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VIEWPOINT: POLITICALLY CORRECT
Polling
Probity
The Election Commission is successfully bringing
fairness
in the electoral process
By P. Chidambaram
 Some
institutions work and that is cause for cheer. Individuals in these institutions,
while exercising their power, do so fearlessly. The Election Commission
(EC) clearly heads this list. The Central Bureau of Investigation also
seems to have regained its credibility in the past couple of years.
T.N. Seshan brought about a qualitative difference
in the working of the EC. The law was the same, yet by creatively interpreting
Article 324 of the Constitution and boldly laying down new rules and regulations,
he asserted the authority of the EC. No doubt he instilled fear in the
political parties and candidates, but fear also brought with it a new
respect for the election laws. M.S. Gill has continued the good work.
Quietly but firmly, Gill has enforced the EC's rules, circulars and guidelines.
The EC has defended its actions in various courts and has succeeded in
obtaining judicial approval. Three recent successes notched by the EC
deserve to be noticed.
 First,
the EC was keen to extend the use of electronic voting machines. Its decision
was challenged. Punjab PCC President Amarinder Singh put up a sideshow
and offered to "demonstrate" the fallibi-lity of the machines.
At a dinner he was very persuasive, but I was sceptical and asked him
for a demo. Our schedules did not permit another meeting and I blame myself
for missing the opportunity. Meanwhile, J. Jayalalitha's writ petition
came up for hearing before the Madras High Court. Her lawyer N. Jothi
seemed very confident and told me that he too would be able to demonstrate
the mischief that was possible through these machines. Luckily, I found
myself in the same train compartment with "Sujatha", the well-known
Tamil writer, who is a reputed electronic engineer and who retired recently
from Bharat Electronics Ltd where the machines were built. Sujatha convinced
me that the machines were fool-proof. The high court was also convinced
by the EC's presentation and an appeal filed by Jayalalitha was dismissed
by the Supreme Court a few days ago. Among the incidental benefits of
electronic voting will be the near absence of "invalid votes"
and counting and declaration of votes within a few minutes on counting
day.
The EC's second success came when its August
1997 circular was upheld by the Madras High Court. Through the circular,
the EC maintained that a candidate convicted of certain offences and sentenced
to imprisonment for two years or more would stand disqualified from the
date of conviction, notwithstanding the fact that an appeal had been filed
or that a stay had been obtained on the sentence. The circular affected
Jayalalitha, in particular. Several cases were filed in the Madras High
Court, putting forward arguments for and against the circular (which really
were arguments for and against Jayalalitha being allowed to contest).
The EC appeared before the high court and stoutly maintained that its
circular was valid and it would enforce it. Thus, the die was cast against
Jayalalitha's candidature. She filed her nomination papers in two constituencies
and on the very last day two more. The latter move came as a total surprise
because there is another EC rule which prohibits filing of nomination
by a candidate in more than two constituencies. The four returning officers
rejected Jayalalitha's nominations under Section 8(3) of the Representation
of People Act. They also rejected the nomination papers of other candidates
on the ground of conviction (Sedapatti Muthiah in Sedapatti and MDMK candidate
Viswanathan in Pattukottai). Expectedly, Jayalalitha and her allies have
raised the ghost of interference and political vindictiveness. Gill reacted
strongly and declared that the EC was satisfied that the nominations had
been rightly rejected. Neither Jayalalitha nor her party have challenged
the EC's decision in any court as yet.
The third in the line of EC's successes is the
consent order passed by the Supreme Court that the EC's code of conduct
would come into effect on the day when polls were first announced rather
than on the date of the formal notification. The Central Government initially
preferred the latter date, but yielded to the EC, and the Supreme Court
has put its seal of approval.
There is still a long way to go before we have
completely free and fair elections, without the distortions and perversions
of money power and muscle power. But the EC seems to be gaining ground.
With every election, there is a clear sign of progress, at least in states
like Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Three cheers for the EC.
Let other institutions-especially Parliament-take
a leaf out of the EC's book and discharge their responsibilities according
to the Constitution and the laws. In the days ahead, other high functionaries
will be put to test and it will be a proud day for the country if all
of them establish and maintain the highest standards of political correctness.
(The author is a former Indian finance minister.)
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