Faith of voters in election process stands shaken: SC

NEW DELHI: In its verdict running into 378 pages, the constitution bench of Justices K M Joseph, Ajay Rastogi, Aniruddha Bose, Hrishikesh Roy and C T Ravikumar said the appointment of CEC and ECs should be done in a manner that does not frustrate their six-year tenure. A short tenure also hampers the panel's independence, it said.

The court said any perception that a "yes man" appointed by the Centre in the poll panel will decide the fate of democracy has to be removed and the commission should be made "fiercely independent, honest, competent and fair". It also favoured the same process for the removal of ECs as the CEC.

"We declare that as far as appointments to the posts of CEC and ECs are concerned, the same shall be done by the President of India on the basis of the advice tendered by a committee consisting of the Prime Minister, leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha and, in case, there is no such leader, the leader of the largest party in the opposition in the Lok Sabha, and the CJI. This norm will continue to hold good till a law is made by Parliament," said the bench.

The bench said, "Holding the scales evenly even in the stormiest of times, not being servile to the powerful, but coming to the rescue of the weak and the wronged, who are otherwise in the right, would qualify as true independence."

Referring to a very wide spectrum of powers exercised by the commission for holding election and recognising political parties, the bench said if the poll panel acts unfairly or illegally then it has a "telling and chilling effect on the fortunes of the political parties". "Therefore, any action or omission by the commission in holding the poll which treats political parties with an uneven hand, and what is more, in an unfair or arbitrary manner, would be anathema to the mandate of Article 14, and therefore, cause its breach," said Justice Joseph, who penned the main judgment.

The bench said it is the CEC and the ECs at whose table "the buck must stop" and the commission must act within the constitutional framework and the laws as it was its duty to ensure that democracy is always preserved and fostered.

It said the role of the commission is more important as criminalisation of politics and impact of money power have become a nightmarish reality. It said, "The faith of the electorate in the very process, which underlies democracy itself, stands shaken. The impact of 'big money' and its power to influence elections, the influence of certain sections of media, makes it also absolutely imperative that the appointment of the EC, which has been declared by this court to be the guardian of the citizenry and its fundamental rights, becomes a matter which cannot be postponed further."