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Vision VAM 2020 (Polity) Salient Feature of Representation of People Act
Vision VAM 2020 (Polity) Salient Feature of Representation of People Act
Constitution
Elections in India are covered under Part XV of Indian Constitution, which includes Articles 324
to 329. This part provides for Election Commission (Art 324), Universal Suffrage (Art 325) and
Adult suffrage (Art 326). Article 327 enables Parliament to enact provisions for elections and
Article 328 provides that states can enact provisions for House or Houses of the State
Legislature, if the Centre has not provided for the same. Under Article 329, courts are barred
from questioning the Delimitation Act brought by the Parliament and it also mentions that
disputes related to elections can be called in question only by an election petition in a manner
and to the authority as decided by the appropriate legislature.
Accordingly, the Parliament under Article 327 enacted certain provisions, namely:
1. Representation of People Act, 1950: The Representation of People Act 1950, which
provides for allocation of seats and delimitation of constituencies of the Parliament and
state legislature, officers related to conduct of elections, preparation of electoral rolls and
manner of filling seats in the Council of States allotted to Union Territories.
2. The Representation of People Act, 1951: It provides for the conduct of elections of the
Houses of Parliament and to the House or Houses of the Legislature of each State, the
qualifications and disqualifications for membership of those Houses, the corrupt practices
and other offences at or in connection with such elections and the decision of doubts and
disputes arising out of or in connection with such elections.
3. Delimitation Commission Act, 1952: It provides for the readjustment of seats, delimitation
and reservation of territorial constituencies and other related matters.
4. The Presidential and Vice-Presidential Election Act 1952: It provides for the conduct of
Presidential and Vice- Presidential election and mechanism for the settlement of any
dispute arising out of such elections.
3.2. Officers
The RPA, 1950 also lists the administrative machinery required to prepare, correct and update
electoral rolls for free and fair elections in the country. As such, it provides for the following
officers required to be appointed:
3.2.1. Chief electoral officers
There shall be a chief electoral officer, for each state, who shall be designated or nominated by
the Election Commission, in consultation with that Government. He shall supervise the
preparation, revision and correction of all electoral rolls in the State under superintendence,
direction and control of the Election Commission.
3.2.2. District election officers
For each district in a State, the Election Commission shall designate or nominate one or more
district election officers, in consultation with the Government of the State. The district election
officer shall coordinate and supervise all work in the district or in the area within his jurisdiction
in connection with the preparation and revision of the electoral rolls for all parliamentary,
assembly and council constituencies within the district and such other functions as may be
entrusted to him by the Election Commission and the chief electoral officer.
3.2.3. Electoral registration officers
The Election Commission shall designate or nominate Electoral Registration Officers for each
parliamentary, assembly and Council constituency, in consultation with the Government of the
State in which the constituency is situated. He is entrusted with the preparation and revision of
electoral rolls for each such constituency.
Section 75A of RPA, 1951 states that every elected candidate for either Houses of Parliament
shall furnish information regarding relating to the movable and immovable property owned by
him, his spouse or his children; the liabilities to any public financial institution or to the Central
Government or State Government within ninety days from the date of subscribing an oath for
taking a seat in Parliament.
The form and manner of furnishing this information shall be prescribed in the rules made by
the Chairman of the Council of States or the Speaker of the House of the People, as the case
may be. Any willful contravention of such rules by an elected candidate for a House of
Parliament is dealt with in the same manner as a breach of privilege of the Council of States or
the House of the People, as the case may be.
• In 1968, the Election Commission held meetings with political parties at State level and
circulated the Code of Conduct to observe minimum standard of behavior to ensure free
and fair elections.
• In 1971-72, during General Election to the House of the People/State Legislative Assemblies
the Commission circulated the Code again.
• At the time of general elections to some State Assemblies in 1974, the Commission issued
the code of conduct to the political parties in those States.
• The Commission also suggested constituting committees at district level headed by the
District Collector and comprising representatives of political parties as members for
considering cases of violation of the code and ensuring its compliance by all parties and
candidates.
• For the 1977 Lok Sabha general election, the Code was again circulated to the political
parties.
More recently, the Supreme Court increased voter verified paper audit trail (VVPAT)
verification to five random Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in each Assembly
segment/constituency “to ensure the greatest degree of accuracy, satisfaction in election
process.". Earlier, under the ECI guidelines, only the VVPAT slips from one EVM in every
Assembly segment/constituency was subjected to physical verification.
A report by the Indian Statistical Institute, said that a sample verification of 479 EVMs
and VVPATs out of a total 10.35 lakh machine would lift public confidence to 99.9936%. The
increase to 5 EVMS would result in 8.6 times the sample size recommended in the Indian
Statistical Institute report.
Undertrial prisoners are persons who have not been convicted of the charge(s) for which they
have been detained, and are presumed innocent in law. Being a statutory right, the legislature
can determine the terms on which the right to vote is to be enjoyed by the people of India
subject to Articles 325 and 326 of the Constitution.
• Section 62(5) of RPA, 1951 governing the “right to vote”, stipulates that no person shall vote
in any election if they are confined in a prison “under a sentence of imprisonment or
transportation or otherwise” or are in the “lawful custody” of the police.
• Chapter 43 of the Reference Handbook on the General Elections, 2014 also makes it clear
that “undertrial prisoners” are not eligible to vote, even if their names are on the electoral
rolls.
• India denies voting rights to not only individuals convicted of a crime and serving a
sentence in prison, but also to undertrials and even those in police custody.
The constitutionality of Section 62(5) of the RPA, 1951 was challenged before the Supreme
Court in Anukul Chandra Pradhan v. Union of India1997 as being violative of the right to
equality and the right to life under Articles 14 and 21. The Supreme Court took the view that it
was reasonable to deny voting rights to convicted prisoners, undertrials and those in police
custody. The following arguments had given by the Supreme Court: To curb the criminalisation
of politics.
• Practical considerations and requirement of additional resources.
• A prisoner was “in prison as a result of his own conduct and is, therefore, deprived of his
liberty during the period of his imprisonment [and] cannot claim equal freedom of
movement, speech and expression with the others who are not in prison.
Arguments against the Judgement:
• Criminalisation of politics is a larger issue that cannot be handled only by preventing the
undertrials to vote.
• Practicality and “resource crunch” are not sound justification to curb civil liberties.
• The SC observation contradicts the principle of “innocent until proven guilty”, at the same
time, presume undertrials to be guilty as far as voting rights are concerned.
3. Repeated violations of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) have raised questions on its
effectiveness. In this light, discuss the idea of making MCC a part of Representation of
Peoples Act, 1951.
Approach:
• Provide a brief introduction of MCC and with examples show the criticism it has
faced.
• Then, provide the arguments for MCC as part of RPA as well as negative
implications of legalizing MCC.
• Provide a balanced conclusion.
Answer:
Model Code of Conduct is a set of guidelines issued by the Election Commission of India
for conduct of political parties and candidates during elections mainly with respect to
speeches, polling day, polling booths, election manifestos, processions and general
conduct.
However, this code is frequently violated by political parties. It was very much evident
in recently held Bihar elections, where leaders used issues like religion, caste and
nationalism to get the favour. Social media is also used for vitiating the election
environment.
Consequently, the idea of making MCC statutory part under RPA act 1951 is widely
argued on following grounds:
• It will become legal framework which can be justifiable in the court.
• It will also seek to regulate activities in social media.
• This will enable the election commission to take adequate action as per the
violation committed by political parties.
• It will create a fair play for all the contestant without vitiating the atmosphere
which can lead to law and order problem.
But this action of creating statutory framework has various implications:
• It can blur the image of election commission as neutral body as an action taken by
EC can be seen as a biased action.
• If the model code of conduct is converted into a law, it will result into increase
litigation and delay the election process.
4. It has been argued that the 'First past the post' system fails to represent the will of
the majority and encourages vote-bank politics. In this context, examine whether
India should adopt Proportional Representation System to reform our electoral
process.
Approach:
• Briefly discuss both electoral systems.
• Critically analyse both system and their utilization.
• Reasons to consider Proportional Representation in a diverse country like India and
complications involved in its implementation.
Answer:
India follows FPTP electoral system. There is lot of discussion going around recently
after 2014 Lok Sabha Election to consider a different electoral model befitting Indian
democratic system. 31% vote share of the largest party in the polls were dubbed as too
low for legitimately ruling India and we have seen parties forming government with
lower vote share in past elections. So it has been argued that the 'First past the post'
system fails to represent the will of the majority and encourages vote-bank politics.
Examples from across the world:
Countries in the other part of the world are implementing different models to enhance
the quality and efficacy of the representation befitting their diverse cultures and
communities to run their Government. For example, In Germany half the Bundestag is
elected directly, the other half comes through proportional system, with a cut-off at 5%
of the vote share.
Merits of first past the post system
• The First Past the Post system is the simplest form of plurality/majority system,
• Uses single member districts and candidate-centred voting.
This system is defended primarily on the grounds of simplicity and its tendency to
produce winners and governability.
Proportional Representation System
• In Proportional system, seats are decided based on the vote share of the party. The
advocates of the PR system argue that, in a country like India this alternative
reduces the importance of smaller regional parties, which often cause political
instability to achieve their narrow goals.
5. Critically discuss the major reforms introduced in the area of electoral funding in
Union Budget 2017. Do you think that state funding of elections is a viable idea to
check misuse of money power in politics?
Approach:
• Mention the new and amended provisions regarding electoral funding.
• Discuss their rationale and analyse whether they are sufficient to meet the goals of
transparency, clean money, etc. in elections.
• Suggest some improvements in the proposed reforms.
• Evaluate state funding of elections on the parameters of viability and their ability to
prevent misuse of money power.
Answer:
In Budget 2017, the government announced some steps to regulate electoral funding in
order to:
• minimize the use of cash, which is mostly ill-gotten and unaccounted; and
• maintain anonymity of the donor to minimize favoritism when one party comes to
power.
Following can be highlighted in this context:
• Ceiling of Rs 2000 on cash donation that a political party can receive from one
person in a year. However, there is no requirement to disclose a contribution by
cheque or digital transfer up to Rs 20,000. Also, there is no limit on how much
anonymous (from all means) or total cash can a party receive from all sources
together.
• A new scheme of Electoral Bonds which can be purchased from authorised banks
and redeemable only in the designated account of a registered party within a short
time (3-4 weeks). It is aimed at reducing cash payments which were abused earlier.
However, identity of the donor being secret and without the cap of 7.5% of average
3 year profit that a company can donate to political parties, there is large scope of
misuse.
• Exemption from payment of income tax has been made subject to timely filing of
IT returns by political parties. However, such a provision already exists though
routinely flouted
State funding as remedy to check misuse of money power in politics is advocated by
many as it can:
• Provide level playing field to all in the political fray.
• By infusing white money in politics limit the use of black money.
• Limit the influence of interested money and thereby help curb corruption.
6. Criminalisation of politics remains a key concern for the Indian political system. In this
context, analyse the role played by the Supreme Court and Election Commission over
the years. Also, in what ways can the media play a positive role?
Approach:
• Briefly discuss the current status of criminalization of politics in India.
• Discuss the various judgments relating to criminalization of politics given by
Supreme Court (SC).
• Discuss the role played by the Election Commission over years to check the
criminalization of politics.
• Discuss the ways in which media can play a role in cleaning the politics of India.
• Suggest other innovative strategies to decriminalize the politics in India.
Answer:
The participation of persons involved in criminal doings, minor or major in political
functioning of the country is termed “criminalization of politics”. According to ADR’s
(Association for Democratic Reforms) data around 34% of the legislators are having
criminal charges while only 0.5% were convicted of criminal charges in a court of law. It
has grown multifold mainly due to the unholy nexus between politicians and criminals,
where both operate in a mutually beneficial partnership.
Role played by Supreme Court (SC)
• In Lily Thomas case (2013), SC ruled that a sitting MP and MLA convicted of a jail
term of two years or more would lose their seat in the legislature immediately.
• Introduction of None Of The Above (NOTA) option in PUCL vs Union of India, 2014
to put moral pressure on political parties to put up clean candidates.
• In UoI vs ADR 2002, the SC directed that all the contesting candidates shall disclose
their assets and liabilities, criminal conviction, if any, and pending cases in court of
law at the time of filling the nomination papers.
• The SC in 1997 directed all the High Courts not to suspend the conviction of a
person on appeal if he was convicted and sentenced to imprisonment by a trial
court under the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988.
8. What are the challenges posed by paid news and political advertising in conducting
free and fair elections? Discuss, in brief, the need to amend the Representation of
People's Act to regulate this issue. What other steps can be taken to address it?
Approach:
• Introduce the phenomenon of paid news.
• Enumerate the challenges posed by paid news and political advertising in
conducting free and fair elections.
• Highlight the need to amend RPA to regulate this issue.
• List the other steps that can be taken to tackle it.
9. Despite legislative changes with respect to funding of political parties in recent years,
many challenges still exist with regards to transparency in electoral funding. Discuss.
Can state funding of elections help in addressing these challenges?
Approach:
• Briefly mention few legislative changes in recent years with regard to electoral
funding in India.
• Highlight the challenges related to electoral funding in India.
• Explaining concept of state funding of elections give arguments for and against it.
• Conclude on the basis of above arguments.