The logo of the Election Commission of India (ECI).
Credit: PTI File Photo
New Delhi: Accusing the central agencies of exhibiting "undue zeal" to pursue cases against Opposition leaders, a group of former bureaucrats on Thursday urged the Election Commission to take control of central government machinery as it does with states. The group claimed that a perception is growing that it remains silent when a "politics of vendetta is being perpetuated" against the Opposition.
The former civil servants under the aegis of Constitutional Conduct Group (CCG) said that the "pattern of events" over the past month calls for "firm action" from the EC "to quell rising public suspicion" that it is "sitting silent while a politics of vendetta" is being practiced to "deny opposition" the freedom to actively participate in the election process.
The open letter signed by 87 former bureaucrats, including Wajahat Habibullah, AS Dulat, Shivshankar Menon, G K Pillai, Meeran C Borwankar, K Sujatha Rao, Julio Ribeiro, Maxwell Peiera and Vappala Balachandran referred to the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, searches at Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra's properties, Income Tax Department's action against Congress and issuing notices to Opposition leaders.
"We are of the view that, just as the entire government machinery in the states functions under the control and supervision of the EC, activities of the machinery at the central government level, especially the law enforcement agencies, should be controlled by the EC through exercise of its powers under Article 324 of the Constitution of India," the letter said.
Else, the bureaucrats warned, if state government law enforcement agencies adopt an approach similar to that of the central agencies, the "resulting anarchy" would make a "mess" of the entire electoral process.
On Kejriwal, the letter said they were not questioning the right of agencies to take steps to check corruption in high places but the "timing of this arrest". It said Kejriwal's arrest is not an "isolated instance" but the "disturbing pattern of harassment and witch hunting" of the Opposition on the cusp of the general elections calls raises question on the motivation of the agencies.
"The arrest of a senior opposition political functionary at a juncture when the Lok Sabha elections had been announced and the Model Code of Conduct was in place reeks, to our mind, of deliberate, motivated executive action...the heavens would not have fallen if coercive action had been initiated after the end of the election process on June 4, 2024," the letter said.
Given the "tardy record" of the central agencies in completing investigations and filing charge sheets, it said the "undue zeal in selectively pursuing" these cases gives rise to the "suspicion that the motivation goes beyond a mere desire to enforce justice". They said they were "deeply disturbed" by the failure of the EC to take immediate action in this matter.
The letter also said that the CCG has been interacting with the EC since 2017 and has sent many letters but there has been no response over the past five years.
"We note that the EC has reneged from its earlier stand opposing electoral bonds. The EC has made no efforts to assuage doubts in the minds of the thinking public and political parties about the integrity of EVMs and the need to use VVPATs effectively to ensure accuracy in the recording of votes, a matter that is now sub judice. Nor has the ECI been particularly effective in enforcing the Model Code of Conduct to check its misuse, especially by the party in power," it said.
"Our group had pointed out many such instances in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections but, apart from minor slaps on the wrist, the ECI failed to enforce its writ on repeated offenders. In the current elections as well, infractions of the Model Code of Conduct by no less a personage than the Prime Minister have not been acted upon by the ECI even after these were brought to its notice," it added.