Prez to appoint CEC, ECs on recommendation of panel comprising PM, LoP, CJI: SC

‘Overlooking propensity for electoral process to be afflicted with vice of wholly unfair means would spell disastrous consequences’

STATE TIMES NEWS

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday said with the accumulation of wealth, emergence of near monopolies or duopolies and rise of certain sections in the media, the propensity for the electoral process to be afflicted with the vice of “wholly unfair means” being overlooked would have “disastrous consequences”.
In a landmark verdict, the apex court ruled that the appointments of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and Election Commissioners will be made by the President on the recommendation of a committee comprising the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition party (LoP) in the Lok Sabha and the Chief Justice of India to maintain the “purity” of the electoral process.
A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Justice KM Joseph said the basic and underlying principle central to democracy is power to people through the ballot.
It said no doubt, the government must be run in accordance with the dictate of the Constitution and laws, and political parties not unnaturally come out with manifestos containing a charter of promises they intend to keep.
The bench, also comprising justices Ajay Rastogi, Aniruddha Bose, Hrishikesh Roy and CT Ravikumar, said there can be no doubt that the strength of a democracy and its credibility and therefore, its enduring nature must depend on the means employed to gain power being as fair as the conduct of the government after the assumption of power by it.
“With the accumulation of wealth and emergence of near monopolies or duopolies and the rise of certain sections in the media, the propensity for the electoral process to be afflicted with the vice of wholly unfair means being overlooked by those who are the guardians of the rights of the citizenry as declared by this court would spell disastrous consequences,” the bench said.
It said the assumption of power itself through an electoral process in a democracy cannot and should not be perceived as an end.
It said the means to gain power in a democracy must remain wholly pure and abide by the Constitution and laws.
“An unrelenting abuse of the electoral process over a period of time is the surest way to the grave of democracy. Democracy can succeed only insofar as all stakeholders uncompromisingly work at it and the most important aspect of democracy is the very process, the electoral process, the purity of which alone will truly reflect the will of the people so that the fruits of democracy are truly reaped,” the bench said.
“The essential hallmark of a genuine democracy is the transformation of the ‘ruled’ into a citizenry clothed with rights, which in the case of the Indian Constitution also consist of fundamental rights, which are also being freely exercised and the concomitant and radical change of the ruler from an ’emperor’ to a public servant,” the bench observed.
Justice Rastogi, who concurred with the 289-page lead judgement authored by Justice Joseph, delivered a separate verdict with an additional conclusion.
In its judgement, the top court said if the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha is not there, the leader of the single-largest opposition party will be in the committee to select the CEC and ECs.
The direction on the appointments to the post of CEC and ECs will continue to hold good till a law on the issue is enacted by Parliament, it added.
The apex court delivered its verdict on a batch of pleas seeking a collegium-like system for the appointment of the CEC and election commissioners.