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Panel opposes 'must' voting
-The Telegraph

New Delhi: The law commission has opposed the concept of compulsory voting, saying it is "highly undesirable", and recommended that either the President or a governor - and not the Speaker - should decide whether to disqualify a lawmaker who switches sides.

The recommendations are among a series of electoral reforms that the commission, headed by retired Delhi High Court Chief Justice A.P. Shah, has suggested in a report it submitted to Union law minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda today.

The report, the commission's 255th, also suggested amending the procedure to remove election commissioners, barring candidates from contesting from more than one seat at a time and keeping Independents out of the fray.

The commission's views on compulsory voting comes not long after Gujarat - Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state - passed a law that made voting mandatory in local body elections.

But the commission - whose recommendations are not binding - said it was not in favour of such a "highly undesirable" step because it would be "undemocratic, illegitimate, expensive, unable to improve quality political participation and awareness, and difficult to implement".

It cited a 2006 judgment where the Supreme Court had held that compulsory voting violated the freedom of expression guaranteed under Article 19(1) of the Constitution.

"Whereas the right to vote is a statutory right conferred only on the fulfilment of certain criteria, the actual act of voting is a manifestation of the freedom of expression," the panel said, quoting from the judgment.

It said the court had repeatedly recognised that there was a fine distinction between the right to vote and the freedom of voting for the candidate of one's choice.

On the question of defections, the commission recommended amending the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution to give the President, or the governor of the state concerned, the power to decide whether a legislator who defects should be disqualified, instead of the Speaker of the House or chairperson.

The commission suggested that the President or the governor act on the advice of the Election Commission of India (ECI).

Sources said the reason behind the suggestion appeared to be to insulate the Speaker from allegations of partisan behaviour.

The commission said Article 324(5) should be amended to give equal constitutional protection to all three members of the Election Commission in matters of removing them from office.

The chief election commissioner (CEC) can now be removed only through impeachment by Parliament. The other two members can be removed if the CEC recommends so.

The commission suggested that the President appoint all the three election commissioners in consultation with a three-member collegium, or selection committee, comprising the Prime Minister, the leader of the Opposition of the Lok Sabha (or the leader of the largest Opposition party), and the Chief Justice of India.

The Centre now appoints all the three election commissioners.

It said the elevation of an election commissioner should be on the basis of seniority, unless the three-member collegium, for reasons to be recorded in writing, finds the commissioner unfit.

Another suggestion was to amend the Representation of Peoples Act so that a candidate cannot contest from more than one seat at a time to avoid unnecessary expenses on byelections.

Candidates can now contest from a maximum of three seats in the same election.

The commission - whose suggestions follow a 2011 Supreme Court directive to recommend ways to clean up the election process - said Independent candidates should be barred from contesting elections.

Existing laws allow multiple Independent candidates - often dummy candidates, with names similar to a candidate of a registered party, who are fielded to confuse voters.

The commission endorsed an Election Commission suggestion on introducing common electoral rolls for parliamentary, Assembly and local body polls.

"However, given that introducing common electoral rolls will require an amendment in the state laws pertaining to the conduct of local body elections, the central government should write to the various states in this regard," the panel said.

"We hope that the states will consider amending their laws based on the suggestions of the ECI and the law commission."