New Delhi: The Election Commission has written to the Law Ministry demanding that the government should amend the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, giving it powers to act against persons or organisations tarnishing its image.
In a strongly-worded letter, the poll panel has sought the power of contempt to book those who try to defame it by openly questioning the conduct of elections taking advantage of the right to expression.
In the letter, which was written on April 24 this year, the poll panel has cited the example of the Election Commission of Philippines, Ghana and Pakistan which have been provided direct power to punish for contempt through legislation.
"The Commission shall have, and exercise the same jurisdiction or powers and authority in respect of Contempt of itself as a High Court has and may exercise and for this purpose, the provisions of the Contempt of Courts Act 1971, shall have effect subject to modifications - That a High Court shall be constructed as including a reference to the Election Commission of India" and "a judge shall be constructed as including a reference to the Commissioner or a member of the Commission," as per IANS.
The poll panel also demanded that a subsection "contempt" should be included for civil contempt or wilful disobedience and criminal contempt, "including who scandalises or tends to scandalise or prejudices or interferes or tends to interfere with the due course of any function of the Commission".
The poll panel's remarks came in the wake of Opposition parties, particularly the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), raising questions over the reliability of Electronic Voting Machines and some also charged the EC with being an "agent of the BJP".
The AAP alleged the EVMs were manipulated to benefit a particular party in the assembly elections in five states - Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Manipur and Uttarakhand, and the Delhi civic elections.
On June 03, the EC had held the EVM hacking challenge, starting with a detailed demonstration on the various security checks in the machine.
The four-hour challenge began at 10 am with the NCP and the CPI(M) being the only parties participating in the event.
The two parties were provided with four EVMs each brought to Delhi from Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand where they were deployed in the recently-held Assembly polls.
The poll panel had invited the seven national and 49 state parties recognised by it for the challenge.
It had left out smaller parties and Independents who had contested the recent polls from participating.
Even foreign experts were barred.
Members of a technical committee, which helps the EC evaluate the EVMs, judged the proceedings.
However, the NCP later backed out of the EVM hacking challenge and had put the blame squarely on the poll panel for its non-participation.
The party had said that it had opted out because the EC did not provide "required information" on voting machines and "changed the protocol" of the exercise at the last minute, as per PTI.
A three-member NCP delegation led by party's Rajya Sabha MP Vandana Chavan had also said the commission did not give the team an option to pick the EVM of their choice.
Chavan had said that the party was not provided with the information they asked for "again and again" i.e., the number of the memory unit and the battery used in the EVMs.
The party had also said the poll panel had asked it to choose any four EVMs from the states which had gone to polls recently, and the understanding was that it would choose one of them.
"We were under the impression that the EVM challenge would give us an opportunity for an academic exercise to satisfy our queries. However, not providing us with the required information and change in the protocol for the choice of the EVMs have created an unfair situation," the party had said in a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi.
The party had also sought information on the companies who service the EVMs, names of the transport companies engaged by the EC, state Election Commissions, state governments at various stages of transportation of EVMs.
(With Agency inputs)
