NEW DELHI, DEC 29: The Election Commission has had its way on the question of its jurisdiction over government servants on election duties but the case relating to the model code of conduct for political parties filed by the Centre is still pending in the Supreme Court.Chief Election Commissioner M.S. Gill, who today thanked Prime Minister A.B.Vajpayee, Law Minister Arun Jaitley and his predecessor Ram Jethmalani for the settlement on the jurisdiction issue, hoped that the government wouldsimilarly withdraw the case relating to the model code of conduct.In a case challenging the implementation of the code of conduct from the dateof announcement of elections, the Punjab High Court had upheld the EC'sstand that the code was enforceable from the announcement date and not from the date of formal notification. The Centre had later filed an appeal in the apex court against the High Court verdict which is still pending.On the settlement between the EC and the government on the question of the former's jurisdiction over government servants on poll duties, Gill said that the EC was not jubilant over the commission's being granted disciplinary powers. ``But the EC needs this effective weapon for the temporary period of elections, especially when 50 lakh governments servants do election duty,'' he said.The CEC did not want to comment on the possibility of some states being unhappy with the EC's getting back these powers challenging it again in the courts. ``We will cross the bridge when we come to it. When the Indian Parliament has so unambiguously passed the law and the government has sworn it before the Supreme Court, I think for anybody to walk away from it wouldn't be advisable," he said.According to the settlement, the EC's disciplinary functions over officers, staff and police deputed to perform election duties will extend to: suspending personnel for insubordination, dereliction of duty; substituting any personnel by another person and returning the individual to his parent cadre; and making recommendations for taking disciplinary action against the erring official.The Centre would advise the State governments that they too should follow these decisions since a large number of election officials were under their administrative control, Gill said.
