The Election Commission of India seeks to have rule-making power under the Representation of the People (RP) Act, which at present is with the Centre.
In an affidavit filed before the Supreme Court, the poll panel reportedly said they had made a proposal in 1998 to the then Law Minister to amend Article 324 of the Constitution which deals with its powers and functions.
The ECI filed the affidavit after the apex court on February 19 sought responses from it and the Centre on a plea seeking treatment of two Election Commissioners on par with the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) in the matter of removability, media reports said.
“Rule-making authority under the Representation of the People Act 1950 and Representation of the People Act, 1951, should be conferred on the Election Commission, instead of on the Central Government, who should, however, be consulted by the Election Commission while framing any rule,” the ECI reportedly said in its affidavit while referring to the proposal it had submitted way back in 1998.
It said the proposal for conferring the rule-making authority to the ECI was reiterated in the proposal on electoral reforms sent by the poll panel to the government in July 2004.
“Thereafter, the aforesaid proposal was once again reiterated in chapter X of the aforementioned electoral reforms published by the ECI in December 2016,” it was quoted as saying.
The ECI has also reportedly said that the element of independence under the Constitution was not exclusively for an individual alone but for the whole institution and the poll panel can only be strengthened if the Election Commissioners (ECs) were also provided with the protection similar to that of the CEC.
“The rational behind not affording similar protection to other ECs is not explicable. The element of independence sought to be achieved under the Constitution is not exclusively for an individual alone but for the whole institution.”
“Thus, the independence of the Commission can only be strengthened if the Election Commissioners are also provided with the same protection as that of the Chief Election Commissioner,” a PTI report quoted the poll panel as saying in its affidavit.
