The Mother India
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Legal Challenge
September 11, 2002
Dear Friends,
There has been a lull in our communication for two reasons: preparatory work for
legal challenge to the Ordinance has been going on; and local campaigns are
being launched in favour of full disclosures, and we needed time to evolve a
workable national action plan.
The following is the current position:
1. Two writ petitions have so far been filed by the members of National Campaign
for Electoral Reforms challenging the constitutional validity of the Ordinance
promulgated on 24th August, 2002. One petition was filed by Sri Sanjay Parikh on
behalf of PUCL. The other petition was filed by Sri Prashant Bhushan on behalf
of several constituent organizations and individuals of NCER. Essentially these
petitions challenge the Ordinance on grounds of violation of fundamental rights
under Art 19(1); In particular Section 3 of the Ordinance incorporating Section
33(B) in RP Act, 1951 is being challenged as it foreclosed any right to
information from candidates, apart from the criminal disclosures provided for in
the Ordinance. Ms. Kamini Jaiswal indicated that she would be filing a petition
for intervening at an appropriate time on behalf of ADR. All three petitions
will work in close concert, and the lawyers are working as a team. The reason
for filing more than one petition is to ensure that several lawyers can appear
and argue on our behalf. It is almost certain that the government will fight
hard to prevent further candidate disclosures, and will deploy a formidable
battery of lawyers. Therefore we should be prepared for all contingencies.
2. The Election Commission will be intervening in the petition, and will support
full disclosures as ordered by Supreme Court in its May 2 Judgement. As per
indications, Sri K.K.Venugopal will be appearing on behalf of the EC as and when
the petition comes up for hearing.
3. Major political parties may also intervene at the time of hearing. As of now,
there are some indications from Congress party to this effect. That party may
support full disclosure subject to removal of ‘Returning Officer’s discretion to
verify information, as per its publicly stated position.
4. Several local initiatives have been continuing in support of full disclosures
and other electoral reforms. A meeting called by Lok Satta at Guntur, a district
town, on 1st September received excellent response. About 5000 people
participated with great enthusiasm and fully supported a movement to force
disclosures and electoral reforms. This shows that the issue has penetrated deep
into the population, and is receiving strong and positive response from people
in support of clean politics, full disclosures and electoral reforms. In these
days voluntary participation of a few thousand people for several hours in a
meeting without lure of money or promise power, and with no emotive issues of
caste or religion involved, is a strong indication of growing public support.
5. In Mumbai, AGNI and other organizations called for a public meeting, and by
all accounts it was a successful effort.
6. Public meetings and other activities are going on in several locations in
several states. The following is the suggested program of action based on the
feedback received so far:
1) The first priority is to ensure that the writ petitions are admitted, and the
impugned section 3 of the Ordinance is held invalid by the Supreme Court. If
that happens, the Supreme Court judgment of May 2, and EC’s orders of June 28
will be operative in respect of financial and other disclosures.
2) However, we need to mobilize public opinion in a sustained manner. Then the
chances of public mood persuading the Government and political parties to
provide for full disclosures, and the law replacing the Ordinance conforming to
the Supreme Court judgment, and in consonance with the June 28 order of EC will
be high. We also need to seize the opportunity to build pressure for other
electoral reforms. Given these imperatives, a three-phase programme is proposed
for the next three months.
a) In the first phase, a series of public meetings, signature campaigns,
demonstrations, debates, street plays etc. will be conducted in support of
disclosures. People will be informed of the facts through media, pamphlets,
posters etc. In this phase, we will oppose the Ordinance, especially Section 3,
and demand full disclosures. This phase will culminate on October 2 with mobs
burning of Section 3 of the Ordinance. Our stand is that we respect and defend
the Constitution; Section 3 is unconstitutional and undemocratic. It is a black
Ordinance, and therefore we publicly show our disapproval by burning it
ceremonially. But at all times we invoke the Constitution, fundamental rights
and the essence of democratic accountability in support of our opposition to
Section 3. In Andhra Pradesh alone, it is expected that on October 2,
processions will be taken out in about 2000 small towns and villages, and the
Ordinance copies will be burnt publicly.
b) In the second phase, during the month of October, we will publicly demand an
official ballot or government sponsored public opinion polls to determine
whether or not people are in favour of full disclosure of candidate details. If
the government comes forward, then we will fully support such a ballot, and
cooperate in every way to make it successful.
If the government does not respond, we will then conduct a series of ballots in
all major towns and taluk headquarters, asking for people to vote in favour of,
or against candidate disclosures. These ballots will be held transparently with
active involvement of media persons, non-partisan activists, jurists and
credible and respected citizens. Wide publicity will be given, and people will
be asked to mark Yes or No to the question as to full disclosures are necessary.
To facilitate the participation of illiterate voters, there may be two colours
–say, green paper indicating a ‘Yes’ vote and red paper indicating a ‘No’ vote.
The process will be open to public scrutiny, and political parties will be
invited to monitor the ballot. This ballot will be for a whole day-say 8 AM to 5
PM. Immediately after the poll, the ballots will be counted, and the result will
be declared in the presence of media.
c) During the month of November, No disclosure-No vote campaign will be mounted,
coinciding with the winter session of Parliament. As per Article 123, an
ordinance promulgated by the President shall be laid before both houses of
parliament, and shall cease to operate at the expiration of six weeks from the
reassembly of parliament. This campaign of ‘No disclosure-No vote’ must send a
strong message to the parties that irrespective of the law they may enact,
people insist on voluntary disclosures of all candidate disclosures, in
particular criminal and financial details. A vigorous and sustained campaign
will be mounted urging people not to vote for any candidate who does not
voluntarily disclose all details, and to choose only from among candidates who
actually disclose full details as per Supreme Court judgment of May 2, and
Election Commission’s order of June 28.
3) This three-month campaign will be followed by ‘Election Watch’ movements in
all states where Assembly elections are due (excluding Jammu & Kashmir).
Elections are due in Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Rajasthan, Delhi and Gujarat
over the next few months to one year. Citizens’ Election Watch encompassing
various activities including verification of electoral rolls, candidate
disclosure (know your candidate), common platforms, televised live debates,
unearthing criminal antecedents of candidates and monitoring of polling will be
taken up as part of campaign for voter education and electoral reform. Lok Satta
movement’s experience in Election Watch will form the basis of these activities,
with such improvements and adaptations locally feasible and necessary.
4) State Election Commissions will be persuaded to issue orders mandating
candidate disclosures in local government elections as per Supreme Court
judgment. A meeting of several SECs is being held today (11th September) at the
initiative of institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi. Sri K. C.
Sivaramakrishnan is participating in it on behalf of NCER. Already SECs in
Maharashtra, UP, and Assam have issued orders, and an Ordinance has been
promulgated in Uttaranchal. No disclosure-No vote campaign will be launched in
all local elections also.
5) Voter registration in the country is unsatisfactory. Lok Satta’s studies
reveal up to 15% errors in rural areas and 40% errors in urban areas in AP.
Anecdotal evidence in other states suggests similar errors. CSDS is conducting a
survey in J&K in the run up to the current Assembly polls.
One simple way of improving voter registration is making the process simple,
accessible and citizen friendly. Post offices and gram panchayats can be made
nodal agencies for this purpose. Voter lists and statutory forms for inclusion
and deletion can be made available in each post office, and applications can be
received, and alterations displayed on a permanent basis. The EC has in
principle approved the proposal. Indications are that the postal department is
willing to support this initiative. As part of the campaign, we should persuade
authorities to fully implement a practical, low-tech, people-friendly scheme at
post offices. Massive campaign should be launched to educate the public and
improve the quality of electoral rolls. This does not require any change of law,
and will significantly improve the purity of our elections.
6) The Government introduced a bill for political funding reform in parliament
in March 2002. This bill has many positive features including tax exemption for
private contributions, auditing and disclosure of party accounts, indirect
public funding to parties in kind, and free broadcasting time to parties in all
channels-public and private, with flexibility in case of time. The National
Campaign must vigorously support funding reform, and ensure that effective
mechanisms are instituted for transparent and accountable funding for legitimate
political activities.
These, then are some of the immediate items on our agenda for action. I appeal
to all activists and friends to follow up on these and mount a relentless
campaign for full disclosure and comprehensive electoral reforms. Do please keep
us informed of our actions. Should you require any further information or
clarifications, kindly feel free to contact us.
With warm regards
Jayaprakash Narayan
National Cordinator
National Campaign for Electoral Reforms
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From: "LokSatta" <fonderef@hd1.vsnl.net.in> To: "Tirumala Srinivas" <corruptioneradication@yahoo.com> Date: Wed, 11 Sep 2002 21:24:19 +0530 www.corruptioneradication.com