Page 253 - Leap of Faith Vol - 2

Electoral Reforms – Way Forward Chapter 11

The Second Administra ve Commission in its Fourth
BAR ON CONTESTING FROM TWO SEATS Report viz. Ethics in Governance (2007) suggests that the
Under Section 33 (7) of the Representation of the People Act, previous decade had witnessed more poli cal reforms
1951 a person can contest a general election or group of bye- than any other large democracy a er World War II (P.9).
elections or biennial elections from a maximum of two Not every poli cal reform it describes, is an electoral
constituencies. e Sub-section 7 was introduced through an reform, and not every electoral reform in its list requires
amendment in 1996, prior to which there was no bar on the statutory enactment. Jus ce Ajit Prakash Shah (Retd) in
number of constituencies a candidate could contest from. his Law Commission's 255 Report (2015), on the other
th
However, Section 70 of the 1951 Act - read with Article 101 hand, was not sa sfied with the outcome of the
and 101 (2) of the Constitution of India- specifies that a person
elected to more than one seat can retain only one and resign recommenda ons of the aforesaid Commissions/
from the rest. In 2004, Election Commission of India proposed Commi ees. “Unfortunately”, the Report states, “their
an amendment of Section 33 (7) to provide that a person recommenda ons were not followed by legisla ve ac on,
cannot contest more than one seat at a time. However, as an required for enhancement of the quality of democracy, by
alternative it said, if the existing provisions were to be retained, reducing the influence of money and media in poli cs and
a candidate contesting from two-seats should bear the cost of ensuring free and fair elec ons” (P.2).
bye-election to the seat that contestant decides to vacate in the
event of him/her winning both seats. e Chief Election Judicial interven ons have also played a significant role in
Commissioner Rajiv Kumar has recently reaffirmed this stand. furthering the electoral reforms, especially in the last two
decades. The Hon'ble Supreme Court's order dated May 2,

Sukumar Sen Hall at ECI Headquarters, Nirvachan Sadan, New Delhi

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