The Union government has listed four Bills for next week's special session of Parliament, including a Bill on the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and other Election Commissioners. The special session is scheduled to be held between September 18 and 22, and The Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill, 2023 is one of the four bills on the agenda.
The Bill seeks to undo the method of appointing the CEC through a selection committee that includes the Prime Minister as chairperson, a Union minister appointed by the PM, the Leader of Opposition and the Chief Justice of India (CJI). The new Bill hopes to exclude the CJI from the process, and has faced strong opposition from several quarters including the opposition INDIA alliance.
Congress MP Jairam Ramesh said, “Finally, after pressure from Smt. Sonia Gandhi’s letter to the Prime Minister, the Modi Govt has condescended to announce the agenda for the special 5-day session of Parliament beginning September 18th. The agenda as published at the moment, is much ado about nothing — all this could have waited till Winter session in November. I am sure the legislative grenades are being kept up their sleeves to be unleashed at the last moment as usual. Parde ke peeche kuch aur hai (There is a hidden agenda)! Regardless, the INDIA parties will steadfastly oppose the insidious CEC Bill”.
At present there is no Parliamentary law to govern the appointment of CECs and other Election Commissioners, which means that the Supreme Court needs to step in.
Earlier this year in March, the Supreme Court of India ruled that a high-power committee consisting of the Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, and the CJI must select the CEC and Election Commissioners. The order came in response to multiple legal representations regarding the process of appointing the CEC. In 2015, as The Indian Express points out, a public interest litigation was filed in the apex court questioning the constitutional validity of the Union government appointing CECs. The petition was referred to a larger bench in 2018, saying that Article 324 of the Constitution–Superintendence, direction and control of elections to be vested in an Election Commission–had to be examined closely.
The other Bills to be introduced include the Press and Registration of Periodicals Bill, 2023 and the Advocates (Amendment) Bill, 2023. Both were passed by the Rajya Sabha on August 3 during the monsoon session, and are expected to be before the Lok Sabha for consideration. The Press and Registration of Periodicals Bill too has led to widespread worry about press freedoms. It was opposed by the Editors Guild of India, who called the provisions “draconian” in a statement released on August 6 after the Bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha through a voice vote. At the time, the Editors Guild also said, “In effect the new bill widens the powers of the State to have more intrusive and arbitrary checks into the functioning of newspapers and magazines than the existing law [Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867].
Additionally the government will also introduce the Post Office Bill, 2023, which has also been passed in the Rajya Sabha during the monsoon season
Apart from this, the session will also have a discussion on ‘Parliamentary Journey of 75 years starting from Samvidhan Sabha – Achievements, Experiences, Memories and Learnings’.
It is also to be noted that there will be no Question Hour or private member bills, nor demands for grants or Zero Hour during the special session. Incidentally, in the bulletin issued by the Lok Sabha secretariat, the special session has simply been referred to as the 13th session of the 17th Lok Sabha.
With inputs IANS