The poll panel proposed amendments to certain sections in the RP Act in 2004 to ensure that a person cannot contest from more than one constituency at a time.
The Election Commission on Friday revived a two-decade-old proposal for amending the law to bar people from contesting more than one seat. The Election Commission said that if this cannot be done, heavy fines should be imposed on those vacating a constituency and holding by-elections.
As is the electoral law today, a candidate is allowed to contest elections from two different constituencies in a general election or group by-elections or biennial elections. If a person is elected from more than one seat, that person can occupy only one of the seats he has won.
In a recent interaction with the Legislative Secretary in the Law Ministry, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar made this push for the reforms first proposed in 2004.
The Legislative Department is the nodal agency in the government to deal with the issues relating to the Election Commission.
As is the electoral law today, a candidate is allowed to contest elections from two different constituencies in a general election or group by-elections or biennial elections. If a person is elected from more than one seat, that person can occupy only one of the seats he has won.
In 1996, the Representation of the People Act was amended to prevent a person from contesting from more than two seats. Before the amendment, there was no restriction on the number of constituencies from which a candidate could contest.
The poll panel proposed amendments to certain sections in the RP Act in 2004 to ensure that a person cannot contest from more than one constituency at a time.
“However, if the existing provisions are to be retained, a candidate contesting from two seats should bear the cost of the bye-election for the seat which the candidate decides to vacate in case the candidate wins both the seats. Is.” The official said, citing the proposal.
Then the amount of fine was proposed to be Rs 5 lakh for state assembly and legislative council elections and Rs 10 lakh for Lok Sabha elections.
The poll panel is of the view that the amount should be revised suitably.
The Commission is of the view that when a candidate contests from two seats, it is necessary that he has to vacate one of the two seats. This, apart from the consequent inevitable financial burden on the exchequer and manpower and other resources for holding the bye-election against the resulting vacancy, would be unfair to the voters of the constituency from which the candidate is leaving.
The Law Commission, which advises the government on complex legal issues, had supported the proposal to ban candidates from more than one seat.
However, it did not support the commission’s alternative proposal that required the winning candidates to deposit a reasonable amount to be spent for conducting the elections.
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(PTI Input)