JOIN USThe Delhi high court's order reinstating 20 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs, who were disqualified by the Election Commission in January this year for holding offices of profit, amounts to an indictment of the commission. The court struck down the commission's notification, based on which the President disqualified the MLAs, and told it to consider the matter afresh without being influenced by its earlier decision or the court's present order. While the substantial issue of law remains to be decided, the court had no doubt that the commission's recommendation to the President was "vitiated and bad in law for failure to comply with the principles of natural justice''. It also found that it was wrong on the part of the commission not to inform the AAP MLAs of election commissioner OP Rawat, who is now the Chief Election Commissioner, rejoining the reference proceedings after recusing himself once and becoming a party to the disqualification decision.
The commission's decision was widely criticised when it was made for the manner of disqualification and the violation of law and norms of justice involved in it. Some former election commissioners had also found fault with the decision. The court's order has now validated such criticism. The high court's disapproval was not just over procedure, it was over the commission's attitude, which was biased against the AAP MLAs. The MLAs were not given an oral hearing and the opportunity to explain themselves and so the commission's decision turned out be unilateral and arbitrary. The commission has the power to frame its own rules of procedure, but they have to be fair, as the proceedings are quasi-judicial in nature. Any decision, for that matter, has to be fair and just and seen to be so.
The AAP MLAs have got only partial relief as the disqualification issue is yet to be decided. But the commission's reputation has suffered another setback. It has invited criticism for its bias and partiality towards the Modi government as seen in some recent decisions, including its conduct during the Gujarat assembly elections last year. The high court's order, which is a stricture, strengthens the criticism. The Election Commission has over the past few decades built up a strong reputation for fairness and impartiality. Its credibility is very important in an electoral democracy, and it should not be eroded. The BJP and the central government may want to trouble and persecute the AAP and its government for political reasons. But the commission should not have played a part in the political battle and allowed its office to be used for a party's profit. A constitutional body has fallen in the nation's esteem. Those manning it should at least now wake up to their duty to the Constitution and to democracy.