Law panel may recommend holding simultaneous polls
KEY CONDITION Commission may suggest it can be done with complete political consensus
NEWDELHI: In its report on holding simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly elections in the country, the Law Commission is likely to suggest that the idea can be implemented partially from the 2019 general election, provided there is complete “political consensus”, a top official of the panel said on Wednesday.
A meeting of the full Law Commission — comprising the chairman, two full-time and three parttime members — will be held on April 17 to discuss three important issues: Simultaneous polls, revisiting the definition of contempt (under the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971) and bringing the Board for Control of Cricket in India under the ambit of the Right to Information Act that applies to public bodies, the official said.
The Commission’s working draft on holding simultaneous elections throughout the country has suggested that states in which elections are to be held till 2021 can go for polls along with the Lok Sabha in 2019 while the rest can be clubbed together with the next general election expected in 2024. The panel has undertaken the exercise without a reference from the government or the Supreme Court, the official said.
Commission chairman Justice BS Chauhan said the panel would steer clear of discussing the political issues involved. “We are only examining the issue legally. The Commission will discuss the proposals on the table in its meeting next week. There could be a change in the working draft,” he said.
Preliminary discussions within the Commission have veered towards recommending the need for “ensuring political consensus” before moving ahead on parallel polls, an official privy to the ongoing exercise said.
“Achieving political consensus is the main issue. Both the Constitution and the Representation of People Act will have to be amended. While the terms of the existing assemblies can be truncated, there is no provision in the Constitution to increase the term of an assembly. Parliament will have to legislate on that,” he said. “There are other issues like Current situation: The BCCI is a private body registered under the Societies Registration Act and information cannot be sought from it under RTI.
Why the call for RTI: The 2013 Sports bill called for transparency in sports finances and wanted cricket to be brought under ambit of the RTI.
Why is BCCI opposing it: The Board says it is a private body, and that RTI only applies to public bodies and governments.
What is the other view: Experts contend that legislating on sports activities is the public function and that the Board can be termed a ‘public authority’ because it receives tax exemptions and grants from governments. Current situation: State and Lok Sabha elections are held separately, with state elections following a different cycle from the general elections.
The proposed change: The Modi government wants simultaneous elections and says frequent polls impede development work and are expensive. How will this be done: The law commission’s working draft suggests that states in which elections are to be held till Current situation: The Act says a person held in contempt can be sent to jail or fined, or either.
Who is opposing it and why: Some jurists say it is archaic and restricts arranging the requisite number of electronic voting machines and VVPATS for such a large exercise,” he added.
The Narendra Modi government has been keen on holding simultaneous elections citing the election code of conduct as an impediment in development works and the expense involved in holding multiple assembly elections every year.
On Monday, chief election commissioner OP Rawat spoke in Indore about the need to amend the Constitution to hold simultaneous polls. “The government sought the Election Commission’s (EC) opinion in 2015 on holding the elections to the Lok Sabha, assemblies and other bodies together. We sent a detailed reply to the government, telling them that the system would 2021 can be clubbed with the Lok Sabha polls in 2019, and the rest with the next general election.
What needs to be done to achieve it: The Constitution and the Representation of the People Act, 1951 will have to be amended. Who is opposing it and why: The BJP’S rivals say this interferes with the federal structure of the Constitution and overlooks the fact that governments do not always run their full terms. free speech.
What is the other view: The panel’s rationale is that diluting this law will prevent a decree or direction from not being followed. require amendments in the relevant paragraphs of the Constitution and certain sections of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and the Representation of the People Act, 1951,” Rawat said, addressing the foundation day function of the Indore Press Club.
Experts said one of the main criticisms of simultaneous elections is that it interferes with the federal structure of the Constitution and does not take into account the fact that governments do not always run their full term. “Political consensus is not achieved easily even if desirable simultaneous polls are not feasible,” former CEC SY Quraishi said.
On the Contempt of the Courts Act, the panel could suggest that the definition of contempt does not need revisiting. “There are two key elements to contempt – wilful disobedience and scandalising the court. Neither can be excluded,” a panel member said.
HT had reported on January 10 this year that the panel is in favour of recommending the RTI Act – which makes seeking information on the functioning of public bodies a citizen’s right by law – should apply to the BCCI.
The cricket controller performs a public function and receives exemptions and grants from public funds, Law Commission chairman Justice BS Chauhan had said in an interview. “BCCI should be under the RTI Act,” he said.
“They get a lot of government grants in terms of tax exemptions and land at concessional costs from the public exchequer.” The matter will also be discussed at Tuesday’s meeting. More than 300,000 children went missing in the country between 2012 and 2017, government data shows. Around 100,000 are yet to be traced and it is feared that many of them could have been trafficked.
In 2016, for instance, 111,569 children were reported missing. Of these, 55,944 children were traced but only 8,132 trafficking cases were reported.
Many of these children are victims of modern slavery -forced into prostitution, labour or domestic work.
They are also used as drug mules and even given up for adoption illegally. Poverty and lack of opportunity also For the first time, a standalone law to address the problem has been proposed that will treat a trafficked person as a victim and not an offender. It not only prescribes stringent punishment but also addresses the crucial issue of rehabilitation of victims, many of whom are lured by traffickers on the promise of a better life and jobs.
The rehabilitation is not contingent on criminal proceedings. A special rehabilitation fund has been proposed for immediate protection of rescued persons. The punishment for traffick- The bill has been debated intensely, within the government and also among activists and organisations. When the bill was being drawn up, the ministry of external affairs said the law should address trafficking of persons within India as well as overseas.
The women and child development ministry (WCD), which is piloting the bill, had countered, saying the bill already covered the movement of trafficked person from one place to another within the country and also overseas.
Activists and non-government organisations such as Lawyers Collective have criticised the proposed law, saying it has nothing new to offer and all its provisions are already covered under existing laws. The new law will only end up “complicating the legal framework ers varies from 10 years rigorous imprisonment to life sentence and ~1 lakh fine in cases of aggravated crimes.
Also in a first, a national anti-trafficking bureau run by the National Investigating Agency (NIA) has been proposed to coordinate with other countries, as many times the victims, mostly women, are smuggled out of the country.
The proposed law also makes registration of placement agencies that recruit or supply domestic helps mandatory.
and its enforcement”.
The government says because the laws dealing with trafficking were not consolidated, the issue could not be tackled effectively. Hence, the need for a comprehensive standalone law.
Activists have also said no substantial research has gone into the bill, an argument rejected by the WCD ministry.
Lawyers’ Collective has pointed out that the provision to charge a person who encourages another person to “migrate illegally into India or Indians to some other country” with aggravated form of trafficking punishable with 10-year imprisonment could have serious implications for cross-border movement of people, including refugees.
The WCD ministry has said the argument does not hold.