First-ever CEC removal notice filed
Opposition MPs have submitted notices in both Houses of Parliament seeking a motion for the removal of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar. According to a source, 130 Lok Sabha MPs and 63 Rajya Sabha MPs have signed the notice.
The signatories include members from all the INDIA bloc parties, including the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which is no longer formally a part of the opposition alliance, they added. This is the first time a notice has been moved seeking the removal of the CEC. According to sources, the notice lists seven charges against Kumar, including alleged “partisan and discriminatory conduct in office”, “deliberate obstruction of investigation of electoral fraud” and “mass disenfranchisement”.
Opposition parties have accused the CEC of aiding the ruling BJP on several occasions, especially with the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, which they alleged aims to help the saffron party.
TMC MP Derek O’Brien said members of the opposition are using “every constitutional tool available to protect the sanctity of India’s glorious institutions”. “However, if the notice is not taken up by the Union Government, doubts will be raised about a tacit understanding between the executive and the CEC,” he said.
The process for removing the CEC is similar to that for the removal of a Supreme Court or a high court judge, meaning an impeachment can be effected only on the ground of “proven misbehaviour or incapacity”.
