the EC is bound to be happy with the Supreme Court (SC) judgment on decriminalisation of politics," said a senior EC official, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

"But we are hearing reports about people with criminal charges now preparing their kith and kin to fight in their positions," the official added.

Last week, the SC struck down a provision in the Representation of the People Act which protected a convicted lawmaker from disqualification on the ground of pendency of appeal in higher courts. Such people were allowed three months to file an appeal before a higher court. The same SC Bench has barred people on trial from contesting elections. The ruling won't impact current lawmakers.

The EC believes political parties would reconcile to the rulings. "But, if they (government) have to undo the SC ruling, the government would have to change the constitution with two-third majority votes in both houses."

The EC said it had been pressing for electoral reforms to decriminalise politics since 1998, but their request has fallen on deaf ears.

"Every time a new law minister takes charge, he gets his first letter from us urging him to expedite the matter. Last we heard the Law Commission has compiled its report and has invited public opinion."

Asked about the recent Central Information Commissioner ruling to bring political parties under the purview of the Right to Information Act (RTI), the official said: "Through newspaper reports, we have come to know the union government is amending the RTI Act to exempt political parties. The very action defeats the basic principle of transparency and fairness."

"There are some practical difficulties for political parties to implement the RTI Act, but a fine balance needed to be struck. Their argument about their (political parties) providing details to the Election Commission and Income Tax, does not hold much ground because information provided by them is barely sufficient," the official added.

The EC welcomed the Allahabad High Court's judgment to ban caste-based political rallies in Uttar Pradesh. "It would rob political parties of benefiting from such rallies. The EC too has its limitations; we can implement the judgment only during the time of elections."