Mains Practice Questions

Approach

• Give a brief introduction about the Election commission.
• Discuss the Issues with and of the Election Commission.
• Discuss the ways to strengthen the Election commission.
• Provide a conclusion.

Introduction

The Election Commission of India ( ECI) is a permanent and independent body established by the Constitution of India directly to ensure free and fair elections in the country. Article 324 says the superintendence, direction, and control of all elections to Parliament, the State legislatures, and the offices of the President and Vice-President shall be vested in the election commission of India.

Body

Issues Faced by the Election Commission:

• Undefined Scope of Powers: Besides the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), the ECI issues from time to time directions, instructions, and clarifications on a host of issues that crop up in the course of an election.
  
  • The code does not say what the ECI can do; it contains only guidelines for the candidates, political parties, and the governments.
• No Legal Backing of MCC: MCC is framed on the basis of a consensus among political parties, it has not been given any legal backing.
• Transfer of Officials: Another issue that pertains to the functioning of the ECI, is the abrupt transfer of senior officials working under State governments by an order of the commission.
• Conflict With the Law: According to the MCC, Ministers cannot announce any financial grants in any form, make any promise of construction of roads, provision of drinking water facilities, etc or make any ad hoc appointments in the government.
  
  • However, Section 123 (2)(b) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 says that the declaration of a public policy or the exercise of a legal right will not be regarded as interfering with the free exercise of the electoral right.
• Lack of Enforceability: The EC does not have the power to disqualify candidates who commit electoral malpractices. At best, it may direct the registration of a case.
• No Prescribed Qualification: The Constitution has not prescribed the qualifications (legal, educational, administrative or judicial) of the members of the Election Commission.

Ways in Which ECI and Its Role can be Strengthened

• Re-inventing Consistently: ECI should continuously reinvent its powers given to it under the Indian Constitution as done by many previous CECs like T. N. Seshan.
• State Funding of Elections: System in which the State bears the election expenditure of political parties that are contesting elections. This can bring transparency in the funding process as public finance can limit the influence of interested donors’ money and thereby help curb corruption.
• Simultaneous Polls: The time has come to implement simultaneous polls because of its underlying advantages including reducing the costs of holding elections by the ECI and spending by political parties.
• Central Legislation: In the Public Interest Foundation & Ors. vs. Union of India 2018 case, Supreme Court put the onus on the Parliament to frame a law to prevent criminalization of politics and take concerted efforts to cleanse the political system of the country.
• Deregistration of Parties: It is suspected that several unrecognised parties may be engaged in money laundering, given the income tax exemptions they enjoy. In order to reinforce law ECI should be given power to deregister parties.
• Collegium System: A collegium system of appointment (As suggested by Tarkunde Committee, 1975 and the Goswami Committee, 1990) should be considered.
  
  • This will weaken the influence of the government over the President's choice of Election Commissioners.

Conclusion

The role played by the ECI has bestowed a very high level of confidence in the minds of Indian citizens in ensuring the purity of the elected legislative bodies in the country. However, the grey areas in the legal sphere must be rectified, so that ECI can reinforce the democratic structure of the country via free and fair elections.