SC issues notice on plea challenging blanket immunity granted to CEC, ECs

The Supreme Court has issued notice on a public interest litigation challenging the blanket immunity granted to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and Election Commissioners under the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023.

A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana sought responses on the plea challenging the constitutional validity of Section 16 of the Act.

Parliament enacted the law last year, granting the CEC and Election Commissioners immunity from any action or legal proceedings in respect of acts performed or decisions taken in their official capacity during their tenure.

The petitioner, activist and lawyer Arun Kumar Agrawal, argued that the provision grants immunity without any exceptions, even for acts that are not carried out in good faith or fall outside the officials' jurisdiction.

The plea contends that such blanket protection deprives citizens of the civil and criminal remedies available against the CEC and Election Commissioners.

It further argues that protecting the independence of the Election Commission cannot mean granting its members sweeping immunity from legal accountability. The petitioner has sought to have Section 16 of the 2023 Act declared unconstitutional.

The notice was issued while the Supreme Court was hearing a separate set of petitions challenging the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

During the hearing, the bench raised several questions about the SIR process, asking the poll panel whether it had been designed to harass or intimidate voters. The court also questioned the need for urgency in conducting the exercise in Delhi when no election was imminent.

The bench said the Election Commission should not insist on rigid timelines and that the process for submitting enumeration forms late should remain open. It also questioned why voters already registered on the electoral rolls, but whose names were missing from the draft rolls, were being asked to fill out Form 6 again.

"Can you punish a voter for their negligence by permanently taking away their right to vote?" Justice Bagchi asked.

The court directed the Election Commission to display physical lists of deleted voters in local languages at the block level. It also assured petitioners and voters that there was no need to panic as the matters were pending before it.

The Election Commission told the court that it would consider extending the deadlines in Delhi and allowing late submission of enumeration forms. The next hearing in the SIR matter has been scheduled for November 19.

The court also clarified that deletion of a name under the SIR or the expiry of a deadline does not permanently prevent a voter from being added to the electoral roll. Citizens can seek corrections to the rolls until the last date for filing nominations.- Ends