PolicyElection Commission
Supreme Court seeks Centre's reply on lifelong legal immunity for election commissioners
ADR says Section 16 of the 2023 law puts the CEC and election commissioners beyond the reach of courts for life. It was added late and passed without debate, the petition says.
Key points
- The Supreme Court issued notice to the Union government and the Election Commission on ADR's petition.
- Section 16 bars courts from hearing civil or criminal cases against serving and former CECs and election commissioners over official acts.
- The case has been tagged with a pending Lok Prahari petition on the same question.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Centre and the Election Commission to respond to a challenge to the legal shield that protects the Chief Election Commissioner and election commissioners from lawsuits, even after they leave office.
A bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant issued notice on a petition by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), argued by senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, and tagged it with a pending petition by Lok Prahari that raises the same question.
What the law says
Section 16 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023 says “no Court shall entertain or continue any civil or criminal proceedings” against a serving or former CEC or election commissioner for anything done, or claimed to be done, in the course of official duty.
ADR says the protection is lifelong and blanket, and has no rational link to its stated aim of keeping the commissioners independent. No other constitutional office holder, including the President, a Governor or a judge, enjoys comparable immunity after leaving office, the petition says. It argues that the provision violates Articles 14 and 21 and the basic structure of the Constitution.
How it became law
The clause was not in the original bill. ADR says it was added through an official amendment circulated on 11 December 2023, and the Rajya Sabha passed it without debate while many opposition MPs were suspended. The commissioners had enjoyed constitutional independence from 1950 to 2023 without any such shield, the petition adds.
ADR wants Section 16 struck down and any proceedings against present or past commissioners that ended because of it revived.
The notice comes as Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar faces protests in Delhi and other cities, and opposition demands for his removal, over the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. No date has been fixed for the next hearing.