11 April 2024
Dear Shri Rajiv Kumar/Shri Gyanesh Kumar/Dr. S.S. Sandhu,
We are a group of former civil servants who have served the Central and State governments in various capacities. We have no affiliation with any political party but are strongly committed to the ideals enshrined in the Constitution of India.
In the Election Commission of India (ECI) meeting with officers nominated as Election Observers on 11 March 2024, the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) had stressed the importance of ensuring a level playing field for all political parties and candidates and keeping the polls free from intimidation and inducements. Just ten days after his exhortation, Arvind Kejriwal, the Chief Minister of Delhi was arrested, in what is known as the Delhi liquor policy case, under the draconian provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, where securing bail is extremely difficult. We are not questioning the right of law enforcement agencies to take steps to check corruption in high places and bring to book the guilty. What we are concerned about is the timing of this arrest. The liquor policy case has been investigated for over thirteen months and two prominent Aam Aadmi Party leaders have been in custody for months, with one of them, Sanjay Singh, being released on bail recently, while the former Depuy Chief Minister, Manish Sisodia, continues in jail. Even if it is the case of the investigating agency that Mr. Kejriwal was evading summons to appear before them, nothing stopped them from questioning him, if necessary, at his residence. The arrest of a senior opposition political functionary at a juncture when the Lok Sabha elections had been announced and the Model Code of Conduct was in place reeks, to our mind, of deliberate, motivated executive action. The law must take its course, as many legal worthies today never tire of saying, but the heavens would not have fallen if coercive action had been initiated after the end of the election process on 4 June 2024. One could understand that in the case of a criminal investigation relating to the right to life of a citizen, immediate arrest may be warranted. Surely, this would not apply in the case of a prominent political figure who is hardly likely to be a flight risk and, in whose case, with the investigations having gone on for so many months, the possibilities of tampering with evidence and influencing witnesses are quite remote.
The AAP CM arrest is not an isolated instance. A disturbing pattern of harassment and witch hunting of opposition parties and opposition politicians on the cusp of the general elections calls into question the motivation of the agencies. It is puzzling why the Income Tax department should reopen old assessments of the Indian National Congress, as well as those of other opposition parties, that too on the eve of a general election. Carrying out searches of the premises related to Mahua Moitra, the Trinamool Congress politician who is a candidate in the Lok Sabha elections, at this juncture, and issuing notices to other opposition candidates, again defies explanation. Given the tardy record of the central law enforcement agencies in completing investigations and filing charge sheets, the undue zeal in selectively pursuing these cases gives rise to the suspicion that the motivation goes beyond a mere desire to enforce justice. More importantly, the arrest of political functionaries and the harassment of political parties after the election process has started not only deprives individuals of the exercise of their fundamental right under Article 19 of the Constitution of India to canvass for their candidates but also distracts political parties from focusing on the primary task of conducting their election campaign.
The pattern of events over the past month calls for firm action from the ECI to quell rising public suspicion that the ECI is sitting silent while a politics of vendetta is being practiced to deny opposition parties the freedom to actively participate in the election process. To ensure that this does not continue, we are of the view that, just as the entire government machinery in the states functions under the control and supervision of the ECI, activities of the machinery at the Central government level, especially the law enforcement agencies, should be controlled by the ECI through exercise of its powers under Article 324 of the Constitution of India. Else, if state government law enforcement agencies adopt an approach similar to that of the central agencies, the resulting anarchy would make a mess of the entire electoral process.
We are deeply disturbed by the failure of the ECI to take immediate action in this matter. Media reports show that a delegation of members of prominent opposition parties met the CEC and the Election Commissioners as long back as 21 March 2024. However, leave alone dealing with such arbitrary executive actions with a heavy hand, the ECI has not even issued a note of caution in this regard.
Our group has been interacting with the ECI since 2017 and has sent many letters to your predecessors: there has been no response from the ECI over the past five years. We note that the ECI has reneged from its earlier stand opposing electoral bonds. The ECI has made no efforts to assuage doubts in the minds of the thinking public and political parties about the integrity of EVMs and the need to use VVPATs effectively to ensure accuracy in the recording of votes, a matter that is now sub judice. Nor has the ECI been particularly effective in enforcing the Model Code of Conduct to check its misuse, especially by the party in power. Our group had pointed out many such instances in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections but, apart from minor slaps on the wrist, the ECI failed to enforce its writ on repeated offenders. In the current elections as well, infractions of the Model Code of Conduct by no less a personage than the Prime Minister have not been acted upon by the ECI even after these were brought to its notice[1][2].
In spite of the enormous powers vested in it under Article 324 of the Constitution of India, the ECI, in recent years, has exhibited a strange diffidence, especially in dealing with actions that impact the conduct of free and fair elections. We urge the ECI to live up to the shining legacy bequeathed by a line of eminent persons who have led the ECI in the past seven decades. The nation looks to you to act with firmness and determination to maintain the reputation and sanctity of the world’s largest electoral exercise.
SATYAMEVA JAYATE
Yours sincerely,
Constitutional Conduct Group (87 signatories, at pages 4-7 below)
1. | Anita Agnihotri | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Department of Social Justice Empowerment, GoI |
2. | Anand Arni | RAS (Retd.) | Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoI |
3. | G. Balachandhran | IAS (Retd.) | Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal |
4. | Vappala Balachandran | IPS (Retd.) | Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoI |
5. | Gopalan Balagopal | IAS (Retd.) | Former Special Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal |
6. | Chandrashekar Balakrishnan | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Coal, GoI |
7. | Sushant Baliga | Engineering Services (Retd.) | Former Additional Director General, Central PWD, GoI |
8. | Rana Banerji | RAS (Retd.) | Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoI |
9. | Sharad Behar | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh |
10. | Aurobindo Behera | IAS (Retd.) | Former Member, Board of Revenue, Govt. of Odisha |
11. | Madhu Bhaduri | IFS (Retd.) | Former Ambassador to Portugal |
12. | Pradip Bhattacharya | IAS (Retd.) | Former Additional Chief Secretary, Development & Planning and Administrative Training Institute, Govt. of West Bengal |
13. | Nutan Guha Biswas | IAS (Retd.) | Former Member, Police Complaints Authority, Govt. of NCT of Delhi |
14. | Meeran C Borwankar | IPS (Retd.) | Former DGP, Bureau of Police Research and Development, GoI |
15. | Ravi Budhiraja | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chairman, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, GoI |
16. | Sundar Burra | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra |
17. | R. Chandramohan | IAS (Retd.) | Former Principal Secretary, Transport and Urban Development, Govt. of NCT of Delhi |
18. | Rachel Chatterjee | IAS (Retd.) | Former Special Chief Secretary, Agriculture, Govt. of Andhra Pradesh |
19. | Kalyani Chaudhuri | IAS (Retd.) | Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal |
20. | Gurjit Singh Cheema | IAS (Retd.) | Former Financial Commissioner (Revenue), Govt. of Punjab |
21. | F.T.R. Colaso | IPS (Retd.) | Former Director General of Police, Govt. of Karnataka & former Director General of Police, Govt. of Jammu & Kashmir |
22. | Anna Dani | IAS (Retd.) | Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra |
23. | P.R. Dasgupta | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chairman, Food Corporation of India, GoI |
24. | M.G. Devasahayam | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Govt. of Haryana |
25. | Sushil Dubey | IFS (Retd.) | Former Ambassador to Sweden |
26. | A.S. Dulat | IPS (Retd.) | Former OSD on Kashmir, Prime Minister’s Office, GoI |
27. | K.P. Fabian | IFS (Retd.) | Former Ambassador to Italy |
28. | Suresh K. Goel | IFS (Retd.) | Former Director General, Indian Council of Cultural Relations, GoI |
29. | H.S. Gujral | IFoS (Retd.) | Former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Govt. of Punjab |
30. | Meena Gupta | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Ministry of Environment & Forests, GoI |
31. | Wajahat Habibullah | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, GoI and former Chief Information Commissioner |
32. | Naini Jeyaseelan | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Inter-State Council, GoI |
33. | Najeeb Jung | IAS (Retd.) | Former Lieutenant Governor, Delhi |
34. | Sanjay Kaul | IAS (Retd.) | Former Principal Secretary, Govt. of Karnataka |
35. | Gita Kripalani | IRS (Retd.) | Former Member, Settlement Commission, GoI |
36. | Ish Kumar | IPS (Retd.) | Former DGP (Vigilance & Enforcement), Govt. of Telangana and former Special Rapporteur, National Human Rights Commission |
37. | Sudhir Kumar | IAS (Retd.) | Former Member, Central Administrative Tribunal |
38. | Subodh Lal | IPoS (Resigned) | Former Deputy Director General, Ministry of Communications, GoI |
39. | Harsh Mander | IAS (Retd.) | Govt. of Madhya Pradesh |
40. | Amitabh Mathur | IPS (Retd.) | Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoI |
41. | Lalit Mathur | IAS (Retd.) | Former Director General, National Institute of Rural Development, GoI |
42. | Aditi Mehta | IAS (Retd.) | Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Rajasthan |
43. | Shivshankar Menon | IFS (Retd.) | Former Foreign Secretary and Former National Security Adviser |
44. | Sonalini Mirchandani | IFS (Resigned) | GoI |
45. | Malay Mishra | IFS (Retd.) | Former Ambassador to Hungary |
46. | Avinash Mohananey | IPS (Retd.) | Former Director General of Police, Govt. of Sikkim |
47. | Satya Narayan Mohanty | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary General, National Human Rights Commission |
48. | Deb Mukharji | IFS (Retd.) | Former High Commissioner to Bangladesh and former Ambassador to Nepal |
49. | Shiv Shankar Mukherjee | IFS (Retd.) | Former High Commissioner to the United Kingdom |
50. | Gautam Mukhopadhaya | IFS (Retd.) | Former Ambassador to Myanmar |
51. | Sobha Nambisan | IAS (Retd.) | Former Principal Secretary (Planning), Govt. of Karnataka |
52. | Surendra Nath | IAS (Retd.) | Former Member, Finance Commission, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh |
53. | P. Joy Oommen | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Chhattisgarh |
54. | Amitabha Pande | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Inter-State Council, GoI |
55. | Maxwell Pereira | IPS (Retd.) | Former Joint Commissioner of Police, Delhi |
56. | G.K. Pillai | IAS (Retd.) | Former Home Secretary, GoI |
57. | Rajesh Prasad | IFS (Retd.) | Former Ambassador to the Netherlands |
58. | Rajdeep Puri | IRS (Resigned) | Former Joint Commissioner of Income Tax, GoI |
59. | T.R. Raghunandan | IAS (Retd.) | Former Joint Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj, GoI |
60. | N.K. Raghupathy | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chairman, Staff Selection Commission, GoI |
61. | V.P. Raja | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chairman, Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission |
62. | V. Ramani
|
IAS (Retd.) | Former Director General, YASHADA, Govt. of Maharashtra |
63. | K. Sujatha Rao | IAS (Retd.) | Former Health Secretary, GoI |
64. | M.Y. Rao | IAS (Retd.) | |
65. | Satwant Reddy | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Chemicals and Petrochemicals, GoI |
66. | Vijaya Latha Reddy | IFS (Retd.) | Former Deputy National Security Adviser, GoI |
67. | Julio Ribeiro | IPS (Retd.) | Former Director General of Police, Govt. of Punjab |
68. | Aruna Roy | IAS (Resigned) | |
69. | Manabendra N. Roy | IAS (Retd.) | Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal |
70. | A.K. Samanta | IPS (Retd.) | Former Director General of Police (Intelligence), Govt. of West Bengal |
71. | Deepak Sanan | IAS (Retd.) | Former Principal Adviser (AR) to Chief Minister, Govt. of Himachal Pradesh |
72. | G.V. Venugopala Sarma | IAS (Retd.) | Former Member, Board of Revenue, Govt. of Odisha |
73. | S. Satyabhama | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chairperson, National Seeds Corporation, GoI |
74. | N.C. Saxena | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Planning Commission, GoI |
75. | A. Selvaraj | IRS (Retd.) | Former Chief Commissioner, Income Tax, Chennai, GoI |
76. | Abhijit Sengupta | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Ministry of Culture, GoI |
77. | Aftab Seth | IFS (Retd.) | Former Ambassador to Japan |
78. | Ashok Kumar Sharma | IFS (Retd.) | Former Ambassador to Finland and Estonia |
79. | Raju Sharma | IAS (Retd.) | Former Member, Board of Revenue, Govt. of Uttar Pradesh |
80. | Avay Shukla | IAS (Retd.) | Former Additional Chief Secretary (Forests & Technical Education), Govt. of Himachal Pradesh |
81. | Satyavir Singh | IRS (Retd.) | Former Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, GoI |
82. | Tara Ajai Singh | IAS (Retd.) | Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Karnataka |
83. | Tirlochan Singh | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, National Commission for Minorities, GoI |
84. | Prakriti Srivastava | IFoS (Retd.) | Former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests & Special Officer, Rebuild Kerala Development Programme, Govt. of Kerala |
85. | Anup Thakur | IAS (Retd.) | Former Member, National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission |
86. | P.S.S. Thomas | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary General, National Human Rights Commission |
87. | Rudi Warjri | IFS (Retd.) | Former Ambassador to Colombia, Ecuador and Costa Rica |
[1] https://countercurrents.org/2024/03/shri-modis-statement-invoking-religious-sentiments-in-tamil-nadu-violates-the-mcc/
[2] https://countercurrents.org/2024/04/prima-facie-violation-of-the-mcc-by-prime-minister-modi-at-a-recent-rbi-function/
Pingback: Election Commission showing ‘strange diffidence in ensuring free, fair polls’: Former civil servants - Crime Today News
Pingback: Information panel expresses ‘severe displeasure’ to poll body for not replying to RTI query on EVMs - Crime Today News
I am surprised that there are so few members of CCG. Please make efforts to add more. India needs to voice their concerns.
KV Singh
LikeLike
Pingback: Quell Rising Public Suspicion Over Level-Playing Field, Former Civil Servants Write to ECI | The AIDEM
Pingback: पूर्व सिविल सेवकों का चुनाव आयुक्तों से स्वतंत्र और निष्पक्ष चुनाव कराने का आग्रह | The AIDEM