By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Friday questioned the power of the Election Commission (EC) of India while alleging that the constitutional body is stepping onto the mandate of the Parliament by creating new laws under the guise of Article 324 of the Indian Constitution.
“We want to stop the EC from taking away the power of the Parliament and it is a known fact that the poll panel is stepping on the mandate of the Parliament by creating new laws,” head of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on personnel, public grievances, law and justice, Shantaram Naik, said.
Briefing the media after a discussion on ‘Electoral Reforms-Code of Conduct for Political Parties and Anti-Defection Law’ with representatives from the state governments of the north eastern states, political parties and NGOs here on Friday, Naik said, “The EC shouldn’t transgress upon the power of the Parliament but should remain within the ambit of Article 324 of the Constitution.”
“The EC can only point out certain provisions of the existing laws (under the article) and not create new laws,” Naik said.
Examining the moral code of conduct of the EC ahead of the elections, the committee observed that the code of conduct was amended by the EC not by law but by an order known as the Election Symbol Order, 1968.
“Some of these amended symbol orders are brought about by the EC itself and not by an act of the Parliament,” Naik said.
The senior Rajya Sabha member also pointed out that the EC has amended the order to cancel the registration of a political party if the code of conduct is violated when the same should be done by an act of parliament.
“We are also examining the Representation of People Act, 1951 and People Representation Act, 1950 to see what are the provisions of this law that can be amended,” Naik said adding that the committee also examined whether the code of conduct should be made part of the ‘main election law’, the Representation of People Act, 1951.
The Committee also discussed the influence of money power on the electoral process. “We have discussed the steps to curb the influence of money power (on the electoral process) and would examine the issue of ceiling on expenditure during elections,” Naik added.
Speaking on the issue of expenditure incurred during elections, Naik said that there is a very vague approach by the EC which is confusing the candidates. “The EC observers sometimes do not balance things properly,” he said.
The senior Rajya Sabha member informed that the Committee also discussed the reliability of the electronic voting machines (EVMs). “The over-all view of the political parties is to ban the use of EVMs despite the fact that the EC is confident about it,” he said.
“It is the constitutional right of the voter to know in writing as to whom he or she has voted for and we are of the opinion that there should be a mechanism for getting print-outs from the EVMs,” Naik said adding that the EC has agreed to try this method in the bye-elections.
The committee which also met in Mumbai, Kolkata and presently in Shillong with representatives from all the north eastern states except Mizoram and Nagaland will draft a report on the views and recommendations of all the stakeholders while hoping that the report would be forwarded to the Parliament by the end of the Monsoon session.