Dr. Gyan Pathak

There has been overall trust deficit for quite some time in the matter of elections in India, and it has been worsening with passage of every day of the eve of the next round of state elections due in April-May. It is despite the fact that Supreme Court of India has recognized the “trust deficit” in case of the conduct of SIR in West Bengal, though the diagnosis is just partial, because it said that there was a trust deficit between the government of West Bengal and the Election Commission of India (ECI).

Actual position is that the trust deficit also included the common people, that has been indirectly admitted by the ECI when it decided to deploy large number of central security forces in West Bengal from March 1 as “a confidence-building measure”.

 It all means trust of the people has been shaken, which one can clearly see on the faces of electorate in all the five states/UT going to polls. It is a matter of grave concerns that we need to understand. The entire country’s constitutional bodies – the ECI, the Union Government, the State Governments, and even the Supreme Court of India – have clearly fallen into the “trust deficit” vis-à-vis the common people, leave aside the political parties and their conduct. However, going into the trust deficit issue, let us have a brief account of what happened until now.

As of February 24, that is only four days ahead of scheduled publication of the final revised electoral roll under Special Intensive Revision (SIR) on February 28, despite every effort by the Supreme Court, there is only 250 officers, and 50 lakh claims are to be heard in West Bengal. Supreme Court has ordered today the ECI to publish the West Bengal voters list on February 28.

Earlier, the Supreme Court of India had ordered to deploy judicial officers to complete the verification of objections and claims process, because of the “trust deficit” between the state government and the ECI. The Bench led by Chief Justice of India has ordered ECI to go to the Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court, for deployment of judicial officers, both former and working, to complete the process.

About 250 judicial officers have been engaged in the state and have started their work from February 23. Today, today it was brought to notice of the bench that there are only 250 officers, and 50 lakh claims to be heard. The Supreme Court then ordered Calcutta Chief Justice to additionally deploy civil judges for SIR process, as well as if necessary, can request his counterparts in Odisha and Jharkhand to provide serving or retired judicial officers.

It is therefore anybody’s guess that the final voter list to be published on February 28 would be full of errors, given the lack of time, human resource to complete the task. The only saving grace is that the ECI has been allowed by the court that it can continue the process beyond February 28 for supplementary voter lists. But that are the technicalities only. It can’t erase the trust deficit, for numerous reasons. Here are few of them, for example.

ECI has been accused of hand in glove with the PM Narendra Modi led government in conducting SIR, which the opposition says the second phase of “manipulation of voter list” through addition of illegal voters from outside states and deletion of voters including minorities and opposition support base.

They alleged that in the first phase of voter list manipulation, Modi government with the help of Election Commission, added thousands of voters from outside states – especially in Haryana and Maharashtra elections, and thereafter also in Delhi. Leaders of Opposition Rahul Gandhi had publicly demonstrated the voter list manipulation as examples from Karnataka and Haryana.

Given the scenario there has been total trust deficit among common people and the opposition political parties towards the ECI. This trust deficit even escalated in the first phase of SIR conducted in Bihar. SIR framework was contested, but Supreme Court of India failed to deliver judgement in time, and allowed election.

Supreme Court has reserved the judgement, and hearing other petitions on SIR process, that facilitated the very contested SIR framework. When you allow a contested framework to go on without deciding on its validity, and votes are cast under the contested framework, and results were out, it can’t be undone. The purpose of justice is thus not served in the eyes of the common people, and the Supreme Court itself is now under “trust deficit” of the people, though it may be technically or legally right.

Why Supreme Court order deployment of judicial officers? People believe that the Bench has concluded that both the government of West Bengal and the ECI have erred on various counts and the very SIR was needed to be conducted under Judicial supervision. Superficially it may look a correct approach, but there are some disturbing questions.

If the election process is constitutionally performed under the ECI as neutral umpire, whose neutrality is even under doubt of the Supreme Court that ordered large number of judges from lower judiciary to be deployed, whose decisions are to be deemed as the decision of the Bench, why the Bench can’t enforce the ECI to become neutral?

Why Supreme Court allow the same officials who are suspected not to be neutral umpire to continue as usual? Is supervising the work of a tainted umpire will make the umpires neutral? ECI has been resorting to blame game, and also functioning in a way that was found by the Supreme court erroneous on several counts.

People see the helplessness of the Supreme Court before the wish of the Modi government and the ECI, in continuing with the contested framework, under the indecision of the Supreme Court itself. Supreme Court is just seen as facilitator of the SIR, without giving decision, and votes were cast that even the Supreme Court can’t uncast, meaning thereby the damage to the democracy can’t be reversed. 

Supreme Court itself added further trust deficit, when one petition was humiliated for raising the issue of violation of Model Code of Conduct in the Bihar election that was held under the contested framework. The petitioner had alleged distribution of freebies to voters during the MCC in operation under a welfare programme launched by PM Narendra Modi and implemented by its ally JD(U) CM Nitish Kumar.

Supreme Court may be right in legal technicality, but trust does not depend on it. Trust deficit increased because Supreme Court seen protecting the ruling NDA, despite clear violation of MCC. In fact Supreme Court did not go into the merit of the allegation.

Trust Deficit further aggravated when same bench led by CJI criticized Tamil Nadu’s opposition ruled government for announcing freebies in respect of electricity even though MCC is not in operation. People see the Supreme Courts conduct as double standard, when BJP-NDA government gives freebies and someone complains, the complainant is humiliated, which is indirect protection of BJP-NDA led government, and when opposition led state government gives freebies much before the election is announced and there is no MCC in operation, that state government is humiliated.

Supreme Court must take the entire issue of SIR and freebies in such a manner that it should inspire trust in the people towards judiciary as the custodian of justice. Supreme Court must take action and decision at right time, and in right manner. It has to exert much more than it has been doing until now in the matter of free and fair election and the democratic process, which only can restore the trust of the people on constitutional bodies like ECI, governments, and even the Judiciary.