EC needs moral authority, it is losing respect: Ribeiro

Retired IPS officer Julio Ribeiro said Wednesday that the Election Commission of India (ECI) does not command the same respect it enjoyed earlier.

The former Mumbai police commissioner is among 66 retired bureaucrats who have written to the President expressing displeasure about the functioning of the ECI.

"I feel saddened that the Election Commission, an autonomous constitutional authority responsible for conducting elections, does not enjoy the respect which it did earlier," he told PTI here.

Ribeiro, hailed for his role in containing the insurgency in Punjab in the 1980s, is known for candidly airing his views on social and political issues.

"The EC (once) had good reputation not only in India but also world-over for conducing elections in a free and fair manner," he said.

"Political parties respected the Election Commission then. The situation is different now," he said.

"The EC needs moral authority and should be straight-forward so as to conduct the (poll) process fearlessly," he added.

Sixty-six former bureaucrats including Ribeiro wrote to President Ram Nath Kovind earlier this week expressing concern about the EC failing to deal with alleged cases of poll code violation, particularly those involving the BJP.

The instances cited by them included Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to the nation about the launch of India's first anti-satellite weapon, release of web-series "Modi: A Common Man's Journey", and the "lethargy" in respect of the EC's action on the launch of NaMo TV channel.