Tripura HC advises Election Commission to amend law for facilitating online submission of nomination

AGARTALA: The high court of Tripura on Thursday advised the State Election Commission to bring necessary amendments in law with suitable provisions so that candidates willing to contest elections may file nomination papers through electronic means.
The bench comprised Justice Arindam Lodh and Justice S D Purkayastha while hearing two petitions – in which opposition Congress and the CPM in separate pleas sought High Court’s intervention complaining that their candidates were being prevented from filing nominations for the ensuing Panchayat polls slated on August 8.
The petitioners sought direction from the High Court to facilitate the submission of nomination forms by the intending candidates online. However, the bench declined to issue any direction and said, “The court is to act according to the confines of the provisions prescribed in the statute. Courts cannot go beyond the statute to pass any direction upon the respondents to adopt such a mechanism which is not in the statute itself”.
The judges pointed out that it is a settled proposition of law that during the election process, the court cannot pass any direction to remove any irregularities or malpractices by any person or persons. The statute gives liberty to any of the electorates or the candidates to raise their grievances after the completion of election process before an appropriate forum.
Therefore, at this stage, interference by the high court is not at all called for.
“In our opinion, with the advancement of digital technology and over-increasing criminalization in politics, now is high time for Election Commission to bring necessary amendments in Law, making suitable provisions so that candidates willing to contest elections may file nomination papers through electronic means. In the democratic system of governance, the authorities concerned must ensure free and fair elections,” the judges underlined.
“According to us, online filing of nominations would play a vital role in fulfilling the commission’s statutory duty to maintain the purity of elections. However, true it is, any decision in this regard would depend on the specific legal framework, and of course, the technological feasibility, which also may not be very difficult to sort out in the present scenario," the bench observed.
Nevertheless, the bench directed the state government and State Election Commission to provide adequate security to the candidates willing to submit nomination papers at the place mentioned in the notification of the Panchayat election and also shall ensure the conduct of free and fair elections in the state.
The court further observed that Tripura Panchayat Act and Rules had been framed in 1993. And as such there was no statutory provision that would allow the candidates to file nomination papers online. But times have changed considerably, science and technology have come a long way and criminalization in politics is growing day by day; hence provisions of law need to be amended accordingly.
The opposition parties moved to High Court following a series of attacks carried out allegedly by the ruling BJP supporters since the announcement of election and prevented them from filing the nominations. When the high court was hearing the case, CPI-M candidates were attacked and prevented from filing nominations in Agartala’s Dukli block.
Similarly, Congress candidates were attacked and prevented from the nomination process in Tepania block of Gomati district where at least 11 Congressmen including AICC member and MLA Sudip Roy Barman assaulted in the presence of security forces. The opposition parties claimed that because of violence and attacks, they couldn’t file candidature in more than 50 seats of three-tier Panchayats.