New Delhi: The Supreme Court, on Wednesday, issued a notice to the Centre and the Election Commission of India (ECI) on immunity granted to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and Election Commissioners (ECs) from civil and criminal proceedings for actions taken in the discharge of their official duties.
The notice comes after a fresh petition filed by Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Manoj Jha challenged Section 16 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, which grants this immunity.
The bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi agreed to tag Jha’s petition with two similar pleas already pending before the court. All the petitions are expected to listed and heard on December 18, as reported by timesnow.in.
“How many similar petitions are coming! There is no end to it,” Justice Bagchi remarked on the increasing number of petitions challenging the provision.
The counsel appearing for Jha, while responding to the observation, submitted that his was the only petition filed by a parliamentarian, while the other two pleas had been filed by non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
“This is the only one filed by a parliamentarian yet, the other two are by NGOs,” the lawyer told the Court.
Section 16 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, provides protection to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and other Election Commissioners against civil and criminal proceedings for acts done or words spoken in the discharge of their official duties.
The provision has been challenged in two other petitions filed by NGOs Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Lok Prahari, which are already pending before the Supreme Court.
With Jha’s plea now tagged with these petitions, the top court will consider the constitutional validity of the provision in the connected proceedings.
