The letter, which is literally a chargesheet against the EC, points to the series of actions that cannot be classified as above board. They are predominantly about the disenfranchisement of crores of people through an exercise called special intensive revision, the interventions it made during state Assembly elections especially in West Bengal, the preference it has allegedly shown towards the ruling party at the Centre and the tweaking of the law to drop the CJI from the panel for the selection of CEC
The letter 24 Opposition political parties have jointly written to Chief Justice of India Surya Kant registering their serious objections to the way the Election Commission of India is going about performing its job reflects the apprehensions that a large section of the population holds against the poll body and their faith in the judiciary to make a meaningful intervention to force a course correction. It is now up to the CJI, and the larger judiciary, to decide whether to act and restore the confidence of the people in the constitutional institutions or not.
The letter, which is literally a chargesheet against the EC, points to the series of actions that cannot be classified as above board. They are predominantly about the disenfranchisement of crores of people through an exercise called special intensive revision, the interventions it made during state Assembly elections especially in West Bengal, the preference it has allegedly shown towards the ruling party at the Centre and the tweaking of the law to drop the CJI from the panel for the selection of CEC.
The criticism against the SIR process was the sharpest in that the parties said it “was rushed, poorly implemented and disenfranchised lakhs of voters, putting the country’s democratic process in jeopardy”. It pointed out that the process was particularly targeted at the poor, the uneducated, including Dalits, Adivasis, members of the minority community and migrant workers, and urged the CJI to suspend the exercise and restore the integrity of the electoral process.
Since elections are a critical and key component of a functional democracy, the poll panel must command the confidence of all sections of society, including the Opposition. It has unfortunately shown no sign of a change of mind or the willingness to even address the complaints.
The Opposition has now knocked on the doors of the judiciary as it believes “when all else fails, people still repose their trust in the judiciary.” The judiciary should rise to the occasion; its failure will be the failure for the republic.
