New Delhi: Senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi Wednesday criticised the rejection of the Opposition’s notice for moving a motion in Parliament to remove Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar from his post, alleging that the decision undermines constitutional processes and weakens accountability in a democracy.
Addressing a press conference here along with other Opposition leaders, Singhvi said the move to reject the notice at a preliminary stage amounted to “strangulating” the entire impeachment mechanism envisaged in the Constitution.
He was accompanied by Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders Derek O’Brien and Sagarika Ghose, Rashtriya Janata Dal’s (RJD) Manoj Jha, Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Sandeep Pathak, DMK’s Yogesh and NCP-SP’s Rajeev Jha.
“When accountability is adjourned intelligently, then democracy itself stands impeached,” Singhvi said, adding that if the Election Commission’s (EC) position was strong, there should be no fear of scrutiny.
The Congress leader argued that the presiding officers of Parliament had committed a “fundamental conceptual error” by collapsing a multi-stage constitutional process into a single decision at the admission stage.
He maintained that the Constitution provides for a detailed procedure involving an initial admission, the formation of a judicial committee, framing of charges, the submission of a report, parliamentary discussion and finally, a decision.
“By rejecting the motion at the very first stage, you effectively eliminate all subsequent stages, including scrutiny by an independent committee and Parliament’s collective wisdom,” Singhvi said.
He also contended that the presiding officer exceeded the scope of a prima facie assessment by delving into the merits of the allegations.
“You cannot conduct a minitrial at the threshold. That defeats the very architecture of the Constitution,” he said.
He further alleged that specific charges raised by the Opposition, including those related to alleged electoral irregularities and delays in complying with judicial directions, were not adequately addressed in the rejection order.
Calling the issue “a very serious matter”, Singhvi said the decision casts “a shadow on the glory of Parliament” and raises concerns about the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) willingness to allow a scrutiny of the EC.
“The entire process has been reduced to the decision of one person, eliminating accountability. That was never the intent of the Constitution’s framers,” he said.
