BACKGROUND

PAPERON
EL
ECTORALREF
ORMS
(PREPAREDBYT
HECORE-COMMIT
TEEONEL
ECT
ORAL
REFORMS)

LEGISL
ATIVEDEPARTMENT
MI
NISTRYOFLAWANDJ USTI
CE
GOVERNMENTOFINDI
A

CO-
SPONSORED
BY
T
HEEL
ECT
IONCOMMISSI
ONOFI
NDI
A

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Cont
ent
s

CONT
ENT
S 1

I
. EXECUT
IVESUMMARY 2

I
I. APPROACHT
OBACKGROUNDPAPER 4

I
II
.INT
RODUCT
ION 5

I
V. CRI
MINAL
ISAT
IONOFPOL
ITI
CS 7

V. F
INANCI
NGOFEL
ECT
IONS 11

VI
. CONDUCTANDBET
TERMANAGEMENTOFEL
ECT
IONS 15

VI
I.REGUL
ATI
NGPOL
ITI
CALPART
IES 26

VI
II
.AUDI
TINGOFF
INANCESOFPOL
ITI
CALPART
IES 28

I
X. ADJ
UDI
CAT
IONOFEL
ECT
IONDI
SPUT
ES 30

X. REVI
EWOFANT
I-DEF
ECT
IONL
AW 31

XI
. ANNEXURE:UPDAT
EONEL
ECT
IONCOMMI
SSI
ONRECOMMENDAT
IONS 33

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I
. Ex
ecut
iveSummar
y

Indi
as tandsasamodelformanyemer gi
ngdemocr aciesaroundt hewor l
d.F r
ee
andfai relect
ionsarethehallmarkofawel lfunctioningdemocr acy.Whi lewe
arej usti
fiabl
ypr oudofourdemocr acy,therear eanumberofar easwhich
need t o be str
engthened for us tor eal
iset he true potentialof a wel l
funct i
oning democracy. Our el ecti
on s ys
tem, fr om t he s el
ection of
candidates,tot hemanneri n whi
chfundsar er aisedands pentin electi
on
campai gns,areindi
reneedofs i
gnificantchanges.

Therehasbeenagr owingconcernovert heyearsinIndi

aaboutseveralaspects
ofourel ectoralsystem.T heElectionCommi s s
ionhasmadechangesi nseveral
areastor espondt os omeoft heconcer ns.Therehavealsobeenanumberof
commi tt
eeswhi chhaveex aminedt hemaj orissuespertai
ningtoourelectoral
system andmade a numberof r ecommendat i
ons. Butt her
er emains ome
crit
icalissuest hatmi ghtneedl egislat
iveactiontobr i
ngaboutt herequired
changes.

The cr i
mi nalis
ation of our pol i
tical s
ys tem has been obs erved almos t
unanimous ly by allr ecent commi t t
ees on pol i
tics and el ectoralrefor m.
Criminalisationofpol iti
cshasmanyfor ms,butper hapst hemos talarmi ng
amongt hem i sthesignificantnumberofel ectedrepr esentat i
veswithcriminal
charges pendi ng agains tt hem.T wo meas ures recommended by pr evious
commi tteesar edi scuss
edi nt hispaper :enfor cementof t hedisclos
ur eof
cri
mi nalant ecedentsofcandi dates,andeligibil
ityr est
r i
ctionsforcandi dates
withcriminalcas espendingagai nstthem.

Thefi nanci ngofel ectionshasbecomeamaj ori s

suei nt hepastfewdecades .
Itiswi delybel ievedt hatt hecos toffightingel ectionshascl i
mbedfarabove
thelegals pendi nglimits.T hi
shasr esul
tedi nlackoft rans par
ency,widespread
corrupt i
on,and t he per vasiveness of so-called ‘black money’.T his paper
summar ises pr oposals made on t he followi
ng i ss ues:l imi
ts on campai gn
expendi ture,di sclos
ur eandaudi tofas setsandl iabili
tiesofcandi datesand
parties,met hodsofr educi ngthecos tofpol i
ticalcampai gns
,aswellass tate
fundingofel ect i
ons.

Theconductofel
ect
ionsal
sohasanumberofi
ssuesthatneedtobeaddr
essed.
Whil
et hemassi
vesizeoftheelect
orat
emakesholdingelect
ionsadaunt
ing

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task,itshouldnots erveasaj ustificationfort hepresenceofi ssuess uchas

boot hcapturing,inti
midationofvot ers,t amperedelectoralrol
ls,large-scal
e
riggingofel ectionsandotherpollingi r
r egular
iti
es;theproli
ferationofnon-
seriouscandidates;andt heabuseofr eligionandcasteint hemobi li
zationof
voter s
.Potent i
alsol
utionstothesepr oblemsar eoutl
inedinthispaper.

Thispaperalsot akescons i
derationofmaj orissuesdealingwitht heroleof
poli
ticalpar
tiesint heelector
als ystem:prol
iferati
onofnon- seri
ouspar ties
;
processofr ecognitionandde- recognit
ionofpol i
ticalparti
es;di
sclosureof
assets and l
iabi
lit
ies of parties;and audit and publi
shing of assets and
li
abil
ities
.

Resol
uti
onofelecti
onpet i
t i
onsanddisputes
,aswellasrul
ingsondefections,
aretwoimport
antpr ocessesseent obeoper at
ing i
nas l
ow andinefficient
mannerbymanyper vi
ouscommi ttees
.T hispaperrevi
ewsr ecommendations
madetomit
igatetheseproblems.

The Minist
r y of Law and Justi
ce,Government of India,has cons t
ituted a
Commi t
teeonEl ector
alRefor ms.T hemai npurposeoft heCommi tteei st o
recommendt othegovernmentconcr etewaysinwhichourelectoralsystem can
bes tr
engthened.T heCommi t
teewilltakei
nt oaccounttheopinionsofpolitical
leaders,Gover nment servants,legalex pert
s,NGOs ,s cholars,academi cs,
journali
sts,andotherstak
eholders.

Thepur poseoft hisbackgroundpaperist orecaps omeoft hekeyi ss

ueswith
ourelect oralsyst
em,andt obri
eflyex aminet her ecommendat ionsmadeby
somer ecentcommi tteesinthisr
egard.I tishopedt hatt hisbackgroundpaper
wil
lbeas tarti
ngpointt orenewanationaldialogueont hei mportantchanges
thatneedt obebroughtaboutt ostr
engthenourel ectorals ystem.

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I
I. Appr
oacht
oBack
groundPaper

Thepur poseofthispaperi
st oprovi
deback groundinformationoni s
suesi
nour
electoralproces
sandout linesomeel ect
or alreform optionsthathavebeen
cons i
deredinthepast,inordertoserveasapl atform forar enewednat
ional
dialogueonelector
alrefor
ms .

2.
1 Inthisbackgr oundpaper,theCommi tt
eeonEl ectoralReformsdoesnot
endeavourtomak eanyr ecommendat ionsofi tsown;r at
heritpresents
ther ecommendat ionsmadebyvar iouscommi tteestodat einordert o
fulfilit
spur poseofpr ovi
dingback groundinformat i
onfors ubs
tantive
dial
oguei nregionalandnationalconsultat
ions
.

2.
2 Thetopi cofelectoralreformshasbeent akenupbynumer ous
gover nmentcommi t
teesint her ecentpas t,includingbutnotl i
mit
edto:
 Gos wamiCommi tteeonEl ectoralRefor ms(1990)
 Vohr aCommi tteeRepor t(1993)
I ndr ajitGuptaCommi tt
eeonSt ateFundingofEl ecti
ons(1998)
L awCommi ssi
onRepor tonRefor moft heEl ect or
alLaws(1999)
 Nat i
onalCommi ssiontoRevi ewt heWork i
ngof
theCons ti
tut
ion(2001)
 El ectionCommi ssionofI ndia–Pr oposedElect oralReforms(2004)
T heSecondAdmi nistr
ativeRefor msCommi ssion(2008)

2.
3 Therehasal sobeenagr eatdealofs ubstantiveworkont het opi
cof
Elect
oralReformsundertak enbyvar i
ouscivilsociet
ygr oups,whichhave
contri
buteds i
gnifi
cantl
yt ot hepubli
cdiscour seont hes ubj
ect .Whi
le
acknowledgi
ngt hecontributionoft hesegr oups,theCommi tteelimi
ts
it
s discussi
on of reform r ecommendations i nthis paper t othose
publi
shedbyt hecommitteesment ionedabove.

2.
4 A numberofcommi tt
eeshavedi scuss
edmaj orstr
uct ur
alr eformsof
theelectoralsystem,s uchasas hiftawayfr om theF i
rstPas tthePost
(FPTP)s ystem ofr epresent
ation.Wewi l
lexploreoptionsforel ect
oral
reform withintheframewor koft hecurrentsystem andwillnotaddress
theselargers t
ructuraliss
uesinthispaper.

2.
5 Thisbackgr
oundpaperisalsobei
ngmadeavail
ableont hewebsi
teoft he
Law Mini
str
y.Itishopedt hatmany mor
es takeholder
swillbeablet o
providei
nputsei
theronli
neorbyposttotheMinist
ryofL awandJus
tice,

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GovernmentofI ndi
a.Theworkoft hi
sCommi t
teewi l
lbeenr ichedby
suchinputs
,andtheCommitt
eelooksforwardt
owi departi
cipat
ioni nt
he
weeksaheadfrom ex
per
tsandordi
naryciti
zens.

I
II
.Int
roduct
ion

3.
1 T hefoundingfather sofIndiaopt edforaPar l
iament ar
ydemocracyas
the appropri
ate modelfora l ar ge anddiverse countrylik
e ours
. The
generalelecti
onsinI ndiaareamammot hex er
cise,withover700mi l
li
on
voters,andaboutone mi ll
ion poll
ing boot
hsi nt he countr
y. Thisawe
inspi
ringeffortiswidelyhail
edasamodelfort heconductoffr eeandfai
r
electi
ons.

3.
2 I nourexperienceofhol di
ngel ecti
onsfors i
xdecades ,anumberofissues
havecomet othefor efrom timet otime.L egisl
ati
vechangeswer emade,
theElecti
onCommi ssi
ondevel opedaCodeofConduct ,andpassedseveral
stri
ctureswithavi ewt oconductingelect
ionsi nas moot hmanner.Buti n
recentyears,ther ehavebeens omealarmingt r
endst hathavebeennoticed
whichcanpot entiallyjeopardi
set hedemocraticfreedomsweenj oyinIndia
today.

3.
3 Atamor efundament allevel,i
fci t
izensdonothavefai thinthewayour
electedr epresentati
vesar echos en,t hereisdangert ot hever yideaof
democr acy itself. Widely held viewsamong t he public withregardt o
criminali
s at
ionofpol it
ics,theus eofmoneypoweri ns ecuringvotes,the
paid-newsdi sease ares ome of t he issuesthatare enlarging the t
rust
deficitwi thregar dto ourel ecti
ons . T hi
sneedst o bes temmedatt he
earli
estandi nacl earandt ranspar entmannert oregaint hetrustoft he
citi
zensinourdemocr ati
cpr ocess.

3.
4 Ci vi
ls oci
ety gr
oups,j our
nal i
sts
,andot herobserver
sof t heprocess
have been playi
ng an impor tantr ol
ei nident
ifying a number of the
weaknessesofourex is
ting sys t
em. T her
ehavebeeneffor t
st ouset he
cour
t stos eektopushr eform ont hisimport
antissue. Thewidel
yknown

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practiceofeverycandi
dat ehavi
ngtodecl ar
et hei
rassets
,liabi
li
tiesand
pending cr
iminalcases came about as a res
ult of a l
andmar k cour
t
judgement.

3.
5 T heElecti
onCommi ssionhasbeenatt hefor efr
ontofi niti
atingeffor t
s
tostrengthent heelectoralsystem.Buti t
sownmandat ecans omet i
mesbe
alimiti
ngfact or.Int hiscontex
ti twouldbeneces sarytoex aminethei s
sue
wit
hr egar dtot helegi sl
ati
veandot herchangest hatwillber equiredto
maket heelectorals
ys temwor kbetterforal lourci
tizens
.

3.
6 I nrecentyear
sanumberofcommi tteeshaveexami
neds ever
alaspects
ofourelector
alproces
sandhaver ecommendedimportantchangestot he
syst
em. Someoft heserecommendationshavebeenimplementedandyet
ther
eismuchmor etobedone.

3.
7 I nor dert ot aket heagendafor ward,t heMini st
r yofL aw andJusti
ce,
GovernmentofI ndiahascons titut
edaCommi t
t eeonEl ectoralReforms.
ThisCommi ttees eek stoholdr egionalcons ult
ationsfol lowedbyanat i
onal
consultation in or dert o develop a setof act ionabl er ecommendat i
ons.
Everyeffor twoul dbemadebyt hisCommi tteetor eachoutt oawidesetof
expertsands takeholdersandt obenefi tfrom thei nsightsandex peri
enceof
allconcer ned.T heobj ectiveoft heser ecommendat i
onswoul dbetoprovide
thebas isofdevel opingl egisl
at i
veandot herpropos al
swhi chcant henbe
takenfor war d.

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I
V. Cr
imi
nal
isat
ionofPol
iti
cs

MostrecentCommi t
teer eportsonel
ector
alreformshavealmostuni
versal
ly
acknowl
edgedthecriminalis
ationofourpoli
ticals
yst
em atbothnati
onaland
statel
evelsandacr
osspar tyli
nes.

The cr i
mi nalis
ation of our pol i
tical s
ys tem has been obs erved almos t
unanimous ly by allr ecent commi t t
ees on pol i
tics and el ectoralrefor m.
Criminalisationofpol iti
cshasmanyfor ms,butper hapst hemos talarmi ng
amongt hem i sthesignificantnumberofel ectedrepr esentat i
veswithcriminal
charges pendi ng agains tt hem.T wo meas ures recommended by pr evious
commi tteesar edi scuss
edi nt hispaper :enfor cementof t hedisclos
ur eof
cri
mi nalant ecedentsofcandi dates,andeligibil
ityr est
r i
ctionsforcandi dates
withcriminalcas espendingagai nstthem.

TheVohr aCommi tt
eeRepor tonCr iminalisationofPol i
ticswascons titut
edt o
identifyt heex tentoft hepol iti
cian-crimi nalnexusandr ecommendwaysi n
whicht hemenacecanbecombat ed.InChapt er4oft her eportoft heNat ional
Commi ssiont oRevi ewt heWor kingoft heCons ti
tution,ci t
est heVohr arepor t
asfol lows :“Thenex usbet weent hecr i
mi nalgangs ,pol ice,bur eaucr acyand
politi
cianshascomeoutcl earlyi nvar iouspar t
sof t hecount ry”andt hat
“somepol iti
call eadersbecomet hel eadersoft hesegangs /armeds enasand
overt heyear sgett hems elvesel ectedt ol ocalbodies ,Stat eassembl ies,and
nationalpar liament .”Thispoi ntbecomess elfevidentwhenonel ook satt he
numberofel ectedr epresentativeswi thpendi ngcrimi nalcas esagains tthem at
alllevelsi nourfeder alsystem.Anumberofr emedieshavebeenpr oposedby
thevar iouscommi tteesont hecr iminalizationofpol iticsint hecount ry.

4.
1 Di
scl
osur
eofcr
imi
nalant
ecedent
sofcandi
dat
es

Cur r
ently,Rule4A oft heConductofEl ecti
onRul es,1961,pr escr i
best hat
each candidate mus
tfi l
e an affi davit(F orm 26 appended t o Conductof
Electi
onRul es
,1961)r egar ding(i)cas es
,i fany,inwhi chthecandi datehas
beenaccus edofanyoffencepuni s hablewi t
hi mpri
s onmentfort woyear sor
mor einapendingcaseinwhi chchargeshavebeenfr amedbyt hecourt,and(i i
)
casesofconvi cti
onforanoffenceot herthananyoft heoffencesment ioned
inSect ion8of Repr esentat i
onof t hePeopl eAct,1951,ands ent encedt o
imprisonmentforoneyearormor e.Inaddi ti
ont othi
s,pur suanttot heorderof

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the SupremeCour tthe Electi

onCommi ssiononMar ch27,2003,hasissuedan
orderthatcandidatesmustfi l
eanadditi
onalaffi davitstati
ng(i)infor
mat ion
relat
ingtoallpendingcasesinwhichcognizancehasbeent akenbyaCour t,(ii
)
assetsandli
abil
iti
es,and(iii
)educati
onalqual i
fications.Theaffi
daviti
sgi ven
inafor mprescri
bedbyt heElecti
onCommi s s
ionofI ndia.

Secti
on125A oft heR.P.Act ,1951pres
cri
bespenal
tiesforwi
thhol
ding or
provi
dingi
ncorrecti
nformationonFor
m 26,whi
chamounttoimpr
isonmentof
uptosixmonths
,orfine,orboth.

I
n i tsr eport enti
tled Pr oposed Elector
al Reforms, 2004 t he Elect
ion
Commi ss
ionofI ndi
anot esthat“ i
ns omecas es,t
hecandidat
esleaves omeof
thecolumnsblank…ther ehavebeencas eswher ecandi
dat
esar eal
legedt ohave
givengrosslyunder
val uedinformat i
on.”

 Recommendat
ions

In it
sr eport on Pr opos ed Elect ion Refor ms, 2004, the Election
Commi s
sionofI ndiar ecommendedt hatanamendments houldbemadet o
Secti
on 125A of t he R. P.Act ,1951 t o provi
de formor es tringent
punis
hmentforconceal i
ngorpr ovidingwr onginformationonF or m 26
ofConductofEl ectionRul es ,1961t omi ni
mum t woyearsimpr i
sonment
andremovingt heal ternativepuni s
hmentofas sess
ingafi neupont he
candi
date.Italsor ecommendedt hatF orm 26beamendedt oincludeall
it
ems fr om t he addi tional affi davi t prescri
bed by t he Election
Commi s
sion,addacol umnr equiringcandi datestodiscl
oset hei
rannual
decl
aredincomefort axpur poseaswel lastheirprofessi
on.

TheLawCommi s
s i
onofIndiaReportonReform oft heElectoralLaws,
1999,s uggest
edt hatanamendmentbemadet otheRepresentationof
thePeopl eAct,1951,toi
nsertanewsecti
on4Aaft ersect
ion4t omak e
decl
ar ati
onofas s
etsandcrimi
nalcasespendi
ngagainstthecandi date
partoft hequalifi
cati
onsneces
saryformember s
hiptotheHouseoft he
People.

4.
2 El
igi
bil
ityofcandi
dat
eswi
thcr
imi
nalcas
espendi
ngagai
nstt
hem

Sect
ion 8 of t
he Repr
esent
ati
on of t
he Peopl
e Act
,1951,pr
ovi
des for

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dis
qual i
ficationofcandi dat esfrom contes t
inganel ectiononconvi cti
onbya
Courtof L aw. I ns ubs
ect ion (1),itl i
stscer t
ain cr i
mesand s ti
pulatesa
dis
qual i
ficationper i
odofs ixyearsfrom t hedateofconvi ct i
on.Insubs ecti
on
(2)itl istsadi fferents etofcr i
mesandpr ovidesfort hecandidatet obe
dis
qual i
fiedfr om thedat eofconvi cti
onandforaper iodofs ixyearssincehis
rel
eas e.Insubs ection(3),i tprovidesthatanycandi dateconvi ct
edforacr ime
forwhi cht hemi nimum i mpr is
onmenti st woyear ss hallalsobedi squalifi
ed
from t he dat e of convi ction and willcont i
nue to be di s
qualifi
ed fors i
x
addit
ionalyear saft erhisr elease.

 Recommendat
ions

TheEl ect i
onCommi ssi
onpr opos edini t
s2004r epor tthatSect ion8of
the Repr esentat i
on of t he Peopl e Act ,1951 s hould be amended t o
disqual i
fy candi dates accus ed of an offence puni shabl e by
impr i
s onmentof5year sormor eevenwhent rialispending,gi vent hat
theCour thasfr amedchar gesagai nstt heper son.I nther epor tthe
Commi s
sion addr es s
est he pos sibi
li
tyt hats uch a pr ovisi
on coul dbe
mis usedi nt hefor m ofmot ivatedcas esbyt her uli
ngpar ty.T opr event
such mi suse,t he Commi ssion sugges teda compr omise whereasonl y
cases fi led pr ior tos ix mont hs befor e an el ection wouldl ead to
disqual i
ficat i
onofacandi date.I naddi ti
on,t heCommi s
sionpr oposed
thatCandi datesfoundgui ltybyaCommi s s
ionofEnqui rys houlds tand
disqual i
fied.

Thereport“Ethi
csinGovernance”oft
heSecondAdmini
str
ati
veRefor
ms
concurredwit
ht herecommendati
onoftheEl
ecti
onCommissi
on.

In Chapt er4 of i t
sr epor t,t he NationalCommi ssion to Review the
Work i
ng of t he Cons t
itution pr oposed s everalmeas ures.F irst
ly,it
propos edthatSect ion8oft heRepr esentat i
onoft hePeopl eAct ,1951,
beamendeds ucht hatacandi dateaccus edofanoffencepuni shableby
impr i
sonmentof 5year sormor ebedi squalifi
edont heex piry of a
periodofoneyearfr om thedat ethechar geswer efr amedagai nsthim,
and unl ess cleared dur i
ng t hat one year per iod,he s hallr emain
dis
qual ifi
edunt iltheconcl usionofhi st ri
al.Itals
or ecommendedt hatin
case a candi datei s convi cted by a cour tof law and s entenced to

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impr i
s onmentofs ixmont hsormor e,hes hal lbedisquali
fieddur ingt he
periodoft hes ent enceandfors ixadditionalyear saft erhi sr elease.
Candi dat esviolatingt hi
spr ovis
ions houldbedi squali
fiedandpol iti
cal
partiesput ti
ngups uchacandi datewi thk nowledgeofhi sant ecedent s
shouldbeder ecogni sedandder egistered.T hirdl
y,theCommi ssionhas
statedt hatanyper sonconvi ctedforanyhei nouscr imes uchasmur der,
rape,s muggl ing,dacoi ty,et c.,s hould be per manent l
y bar red fr om
contes ting pol i
ticaloffi ce. Finall
y,t he Commi ss
ion pr opos es t he
establishmentof Speci alCour tst o decide cas esagai nstcandi dates
withinaper iodofs ixmont hsorl ess.Potent i
alcandidatesagai ns twhom
chargesar ependi ngmayt ak ethemat t
ert ot heSpecialCour t,whi chcan
decidei ft herei si ndeedapr i
mafaci ecas ej usti
fyingt hefr ami ngof
thechar ges. Speci alCour tswoul dbecons tit
utedatt hel evelofHi gh
Cour tsanddeci si
onswoul dbeappeal ableonlyt otheSupr emeCour t.

The 1999 L aw Commi ssi

on of I ndia Repor ttakes a separates t
and,
suggestingt hatSection8r emai nunchanged.I tsuggests,however ,the
addit
ionofanews ection– Sect ion8B,whi chwouldprovideas eparate
setofpenal tiesforel ectoraloffencesandoffenceshavi ngabear ing
upont heconductof el ectionsunders ections153A and505 I PC and
seri
ous offences puni shable with deat h or li
fe imprisonment .T he
proposedSect ion8Bwoul dpr ovidethatfr amingofchar gess hallbea
groundof di s
quali
ficat i
on butt hi
sdi squali
ficati
onshalllastonlyfor
aper i
odoffi veyear sor t il
lt he acqui ttalof t he personoft hose
charges,whichevereventhappensear li
er.Ifacandi dat
ei sfoundgui l
ty
theywoul dautomaticallybedis quali
fiedunderSect i
on8.

4.
3 Negat
iveorNeut
ralVot
ing

Thecr i
mi nali
sati
onofpol iti
cs,wi
des preadcor r
uptioninthes yst
em,andus eof
viol
ence,vot er int
imidat i
on,etc may r es ul
ti nt here being no desirable
candidateswi thi
nt hose cont est
ing el ectionsi n a particul
arcons ti
tuency.
Currentlyt hereisnowayforvot er
st oexpr esstheirdisl
ikeforallcandidates.
Thelackofs uchapr ovisionmayfur thercont r
ibutetothedecayi nthes ystem
insuchcas esbyencour agingonlyt hos evot erswhos upportsuchcompr omi sed
candidatest ovote,ret
ur ningthoses amel eader stopoweragai nandagain.

 Recommendat
ions

Bot
htheEl
ect
ionCommi
ssi
onandL
awCommi
ssi
onofI
ndi
arecommend

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ect
oralRefor
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thatanegat iveorneut ralvot ingopt ionbecr eated.Negative/neut r

al
voti
ngmeansal l
owingvot erst orejectal loft hecandidatesonthebal l
ot
bys elect
ionofa“ noneoft heabove”opt i
oni nsteadoft henameofa
candidateont hebal l
ot.Ins uchas ystem t herecoul d beapr ovi
sion
whereasi facer t
ainper cent ageoft hevot ei snegat i
ve/neutral,then
theelectionr
esultscouldbenul l
ifi
edandanewel ecti
onconducted.

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oralRefor
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V. Fi
nanci
ngofEl
ect
ions
Itiswidel
ybeli
evedthatinmanycasessucces
sfullycontes
tingan
electi
oncostsasigni
ficantamountofmoneyt hatisoft
enmuch
greaterthantheprescri
bedli
mits
.

ACons ul
tati
onPapertotheNationalCommissi
ontoReviewtheWorki
ngofthe
Consti
tuti
on,2001,notedthat“thecampaignexpendi
turebycandi
datesi
sin
ther
angeofaboutt wentyt
ot hi
rtytimest
helegalli
mits”
.

Therear emanynegat i
ves ocialimpact soft hishi ghcos t.Chapt er4oft he
Reportoft heNat ionalCommi ss
iont oRevi ewtheWor ki
ngoft heCons ti
tution,
2001,not es that t he high cos t of el ecti
ons “ creates a high degr ee of
compul s
ionforcor rupti
oni nt hepubl icarena”andt hat“ thesourcesofs ome
oft heelecti
onfundsar ebel ievedt obeunaccount edcr i
minalmoneyi nr eturn
forpr otecti
on,unaccount edfundsfr om businessgr oupswhoex pectahi gh
returnont hi
si nvestment,k ickback sorcommi ssionsoncont racts
,et c.
”Ital so
statesthat“ El
ector alcompul si
onsforfundsbecomet hefoundat ionoft he
wholesupers tr
uct ureofcor ruption”.

A numberofr emedi
eshavebeenrecommendedbypreviouscommi
tteesfor
curbi
ngthenegati
veimpactoft
hehighcos
tofelect
ions
:

5.
1 Offi
ciall
imi
tsoncampai
gnex
pendi
tur
e

Currently,limits on campaign expendi

ture ar
e fixed at certai
n amounts
depending ont henat ur
eoft heelecti
on.However
,iti sbelievedthatthese
li
mitsar eviolat
edwithaudacity.Thisi
smai nl
yattr
ibutedtot hefactthatthe
actualcostofr unni
nganel ecti
oncampai gnisoftenmuchgr eaterthanthe
prescri
beds pendingl
imit.

 Recommendat
ions

TheNat ionalCommi ssi

on toReview t
heWor ki
ng of theConsti
tuti
on,
2001,r ecommendedt hattheexis
t i
ngceili
ngonel ect
ionexpens
esfor
thevari ouslegi
slat
ivebodi
esshouldbes ui
tabl
yraisedtoar eas
onable
levelr
efl ect
ingincreas
ingcos
ts.Theceil
ingiscur
rentlyRa25lakhsfor

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ect
oralRefor
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aL okSabhas eatandRs10l ak
hforanAs semblys eat.I
nor dert ocope
withr i
singexpendi
turesovertime,thiscei l
ings houldbefi xedbyt he
El
ect i
on Commi ssi
on from ti
me t ot ime and s houldinclude allthe
expensesbyt hecandi
dateaswellasbyhi spol i
ticalpart
yorhi sfri
ends
andwel l
-wis
hersandanyotherexpensesincurredi nanypolit
icalactivi
ty
onbehal fofthecandi
datebyanindividualorcorpor at
eentity.

ACons ultationPapert ot heNat ionalCommi ssi

ont oRevi ewt heWor king
oft heCons titut i
on,2001,ent itled"Revi ewoft heWor kingofPol i
tical
PartiesSpeci allyi nRel ationt oEl ect ionsandRefor m Opt i
ons "largely
concur redwi tht heaboveopi nionbutal sosugges t
edamuchbol derone:
(a)ei t
hert hes tatutor ylimitshoul dbes crappedal t ogetherandr eplaced
by as electi
veban on cer t
aink indsof ex penditur e. Ort heex ist
ing
provisionss houl dbeamendedt opr ovi defor :(i )muchhi ghercei l
ing
thanwhatcur rent l
yex is
ts;(ii)r egul arr evisionoft hecei l
ingbefor e
everygener alel ection;( iii
)allt heex pendit ure,irrespect iveofwhopai d
forit,t obebr oughtwi thinthepur viewoft hisprovi sion;(iv)mechani sm
forr outinever ification/audi tingoft heret urnoft heex penditure;and
(v)publ icit
yoft her eturnsfi l
edbyt hecandi dateint helocalpr ess.

The Elect
ion Commis
sion of Indi
ar ecommends that t
he cei
li
ng on
elect
ionexpendi
tur
eber at
ional
izedfr
omt imetoti
me.

5.
2 Di
scl
osur
eaudi
tofas
set
sandl
iabi
li
tiesofcandi
dat
es

Inanorderdat edMar ch27,2003,t heElect

ionCommi ss
ionofI ndi
aissuedan
order
,inpur s
uanceoft heSupr emeCour tjudgmentdatedMarch13,2003i n
thePeoplesUni onforCi vi
lLibert
ies&Anot herVs.UnionofI ndiacase,that
candi
datesforel ect
or alofficemus tsubmitanaffidavi
tdis
closinghisassets
andli
abi
liti
es.

Ithasbeennot edbyt heEl

ectionCommissi
onofI ndi
ainit
sr epor
tPr oposed
Elect
or alRefor ms,2004,t hat “
ther
e have been many cases wheret he
candidatesar
eal legedtohavegivengros
slyunderval
uedi
nformation,mainly
aboutt hei
rassets.”

 Recommendat
ions

T
he Nat
ionalCommission t
o Revi
ew the Work
ing of t
he Consti
tut
ion
r
ecommended a fol
low-up act
ion t
ot he declar
ati
on of ass
ets and

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ect
oralRefor
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li
abil
itiesbycandi dates-t hatt heparti
cular softheas s
et sandliabi l
iti
es
ofbot hcandidat esandpol i
ticalpart
iess houldbeaudi tedbyas pecial
authoritycreateds pecifical l
yunderl awfort hispurpose.Account sof
candidates and par ties s hould be monit ored thr
ough a s ystem of
checking andcr os s
-check ing throught hei ncomet axr eturnsfi ledby
candidates,parties,andt heirwel lwi
shers.Att heendoft heel ection
eachcandi dates houlds ubmi tanaudi teds tatementofex pensesunder
specificheads.

In2004t heElecti
onCommi ss
ionr ecommendedt hananamendmentbe
made t oF orm 26 of Conduct of El ecti
on Rul es,1961,t oinclude
discl
osureofas s
etsandl i
abil
itiesbycandi dates.Toenfor cecompl ete
compl i
anceby candi dateson F orm 26,t heCommi s
sion r
ecommended
that Sect i
on125A be amended s uch that therei s mores t
ringent
punishmentforconceal i
ngorpr ovidingwrongi nformat i
onont hefor m.
Theamendmentwoul dpr ovideformi nimum t woyear simprisonmentand
removalof t heal t
er nati
vepuni s
hmentof as s essi
ng afi neupont he
candidate.

5.
3 Cur
bingt
hecos
tofcampai
gni
ng

Ithasbeennot edbypr eviouscommitteest

hati
nordert
or emedythenegati
ve
impactoft heexcessi
vecos tofelect
ions,t
hefi
rstst
epshouldbet
or educet
he
costofelectionsthems el
ves.

 Recommendat
ions

Itwasobs ervedbybot ht heI ndrajitGupt aCommi tteeonSt ateF unding

ofEl ect ions,1999,andt heNat i
onalCommi ss
iont oRevi ewt heWor ki
ng
oft heCons titution,2001,t hatmanyoft hetoolsus edforcampai gning
–s uchaswal lwr iti
ngs ,ralliesonpubl i
cpr operty,us i
ngl ouds peak ersfor
campai gni ng – ar e notonl y costly,butar e als o a publ ic nui s
ance.
Curbingt heseact ivit
iescanbot hreducet hepubl icnuis ancecaus edby
them andal sor educet heamountofmoneyneededt ofightel ections.F or
thispur pos et heCommi t t
eess uggestedt hatas uitablel aw s houldbe
enact edpr ovidingpenal tiesorr easonablerestr
ictionsagai nstdamagi ng
ordes ecr at i
ngpubl icorpr ivatepr opertybycandi dates,pol iti
calpar t
ies,
ort heagent s,t hroughpai nting of slogansorer ecting cut -outsand
hoardi ngorput ti
ngupbanner sandbunt ings,wal lwriti
ngs ,hoist i
ngof

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ect
oralRefor
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flags(exceptatpartyoffi
ces
,par
tyoffi
ces
,publ
icmeet
ingsandot
her
speci
fiedplaces),et
c.

In additi
on,t he NationalCommi s
s i
on to Review t he Wor k
ing of the
Cons ti
tution,2001,s ugges t
edt hefol l
owi ng meas ures:(i)Stateand
Parli
ament ar
ylevelel ecti
ons,tot heex t
entpos si
ble,shouldbehel dat
thes amet ime;(ii
)t hecampai gnper i
ods houldber educedcons i
derably,
and (i i
i) candidates s hould not be al lowed t o cont est electi
on
simultaneouslyforthes ameoffi cefr om moret hanonecons tit
uency.

5.
4 St
ateF
undi
ngofEl
ect
ions

Amaj orconcernas s ociatedwiththehighcos tofelecti

onsisthatitprevent s
parti
esandcandi dat eswi thmodestfinanci
alresourcesfrom bei
ngcompet it
ive
inelections
.Iti sal sofear edthatifcandidatesneedt oraisefundsfr om a
vari
et yofs ources ,t hent hei
rpolicydecis
ionsaft erbeingelect
edaspol icy
maker smaybes omewhatbi asedinfavourofgr oupsthatfundt hem. Stat e
funding of elections(i n vari
ousforms )hasbeen pr oposedasapot ential
sol
utiont othi
spr oblem.

 Recommendat
ions

The Indraji
tGupt a Commi ttee on St ateF unding of El ect i
ons ,1998,
backedt heideaofs tatefundi ngofel ectionsonpr inciple,s tat i
ngt hat
“TheCommi t
tees eeful ljusti
fi cat i
oncons titutional,l egalaswel lason
groundof publ icint er
es t
,forgr antof St ates ubvent iont opol i
tical
parties,soast oes t
ablishs uch condi tionswher eevent hepar tieswi th
modes tfinanci alresourcesmaybe abl et o compet e wi tht hos e who
haves uperiorfi nancialresour ces .”Itaddedt wol imitat i
ons ,namel y(i )
suchfundscoul dnotbedol edoutt oindependentcandi dates,andonl yt o
nationalands tatepar tieshavi ng gr antedas ymbolandpr ovent heir
popularity among t he elector ate,and (i i)i nt he s hor t-
t erm,St ate
fundingmaybegi venonl yi nk ind,int hefor m ofcer tainfaci l
itiest o
ther ecognisedpol iti
calpar tiesandt heircandi dat es.However ,des pite
stronglyback i
ngful lSt atefundi ngofel ect ionspr inciple,its tatedt hat
onlypar ti
alSt atefundi ngwoul dbepos si
blei nt hes hor t-term gi vent he
prevaili
ngeconomi ccondi ti
onoft hecount ry.

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ect
oralRefor
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The1999 r eportof t heL aw Commi ssion of Indiaconcur redwi ththe

IndrajitGupt aCommi ss
ion,s tat
ingt hat“ itisdes irablet hatt otals t
ate
funding bei nt r
oduced,butont hecondi tiont hatpol iticalpar tiesare
barredfr om r ai
singfundsfr om anyot hers ource” .I tal soagr eedwi th
the Indr aji
tGupt a Commi ssion thatonl y par tials tate fundi ng was
possible att he pr esentt ime gi ven the economi c condi tionsof t he
count ry.Addi ti
onal l
y,i ts t
ronglyr ecommendedt hatt he appr opri
ate
regulat oryfr amewor kbeputi npl acewi thr egar dt opol iticalpar ti
es
(provisionsens uring internal democr acy, i nter nals t
ruct ur esand
maint enance of account s,t hei
raudi t
ing and s ubmi s s
ion t o Electi
on
Commi ssion)befor estatefundi ngofel ect i
onsi sat tempt ed.

The Repor t“Ethi

cs in Governance” of the Second Administr
ative
ReformsCommi ss
ionalsorecommendedthat“as yst
em forparti
alstate
funding shoul
dbei ntr
oducedt oreducethes copeofi l
legi
timateand
unnecessaryfundingofexpendit
ureforelecti
ons.”

TheNat ionalCommi ss
i on t
oRevi ew theWor ki
ng of t heCons t
itution,
2001,di dnotcommentont hedes irabil
ityofSt at efundingofel ect i
ons
butr eiteratedt hepoi ntoft heL aw Commi ssi
ont hatt heappr opri
at e
framewor k for r egulation of pol i
tical parties would need t o be
implement edbefor epr oposalsforSt at efunding ar econs i
dered.T he
Electi
onCommi ssionisnoti nfavourofs tatefundi ngasi twillnotbe
possiblet opr ohibitorcheckcandi date’sownex pendit ur
eorex penditur e
by ot hersoverandabovet hatwhi ch ispr ovidedby t heSt ate. T he
Electi
onCommi ssion’
svi ewist hatforaddr essi
ngt her ealissues,ther e
havet ober adicalchangesi nt hepr ovisionsregar di
ngr eceipt
soffunds
bypol i
ticalpar tiesandt hemanneri nwhi chsuchfundsar es pentby
thems oast opr ovideforcompl etet r
ans parencyi nthemat ter.

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VI
. ConductandBet
terManagementofEl
ect
ions
Themassivesi
zeoft
heIndi
anelector
atemakesgeneralel
ecti
onsan
enormousanddaunti
ng ex
erci
se.Butt hi
ss houl
dnotpr eventus
from fi
ndingmorewaysofmak ingtheelecti
onprocessfreeand
fair
.

Accordingt otheElect ionCommi ss

ionofI ndi
a,thes i
zeoft heel ectoratefor
th
the2009el ecti
onst ot he15 L okSabhawasmor ethan714mi ll
ion.TheNat ional
Commi ssi
on t oRevi ew theWor k
ing of t heCons tit
ution,2001,not edi ni t
s
reportthat“ t
hehol dingofgener alel ectionsinIndiaisequalt oholdingt hem
for Europe,t he Uni ted States,Canada,and Aus trali
a allput t ogether .
”
Successfuladmi ni
str ati
onoft heel ect oralprocessrequiresmor ethan50l akh
personnelandal mos t1mi l
lion(10l ak h)polli
ngboot hs.Mill
ionsofs ecurity
personnelar er equi red t
o pr omot e a peacefuland i nci
dent-free vot ing
experi
ence.

Previ
ouscommitteeshaverecommendedseveralchangesintheconductofthe
el
ectoralpr
ocesstopr oper
lyaddres
st hechall
engesment i
onedabove.Maj or
pr
oblemsintheconductofelecti
onsandproposedsolut
ionsareout
linedbel
ow.

6.
1 I
rregul
ari
tiesi
npol
li
ng

Irr
egular
iti
esi
npolling pr
ocedurehavebeeni dent
ifiedasimportantis
sues
thatneedtobeaddr
es sedi
nourel ector
alsys
tem.Ri ggingofelecti
onshave
becomecommonfacet sofourelector
alsys
tem.

6.
1.1I
mpor
tanceofel
ect
oralr
oll
s

TheNat ionalCommi ss i
ont oRevi ewtheWor ki
ngoft heCons t
ituti
on,2001,
rightlynot edt hat“ Theel ectoralprocessbeginswi tht hepr eparationof
electoralrolls.Ifther ollsar eincompleteordefect ive,thewhol epr oces s
isvitiated.” ACons ultationPapert ot heNationalCommi ssi
ont oRevi ew
the Wor ki
ng of t he Cons tit
ut i
on noted that “ politi
calpar ti
es and
influentialper sonsmanagel arge-scaleregist
rationofbogusvot ers,or
large-scale deletion of namesof “ unfri
endly”vot ers.
”T he Gos wami
Commi tteeonEl ectoralRefor mss tatedthatirregul arit
iesi nelect oral
roll
sar eex acerbatedbypur posefultamper i
ngdonebyel ectionoffi cials
whoar eboughtbyves tedinterestsorhavepar ti
sanat t i
tudes.

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oralRefor
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As i
defr om i ntenti
onalt amper ing,thes tructureoft hes ystem s etupt o
create el ect oralrollsmay cont r
ibutes i
gnificantlytot he wi des pr ead
inaccur acies .I nthecur rentsys tem,t heElectionCommi ssionpr epar es
electoralr olesforPar li
ament aryandAs semblycons ti
tuenci es,andt he
StateEl ectionCommi s sionspr epareel ectoralr ol
lsforl ocalel ect ions.
Whiles ome s tates have coor dinated t heir elect
oralr oll
s wi tht hos e
preparedbyt heEl ectionCommi ssi
on,t herear esti
llsomes t
at est hat
significant lymodi fyt hem.Somes t
at esevenhavedi fferentqual ifyi ng
datesfort heSt ater oll
sfr om theEl ectionCommi ssi
onr ol l
s,whi chi s
inefficientforbot ht heCommi ssi
onsi nvolvedandconfus ing fort he
voter.T hedupl icat
ionofes sential
lyt hes amet askbetweent wodi ffer ent
agenciesi sal s
oanunneces sari
lycos tl
yaffai r.

 Recommendat
ions

The NationalCommi ssi

on to Revi ew t he Working of t he Cons ti
tution
recommended i ni t
s2001 r eportt hatan aut omat ed onl i
ne dat abase
shouldbecr eatedbyt heElectionCommi ssion.Ins uchas ystem,each
voterwoul dbepr ovidedwi t
hauni quebar -codedI Dnumber ,assignedfor
li
fe.Thisbar -
codedI Dcar dandnumbercoul dbever i
fiedatt hepol l
ing
boothbyahandhel ddevice.T heel ectoralr ol
lsi nthiss ystem couldbe
prepared at t he panchayat or di s t
rict level.Al ong wi tht his,t he
Commi ssion al so r ecommended t hat t he t ask of el ectoral r oll
preparations houldnotbedupl icat edasi tisnow,pos si
blybyent rusting
ittoanout s
ideagencyundert hes uper visi
onoft heElectionCommi ssion.
A centralized,comput erizeds ystem coul dpr ovidefort heeas ypubl i
c
avail
abil
ityoft heelectoralrollsaswel l.

The2004r epor tonPr opos edEl ector

alReforms,t
heElect i
onCommi ss
ion
concur r
edwitht heNat ionalCommi ss
iontoReviewt heWor ki
ngoft he
Cons t
ituti
ont hatt heres houldbecommonr oll
sforallelecti
ons,withthe
Parl
iament ary andAs sembl yr ol
lsadaptedtos ui
tt heneedsof l ocal
bodi
esel ecti
ons .T hi
si spr i
mar i
lyrecommendedbyt heCommi ssi
onfor
thepur poseof s aving onex penditureandtomak et hepr ocessmor e
efficient.

TheGoswamiCommitt
eeof1990r ecommendedt hatPostOfficesshould
betheagenci
esforprepar
ationandmai ntenanceofel ect
oralroll
s.This
sol
uti
on may wellbe outdated int oday’ss ociet
y where efficient
computer
ized s
yst
emscan be cr eat
ed.T he Commi tt
ee,did however,

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recommendamult i
-purpos
eIDsomewhatalongthes amel
inesast hat
propos
edby the Nati
onalCommiss
ion t
o Review t
he Wor
king of the
Consti
tut
ion.

6.
1.2Ri
ggi
ngt
hroughmus
clepowerandi
nti
midat
ion

Riggi
ngofelecti
onsisposs
ibl
enotj
ustthr
oughtamper
ingofbooths,bal
lot
s,
andelect
oralrol
es,butal
sooutofsheer‘
muscl
epower’andi
ntimidati
onof
voter
s.

 Recommendat
ions

TheGos wamiCommi tteeRepor tof1990r ecommendedt hatt heElection

Commi ssions houl dbeempower edt otakes trongact ionont her eportof
returning offi cers,el ecti
on obs ervers,orci vilsocietyinr egardst o
boothcapt ureort heint imidat i
onofvot er
s .TheNat ionalCommi ssi
ont o
Reviewt heWor kingoft heCons tit
utionr ecommendst hattheEl ection
Commi ssion s houl d have t he power under Sect i
on 58A of t he
Repres entationoft hePeopl eAct ,1951,t oor derafr eshelection,void
the el ection r esults,or or der a r e-pol
li ns uch cas es.I t further
recommended t hat t he El ection Commi ss i
on s hould mak e us e of
electronics ur veill
anceequi pmentasadet errentt oboothcapt ureor
inti
mi dationofvot ers
.

6.
2 Pr
oli
fer
ati
onofcandi
dat
es

Therei sapr ol
iferationofcandi datesinIndianel ecti
ons.Accor di
ng t ot he
Electi
onCommi ssi
onofI ndia,“t
oomanycandi dat esi ntheelectionfr ayput s
unneces sar y and avoi dables tress on the management of el ections and
increasesex pendit
ureonaccountofs ecuri
ty,mai ntenanceofl awandor der,
andr equi resex t
ranumberofbal loti
nguni t
sofvot ingmachi nes
,et c” .Ithas
beenobs ervedt hatal ar genumberofcandi datesi nt hefrayar enon- seri
ous
candidates ,whichaccor dingtot heLawCommi s s
i onofI ndia,mak esel ecti
ons
“cumber s ome,ex pensiveandunmanageabl e– i ndeedfar ci
calins omecas es .
”
TheNat ionalCommi s
s i
ont oRevi
ewt heWor ki
ngoft heCons ti
tuti
onnot est hat
outoft he1900i ndependentcandi dateswhocont estedthegener alel ectionof
1998,onl ys ixactuallywon.

 Recommendat
ions

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ect
oralRefor
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TheElectionCommi ssionofI ndia,LawCommi s

s i
onofI ndia,andNat ional
Commi s s
iont oReviewt heWor kingoft heCons tit
utional lrecommend
measur est ocheckthepr oliferat i
onofnon- seriouscandi dates.I
nt heir
repor
t s,allt he Commi tteesment i
oned r ecommended i ncr easi
ng t he
secur
ity depos i
t of candi dat es.T he r ecommendat i
ons of t hese
Commi tteeswer e enactedt hrough t he Represent at
ion of t he People
(Amendment ) Act,2009,whi ch incr eased the amount .T he Election
Commi s s
ionfur t
herrecommendst hati tbegivent hepowert opr escr i
be
depositamount spriortoeachel ections othatr epeatedamendment sto
theRepr esentat
ionoft hePeopl eActar enotneces sary.

TheLawCommissi
onofI ndi
aRepor tonReform oft heEl
ect
oralL
awsgoes
even fur
ther and declar
es t hat i
ndependent candi
dat
es shoul
d be
debarr
edfromcontesti
ngel ect
ionstotheLokSabha.

The Nat i
onalCommi ssion to Revi ew t he Wor ki
ng of t he Cons t
ituti
on
propos ed a sys t
em of di scour agi ng i ndependent candi dates fr om
running foroffi ce,byi mplement i
ng t hefol lowi ng meas ur es:(i)t he
exis
tings ecuri
tydepos itsfori ndependentcandi dat esshouldbedoubl ed,
(ii
)t hedepositshouldbedoubl edever yyearfort hos ei
ndependent swho
failtowi nands t
illkeepcont es ti
ngel ect i
ons,(i ii
)i fanyi ndependent
candidatefailst owinfi veper centoft hevot eormor e,hes houldbe
debarredfr om contesti
ngasani ndependentfort hes ameoffi cefors i
x
years ,(iv)an independentcandi dat e who losesel ecti
on t hree times
consecut i
vely for the s ame offi ce as an i ndependent s hould be
permanent lydebarredfr omcont estingel ectiontot hatoffice.

6.
3 Meas
uresforEl
ect
ionCommi
ssi
on

T
heElectionCommissi
onofIndi
ahasrecommendedanumberofimprovement
s
i
nelectorall
awtoal
lowitt
ocont i
nuefunct
ioni
nginaneffect
iveand
i
ndependentmanner
.

 Recommendat
ions

Clause(5)ofAr ti
cle324oft heCons t
itut
ion,interal
ia,pr ovidesthat
theChi efElect
ionCommi ssi
onershallnotber emovedfr om hisoffi ce
excepti nlik
emannerandonl ik
egr oundsasaJ udgeoft heSupr eme
Cour t
. However ,Claus
e(5)of Ar ticl
e324 doesnotpr ovides i
mi l
ar
protection t
ot heElect
ion Commissi
onersandi tonlysayst hatt hey

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oralRefor
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cannotber emovedfr om offi ceexceptont her ecommendat ionoft he

Chief Election Commi ss
ioner. T he pr ovi
sion,int he opinion of the
Elect
ion Commi ss
ion,isi nadequat e and r equi
r es an amendment t o
provide the verys ame pr otecti
on and s afeguar di nt he matterof
removabilityofEl ect
ionCommi ssionersfr om officeasi sprovidedto
theChiefEl ecti
onCommi ssi
oner .TheEl ect
ionCommi s
sionrecommends
thatconst i
tuti
onalprotecti
onbeex tendedtoal lmember soft heElecti
on
Commi ssion.

TheEl ectionCommi ss
ionals or ecommendst hatt heSecr et
ariatoft he
ElectionCommi ssi
on,consistingofoffi cersands taffatvar iousl
evels
isalsoi ns
ulatedfr om t
heint erferenceoft heExecutiveinthemat t
erof
their appointment s,pr omot ions,etc.,and al ls uch funct i
ons are
exclusively vested int he Election Commi ss
ion on t he l
ines of the
Secr etari
ats of the Lok Sabha,and Raj ya Sabha,Regi stri
es of the
Supr emeCour tandHighCour tset c.

Thethi
rdrecommendati
onoftheEl
ect
ionCommissi
oni sthati
tsbudget
betr
eatedas“Charged”ont
heConsol
idat
edFundofIndia.

6.
4 Res
tri
cti
onsonGover
nments
pons
oredadver
tis
ement
s

Ithasbeennot edbyt heElectionCommi ssi

ont hatont heeveofel ect
ion,the
Centralandvar i
ousSt ateGover nment sareablet oadverti
s efort hepurpose
ofinfluenci
ngel ect
ions ,j
usti
fyi ngi tbyprovidinginformationt othepubli
c.
The expendi
ture on such advertisementsisl i
k elyincur
redfr om the publ
ic
exchequer.TheElecti
onCommi s
s ionfeelsthispr acti
ceallowst hemisuseof
publi
cfundsandpr ovi desther ul i
ng par
ty anundueadvant ageoverot her
parti
esandcandidates.

 Recommendat
ions

TheEl ecti
onCommi ssi
onpr opos esthatwhereanygener alelect i
onisdue
on t he ex pi
rati
on of t he t erm of t he House,adver t i
s ements of
achievement s of the gover nments,eitherCent ralorSt ate,in any
manner ,s
houldbepr ohibi
tedforaper iodofs ixmont hspriort othedat e
ofex piryoft heterm oft heHous e,andincaseofpr ematur edissol
ut i
on,
from t he date of dissol
ut ion of the Hous
e. Her e,adver t is
ement s/
diss
emi nationofi nformat iononpover tyall
eviati
onandheal threlated
schemescoul d be exempt ed fr om the purview of such a ban. T he

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oralRefor
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Commi s
sional
sorecommendsthatt her
es houl
dbes pecifi
cprovi
sions
thatnameorsymbolofanypol
iticalpartyorphot
ographofanyoft he
l
eadersofthepar
tyshoul
dnotappearons uchhoar
dings/banner
s.

6.
5 Res
tri
cti
onont
henumberofs
eat
swhi
chonemaycont
est

Section33oft heRepresent at
ionoft hePeopl eAct,1951,aper soncancont est
agener alelect i
onoragr oupofbye- electi
onsorbi ennialelect i
onsfr om a
max i
mum oft wocons t
ituencies.T herehavebeens everalcaseswher eaper son
contestselection from t wo cons tituencies
,andwi nsfr om bot h.Ins uch a
sit
uat i
on he vacat es t he s eat i n one of t he two const i
tuencies.T he
consequencei st hatabye- elect i
onwoul dber equi
redfr om onecons tit
uency
whichapartfr om involvi
ngavoi dablelabourandex penditureont heconductof
thatbye-el
ect i
on.

 Recommendat
ions

TheEl
ecti
onCommi s
sioni
soft hevi
ewthatt
helawshoul
dbeamendedto
provi
dethataper
soncannotcontes
tfr
om morethanonecons
tit
uency
atatime.

6.
6 Amendmentoflawtopr
ovideforfi
li
ngofelect
ionpetit
ionevenagai
nst
defeat
edcandi
dat
esonthegroundofcor
ruptpract
ice

Aspert heexist
ingl aw,el
ecti
onpet i
tioncanbefi ledonl
yforchall
engingthe
electi
on of a ret
ur nedcandidate.If a defeatedcandi
date hasi
ndulgedin
corruptpracti
ce,t hereisnopr ovi
sionforel ecti
onpetit
ionoradeclarat
ion
againstsuchcandidate.

 Recommendat
ions

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ect
oralRefor
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TheElect i
onCommi ssionhasr ecommendedi ni tsletterdated24th Apr i
l
2009 t hatt he l
aw s houldbe amendedt o pr ovide forfi l
ing election
petiti
ons i n casesof commi ssion of corruptpr actice by a losing
candidat e.Int hes amel ett
er ,itwasal sos ugges tedt hattheper iodby
which t he candidat esar erequi red to fil
et heiraccountof el ection
expensess houldber educedto20daysfr om t hepr es
ent30days ,sot hat
mor etimei savailabl eforot herst oscr
utinizet heaccount sandt ot ake
themat tert otheCour tinEl ectionPet i
tionsi ncas esofs pending in
excessof t he ceiling. Al ternatively,the per iod forfi l
ing Election
Petiti
onmaybei ncr eas edto60days .

6.
7 Res
tri
cti
onsonopi
nionpol
ls

Previ
ouscommitt
eesonel
ect
orall
awhavedebat
edtheposs
ibi
lityofwhet
her
opini
onpol
lsar
emi s
usedt
omanipul
atevot
ersontheeveofelecti
ons.

 Recommendat
ions

The El ecti
on Commi ssion had recommended t hat t heres houl d be
provisioni nt helaw putti
ng rest
r i
ctionsonpubl i
shi ng t
her esultsof
opinionpol lsandex i
tpol lsforas pecifiedper i
oddur ingtheel ection
proces s.Byt herecentamendmentoft heRepresent at i
onoft hePeopl e
Act,1951,a newSect i
on126Ahasbeeni nsert
edi nt heActpr ohibi
ting
conduct ingofex i
tpol l
sandpublis
hingr esultsi
nanymanner ,dur i
ngt he
periods tart
ingfr om 48hoursbeforet hecloseofpol linanelection.I n
amul t
i-phasedelection,theprohibi
tionwi l
llasttil
lt hecl os
eofpol lin
thelas tphase.

However ,t
heamendmentdoesnotcoveropi nionpoll
s.T hus,res ul
t sof
opinion pollcan be published even on the day of el
ect ion polling.
Althoughdi sseminati
onofr esul
tsofopi nionpollswoul
dbepr ohi bited
duringt he48hour speri
odbefor et heconclusionofpol lbyvi rtueof
Sect i
on-126(1)(b)onel ectroni
cmedi a,thereisnoprovisionofl awt o
restrictdi
ss eminat
ionthroughpr intmedia(s i
nce126(1)(b)doesnot
applyt oprintmedia).

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6.
8 Pr
ohi
bit
ionofCampai
gndur
ingt
heL
ast48Hour
s

Section 126 of t he Repres entati

on of t he Peopl e Act ,1951,pr ohibits
electioneer i
ng activiti
es by way of publ ic meetings ,public performance,
proces sions,adver ti
sement st hrough cinemat ograph,t el
evisi
on or s i
mi lar
appar atusdur ingtheper i
odof48hour sbefor ethet imefixedforconcl us i
on
ofpol l
.T hus,politi
caladver tisementsi nT V andRadi oar eprohibiteddur i
ng
these48hour s.However,sincet hisSectiondoesnotr efertopr i
ntmedi a,the
politi
calpar tiesandcandidat esissueadvert i
sement sinnews papersduringt his
periodi ncludingont hedayofpol l
.Theyals ounder t
ak ehouse-to-housevi s
its.
The logi c behindthe restriction on campai gning dur i
ng the 48 ist o all
ow
citi
zenst odeci detheiropt i
onwi t
houtbei ngpr ejudicedbyanyl astmoment
appeal s.

 Recommendat
ions

TheE l ecti
onCommi ssionrecommendst hatSection126s houldappl yto
printmedi aaswel l.F urthermore,itrecommendst hathous et ohouse
visit
sbycandi dates/supportersshouldbes peci
fical
lyprohibitedduring
thes aid48hourper iod.Itist heopinionoft heCommi ssiont hatthe
hous e- to-
house vi si
t/ cont act in t he last hours pr ovides that
oppor t uni
ty fori ndulging in malpractices s
uch as t
r ying t o bri
be
elector swithcash.

6.
9 Banont
rans
ferofoffi
cer
sli
kel
ytos
erveel
ect
ions

Iti
stheopinionoftheEl
ecti
onCommi ss
iont hatsucht r
ansfer
s ,oft
enmadeon
groundsotherthanadmini
strat
iveex
igencies,disr
uptt hearrangement
sthen
underwayforconduct
ingsmoothandpeacefulelections.

 Recommendat
ions

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ect
oralRefor
ms

TheE lect i
onCommi ssionhadrecommendedi n1998t hatSect i
on13CC
oft heRepr esentationoft hePeopl eAct,1950,andSect ion28Aoft he
Repr esent ationoft hePeopl eAct,1951s houldbeamendedt opr ovide
that no t rans fer s hallbe made,wi thout the concur rence of t he
Commi ss i
on,ofanyoffi cerreferredtot herein,ass oonasagener al
election/bye- electi
onbecomesduei nanyPar li
ament aryorAs s
embl y
Cons tituenci es.T heCommi ss
ionhass ugges tedt hati nt hecas eofa
gener alel ection ei ther tot he Hous
e of t he Peopl e or t o State
LegislativeAs sembl y,t hebanmaycomei ntooper ationfort heper iod
ofs i
xmont hspr i
ort othedat eofex pir
yoft het er m oft heHous e
concer ned,andi n cas eof prematuredis s
olution,fr om t hedat eof
dissolutionoft heHous e.

6.
10 F
als
edecl
arat
ioni
nconnect
ionwi
thel
ect
ionst
obeanoffence

Section31oft heRepresentati
onoft hePeopleAct,1950,cont ainsapr ovisi
on
providingforpunishmentwi thimpr i
sonmentupt ooneyearformak ingafal s
e
declarati
oni nconnectionwithpr epar ati
on/revi
sionofelect oralr oll
.T herei s
nos uchpr ovi
sionintheRepr esent ationofthePeopl eAct,1951,i nr elat ionto
conduct of el ecti
ons. Dur i
ng t he course of an el ection, t he El ecti
on
Commi ss
ionhasobs er
veds everalcas esofs uchfalsestatement s
/decl ar ati
ons
beforet he electi
on authoriti
ess uch asby candi dat
es,r epr esentat ivesof
poli
ticalpar ti
eset c. A pr ovision forpuni shmentforfal s es t
atement/
declarati
onwoul dbeadet err
entagai nstfri
volouscomplaintsandpet itions .

 Recommendat
ions

TheEl ectionCommi ssi

onr ecommendst hattheres houldbeapr ovis
ion
for penalact ion agai
nstt hos
e mak i
ng any fal se declarati
ons in
connect ionwithanelecti
on.Suchapr ovisi
onwouldpr ovideforas imil
ar
punishment for fal se declarat
ions in connection wit h conduct of
elect
ions ,s uch as false complaints of booth capt uring or false
compl aintsabouttheconductofel ect
ionofficial
s.

6.
11 Puni
shmentforel
ect
oraloffencest
obeenhanced

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oralRefor
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Unduei nfluenceandbr i
ber yatelectionsareelect oraloffencesunderSect ions
171Band171C,r espectively,oft heI PC.Theseoffencesar enon-cognizable
offences ,withpuni shmentpr ovisi
onofoneyear ’
simpr isonment,orfine,or
both.UnderSect ion171G,publ is
hingafal sestatementi nconnecti
onwi than
electi
onwi thi nt
entt oaffectt heresultoft heelect i
oni sonlypunishabl
ewi th
afi ne.Sect ion171Hpr ovidest hati ncur
ringoraut hori
zingexpenditur
efor
promot i
ng t he election prospectsof a candi datei san offence.However ,
punishmentforanoffenceundert hisSectionisas mal lfineofRs500.

 Recommendat
ions

The Elect
ion Commi ssi
on feelst hatconsi
dering the gravit
y of the
offencesundert heafor es
aids ecti
onsinthecont extoffr eeandfair
elect
ions,t he puni
shment s under allthe four sections shoul
d be
enhanced.Thiswasrecommendedbyt heCommissionin1992.

6.
12 Restori
ngt
hecycl
eofbi
enni
alr
eti
rementi
ntheRaj
yaSabha/L
egi
slat
ive
Council
s

A petiti
onwass ubmi
ttedi nthePatnaHighCourtl astyearonthetopicof
restori
ngthecycleofbi enni
alret
irementintheRaj yaSabhaandL
egisl
ati
ve
Councils.T
heHighCour t
,i ni
tsorder,obs
ervedthatt heGover
nmentandthe
Electi
onCommissionmaycons i
derthematterforasoluti
on.

 Recommendat
ions

InitsDecember2004theElect
ionCommissi
onreiter
atedtheearli
er
r
d
propos
alforamendingthel
aws oastoens
ureretir
ementof1/3 of
themember si
ntheRajyaSabhaandStatelegi
slat
ivecounci
lsafter
everytwoyear
s.

6.
13 Ex
pendi
tur
ecei
li
ngforel
ect
iont
oCounci
lCons
tit
uenci
es

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Pres
entl
ytheex
pendit
urecei
li
ngforcandi
dat
esappl
iesonl
yfort
heL
okSabha
andAss
emblyel
ecti
ons.

 Recommendat
ions

TheCommi ssi
onhasi nitsl
etterdated30thMay2007pr oposedthatthis
shoul
dal s
obeappl icabl
ei nthecas eofl egi
slat
ivecounci lel
ecti
ons
from theCouncilConsti
tuencies.T
hecandidateshoul
dal s
ober equi
r ed
tosubmittheaccountofelectionex
penses.

6.
14 Mi
sus
eofr
eli
gionforel
ect
oralgai
nbypol
iti
calpar
ties

TheL iber hanAyodhyaCommi ssionofI nquiryr ecommended,i nt

eral i
a,t hat
compl aint s of mi s us
e of r eligion for el ectoralgai ns houl d be speedily
investigat ed i nto by t he Elect i
on Commi ssion. The El ection Commi ssion
informed t he gover nment (L etter dated J anuar y 29, 2010) t hat s uch
investigat ionss houl dbecar ri
edoutbyt hei nvestigatingagenci esoft hes t
ate.
However ,t heEl ect ionCommi ssioni nvi
tedt heat tentionoft hegover nmentt o
theRepr esent ationoft hePeopl e(SecondAmendment )Bi l
l,1994,wher ebyan
amendmentwaspr oposedpr ovidingforpr ovisiont oques tionact sofmi suseof
reli
gionby pol i
ticalpar tiesbefor eaHi ghCour t
.Si milarr ecommendat ions
madebyt heGos wamiCommi tt
eewer eincludedinaBi llintroducedi ntheRaj ya
Sabhai nMay1990.T heGover nmentwi thdrewt hisBi llin1993,s tati
ngt hata
revisedBi llwoul dbei ntroduced.However ,thes epr ovis i
onshaveneverbeen
consider eds incet hen.

 Recommendat
ions

TheGos wamiCommi tteeonElector alReforms,ini t

sr eportin1990,
madet hefoll
owingrecommendat i
ons :“El
ecti
onCommi ssi
ons hallhave
thepowert omakerecommendationst otheappropriat
eaut hori
ty(a)t o
referany matterfori nves
tigation to any agency specifi
edby t he
Commis si
on(b)Prosecuteanyper s
onwhohascommi ttedanel ector
al

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offenceundert
hisActor(c)appointanyspeci
alcourtfort
het
rialof
anyoffenceoroffencesundert
hisAct(RPAct1951).
”

T
heElect
ionCommi ss
ionr
ecommendst
hatabovement
ionedpr
ovi
sions
s
houl
dber econs
ider
ed.

6.
15 T
otal
izerforcount
ingofvot
es

Cur r
ent l
yvot esar etal
li
edbyindivi
dualEVMsatindivi
dualpolli
ngstations.This
exposes the t rend of voti
ng in a particul
ar voti
ng s t
at i
on,mak i
ng the
electorate of t hat ar
ea vulner
ablet o backl
ash by candidates or elect
ed
officialsinretributi
on.

 Recommendat
ions

TheElect
ionCommi ssi
onr ecommendsanamendmentbemadet ot he
Conductof El
ecti
onsRul estopr ovidefort heus eof ‘tot
ali
zer’for
counti
ngofvotescastatmor et hanonepol l
ingstat
ionwhereEVMsar e
used,sot
hatthetrendofvot i
ngi nindi
vidualpol
li
ngs tat
ionareasdoes
not get di
vul
ged and the electors may not be s ubj
ected to any
harass
mentorvict
imizati
onont hataccount.

6.
16 Re-examinati
onoft
hepr
ovi
sionofT
eacher
s’andGr
aduat
es’
Cons
t i
tuencies

UnderAr t
icl
e171(3)(b)&(c)oft heCons t
itut
ion,one-twelft
hoft hes eats
intheL egisl
ati
veCounci lsar etobefi l
ledupbygr aduatesandanot herone-
twelfth by teachers who have been engaged i nt eachi
ng in educat ional
inst
itutionsnotlowerins tandardthant hatofas econdaryschool.Aspert he
provisi
onsoft hisAr t
icl
e,at eachert eachinginthel owerprimarys ectionina
secondar yschoolisel i
giblet obeenr oll
edasan el ect
orfort heT eacher s
’
constituency, whereas a t eacher t eaching in t he middle s chool in a
middle/primaryschoolwillnotbeeligibletobeanel ector.

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 Recommendat
ions

TheElect i
onCommi ssionrecommendst hatthepr ovisi
onsofAr ticl
e171
(3)(c)s houldbeamendeds oastoprovidethatallteachersofs pecifi
ed
ins
tit
ut ionsirr
espectiveoft hel
eveloft hes choolwouldbeeligibleto
be el ectors for t he T eachers’ consti
tuency. F urther
mor e, the
Commi ssi
onisoft hevi ewt hattheconceptofs pecialrepres
ent ati
on
forgr aduatesandteacherss houl
ditsel
fber econsidered.

6.
17 Vi
cti
mizat
ionofoffi
cer
sdr
aft
edforel
ect
iondut
ies

TheElectionCommissi
onut i
li
zesthes ervicesofal argenumberofgover nment
officersforelecti
ondut i
es,whoper formi mport antstat
utor
yfunct i
onsin
connectionwithpreparat
ionofel ectoralr oll
sandconductofel ect
ions.The
Electi
onCommi ssi
onhasobs ervedmanyoft heseofficersarelatersubject
ed
tohumi l
iati
onandevenvindicti
vediscipli
nar yacti
onbyt hegovernment.

 Recommendat
ions

The Election Commi s si

on r ecommends t hat i n the cas e of t he
governmentoffi cersper formings t
atut oryfunct ionsinconnect ionwith
preparati
on of el ector al rolls
, or i n t he conduct of el ecti
ons,
consultat
ionwi tht heEl ectionCommi ss
ionandi tsconcur renceshouldbe
madecompul sorybefor ei nit
iati
ng anydi s
ci pli
nary/legalpr oceedings
byt hegover nment .Int hecas eoft hos eoffi cerswhohaveceas edt o
holdelecti
onr elatedpos itions,consul
tat i
onwi t
ht heCommi ssi
ons hould
bemandat ory fori nitiat i
ng any discipli
nar y/legalpr oceedi
ngsfora
periodofoneyearfr om t hedat eonwhi cht heoffi cerceasedt ohold
electi
onrel at
edpos i
tion.

6.
18 Di
squal
ifi
cat
ionforfai
lur
etol
odgeel
ect
ionex
pens
es

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tteeonEl
ect
oralRefor
ms

UnderSect i
on10Aoft heRepresentat i
onoft hePeopleAct,1951,theEl ecti
on
Commi ssi
onmaydi squali
fyacandi datefort hr
eeyear sforfailur
et olodge
theaccountofel ectionexpens
esaspert her equir
ementoft helaw.T hus ,t
he
periodofdisqual i
ficationmayendbyt het i
meoft henextgeneralelectionto
thatHouse.T herefore,noeffect i
vepur posei sservedbythedisqualificati
on
(exceptthatt hepersoncannotcont estint heoddbye- el
ecti
onthatmaybehel d
duringthe3yearper iod).

 Recommendat
ions

TheElecti
onCommissi
onrecommendsthattheperi
odofdis
qual
ificat
ion
under Secti
on 10A shoul
d be incr
eased to 5 year
s,s othat the
disqual
ifi
edpersondoesnotbecomeacandi dat
eatt henextgener al
electi
ontotheHous
econcerned.

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ect
oralRefor
ms

VI
I.Regul
ati
ngPol
iti
calPar
ties

Proli
ferationofpolit
icalpart
iesi
sstatedasamaj orconcernbymany
previouscommi tt
ees.Secti
on29Aoft heRepresentationofthePeopl
eAct,
1951,allowsforsmallgroupsofpeopletoform poli
ticalpar
tiesbymaki
ng
onlyas i
mpl edecl
arati
on.

Ini
ts2001report,t
heNat ionalCommi t
teetoReviewtheWor k
ingofthe
Const
itut
ionstat
est hat“i
ti sadesir
ableobject
ivetopromotetheprogr
ess
ive
pol
ari
sati
onofpol i
ticali
deologiesandtoreduceles
sseriouspol
iti
cal
act
ivi
ty.”

Accor dingt otheElect

ionCommi ssion,alargenumberofnon- ser
iousparti
es
createex cessi
veloadont heel ectoralsystem.Oft hemor et han1100par ti
es
registeredwi t
ht he Election Commi ssi
on in 2009,only about360 act ual
ly
contes t
edt hegeneralelect i
ont hatyear .T
heCommi ss
ionalsos tat
esthatpart
oft hepr obl
emi sthattherei snos pecifi
cpr ovi
siontode-r
egis terapart
y.

TheNationalCommi ss
iontoRevi ewt heWorkingoft heConstit
uti
onaddsthat
whil
epr oli
ferati
onofs mallerpartiescreat
es“ confusi
on”,anyti
ghteni
ngof
regulat
ionont hes ubjectmus tals
ot akeint
oaccount“ theneedtorefl
ectthe
aspi
rationsofapl uralsoci
et y.
”

 Recommendat
ions

The Electi
on Commi s s
ion proposes that an amendment be made to
Secti
on29A oft heRepresentationoft hePeopl
eAct ,1951,addi
nga
claus
e“ authori
singt heElecti
onCommi s si
ontoissuenecessaryorder
s
regulati
ngr egi
strati
onandde- regist
rationofpoli
ticalpar
ties
.”

TheNat i
onalCommi s
s i
on t oReview theWor ki
ng of t heCons ti
tuti
on,
2001,r ecommendedt hat“ t
heElecti
onCommi ss
ions houldprogressi
vely
increaset hethreshol
dcr it
erionforel i
gibil
ityforr ecogni
tions othat
thepr oli
ferati
onofs mal lerparti
esisdiscouraged.Onl ypartiesorapr e
-pollal l
iance of politi
calpar ti
es registered as nat i
onalpar t
ies or
alli
anceswi ththeElectionCommi ss
ionbeal lottedacommons ymbolt o
contes telecti
onsfort he LokSabha.St at
e par ti
esmay be al l
otted
symbol st ocontes
tel ectionsforSt at
eL egislatur
esandt heCouncilof
States(Raj yaSabha).”

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e-Commi
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ect
oralRefor
ms

Furthermor e,theaboveCommi s si
onr ecommendedt hat“ ther ul
esandby
-lawsoft hepar tiess eek i
ngr egi strati
ons houl di ncl udepr ovis
ionsfor :
(a) Adecl arationofadher encet odemocr at icval uesandnor msoft he
Cons ti
tutioni nt hei rinnerpar tyorgani sat ions ,
(b) Adecl arationt os hunvi olenceforpol it i
calgai ns.
(c) A decl aration nott or es ortt o cast eis m andcommunal is
m for
polit
icalmobi lis ation,butt oadher etot hepr inci plesofs ecul ari
s mi n
theachievementoft hei robj ect i
ves,
(d) A pr ovision for par ty convent ions t o nomi nate and s elect
candidatesforpol iticaloffi cesatt hegr assr ootandSt atelevels
(e) A codeofconduct(whi cheachpol i
ticalpar t ys houldevol vefor
its
elf),
(f) Somei ns ti
t ut i
onalmechani sm forpl anni ng,t hink ing,andr esear ch
oncr ucials oci o-economi ci ssuesfaci ngt henat ionandeducat ional
cell
s fors oci al i
sing t hei rpar ty cadr es and pr epar i
ng t hem for
responsibili
tiesofgover nance,
(g) I mplement at i
onofl egalpr ovisi
onsr egar ding r epresentat i
ont o
women and weak er s ect i
ons of s ociet yi n par t y offices and i n
candidacyforel ect i
onst oHous esofL egi slat ur es”

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ect
oralRefor
ms

VI
II
.Audi
tingofFi
nancesofPol
iti
calPar
ties

Asment i
onedpreviousl
yint hi
sr eport,t
hehighcostofel
ecti
onsprovi
desa
logi
cforcorrupti
oni nthepubli
car ena.Thi
saffect
snotonl
ycandi
dates,but
parti
esaswel
l.

Inanorderdat edMar ch27,2003,t heEl ect

ionCommi ssi
onofI ndi
ai s
suedan
order
,inpur s
uanceoft heSupr emeCour tjudgmentdatedMar ch13,2003i n
thePeoplesUni onforCi vi
lLiberti
es&Anot herVs.UnionofI ndiacase,that
candi
datesforel ect
or alofficemus tsubmitanaffidavitdi
sclosinghisassets
andli
abi
liti
es.Thisorder,however ,doesnotapplytopolit
icalparties.

 Recommendat
ions

The 2004 reportof t he El

ect
ion Commi ssi
on declared thatpolit
ical
parti
ess houl
dbe r equiredto publ
ishtheiraccount s(oratl eastan
abri
dgedver si
on)annuallyforinformationands cruti
nyoft hegeneral
publi
candal lconcerned,forwhi chpurposet hemai ntenanceofs uch
accountsandt hei
rauditi
ngt oensuretheiraccuracyisapr e-r
equisi
te.
Theauditing may bedoneby any fi rm of auditorsappr ovedby t he
Compt r
ollerandAudi t
orGener al
.Theaudi t
edaccount ss houldthenbe
madepubl i
c.

TheEl ectionandOt herRel atedL aws(Amendment )Bill

,2002(i ntroduced
th
inLokSabhaon19 Mar ch,2002)s oughtt ointr
oduces ect ion29Di nthe
Repres ent at
ionoft hePeopl eAct ,1951i nthisregard.T heDepar tment-
Related Par l
iamentar y Standing Commi ttee on Home Affai r
s whi l
e
exami ning themat t erdes i
redt hattheaudi tofaccount sofdonat i
on
received by t he pol i
tical party may be done t hrough Char tered
Account antsappoint edbyi tasatpr esent,aspert hepr ovisionsoft he
Income- t ax Act (s ection 13A). I n view t hereof t he Commi t
tee
recommendeddel etionofent i
res ect
ion29Di nCl ause2oft heBill
.

In 2001 t he Nati
onalCommi ssion t o Review the Worki
ng of the
Constituti
onrecommendedthat“auditedpoliti
calpartyaccountsl
iket
he
accountsofapubl i
climit
edcompanys houl
dbepubl i
shedyearlywi
thfull
dis
closuresunderpredet
erminedaccountheads ”.

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ect
oralRefor
ms

TheL awCommi ssion,i nits1999r epor t,recommendeds t

epsbet akent o
amendt he Repr esent ati
on of t he Peopl e Act ,1951,t oi ns erta new
section 78A r equi ring the mai nt enance,audi t and publ icati
on of
account sbypol it i
calpar ties
.T oenfor cecompl i
ance,Sect i
on78Awoul d
prescr i
bet hefol lowing penalties:(i )apol iticalpar tywhi chdoesnot
compl ys hal lbel iablet opayapenal t
yofRs .10, 000/-foreachday of
non-compl i
anceands ol ong ast henon- compl iancecont inues ;(ii
)I f
such defaul tcont inuesbeyondt heper i
odof60days ,t he El ection
Commi ssion may de- r
ecogni set hepol iticalpar tyaft eraffor dinga
reasonabl eoppor tunityt oshowcaus e;(iii)I ft heElectionCommi s
sion
findsonver i
ficat ion,undertak enwhet hers uomot u oroni nfor mation
received,t hatt hes tatementofaccount sfiledi sfalseinanypar ticular,
theEl ecti
onCommi ssionshalllevys uchpenal t
yupont hepol it
icalpar ty,
asi tmaydeem appr opriatebes idesi niti
at ing cr i
minalpr osecutionas
providedunderl aw.

Inordert ofur thert ransparencyi nthefundi ngofpoliti

calpar ties,the
Elect
ion Commi ssion recommends t he followi
ng meas ures:(i ) any
receiptbyapol iticalpartyeit herdirectlyorthroughtheex ecutivesor
thepar tyfunct ionariesshouldbedepos itedintheBankAccount sofs uch
parti
es ,(ii)al
lpayment sbyt hepol i
ticalpartyexceedi
ngRs .20,000/-t o
aper sons houldbemadebycr ossedaccountpayeechequeand(i ii
)all
contributionsordonat i
onsorgi ftsbyanyper sontoapar tyfunct ionary
othert hant hosebyhi s/herr elati
ve(s)s hal
lbedeemedasr eceiptsof
thepol i
ticalpartyandi twillbeaccount edforbyt hepolit
icalpar t
y.

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ect
oralRefor
ms

I
X. Adj
udi
cat
ionofEl
ect
ionDi
sput
es

Disputesrelat i
ngtoelecti
onsoftheSt at
eL egi
slat
ureandUnionLegislat
ure
areadj udicatedupon excl
usi
vel
y by theHighCour tsbeforewhom electi
on
petit
ionsunderSect i
on80and80- A oft heRepresent
ationofPeoplesAct ,
1951,ar efiled.

Secti
ons86(6)and86(7)of t heRepresent
ation of thePeopleAct ,1951,
provi
dethatt heHighCourtshal
lmakeanendeavourt odispos
eofanel ection
peti
tionwithi
ns i
xmont hsfr
om i
tspr
esentati
onandal soasfaraspr acticably
possi
bleconductproceedi
ngsofanel
ecti
onpet i
tiononadayt odaybasis.

Inpractice,however,casesi
nvol
vingelect i
onpet it
ionsar
er arel
yr esolvedina
timel
ymanner .Accor di
ngtothereport“ Ethi
csinGover nance”oft heSecond
Administrati
veRefor msCommi s
sion,“suchpet i
tionsremainpendingforyear s
andint hemeanwhi le,eventhefullterm oft hehous eexpiresthusr ender
ing
theelectionpetit
ioninfruct
uous.

 Recommendat
ions

TheNat i
onalCommi ssion t
oReview theWor ki
ng of t
heCons t
itut
ion,
recommended thats pecialel
ecti
on benches desi
gnated forelection
petit
ionsonl
yshouldbefor medintheHighCourt.
TheElecti
onCommis s
ionhasalsomadeas imil
arrecommendat i
on.

TheSecondAdmi nistr
at i
veRefor msCommi ssi
on,ini tsrepor t“Ethicsin
Governance” ,recommendedi ndet ailthat:
“Speci alElectionTr i
bunal
ss houldbecons ti
tutedatt heregionall evel
underar ti
cle329Boft heCons t i
tuti
ont oens ur espeedydi sposalof
election pet iti
onsand di sputeswi t
hinas t
i pulated per i
od of s i
x
mont hs .Eacht ri
bunals houldcompr iseaHi ghCour tjudgeanda
seniorci vi
ls ervantwi t
hatleas t5year sex periencei ntheconductof
elections(notbel ow the rankof an Addi tionalSecr etaryt ot he
Gover nmentofI ndia/Pri
ncipalSecr et ar
yofaSt ateGover nment ).
It
smandat es houl
dbet oens uret hatallelecti
onpet iti
onsar edeci ded

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ect
oralRefor
ms

wit
hinaper
iodofsi
xmonthsaspr ovidedbylaw.TheT
ribunal
sshoul
d
normal
lybesetupforat erm ofoneyearonl y,ext
endabl
efora
peri
odof6monthsi
nexcept
ionalcircumstances.
’

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ect
oralRefor
ms

X. Revi
ewofAnt
i-Defect
ionL
aw

Int herepor t“Ethi

csinGover nance”oft heSecondAdmi nis
trati
veRefor ms
Commi s
sion,itisnot edthat“ Defectionhasl ong beenamal ais
eof I ndi
an
politi
calli
fe.Itrepresent
smani pulati
onoft hepolit
icalsystem forfurtheri
ng
privateinterests
,andhasbeenapot ents ourceofpol i
ticalcorrupti
on.”The
reportfur thernotesthat“thereisnodoubtt hatpermit
t i
ngdefect i
oni nany
form orcont exti
sat r
avestyofet hicsinpoli
tics.
”

The Anti-Defecti
on provisionsof the Tent
h Schedule of the Consti
tution,
enactedin1985,fi xedacer tai
nnumberabovewhi chgr oupdefecti
onswer e
permitt
ed.T heNationalCommi t
teetoReviewtheWor k
ingoft heConstitut
i on
noted thatal t
hough individualdefect
ions became r ar
e after thi
s,gr oup
defecti
onwer e“permitted,promotedandamplyr ewarded.
”

The91st Amendmentt otheCons t

itut
ion,2003,changedthisby making i
t
mandatoryfordefect orstores
igntheirposit
ionsr
egardl
essofwhetherthey
defect
edasani ndi
vidualoraspartofagr oup.

Cur rentl
yt hei s
sueofdi squal
ifi
cationofmember sofParli
amentoraSt ate
Legislat
urei sdecidedbyt heSpeakerorChai rmanoft heconcernedHous e.
As i
defr om t hoseconcerningtheTent hScheduleal
lothermat ter
sofpos t-
electiondis
qual i
ficat
ionar edeci
dedbyt hePresi
dent
/Governor,ont headvice
oft heElectionCommi ssi
on.

TheElectionCommi ssi
on,inits2004r eport
,notedt hat“al
lpoli
t i
calparti
esar e
aware of s ome of t he decisi
ons of t he Hon’ble Speakers,leading t o
controversiesandfurtherli
tigati
onincour tsoflaw. ”T
heNat ionalCommi ttee
toRevi ewtheWor kingoft heCons ti
tutionnotedt hat“someoft heSpeak ers
havet endedt oactinapar ti
s anmannerandwi t
houtapr operappreciati
on–
del
iberateorot her
wise–oft hepr ovi
s i
onsoftheT enthSchedule.”

 Recommendat
ions

The NationalCommis
sion to Revi
ew the Worki
ng of the Consti
tuti
on
recommendt hat“t
hepowert odecideonquesti
onsast odi
squalifi
cati
on
ongr oundofdefecti
ons houldvestintheElecti
onCommi ssioninst
ead
ofint heChair
manorSpeak eroftheHouseconcerned.
”

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ect
oralRefor
ms

The Elect
ion Commi ssi
on and “ Ethi
cs in Governance”r eportof t he
Second Admi ni
str
ative Reforms Commi ssion al
so bothr ecommended
thatt heissueof disquali
ficationongr oundsof defect ions houl
dbe
decidedbyt hePresident/Governorconcer nedundert headvi ceoft he
Electi
on Commi ssi
on,i nstead of relyi
ng on t he objecti
vity of the
decisi
onfr om t
heSpeak er.

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ect
oralRefor
ms

XI
. Annexur
e:UpdateonEl
ect
ionCommi
ssi
on
Recommendati
ons

TheMini
stryofLawandJust
icehaspr
eparedat abl
erevi
ewingpr
ogressmade
ontherecommendat
ionss
uggest
edbytheElect
ionCommissi
onin2004.

I
nJ uly,2004,theElecti
onCommi s
s ionhass entasetof22pr opos
alsonEl ector
al
Reforms .Fur
ther,the entire matterof electoralreformswasr eferred t
ot he
Department Relat
ed Par li
amentary St andi
ng Commi ttee on Per sonnel
, Publ
ic
Grievances
,LawandJ us
ticeforex aminationbyt heChairman,RajyaSabhai nthe
year,2005.

Outof22pr oposalst heHon’bleStandingCommi tteegavei tsr ecommendat ionsons i

x
propos alsi ncludi
ngcr i
mi nali
zati
onofpol iti
cs.TheDepar tmenthast akeni ni
tiative
and r elevant pr ovisions of t he Repr esentati
on of t he Peopl e Act ,1950 and
Repr esent ati
on of t hePeopl eAct ,1951 havebeen amendedt opr ovidefor (1)
Appoi ntment of Appel l
ate Aut hori
tyi n distr
icts agains t or der
s of El ectoral
Regi st
rat ionOffi cer s;(2)t oincreaset hes ecurit
ydepos itofcandi dates;(3)Ex i
t
Polls;(4)Al lofficialsappoi ntedi n connection with conductof el ecti
onst o be
includedi n clause (7)of s ecti
on 123;and(5)Si mplifi
cat ion of pr ocedure for
disqualificat i
onofaper sonfoundgui ltyofcor ruptpr actice.T heHon’ bleStanding
Commi tteedi dnotfavourt hepr oposaloncar ryingoutanyamendmentr elatingt o
theCr imi nalisati
onofpol it
ics.

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ect
oralRefor
ms

Br
iefdet
ail
sofeachoft
hepr
opos
alandr
emar
kst
her
eonar
easunder
:-

Sl. Propos
aloft heEl
ect
ion St
atus
/Remar
ks.
No. Commi ss
ion

1. AffidavitstobeFil
edby Thisr elates to t he mer ger of t wo
CandidatesonCriminal affidavitsfi l
edby a candi dateonei n
Antecedents,Ass
ets,et
c. terms of s ect i
on 33A of t he
Representationoft hePeopl eAct ,1951,
read withr ule 4A of t he Conductof
Electi
on Rules ,1961( inF orm 26) and
anotheri nthefor matpr escr ibedbyt he
Commi ssion vi de i ts or der dat ed
27.3.2003,inpur suanceoft heHon’ble
Supreme Cour t’
s j udgment dat ed
13.3.2003 in Ci vi
lAppealNo.490 of
2002(Peopl esUni onforCi vilL i
berti
es&
AnotherVs .Uni onofI ndia).

2. NeedtoI
ncreas
et heSecur
ity ed vi
Enact de Repr
esent
ati
on of the
Depos
itofCandidates Peopl
e(Amendment)Act,2009(Act41
of2009).

3. Cr
imi
nal
isat
ionofPol
iti
cs The Gover nment had r eques t ed t he
Par l
iament ary Standi ng Commi tt
ee t o
Thispropos alr
elat est odisqual
ify give i ts r ecommendat ions on t he
any per sons accus ed of an pr opos aloft heElectionCommi s sionof
offence puni s
habl e by India.T heCommi tteei ni tsEi ght eenth
impr i
sonmentforfi ve yearsor Repor t on t he s ubj ect i nt er al ia
mor e,from cont esting electi
ons disagr eedwi t
ht heafor es aidpr opos alas
even when t ri
al i s pending, itisamaj ordepar turefr om t hel awof
provided char ges have been t hel andt hataper soni snotgui ltyunt i
l
framed agai nst hi m by a hei sconvi ctedbyt hehi ghes tcour tof
compet entcour t. the l and. T he Commi ttee, however ,
recommended that pr oclai med
absconder s under s ection 82 of t he
Cr i
mi nalPr ocedureCodebedi squal i
fied
from cont es t
ingpolls .

4. Rest
rict
ionont heNumberof In the al l party meeting held on
Seatsfrom whi
chOneMay 22.5.1998,itwasdecidedt oretai
nt he
Contest presentpr ovi
sionofallowing apers
on
tocont estfrom twocons ti
tuenci
esof
T
hispropos
ali st
oamendt hel aw samenat ure.
t
o provi
de thata per
son cannot

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oralRefor
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contest fr om mor e t han one

constituencyatat i
meori fthe
presentpr ovi
sioni
sr etai
nedthen
theres houldbeapr ovisi
onwhich
would mandat e to depos i
t a
definit
es um incaseaper songet
electedfr ombothseats
.

5. Ex
itPol
lsandOpi
nionPol
ls Enacted vide Representati
on of t he
People(Amendment )Act ,2009(Act41
of 2009) put ti
ng a r estri
ction on
publi
cati
onanddi sseminati
onofr es
ults
ofexitpoll
s.Restr
ictionofopinionpol l
s
needstobeexamined.

6. Prohi bition of Surrogate Sect i

on127Adeal sonlywithpublicati
on
Adver tis
ement sinPr i
ntMedi a. ofpamphl ets
,pos ters
,etc.
,butdoesnot
include adver t
isement in news papers.
Secti on 127A of the Thes aidsectioncanbeamendeds oasto
Repr es entat ionoft hePeopl eAct ,include adver t
isement in print media
1951 may be s ui
t ably amended, al so.However ,themat terofr egulati
ng
addinganews ub-s ection(2A)t o adver t
isement s in t he print medi a
theeffectt hati nt hecas eofany per tainst otheMi nistr
yofI nformat i
on
adver t i
sement s/el ectionmat t
er andBr oadcasti
ng andPr essCounci lof
fororagai ns tanypol iticalparty Indiaandt hepr oposalcanbecons ider
ed
orcandi dat ei npr i
ntmedi a,during ont hebas i
sofi nputsfromthem.
theel ectionper iod,t henameand
addres soft hepubl ishers houldbe
given al ong wi tht he mat ter /
adver t i
sement . Sub- section (4)
shoul dal sobes uitabl yamendedt o
incl
ude i n i ts ambi t t he new
propos eds ub- section.

7. Negat
ive/Neut
ralVot
ing The Commi t
t ee on El
ect
oralReforms
(Dines
h Gos wamiCommi ttee) di
d not
favouritandwasoft hevi
ewt hati
tdoes
notserveanypur pos
e.

8. Appoint
ment of Appell
at ed vi
e Enact de Repr
esent
ati
on of the
Authori
ty in Dis
tri
cts agai
nst Peopl
e(Amendment)Act,2009(Act41
Ordersof El
ect
oralRegi
strat
ion of2009).
Officers

9. Compul
sor
yMai
ntenanceof T
he El
ect
ion and Ot
her Rel
ated L
aws

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ect
oralRefor
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AccountsbyPoli
ticalPar
tiesand (Amendment )Bi ll
,2002(i ntroducedi n
th
Auditther
eof. LokSabhaon19 Mar ch,2002)s oughtt o
intr
oduce s ection 29D i n t he
Representationoft hePeopl eAct ,1951
inthisr egard.T heDepar tment - Related
Parli
ament ary St anding Commi tt ee on
Home Affai r s whi l
e ex amini ng t he
mat t
er des i
red t hat t he audi t of
accountsof donat ion r eceived by t he
poli
ticalpar ty may be done t hr ough
CharteredAccount ant sappoi nt edbyi t
asatpr esent,aspert hepr ovis ionsof
the Income- taxAct(s ection 13A).I n
view t
hereof the Commi t
tee
recommendeddel etionofent i
r es ect i
on
29Di nclause2oft heBi ll.

10. GovernmentSpons
ored The pr oposal r equires fur ther
Adver
t i
sement
s. examinat i
on. Adver tis
ement s on
poverty alleviat
ion andheal thr elated
schemes could be exempt ed.
The Commi ssi
on propos es t hat Adver t
isement sr evealing informat ion
whereanygener alel
ect i
oni sdue on mat tersof ur gentpubl ici nterest
ont heex pirati
onoft het erm of couldal sobeex empt ed.F ur
ther,s ince
the Hous e, adver ti
sement s of advertisement s coul d be pr ohibited
achievement s of the from car rying t he name of any
gover nments ,either Cent r
alor polit
ical par ty or phot ographs of
State,i n any manner ,shouldbe leadersandMi nis
ter s.
prohibit
ed for a per iod of s i
x
mont hspriort othedateofex piry
ofthet ermoft heHouse.

11. Pol
iti
calAdver
tis
ementson The i ssue of adver ti
sement s on
Tel
evisi
onandCableNet
work. televisi
onandcabl enet works,ledtoal ot
ofconfus iondur ingt her ecentgener al
election. T heCabl eT elevisionNet work
Thisrelatest oconsideramendi ng (Re gulati
o n) Ru les, 1994 , prohibi
t
the relevant pr ovisions of the adver ti
sement sofpol iticalnature.
Cable T
elevi
s i
on NetworkT hemat terper tainst ot heMi nistr
yof
(Regulat i
on) Rul es , 1994 t o Informat ionandBr oadcas ting andt hat
provi
de for suit
able Ministryisabl et oj udget hefeas ibil
ity
adverti
s ement code and of evol ving a s uit able adver ti
sement
monitoringmechani s m. code and moni t oring mechani s
m for

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ect
oralRefor
ms

advert
isementon t el
evi
sion and cabl
e
networksincons
ultati
onoft heElecti
on
Commi ssi
onandLegisl
ati
veDepartment .

12. Compos i
tion of Election Itwasdeci
dedtoincl
udeitasapr opos
al
Commi ssi
on and Cons t
itutional forregi
onalandnati
onalcons
ult
at i
on.
Prot
ectionofallMember soft he
Commi ssi
on and I ndependent
Secret
ar i
atfort
heCommi ss i
on.

13. Expens
esofEl
ecti
onCommis
sion Thepr opos alt o mak et heex pens esof
tobeTreat
edasChar
ged. the El ection Commi ss i
on of I ndia
‘charged’wascons ider edbyt heDi nesh
Gos wami Commi ttee but was not
favour ed. I n 1994, t he Gover nment ,
however , i ntroduced t he El ection
Commi ssion (Char gi ng of Ex pens eson
the Cons ol i
dated F und of I ndia) Bi ll
,
1994 i nL ok Sabha on 16. 12. 94 whi ch
lapsedont hedi ssolut ionoft heT ent hLok
Sabha. The Depar t ment -Rel ated
Par l
iament ary St andi ng Commi t tee on
t
h
HomeAffai rsini t
s24 Repor tont he
saidBi llpr esentedt o Raj ya Sabha on
28.11.1995 andwasof t he cons idered
viewt hatt her eisnoneedofpas singt he
propos edBi llandr ecommendst hatt he
Billbedr opped

TheEl ecti
onCommi s
sionofI ndi aagain
madeas imil
arpr oposali n1997 whi ch
waspl acedbefor epol i
ticalpar tiesinthe
allpar tymeet inghel don22. 5.1998but
novi ew wast ak en.Agai n,theEl ecti
on
Commi ssi
on of I ndi a made t he s ame
propos al in May, 2003 and on t he
direction of t he t hen Hon’ ble Pr ime
Ministerthes amewaspl acedbefor ethe
politi
calpar t
iesi ntheal lpar tymeet i
ng
heldon29. 10. 2003.T hedebat eont he
propos alremainedi nconcl usi
ve.

14. BanonTr
ans
fersofEl
ecti
on Thi
si st o amends
ecti
on 13CC of the
Offi
cer
sontheEveofEl
ecti
ons Representati
onofthePeopl
eAct,1950,

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ect
oralRefor
ms

ands ection28A oft heRepr esent at

ion
oft hePeopl eAct ,1951t oprovi dethat
not ransfers hallbemade,wi thoutt he
concurrenceoft heCommi ssi
on,ofany
officerrefer r
edt otherein,ass oonasa
generalel ecti
on/bye- el
ection becomes
duei n any Parli
ament ary orAs sembly
Cons t
ituencies.

15. AllOfficial
sAppoint
edi
n edvi
Enact deRepr
esent
ati
onoft he
Connectionwit
hConductof Peopl
e(Amendment)Act,2009(Act41
Elect
ionstobeincl
udedi
nClaus
e of2009).
(7)ofSect i
on123.

16. Ant
i-Defect
ionL
aw Novi
ewhasbeent
aken.

The question of disquali

ficati
on
of member s on the grounds of
defecti
on s houldalso bedecided
by the Pres i
dentandGover nors,
on the opi nion of the Electi
on
Commi ssi
on.

17. UseofCommonEl ector

alRol
lsat T he mat ter has been exami
ned and
El
ecti
onsConductedbythe decided to awaitthe outcome of the
discuss
ion bet ween t he El ecti
on
El
ecti
onCommi ss
ionandtheStat
e Commi ssion and St ate El ecti
on
El
ecti
onCommi ss
ions Commi ssionstos or
toutt hemodal i
ties
inthisregard.

18. Simplifi
cationofPr
ocedurefor edvi
Enact deRepr
esent
ati
onoft he
Disquali
ficati
onofaPerson Peopl
e(Amendment)Act,2009(Act41
Found of2009).

Gui
ltyofCor
ruptPr
act
ice.

19. SameNumberofPr oposersforal

lI twasdecidedtoi
ncludeitasaproposal
Contes
ting Candi
dates - forregionalandnat
ionalconsul
tati
on.
AmendmentofSect i
on33oft he
Repr
esentati
onofthePeopleAct,
1951

20. Maki
ngofF al
seDeclar
ati
onin Thevari
ousl egalprovisi
onsrequi r
edt o
Connecti
onwithEl
ecti
ontobean curbthewil
lfulfur ni
shingofi ncorrect
Offence. infor
mationi nelectoralprocedurest o
ensurethe free andfai relection are

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ect
oralRefor
ms

Mak i
ngofanyfal ses tatementor al ready t here i n t he Election L aws.
declar ation befor et he El ecti
on F ur ther , k eeping i n vi ew a l arge
Commi ssion, Chi ef El ectoral popul at ion of t his count ry bei ng
Offi cer , Di str
ict Electi
on i ll
iter ate, t her e woul d be fr equent
Offi cer ,Pr esidingOffi cerorany i nstances of fur nis
hing i ncorrect
author ity appoi nted under t he i nfor mat i
on i nadver tentl
y or wi thout
Repres entat i
onoft hePeopl eAct , anymal afidei ntent i
onbyt hecommon
1951, i n connect ion wi th any manwhi let hepr oces sofpr eparationof
elector almat t ers houldbemade el ect oral r oll
s , et c. and hence, t he
an el ect oraloffence under t he pr opos almay cr eat et he fear int he
saidAct . mi ndsofpeopl eabs tai
ning thems elves
from t he democr at i
c proces s of t he
count ry.

21. Rul
eMaki
ngAut hor
ityt
obe Rulemakingpowerhast obevestedonl y
Vest
edi
nElect
ionCommi s
sion wit
ht heGover nments incer ul
esar ei n
the nat
ure of s ubordinatelegisl
ation,
Mak i
ng aut horit
y under t he t hemak i
ngofi ts hal
lbeonl ywi tht he
Repr esentat
ion of t he Peopl e Gover nment whi ch i s answerable t o
Act ,1950andRepr es entationof Par li
ament .Rulesar erequiredtobel aid
thePeopl eAct ,1951,s houldbe befor ePar li
amentandcanbemodi fied
confer red on t he El ect i
on andnul l
ifiedift heHous esofPar l
iament
Commi ssi
on,i nst
ead of on t he r esol
vetodos o.Ifr ul
eswer etobemade
Cent ralGover nment ,whos houl d, by t he El ection Commi ssi
on t hen
however , be cons ulted by t he amendment or modi fi
cation by
Election Commi ssion whil
e Par li
amentmayl eadt ocontroversy.
frami nganyr ule.

22. RegistrationandDe-r
egist
rat
ion Inviewt hegr owingnumberofpol i
tical
ofPoliticalPart
ies- parties registered wi th t he Elect ion
StrengtheningofExisti
ng Commi s s
ionforper petuit
yavai ling all
Provisi
ons the faci li
ties l ike, t ax exempt ion,
poli
ticalfundcont r
ibut i
ons,whereast he
Undert heex i
stings ecti
on29Aof number of pol i
ticalpar t
ies regul arly
theRepr esentationoft hePeopl e contest el ecti
ons bei ng l i
mi ted t o
Act ,1951,anot hercl aus emaybe certain numberof r egist
eredpol i
tical
introduced aut horisi
ng t
he parties,iti
swor thwhi l
et oconsidert he
Election Commi s
s i
on t o i s
sue proposaloft heElect ionCommi ssion.
neces sar y or der s r egulati
ng
registrat i
on and de- r
egi s
trati
on
ofpol iticalparties.

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oralRefor
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oralRefor
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Inadditi
ontotheafor es
aid22propos
alstheElecti
onCommissi
onof
I
ndi
ahasmade,t heMi
nist
ryofL awhasacertai
notherpropos
alsonel
ector
al
r
eforms,whi
chareasunder:
-

(1)Election Expendi
tur
einr es
pect Unders ect i
on77and78oft heR. P.
of the T eachers and Gr
aduates Act ,1951 ever y candi datei nt he
cons
tituencies:- election t ot he L okSabha and t he
LegislativeAs s embl iesofSt at e/UTs
is r equi r
ed t o mai ntain cor rect
account of expenditure
incurred/aut hor ized i n connect ion
withhi sel ectionandt ol odgei twith
the DEO wi thi n t he 30 days of
election,wher eas r ule 90 of t he
ConductofEl ect ionsRul es1961has
prescr i
bedacei lingforex penditure
thatcan bei ncur redi n connect ion
witht hes eel ect ions .However ,there
isnos uchpr ovi sionunderel ection
laws r equi ring mai ntaining or
lodging t he account of el ection
expens esorpr escr ibing anycei l
ing
of ex pendi t
ur e i n t he cas e of
electionst ot he Counci lof St ates
andt heSt at eL egi slat i
veCounci l
.

The El ection Commi ss

ion isof t he
viewt hati nt hei nt erestoffr eeand
fai relection,t herei sur gentneedt o
bringt heelect ionst ot heLegisl
ative
Counci ls from t he T eachers and
Gr aduat es’cons t
ituenci eswit
hint he
ambi tofs ection77and78oft heRP
Act ,1951 and al s o pr es
cri
bing a
ceiling of ex pendi t uret hatcan be
incur red/ aut hor ized i n t hese
elect i
ons .

(2)Amendmentt ot he Conductof Novi

ewhasbeent
aken.
ElectionRules,1961t opr ovi
defor
use of T otal
iser for counti
ng of
Vot esrecor
dedi nEVMs.

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ect
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(3)Rest
orati
onofCycleofRaj ya Under ar ticle 80 and 171 of t he
SabhaandLegi
slat
iveCounci
l:
- Cons tituti
on ever ys econd yearas
nearlyaspos si
bleone- thirdmember
of t he Counci l of St ate and
Legisl
at iveCounci lshallr etireever y
secondyear .Duet ononavai labili
ty
of t he L egi s
lative As sembl y i n
certain St at es/Uni on T er r
itory for
continuousyear s,t hecycl eof t he
RajyaSabhacoul dnotbemai ntained
andevent ually al lt he Member sof
the Counci lof St ates fr om t hat
Statesgetel ectedforaper iodof
Six year s
.A s imi l
ar s ituat ion is
being faced i n t he cas e of
Legisl
at iveCounci linr espectoft he
StatesofBi har ,U.P.,Kar nat akaet c.,
due t o non avai labilit
y of L ocal
Bodies , As s embl i
es for l onger
periods.

Inthi
sr egarditmaybes ubmitt
ed
thattheElectionCommi ssionhas
suggesteds omemet hodstobe
adoptedtos ortoutthese
eventuali
tiesinfuture.

TheL d.At torneyGeneralforIndiais

oft hevi ewt hatthesanctit
yoft he
provisionsoft heCons t
ituti
onmay
be mai ntained and the cycle of
reti
rementoft heMember sofRaj ya
SabhaandL egis
lati
veCouncilshould
beres tored.

(4)Appoi nt
mentof Chief El
ect
ion One of t he Chi ef El ection
Commi ssi
oner (CEC) and ot her Commi ssioner
s has r equested t he
Elect
ion Commissi
oners (EC) and Government t o have a collegium
consequenti
almat
ter:
- consis
tingoft hePrimeMi ni
sterand
Leader of Oppos iti
on et c.who i s
empower ed to mak e
recommendat ionsforappoi ntment s
oft heCEC andECs .F ur
ther,ithas
also been s ugges ted that t here

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ect
oralRefor
ms

shoul
dbecompletebanfortenyear
s
afterreti
rementfrom thepostof
CECt oanypol
iti
calpos
t.

December2010 49