Ex- judges write to Prez, CJI, EC, seek fair results

Bengaluru, NT Bureau: As many as seven retired judges on Monday wrote an open letter to the President Draupadi Murmu, Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and his fellow Supreme Court judges, besides the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar and other ECs.

They demanded they oversee the declaration of results on Tuesday, prevent malpractice in this regard and ensure that the mandate is protected and implemented. They added that it was a matter of the protection of the law and upholding of the Constitution.

Former judge of the Patna High Court (HC) Anjana Prakash apart from S Vimala, CT Selvam, PR Shivakumar, GM Akbar Ali, Aruna Jagadeesan and D Hariparanthaman who served at the Madras High Court signed the letter. Retired bureaucrats and civil society formations have also penned similar letters in the recent past.

The retired judges agreed with former IAS officers who had written to the EC, adding that they were disappointed with the poll body’s refusal to deal effectively with hate speeches by the ruling party, reluctance to disclose boothwise data on the number of votes cast and not having form 17 C made available to the public.

Form 17 C contains important information such as number of votes cast and Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) identification number, besides other things of note. The data in 17 C can be used in case of a legal dispute in the results.

 The letter also expressed fear that in case of a hung Parliament and the ruling party not having enough numbers, there may not be a peaceful transition of power. This is despite all the major exit polls giving the incumbent BJP and their National Democratic Alliance (NDA) a comfortable majority.

“There was genuine concern about the way the General Election - 2024 is being conducted by the Election Commission of India (ECI) and that if the present ruling dispensation loses people’s mandate, the transition of power may not be smooth and there could be a constitutional crisis,” the letter read.

The judges also called upon President Murmu to invite the pre-poll coalition with the highest number of seats to form the government.

“We bring forth the solemn pledge that India’s first citizen, the President of India, takes to ‘preserve, protect and defend the Constitution and the law and to devote herself to the service and the well-being of the people of India.’ We are sure that this will be her guiding light,” the letter said.

PRESENCE OF SC JUDGES REQUESTED

The ex-judges asked the Supreme Court judges to come back from their summer vacations to guard against a constitutional crisis.

“(We) call upon the Supreme Court to ensure presence and attendance of the top five Justices of the Supreme Court even during the period of the ongoing summer vacation and be available to respond in the event of any constitutional crisis that might emerge in the present situation,” they added.