Dec 17, 2024 02:39 AM IST
RS MP Kapil Sibal said in Parliament that Election Commission is no longer an open institution and owes answers to the nation during the Constitution debate.
The Election Commission (EC) is no longer an open institution and owes answers to the nation, Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal said in a speech during the ongoing debate on the Constitution in Parliament on Monday, when he raised a wide range of issues, from the crisis in Manipur to individual liberty.
The independent member of the upper chamber said the country had “collectively failed” its Constitution, which assures its citizens justice, equality, fraternity and liberty. Underscoring the importance of robust institutions, he said: “India is not about one man; it is about us.”
Assailing the EC, Sibal said: “Forget EVM (electronic voting machine). The EC is no longer open to the people anymore. The EC announces poll dates and then adjourns (defers) polls. Then freebies are given during that period.”
“After six o’clock voting percentages increase by six to eight per cent and the EC is yet to explain. Earlier, the EC used to hold a press conference at five o’clock. I wish there was a white paper on the EC.”
The lawmaker said basic liberties and justice promised by the Constitution had been eroded. “What kind of political justice have we delivered? Has anybody spoken when Dalits are lynched in broad daylight and their videos shown on social media? There is a civil war in part of the country?”
The Constitution promises economic justice, Sibal said, adding: “But look at the disparity between rich and poor. One per cent of the population owns 40-50% of the country’s wealth.”
Young students were languishing in jails for four years without the choice of bail and young girls were being incarcerated, the MP said. “For what? For protesting. Where is liberty? If there is an interfaith marriage you bring laws to say there’ll be an inquiry.”
Successive governments, Sibal said, had misused constitutional provision. “Have we failed the Constitution? We have. What political justice is there when elected governments are overthrown with money power and defection. When (article) 356 is used to change governments, whether it’s this side or that side?”
Quoting BR Ambedkar, considered the architect of the national document, Sibal said: “On November 4 (year not specified), Ambedkar said ‘it is perfectly possible to pervert the Constitution without changing its form by merely changing the form of the administration and to make it inconsistent and opposed to the spirit of the Constitution.’”
Sibal said there was continued erosion of basic liberties “Where is the liberty of faith, of thought, of worship? In fact, I can say there is no liberty in Parliament. Because you’re bound by your whip.”
“If I belong to a political party, can I ever speak against it? Is there anywhere in the world where there is a whip in Parliament except for two exceptions; when the government is going to fall or there is a no-confidence motion and perhaps when the budget is passed…these are the only exceptions in a political democracy.”
The governor is meant to be the link between a state and the Centre, but the institution of governorship has become adversarial to state governments”, he said, adding governments haven’t been able to deliver the basic promises of justice, equality and liberty enshrined in the Constitution.
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