Another feather in the Election Commissioner's Cap

HC backs poll panel diktat

- Court quashes Balmuchu plea on RS elections, orders CBI probe

Ranchi, April 5: Jharkhand High Court today directed the Election Commission (EC) to hand over the “grave case of involvement of money power, horse-trading and influence” during the March 30 Rajya Sabha elections in the state to the CBI for probing the “criminality of persons” involved.

A division bench of Chief Justice Prakash Tatia and Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh, while dismissing the petition filed by state Congress chief and Rajya Sabha nominee Pradeep Balmuchu as “misconceived”, observed that the poll panel had acted fittingly by taking steps to stop counting promptly and recommending rescinding the election notification to the President.

The court also observed that Balmuchu’s petition was a “personal interest litigation” as he was a candidate.

Balmuchu had challenged the Election Commission’s jurisdiction to countermand the elections. The court reserved judgment on April 3 after giving an emergent hearing to the case. The court also dismissed a separate PIL filed by Congressman Jai Shankar Pat- hak, and slapped a fine of Rs 1 lakh against him “for misusing the process of law.” Pathak, in his petition, said the Election Commission in cancelling the entire process had indirectly benefited the wrongdoers.

Hailing the decision, chief election commissioner S.Y. Quraishi said the order was yet another success against corruption and the poll panel will now seek a CBI inquiry into the episode.

With the rejection of the petition paving the way for the announcement of a fresh schedule for elections, Quraishi said a decision to this effect would be taken soon.

“It is a success against corruption. We feel stronger now with the high court decision. We will now seek a CBI probe into the matter,” Quraishi told agencies in Delhi.

“We are happy that the high court has supported our stand and this is a step which is a great deterrent to the malpractices we were noticing. Now that we have clearance from the high court, we will request the home ministry to ask CBI to conduct an inquiry,” he added.

A jubilant Quraishi earlier tweeted: “Jharkhand HC dismissed a PIL too against countermand with 1 lakh cost. Yet another success against corruption. Time to feel good.”

Balmuchu, who earlier sought to challenge the verdict, later retreated and hailed the decision of the high court to hand over the investigations to the CBI.

“As soon as the cash for vote scandal broke, we demanded that the case be handed over to the CBI. However, the Arjun Munda government tried to cover up the case. The decision of the court only confirms our allegations of foul play,” Balmuchu said, demanding that the ambit of the probe be widened to cover the role of the chief minister as well as that of the BJP.

Meanwhile, political parties, including BJP and JVM, hailed the order too.

JMM central organisational secretary Supriyo Bhattacharya said it was immature on Balmuchu’s part to challenge the order in the first place.

According to legal experts, the court, by this order, expanded the powers of Election Commission elaborately defined under Article 324 of the Constitution by the Supreme Court in the M.S. Gill case.

Today’s 46-page judgment, authored by Chief Justice Tatia, also dwelt at length on the importance of the parliamentary form of government as well as Rajya Sabha and purity needed in the election process. The court said the Election Commission was right in its wisdom to take immediate action and recommend cancellation of election notification itself so that fresh polls could be conducted expeditiously.

The bench said the poll panel decision was fully supported by reason and based upon cogent and trustworthy evidence.

“The Election Commission did what the apex court expects from high functionary authorities like the panel. Even if the law and rules are absent and the commissioner comes across such a situation and he is to tackle that situation, then he should not remain with folded hands and pray to God for divine inspiration to enable him to exercise his functions and to perform his duties or to look to any external authority for the grants of powers to deal with the situations,” the court observed.

The court said the panel’s power to superintendence, direction and control includes taking appropriate steps and it’s not necessary for it to merely order for re-poll in a case when allegation of corrupt practices in the entire process of election has been substantiated by evidence.

Coming down heavily on Pathak, the court commented that it was unfortunate that he (Pathak) found public interest in declaration of the Rajya Sabha results and submitted that people of Jharkhand are entitled to same treatment and lenient view, which had been taken by the Election Commission in other states in the matter of preventing play of money power and horse-trading.

“Such a plea is shocking,” the court said.

“The present action of the Election Commission and its officers and the officers of the income tax department working in Jharkhand did not impress Pathak and he wanted the laudable efforts to be sacrificed by surrendering the criminally corrupt election process,” the bench observed.

Deprecating Pathak, the court said without any locus standi he tried to become the spokesperson of the people of Jharkhand and claimed that since strict action was not taken in other states in the matter of illegal activity in elections, strict action in Jharkhand

This is another feather in the Election Commissioner's cap.Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi is a worthy person whose name will be mentioned in the same breath as the great T N Seshan.
However, I am waiting for the day when an Election Commissioner will screen the list of prospective candidates with a fine comb and weed out all candidate who have criminal records. He will also weed out all the candidates who file their nomination papers from jails.
Let the politicians challenge this in courts.
I am sure the courts will dismiss their the appeals.
THAT WILL BE THE DAY WHEN CORRPUPTION WHEN START BEING WEEDED OUT FROM INDIA