‘Bar independents, get companies to clear poll donations at AGMs’

Justice A P Shah

From barring independent candidates from contesting elections to making it mandatory for corporates to seek shareholders’ approval at their annual general meetings before donating funds to political parties, the Law Commission of India is set to recommend sweeping electoral reforms in its 255th report which will be submitted to the government on Thursday.

Sources in the commission told The Indian Express that the panel has also opposed compulsory voting. Last year, the BJP government in Gujarat had decided to make voting in local body elections compulsory.

The commission, headed by Justice A P Shah, has proposed to make it mandatory for political parties to also disclose contributions less than Rs 20,000 if such contributions exceed Rs 20 crore or 20 per cent of the party’s total contributions, whichever is less. For this purpose, the commission has recommended amendments to the relevant election rules as well as the Income Tax Act.

However, the commission has not favoured the demand for state funding of elections. It has suggested suitable amendments in law to ensure that the poll expense of a candidate should be taken into account from the date of notification of polls to the declaration of results.

On independent candidates contesting polls, the commission is learnt to have reasoned that it leads to a “proliferation of independents, who are mostly dummy/ non-serious candidates or those who stand (with the same name) only to increase the voters’ confusion”.

It has sought amendments to Sections 4 and 5 of the Representation of the People Act to provide for only candidates fielded by political parties registered with the Election Commission of India to contest Lok Sabha or assembly polls.

The commission has also proposed amendments to Section 33(7) of the Representation of the People Act to ensure that candidates cannot contest from more than one seat in an election.
In another important recommendation, the commission wants rules to govern “internal democracy, party constitutions, party organisation, internal elections, candidate selection, voting procedures, and the ECI’s power to deregister a party in certain cases of non-compliance”.

It has proposed amendment to the 10th Schedule of Constitution to vest the power to disqualify an MP or MLA on ground of defection in the President or the Governor, as the case may be, instead of the Speaker (Lok Sabha or assembly) or Chairman (Rajya Sabha or Legislative Council). The President/ Governor would, however, only act on the advice of the ECI. Such a measure, the commission feels, would help preserve the integrity of the Speaker’s office.

The commission also wants a three-member collegium comprising the Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha (or leader of the largest opposition party in the Lok Sabha) and the Chief Justice of India to select the election commissioners. It has sought equal constitutional protection to all members of the ECI in matters of removability.

The panel has proposed that “paying for news”, “receiving payment for news” and “political advertisement” should be clearly defined in the Representation of the People Act, and paid news should be made a penal offence.

On the contentious issue of regulating opinion polls, the commission has said the credentials of the organisation conducting the opinion poll should be make public along with the method in which the poll was conducted.

It has also recommended setting up one or more “election benches” in each high court to decide on election petitions in a time-bound manner.

Source:: Indian Express