On Tuesday 26 April 2022, the Delhi High Court allowed PIL seeking model elections to political parties and granted the Election Commission of India (ECI) two weeks of time to file its response to PIL, The PIL seeking direction to formulate democratic norms within political parties, further, the plea alleged that political parties are not adhering to various provisions pertaining to organizational elections.
The bench headed by Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Navin Chawla gave the ECI two weeks to file its reply.
The cause of action for this PIL arose when the notice was served on the ECI in October 2021, but the commission has yet to respond, The bench noted.
The Petition was filed by petitioner C Rajshekaran’s requesting that the Respondent Election Commission of India formulate and notify a Model Procedure for Elections with regard to intra-party elections.
Further, The petition requests that the functioning of most political parties in India is demonstrably feudal and oligarchic. Which resulted in ineffective democratic processes within the aforementioned political parties.
The Advocate for the petitioner is Abhimanyu Tiwari.
The same petitioner had approached the High Court of Delhi in January 2021, and the Court had asked the ECI to decide the petitioner’s representation.
The PIL accuses Respondent Election Commission of failing to provide adequate regulatory oversight of said internal elections in political parties.
The petition emphasizes asking the Election Commission to create a Model Election Procedure for political parties and to require all political parties registered with it to incorporate the Model Election Procedure into their respective constitutions.
Further, the PIL also requested that the respondent Election Commission issue directives mandating external monitors to observe and ensure transparent and fair internal elections for political parties.
The contentions of PIL are that it is a well-established legal position that democracy is an essential component of the basic structure of the constitution.
Accordingly, the concept of democracy has evolved to include evolved standards of transparency and accountability, as evidenced by the recognition of the Right to Information as a critical right in electoral democracy. Following the passage of the Right to Information Act and various Apex Court judgments, there was a call for greater accountability and transparency in the electoral system, including election financing, information on political candidates and adherence, and so on.
