Justice Nariman said that if the bill becomes law, the executive will have the final say in appointing CEC and ECs, which would affect free and fair elections.
“If you are going to get the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners appointed in this fashion, free and fair elections are going to become a chimera,” he said.
He termed the bill an arbitrary piece of legislation that impairs the independence of the Election Commission and expressed hope that the Supreme Court would strike down the law if it is challenged before the top court.
“When this matter comes up before the Supreme Court, I hope that this bill, which will now become an Act, will be struck down. I sincerely hope. If it is not, it is fraught with the greatest danger to democracy,” the former judge opined.
It should be struck down as an arbitrary piece of legislation because it severely impairs the independence of the working of the Election Commission, the judge added.
He was delivering the 30th Bansari Sheth Endowment Lecture on the theme “The Constitution of India: Checks and Balances.”
Source: Barandbench
