Gist of Important Articles from IIPA Journal: Role and Functioning of Election Commission of India M.S. Gill
Gist of Important Articles from IIPA Journal
Role and Functioning of Election Commission of India M.S. Gill
Our form of Government and Elections
The Founding Fathers of our Constitution were men of great wisdom and foresight. After an in-depth examination and analysis of various forms of democratic governments, prevalent in different parts of the world at the time of India’s independence, the Constitution makers considered the Westminster type of parliamentary from of government, as is prevalent in the United Kingdom, as best suited to the political, social and economic conditions and needs of India.
Keeping in view the diversity that exists in our country, which is a large country, and is often referred to as a sub-continent, the Constitution of India was drawn up on the principle of federalism. It is a Constitution which is federal in nature with a unitary bais.
Democracy being the bedrock on which Indian nation stands, it becomes imperative, that persons entering democratic institutions like Parliament and State Legislatures, do so on the basis of free and fair elections. To ensure that elections to Parliament and State Legislatures are free and fair and not tainted with, or vitiated by, any malpractices which have the effect of interfering with the free exercise of electoral rights of millions of voters of India, there was considerable debate in the Constituent Assembly in regard to the authority which should be entrusted with this task of holding free and fair elections.
Role of Election Commission
Ultimately, it was decided that all elections to Parliament and the State Legislatures should be entrusted to a Central Election Commission. Thus, a whole new Part XV under the heading ‘Elections’ (containing Articles 324 to 329) came to be inserted in the Constitution of India.
Article 324 of the Constitution created the Election Commission as an independent constitutional authority. Clause (l) of that Article vested the superintendence, direction and control of preparation of electoral rolls for, and conduct of, all elections to Parliament and to the Legislature of every State, and of elections to the offices of President and Vice-President of India in the Election Commission.
The importance of the role which the Election Commission plays as an independent body in the healthy growth of democracy in the country is best described in the following words of the Supreme Court:
The preamble of our Constitution proclaims that we are a Democratic Republic. Democracy being the basic feature of our constitutional set up, there can be no two opinions that free and fair elections to our Legislative bodies alone would guarantee the growth of a healthy democracy in the country. In order to ensure the purity of the election process, it was thought by our Constitution makers that the responsibility to hold free and fair elections in the country should be entrusted to an independent body which would be insulated from political and or executive interference. It is inherent in a democratic set up that the agency which is entrusted the task of holding elections to the Legislatures should be fully insulated so that it can function as an independent agency free from external pressures from the party in power or executive of the day. This objective is achieved by the setting up of an Election Commission, a permanent body, under Article 324(1) of the Constitution. The superintendence, direction and control of the entire election process in the country has been vested under the said clause in a Commission called the Election Commission?
Composition of Election Commission
The Constitution makers provided in clause (2) of Article 324 of the Constitution that the Election Commission may be a single-member Commission or a multi-member body, depending upon the needs of the time. To begin with, the Election Commission was constituted as a single-member Commission, with the Chief Election Commissioner of India as its sole member. This arrangement continued till October 16, 1989, when the Election Commission became, for the first time, a multi-member body with the appointment of two Election Commissioners. However, this was a short-lived arrangement. On January 1, 1990, after the completion of the Ninth General Election to the House of the People, the Election Commission again became a single-member Commission.
From October 1,1993, the Election Commission has again been converted into multi-member body, with the appointment of two Election Commissioners. This, now, is a permanent arrangement, as, simultaneously with the appointment of Election Commissioners, they were given statutory guarantee in regard to their tenure, as their term of office was fixed as six years or till the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.41t was also provided by law that the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners, shall have equal say in the decision- making of the Election Commission in all matters and, if there was any difference of opinion amongst them in any matter, it is the opinion of the majority which shall prevail.
Powers and Task
The conduct of elections to the offices of President and Vice- President of India and to Parliament and State Legislatures is governed by the provisions of the Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections Act, 1952, Representation of the People Act, 1950 and the Representation of the People Act, 1951-all enacted by Parliament. Where, however, the enacted laws are silent or make insufficient provision to deal with a given situation, Article 324 of the Constitution of India has been held by the Supreme Court of India to be a ‘reservoir of power’ for the Election Commission to act in such vacuous area to ensure the conduct of free and fair elections with expedition.
The Commission has been using all the powers that it legally enjoys, be it powers derived from the Constitution, the Representation of the People Acts 1950 and 1951, or any other statutes to ensure that free and fair elections take place in the country, and that there is a level playing field between contesting candidates and contesting political parties. It does this by ensuring neutrality of officials conducting elections, reducing use of money power in electioneering, seeing that the party in power does not gain an unfair edge in the elections by going in for populist programmes, schemes or spendings on the eve of elections, and seeing that the average citizen is insulated in his personal life from instructions due to electioneering.
This is a stupendous task, given the dimensions involved. A general election to the House of the People which is held direct on the basis of universal adult suffrage (18 years and above), from 543 Parliamentary Constituencies into which the whole territory of the country is divided, involves casting of votes by over 600 million voters and counting thereof. It means deploying about five million officials to man nearly one million polling stations that are set up. Some of these polling stations are in such remote areas that it takes the polling staff two to three days to reach there.
AN APPRAISAL OF FUNCTIONING OF ELECTION COMMISSION
It would be worthwhile, when we are celebrating 50th anniversary of our independence, to reflect on how our democratic institutions, set up with such meticulous care by the Founding Fathers of the Constitution, have evolved over the years. Whether they have gone from strength to strength, or whether they have deteriorated, is something that can be debated. However, there will be near unanimity in the viewpoint that they have considerably changed, both in character and style of functioning, over the years.
Rising Complexities in Conduct of Elections
The reason for such change is not far to seek. It lies in the fact that our society has over the decades become more complex. Perceptions of what should be societal goals is today different for different sections of the people, and with it the issues that concern and the choices that are available, are now characterised by a far more complex matrix, than what existed 50 years ago.
Keeping this as a backdrop, the role of the Election Commission of India in conducting free and fair elections, has become that much more crucial, and its effectiveness that much more-sritical, for it is through free and fair elections, based on universal, adult suffrage, that these complex issues are to be resolved, in a manner that will be acceptable to all concerned, be they those who support a proposal or those who oppose it.
In the early years after independence, free and fair elections used to happen by themselves, largely due to the personalities involved in the electoral fray, and the relatively simple nature of the issues involved in those elections. The Election Commission had, at those times, a role to perform that was not too difficult, namely, to ensure that everybody concerned adheres to the procedures laid down for the conduct of elections. However, as things became more complex, as rivalries between political parties and personages became more acute and when gradually the prevalent dictum in the political arena became one of end justifying the means, the Election Commission had necessarily to change from a largely reactive to a proactive organisation, to ensure free and fair elections. It is left to the nation to judge how far it has succeeded in its assigned role.
Some Recent Achievements
Let me hasten to add that no claims are being made that these and other measures have been achieved in full. However, the process has been initiated, and the dent in the system has been made. This in itself is no mean achievement, if we appreciate the dimensions involved.
Ensuring Inner-Party Democracy
One of the recent achievements of the Commission has been to ensure that inner party democracy becomes a reality, in respect of all recognised parties. What it means is that a person cannot just claim to be a leader of a party, but must become a party leader through the process of elections as envisaged in that party’s constitution. An organisation that chooses to playa role in the larger democratic canvas, must practice democracy in its own backyard.
Preventing Criminalisation of Politics
Another important area into which the Commission is trying to make inroad, and which is being watched by the whole nation with serious concern, is the growing criminalisation of politics. The Commission has already taken its first step-a major step-in this direction, on August 28, 1997, to keep the convicts out of the holy precincts of our Parliament and State Legislatures. It was often observed that many a persons convicted of heinous crimes-like murder, dacoity, rape etc.-were entering into electoral fray, and getting elected, despite being disqualified under the law (Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951) for contesting elections. They became candidates under the subterfuge that they had filed appeals against their conviction, and had been released on bail during the pendency of such appeals. The Commission has now clarified to all concerned that such convicted persons are disqualified for elections, regardless of whether they are out on bailor not. All candidates, in future, will also have to furnish information about their convictions, if any, with a sworn affidavit, at the time of filing their nomination papers. The Commission is also examining further how to restructure and ‘tighten’ the law, so that the law-breakers do not become law-makers.
Summing UP
It is, nevertheless, a matter of pride that democracy taken firm roots in India—to a large extent, due to faithful discharge by the Election Commission of the onerous responsibility entrusted to it by the Founding Fathers of the Constitution and the people of India. Change of government, both at the centre and state levels, more than once in the past, by means of ballot, rather than bullet, is a grand manifestation of eh democratic values to which the people of India have shown firm commitment. That is why Supreme Court has described India as shown firm commitment. That is why the Supreme Court has described India as an “Oasis of Democracy”.