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...
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 detail...
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 unconstitute...
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 ofc)
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...
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 an...
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...
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 pa ...
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
transparency. 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
Lok Satta
401/408 Nirmal Towers
Dwarakapuri Colony, Punjagutta
Hyderabad - 500 082
Tel: 040 3350778/3350790
Fax: 040 3350783
E-mail: loksatta@satyam.net.in
url: www.loksatta.org