The reputation of the electoral system is dependent upon the integrity of the EC. The dignity and respect earned by T N Sheshan placed CEC on a pedestal of high credibility
Every Constitution Day the words of Ambedkar in his last address to the constituent assembly on the eve of it being adopted, on November 26, 1949 get louder with the passage of time – ‘however good a constitution may be, it is sure to turn bad because those who are called to work it happen to be a bad lot’. Election Commission is a singular institution that can bring purity to democracy. Seventy-five years is long enough to take stock and see where EC has reached from Sukumar Sen (1950) to Gyanesh Kumar (2025).
In 1949, EC was set up with the then PM Nehru proposing Sukumar Sen (a mathematician and Chief Secretary of West Bengal) to be the first CEC for elections to be held as early as 1951. With no election architecture in place, it was a most daring gamble in electoral history to propose elections for 176 million adult Indians of whom 85% were illiterate. Each one had to be identified, named and registered in the electoral roll. Due to high level of illiteracy, symbols had to be
designed. The remote villages, not accessible with neither roads
nor bridges in place, polling booths has to be arranged. Cinema and radio was used to publicise the new kind ‘of the people, by the people, for the people’ government. The untouchables and brahmins standing in the same queue to cast their vote provided a high place for Indian elections.
The public trust and confidence in the transparency of the conduct of election with efficiency and neutrality in building an electoral machinery – preparation of electoral rolls, printing ballot papers, manufacturing ballot boxes, erecting polling stations in the interiors and hilly terrain of the country, scheduling of elections, counting process and providing redressal of complaints. The Congress won 364 seats out of 489 Lok Sabha and 2247 out of 3280 seats in the state assemblies. Even those who lost had no complaint over the fairness, impartiality and independence of Sukumar Sen.
The credibility of the electoral system is dependent upon the integrity of the EC. The independence of the election commission was considered by the Constituent Assembly on June 16, 1949 and after a marathon discussion the superintendence, direction and control of the elections was vested in the election commission and the constituent assembly was careful in not permitting the appointments by the government and left it for a law to be made by parliament.
With the passage of time the electoral process suffered a back sliding, due to booth capturing, voter in impersonation and following the model code of conduct only in breach. In the early nineties, T N Seshan armed the EC with the required teeth. T N Seshan singlehandedly struck the big stick in enforcing the model code. By use of Central forces and senior officers he dealt a lethal to the politicos who interfered with the process. A 1992 case is worth stating. A CM announced a new scheme in a bye election; his son was contesting. To everyone’s shock the elections to that bye election were cancelled. That’s how T N Seshan showed the power and prowess of EC. He provided a positive direction to the EC and to his successors in the conduct of free and fair elections. The dignity and respect earned by T N Sheshan placed CEC on a pedestal of high credibility.
In the recent past the EC is facing heat as it is no longer seen as an institution that commands respect, trust and confidence of the people. As the EC’s credibility was questioned the Supreme Court in March 2023 passed an order that CEC and the ECs should be appointed on the basis of recommendations by the PM, leader of Opposition and the CJI until the parliament passes the law in terms of the proposal of the constituent assembly. However, the new law for appointment of the CEC and ECs headed by the law minister and two senior bureaucrats for a search committee and a cabinet minister nominated by the PM with the leader of opposition and PM himself chairing the committee to chose the CEC has placed the choice of the CEC in the hands of the government something which the constituent assembly did not approve. A cabinet minister will always support the PM proposal and the views of the Leader of Opposition would hardly matter. This process is a departure from what the SC had envisioned for the fairness and objectivity of the EC. The composition of the EC must not only conduct free and fair election, but fairness must not be seen as having become a casualty.
People’s confidence in the election commission is a basis for a representative democracy. All actors including political parties must act to buttress the trust and confidence so that the commission is not seen as an opaque and partisan body. Never before in the history of the election commission the integrity of the electoral roll and the partiality of EC were questioned!
Sukumar Sen, T N Seshan, J M Lyndoh and S Y Quaraishi as CECs provided credibility to the commission by their no-nonsense attitude. When loser in elections sees his loss through a fair process, the system gets enhanced but when the loser doubts the system is rigged against him, the integrity of EC comes under cloud. The election commission cannot let purity of elections down in the land of elections.
(Cleofato Almeida Coutinho is a Senior Advocate who has taught constitutional laws for over three decades)
