Supreme Court Wakes Up and Realises ECI isn't Independent Anymore
Background
In March 2023, The Supreme Court declared, as a stopgap, that Commissioners of the ECI are to be appointed by a 3 member committee including the Prime Minister, the Leader of Opposition and the Chief Justice of India until a law is enacted by the parliament to the same effect.
Both houses of the parliament then conveniently passed the "Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023" in December 2023 with the only change to the selection committee being the removal of CJI and inclusion of a Cabinet Minister appointed by Prime Minister himself, tipping the power balance of the committee in the Executive's favour.
A Congress leader then petitioned the Supreme Court in January 2024 challenging this new law.
The Bench questioned the inclusion of a Union Cabinet Minister in the selection panel, "Today, if the Prime Minister picks one. And Leader of Opposition (LoP) picks another one. There is disagreement. Will the third member will go towards the LoP? ... Why do you then include the leader of the opposition? Heās ornamental. It will always be 2:1. Why do you put up this show of independence in the body? Will a member of cabinet go against the Prime Minister?".
My Opinion
Now that the elections in Assam, West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry are over, the Supreme Court has woken up and realised the ECI is not so independent anymore. 91 lakh voters were disenfranchised of which 27 lakh appealed the decision, merely 136 of whom were allowed to vote in Bengal elections.
Supreme Court's realisation comes after the SC itself barred these individuals from voting in Bengal elections. How is the citizenry then supposed to believe that these elections are free and fair?
Attorney-General R. Venkataramani appearing for the central government in the petition hearing said one cannot make a āhugely hypothetical assumptionā that the Act would result only in subservient CECs and ECs unless there was an actual lapse on the ground. As if we haven't seen like a gazillion lapses already.
Attorney General also asked āunless you taste the pudding, how can you say the pudding is bad?ā Well, next we'll be hearing, "Unless you taste dictatorship, how can you say dictatorship is bad?". I don't need to taste the pudding to know that it's bad. Anyone with a functioning brain can understand that the ruling party single-handedly electing the CEC is bad.
What's stopping them from electing an openly biased and corrupt CEC (some would argue that's already the case and I wouldn't disagree) in future that only favours them? Given the immunity that Election Commissioners have for official duties, the system of checks and balances has essentially been abolished with regards to how elections are conducted in India.
Justice Dipankar Datta remarked, āAfter the Constitution, which law occupies the prime place? There are thousands of legislations, which one would you place right next to the Constitutionā¦ I would say, the election laws. Would I be wrong? Without democracy, there is nothing.ā. It's heartwarming to see some logical minds at the highest judicial forum of the nation.
However, that warmth doesn't last long when you come across such statements from the highest judicial chair, calling the youth 'parasites' and 'coackroaches' for exercising their constitutional rights of filing petitions and RTIs. Even if some of them are frivolous, that's just the cost of being a democracy. The judiciary or CJI is in no position to moral police the citizens regarding how they exercise their rights.
Closing Thoughts
We must advocate for reform. What doesn't need reform at this point? Judiciary needs reform, elections need reform, education needs reform, healthcare needs reform, telecom needs reform and the list can go on and on... Sigh. It's a sad state of affairs currently but I remain hopeful in the people of India to bring about meaningful and lasting change.