Supreme Court Justice BV Nagarathna cautioned the Election Commission and said that fairness of elections cannot be ensured if the people conducting the elections are dependent on the candidates. While delivering the Rajendra Prasad Memorial Lecture at Chanakya Law University, Patna on Saturday, he expressed serious concern regarding the structural independence of the personnel appointed to monitor the polling.
Justice Nagarathna, citing a 1995 decision of the Supreme Court, said, ‘Once again there is a structural concern that if those conducting elections are dependent on those contesting the elections, then fairness of the process cannot be ensured.’
Supreme Court declared EC an important institution in 1995
In this decision of 1995, the apex court had declared the Election Commission as a very important constitutional institution. Justice Nagarathna said, ‘Once again the concern is structural. If those conducting elections are dependent on those contesting the elections, the fairness of the process cannot be ensured.
According to PTI, he said that elections are not just periodic events but are the process through which the government is formed. Justice Nagarathna said, ‘Our constitutional democratic system has demonstrated that timely elections have made a smooth change of governments possible. Controlling this process is tantamount to controlling the terms of political competition.’
He said that power operates not only through formal institutions, but also through the processes that maintain them, such as elections, public finance, and regulation. Justice Nagarathna said that the constitutional structure that controls power will also have to pay attention to institutions like these ‘fourth pillars’.
Justice gave this advice to the Election Commission
He said that these institutions may not fall in the traditional three pillars (legislature, executive and judiciary), but they are extremely important in maintaining the constitutional system. He said that the infallible lesson of history is that constitutional decay occurs through the dysfunction of its structure, and the violation of rights naturally results from it.
Justice Nagarathna said, ‘Disintegration of the structure occurs when institutions stop keeping an eye on each other. At that time, elections may continue, courts may function, laws may be made by Parliament, yet there are effectively no checks on power because structural discipline ceases to exist.’
He urged the Center to view the states as ‘not subordinate but as allies’ and said separation of powers is a ‘constitutional arrangement of parties with equal rights’. Justice Nagarathna appealed to ‘put aside partisan differences’ on the issue of Centre-State relations, saying governance should not depend on which party is in power at the Center and which party is in power in the state.