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Journalism of Courage
We are testing the waters a top Election Commission official said of the ECs statement to the BJP to not field Varun Gandhi. As a choice of phrase,it is odd; as a precedent,it is dangerous. The ECs legal defence is a little known and never used 1994 order,permitting the EC to withdraw national status to parties that violate the model code of conduct. But this is sophistry: the Supreme Court has unambiguously held that the EC cannot disqualify candidates,or interfere in the partys right to select them. And for good reason: errant candidates must be given a chance to explain,they must be shown the evidence against them. These are procedural requirements of natural justice that are in the realm of the courts. And it is the courts that must
punish Varun,not the EC. The ECs role ended when it filed an FIR against Varun Gandhi; prudence demanded that they wait for the courts to decide.
Though hate-speech,when proven by the courts that is,not the EC is a legitimate ground to disqualify candidates,its an arrow that suits the quiver better than the bow. By overstepping its role,the Election Commission risks losing the faith that it now commands. It must not get into the business of advising political parties that way lies the possibility not just of legal challenge but also of charges of bias. Whatever it recommends must come with the unequivocal support of the law.
