By
Satyaki Paul
In 2022, the polls will be held in states such as Goa, Manipur, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. In this context, on May 17, 2021 the Election Commission of India (ECI) have sent letter of reforms through Union Law Ministry for affirmations. This issue was brought into light by Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra, as per PTI.
The ECI are betting for 5-key reforms:
1) Voters who turn 18 after January 1 should be able to register themselves:Currently, only those who turn 18 as of January 1 are able to register as voters. This causes many young first-time voters to lose out an entire year where they do not get to vote. Thus, to redress this the ECI has proposed four dates across the year for probable registration. These are: January 1, April 1, September 1 and December 1;
2) Candidates who furnish false information in their affidavits to be punished with up to 2-years of imprisonment:Currently, candidates who deliver false information can be punished with up to 6 months of imprisonment. In contrast, the ECI has suggested increasing this punishment up to 2 years. As because current punishment doesn’t lead to disqualification. Thus, increasing the punishment time period would most likely lead to disqualification for 6 years. This reform is in consonance of 2013 Supreme Court Judgement wherein the SC observed that a legislatorpenalized to prison for at least 2-years will lose membership of the house, and he/she be prohibited for the period of the sentence, and for 6-years after that period additionally;
3) Paid news to become electoral offense: The ECI has also wished-for making paid news an electoral offence under the Representation of the People Act, 1951 to offer a strong limitingfactor against the misconduct;
4) No advertisements in print media during silence period:The ECI has also proposed that advertisements in print media (newspapers, journals) be banned during the silence period, wherein candidates are not allowed to operate politically; and
5) Linking Aadhar numbers to electoral rolls to avoid duplication of voter ID cards:The ECI has further proposed toconnect the Aadhar data to the electoral roll. As per ECI, this will be a part of its plan to eradicate duplication of voter ID cards.
However, all the above-mentioned propositions will require specific amendments to the Representation of Peoples Act, 1951. In this context, former CEC S.Y. Queraishihad observed that, there is a much-needed 6th reform to be added to list, wherein the appointment of election commissioners should be done by a collegium.Further, thepromotion to CEC should also be done by following the convention of seniority, so that the two (ECI is a 3-member body) commissioners do not feel that they are on probation.
In conclusion, these reforms were pending from a long time. Four out of Five reforms are much needed to stop the mockery of few news channel who tend to disorient public opinions through brinksmanship. Nevertheless, among these reforms I would like to point out that associating Aadhar data with electoral polls would be unconstitutional. As because Supreme Court had already made guidelines for the usage of Aadhar Cards. Thus, by passing such provisions would be similar to circumventing the will of our law.
The author works as a Ph.D. Research Scholar at the Department of Anthropology, University of Calcutta, and the co-author of the book Anthropology For All (2021).