The Delhi high court on Thursday asked the Election Commission of India to respond to a petition by lawyer C Rajashekaran regarding the poll watchdog overseeing internal party polls and treating a PIL on the matter as a representation, and said it should file a response by December 23.
Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh heard the matter, wherein an internal process to outline a standard procedure for party elections was sought.
“There are lacunae in the law with regard to power and tenure of party officials and what happens when they exceed tenure, which leads to larger questions regarding internal party democracy,” said lawyer C Rajashekaran.
On June 14, HT reported that the EC was served with a legal notice on June 13 for failing to respond to a PIL filed in the Delhi high court seeking fair and transparent internal elections in political parties.
The poll body was given seven days to respond, failing which, the petitioner Rajashekaran might initiate contempt proceedings against it.
The case dates back to November 11, 2020, when Rajashekaran approached the EC, seeking the establishment of internal democracy in political parties. When he didn’t receive any response, he filed a PIL in the Delhi high court, drawing the attention of the court to the EC’s 1996 notice that asked political parties to follow the rules laid down in their own constitutions regarding internal elections.
“The [Election] Commission observed that the various provisions relating to the organisational elections were not being followed by the political parties, and therefore called upon the parties to follow their respective constitutions relating to the said elections scrupulously,” says the petition filed in the Delhi high court.
{{/usCountry}}“The [Election] Commission observed that the various provisions relating to the organisational elections were not being followed by the political parties, and therefore called upon the parties to follow their respective constitutions relating to the said elections scrupulously,” says the petition filed in the Delhi high court.
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On January 12, the high court passed an order in which it asked the EC to treat the petition as a representation.
The notice sent to the chief election commissioner accused the EC of treating the representation with “total disregard”. HT has seen a copy of the notice.
HT reached out to the EC spokesperson, but did not receive a response immediately.
The petition had asked the EC to de-register a political party for non-compliance.
“The lack of intra-party democracy in the said political parties to leadership positions within the said parties results in a unique situation where there is no mechanism for the said political party to be held accountable to its members and its own constitution,” the petition said.
“It is submitted that although most political parties provide for elections through the provisions, the said elections are often an eyewash for established political families within the said parties to continue to retain power as the top leadership of the said party,” it added.
According to a former Election Commission official familiar with the matter, the 1996 notice issued by the EC that threatened “legal measures as are available, necessary and appropriate”, including the de-registering of political parties, was issued in the context of lack of elections in the Congress party.
“There were concerns that the Congress was not conducting proper elections and only the Congress working committee was ratifying the appointments,” the former official said. “But the concern was not just limited to Congress. The [Election] Commission continued to monitor party elections post 1996 and granted extensions to other political parties, while telling others to hold elections earlier than the time they sought. Many such orders were passed.”
The timing of the petition is significant, given the internal turmoil in Congress over affairs in Rajasthan and Punjab, and internal elections deferred due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The party has now said that polls will only be conducted next year, with interim chief Sonia Gandhi hitting out at regional leaders for a “lack of clarity” over party issues.
It is widely expected that family scion Rahul Gandhi will return to the helm of affairs after stepping down as party president following the drubbing Congress faced in the 2019 general elections.