1.1 Our country is facing political, economic and social problems of an unparalleled magnitude. If we were to be governed justly and democratically, our central need is not just to change the Government but to change the rules. The people of the country have by now experimented repetitive changes of political parties, including multiparty Governments and each such experience has not been found satisfying the aspirations of the people. In this regard Shri N. A. Palkhivala has observed that – "However, it is time that … we should think of making some changes in our Constitutional law….. There are a number of changes in our Constitutional law which need to be effected to root out corruption and to prevent further degradation of our political life….. To my mind, the greatest danger facing India is that of disintegration. Unfortunately, there are strong tendencies among the States to go their own way…. a salutary change can be made in our Constitutional law, … to reduce to a minimum the detestable exhibitions of the toppling game which has been a craze among our frolicsome politicians over the years". (Ref. 10) Corrective measures in the form of Constitutional and Electoral Reforms have become imperative. In such matters, generally, Governments are reactive and not pro-active.

To motivate our government to act, initiative is required to be taken by enlightened citizens to list out corrective measures that will fit into country's socio-political and historical ethos and milieu and thereafter network citizen based organizations for garnering support of the masses to the said corrective measures.

1.2 Based on books and articles written by jurists. Judges and others as well as reports of committees and commissions appointed by the Government, (listed in References annexed hereto) Considerations that have gone in, in framing broad suggestions for reforms, have been briefly stated in Annexure annexed hereto. Broad suggestions for reforms are given herein in four groups viz (i) Reforms to restrict the size of the Ministry, to entrench its stability and to ensure that office of Minister is manned by appropriate person; (ii) Reforms to regulate functioning and conduct of political parties and to establish a close link between political parties and the people; (iii) Electoral reforms – (a) to ensure that chosen representatives have proper vision, knowledge and moral standards; (b) to remove inequality of population among constituencies, to ensure properly updated correct electoral rolls and to ensure that winning candidate has a majority support; (c) to provide non-cash state funding of elections and to reduce number of independent candidates ; (d) to exercise control and reduce large expenditure incurred in election campaigns ; (iv) General reforms to mitigate some of our political, social and economic problems. To appreciate the suggestions in proper perspective it is necessary to peruse the write up in the Annexure.

2.0 Reforms to restrict the size of the Ministry, to entrench its stability and to ensure that office of Minister is manned by appropriate person :-

(i) In a state the number of Ministers shall not exceed ten per cent of the total membership of State Legislature – (a recommendation of the Administrative Reforms Commission) – and that at the center the number of ministers shall not exceed five percent of the total membership of Lok-Sabha;

(ii) Initial appointment of Minister shall be provisional and his continuation in the office shall be subject to a check by Rajya-Sabha who shall make enquiries and satisfy itself that the person was an "appropriate person" (in a manner similar to that followed by U.S.A. Senate)

(iii) Rajya Sabha shall also work as a watch-dog to ensure that Ministers in their work adhere to the oath of their office. Rajya Sabha shall have the power to impeach erring Ministers and to recommend to the President their removal;

(iv) In respect of a state the powers listed in (ii) & (iii) above shall be exercised by a committee comprising Rajya-Sabha members from the said state.

(v) The provisions of the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution should be amended specifically to provide that all the members defecting – whether individually or in groups – from a party on whose ticket he or they had been elected, shall get disqualified and lose his or their parliamentary / Assembly seat(s) as soon as a resolution passed by the party disqualifying the said defected member or members is presented to the Speaker of the House or to his office by the party president or by the leader of the party in the House.

(iv) For no-confidence motion against the government to succeed, adverse vote shall be supported by not less than two-thirds of the total membership of the House.

One of the members of the Election Commission shall be designated, as 'Registrar Of Political Parties' and a comprehensive legislation authorizing him to regulate the functioning and conduct of political parties shall be enacted. The legislation should be on the lines of 'The Law on Political Parties' in Federal Republic of Germany and should inter-alia :

(i) Provide that political party or alliance should, in its Memoranda of Association, Rules and Regulations provide for its doors being open to all citizens irrespective of any distinctions of caste, community or the like. It should swear allegiance to the provisions of the Constitution and to the sovereignty and integrity of the nation, and hold regular elections at an interval of three years at its various levels of the party. Failure to do so should invite the penalty of the party losing recognition.

(ii) make it compulsory for the political parties requiring their candidates to declare their assets and liabilities at the time of filing their nomination before the returning officers for election to any office at any level of government.

(iii) provide that no political party should sponsor or provide ticket to a candidate for contesting elections if he was convicted by any court for any criminal offence or if the courts have framed criminal charges against him.

(iv) provide that a political party shall be de-recognized for obtaining less than prescribed minimum percentage of votes polled at two consecutive general elections; No one shall be permitted to contest election as a candidate sponsored by or supported by any un-recognised or de-recognised political party;

(v) provide that each political party shall maintain and update from time to time state wise / city-village wise / ward wise lists (which should be collateral with the electoral rolls of the respective areas) of its primary and other membership giving full name and addresses. The said lists shall be made available to the Election Commission and should be available to any member of the public.

(vi) provide that there is internal democracy within every political party; inter alia ensuring primary elections in constituency / parties for ticket distribution.

(vii) provide that there shall be no reservation based on caste, community, religion or sex for representation in party offices and in putting up candidates for contesting elections.

(viii) Provide for public disclosure of audited accounts of party's finance giving details of source of receipts, expenditure, assets and liabilities;

(ix) provide that election manifesto shall include clear cut ideological stance and programs with clearly defined targets and corresponding fiscality; indicating what expenditure is planned and what additional tax will be levied.

(x) provide that Political parties are prohibited from accepting any money except the membership fee from its members and money raised by party associations by holding charity shows, fun-fare etc. – The Goswami Committee recommended that there should be a ban on any corporate or company donations to political parties or political candidates. Such an arrangement will force the political parties to establish a close link between political parties and the people.

(a) To ensure that chosen representatives have proper vision, knowledge and moral standards

(i) Minimum educational qualification for President, Vice President, Governor and members of Panchayat / State Legislature / Parliament shall be prescribed so that the elected member has the ability to discharge the duties entrusted to him.

(ii) Any person (including members of his family i.e. wife & children):- (i) against whom government dues are outstanding or (ii) against whom payment towards loans granted by any bank, financial institution or public sector undertaking is outstanding, or (iii) against whom any such dues or loans are written off, or (iv) who is accused of an offence involving moral turpitude or any other criminal offence, even if pardoned or (v) who holds property not commensurate with his income or (vi) who does not satisfy the norms prescribed for the family planning policy declared by the Government, or (vii) who is dismissed or removed from public service, or (viii) whose name appears in the books of the police as long-standing history-sheeter or antisocial element, shall not be permitted to contest the elections.

(iii) Every candidate to an elective office shall at the time of filing nomination make available to the Returning Officer : (a) a statement of his assets and liabilities as also the assets and liabilities of his dependant family members, (b) his complete bio-data and history bringing out clearly lapses, if any, in discharge of legal and financial responsibilities for making it known to all voters by publication. Any discrepancy or wrong information shall invalidate the candidature / election of the candidate.

(iv) Every holder of a political position annually must file a statement of his assets and liabilities as also the assets and liabilities of his dependant family members with the Secretary General of the Parliament.

(i) Intra-State delimitation of constituencies shall be carried out prior to elections by Delimitation Commission;

(ii) Electoral rolls shall be updated constantly on a day to day basis after verification of information received from those who are entitled to vote. The changes in the electoral rolls involving additions, alterations and deletions shall be duly intimated to the concerned persons.

Electoral rolls shall be linked to Birth, Death and Marriage registers and should serve as a reference to know on any day who lives in a certain property.

Electoral rolls should be periodically posted on the Web site of the Election Commission and CDROMS should be available to all political parties and any one interested. Prior to elections these rolls should be printed and publicly displayed at the post offices in each constituency as well as the Panchayats or relevant constituency head quarters.

(iii) Taking into account practicability, economy and individual characteristics of Constituency, Election Commission may utilize either Alternative vote electoral system or First-past-the post with run-off poll to ensure that winning candidate has a majority support.

(i) In the case of a candidate supported by a Political party, fifty per cent of the estimated cost of election campaign shall be paid by the political party to the Election Commission.

(ii) In the case of an Independent Candidate for Parliament / Assembly seat, recognized organizations in his Constituency who support the candidature (minimum number to be prescribed) shall pay by cheque (maximum amount to be prescribed) to cover fifty per cent of the estimated cost of the election campaign to the Election Commission.

(iii) Fifty per cent of the cost of the election campaign will be funded by the State by providing that amount to the Election Commission – As brought out in the annexure (Para 4.8.1), Company contributions have normally supplied approximately 30 per cent of overall income of British Conservative Party. The arrangement of partial non-cash funding of elections proposed herein coupled with prohibiting receipt of contributions from companies will solve the problem of party finance without affecting their efficiency and will force them to establish a close link with the people. (Kindly refer para 4.4 in annexure for observations of Law Commission on Reform of the Election Laws in this regard)

(iv) All the expenditure in connection with Election campaigns shall be borne by the Election Commission from out of the funds placed at its disposal as indicated above.

(i) The reins of the election campaign will be in the hands of the Election Commission. Each states a close link with the people. (Kindly refer para 4.4 in annexure for observations of Law Commission on Reform of the Election Laws in this regard)

(iv) All the expenditure in connection with Election campaigns shall be borne by the Election Commission from out of the funds placed at its disposal as indicated above.

(d) To exercise control and reduce large expenditure incurred in election campaign :-

(i) The reins of the election campaign will be in the hands of the Election Commission. Each state statives interfering or trying to interfere in free and fair elections shall be dealt with in accordance with the law for which purpose Representation of People Act shall be suitably amended to provide appropriate definition of offence and punishment thereof and to arm the Election Commission with adequate power to levy the punishment.

(iv) Display of cut-outs, hoardings, banners, hoisting of flags (except at party office) and organizing Rallies shall be banned.

(v) No procession shall be taken out and no public meeting shall be organized in favour of a candidate.

(vi) Only combined all-party public meetings may be organized by NGOs or jointly by political parties in which equal opportunity shall be given to all the candidates / their representatives to address the meetings. In the case of meetings organized jointly by political parties, Additional Chief Election Officer (Public meetings) shall make available a list of government officers from which the political parties shall unanimously select an officer who shall chair and conduct the meeting. Use of auto-traffic to ferry people to such meetings shall not be permitted.

(vii) All the press publicity sponsored by the candidates and political parties shall be channellised through Additional Chief Election Officer (Publicity) to ensure that prescribed limit for expenditure on press publicity by the candidate / political party is not exceeded.

(viii) Time on National TV / Radio and Local Radio / TV shall be allotted by the Election Commission / Additional Chief Election Officer to candidates or their representatives on equitable basis for election campaigning.

(ix) Each candidate for a Parliament / Assembly seat will receive the facility of free postage for an item of mail to each elector in his constituency :- on the same lines as is provided in U.K. (vide para 4.8.2 in Annexure)

(x) No one should be allowed to contest elections simultaneously for two different offices or from more than one constituency for the same office. Moreover a person holding membership in Legislative Assembly cannot contest election to Parliament and vice-a-versa.

(xi) Explanation 1 to section 77(1) of the Representation of the people Act (1951) shall be deleted. And ceiling on election expenses should include all the expenses by the candidate as well as by his political party or his friends and his well-wishers and any other expenses incurred in any political activity on behalf of the candidate by an individual or a corporate body.

(i) Article 28(1) shall be amended by adding the words ‘promoting philosophy of any particular sect or sects’ after the words – ‘religious instructions’.

(ii) Article 28(2) shall be amended by adding the words ‘to inculcate faith in any particular sect and respect for faith in other sects’ after the words ‘religious instruction’.

(iii) Article 28(4) may be added to provide that – ‘Curricular coverage to inculcate social, moral and spiritual values shall be designed and introduced in all schools; and – ‘No instruction inculcating religious fanaticism or denigrating other faith or faiths shall be provided in any school’.

(b) Political

(i) Article 31-D shall be introduced providing that reasonableness of extent of taking away or abridgement of fundamental rights by any law covered under Articles 31A, 31B and 31C shall be justifiable.

(ii) Article 32 relating to Remedies for enforcement of rights conferred by Part III, shall be amended to provide that 'the level of performance of duty or duties towards the community by the claimant of right or rights' shall be considered by the Court while deciding his case; Laws may be enacted to prohibit any act or conduct in violation of some of the duties and impose punishment for breach of such duties e.g. the individual may not overlook his duties to the community in exercise of his fundamental rights or commit wanton destruction of public property or the like.'

(iii) Articles 102 shall be amended by deleting the words '...other than an office declared by Parliament by law not to disqualify its holder' in Article 102 [1] (a). Similarly Article 191 shall be amended by deleting the words '....other, than an office declared by the legislature of the State by law not to disqualify its holder....' in Article 191 [1] (a).

(iv) Articles 105 and 194 shall be amended by deleting the word 'privileges' and by withdrawing the immunity granted to elected members against any proceedings in any court except for freedom of speech in the House. No immunity should be granted for any criminal act or act of wanton destruction of public property committed by them even in the House. A legislation defining rights and duties of elected representatives' vis-à-vis that of public and public servants should be enacted.

(v) Present practice of placing discretionary grants at the disposal of elected representatives should be dispensed with.

(i) Expenditure on emoluments/salaries, allowances and perquisites of political executives and members of the House shall not exceed a predetermined percentage (to be specified) of the Union's/State's income on revenue account. No facility shall be provided free of cost or at subsidized rates. The sum total of payment to any elected representative should be adequate but not lucrative. The adequacy or otherwise should be determined by an authority other than legislators themselves.

(ii) Expenditure on pay, allowances and perquisites of government bureaucracy shall not exceed a predetermined percentage (to be specified) of Union's/State's income on revenue account. No facility shall be provided free of cost or at subsidized rates.

(iii) A new Article may be introduced in the Constitution prohibiting self aggrandizement by elected representatives e.g. grant of pension, allowances or other facilities of any kind to elected representatives after they cease to be members of the House or after their term of office is over; sale of public property at concessional rate to elected representatives/their relatives or to the institutions to which they are attached.

(iv) All the laws enacted to pay pension, allowances and other facilities to elected representatives after they cease to be members of the House or after their term of office is over should be repealed.

(v) Any pecuniary or medical benefits, needed by any one of the elected representatives after their term is over can only be extended under Social Security applicable to any or all citizens of our country without any priority, preference or discrimination.

(d) Financial Discipline

(i) Cost of creating and maintaining any public utility facility shall be fully recovered from its beneficiaries. Concession if any shall be extended to individuals and shall be means tested to ensure that only the truly needy receive them and shall be financed from revenue resources.

(ii) An Act similar to 'Balanced Budget Act of 1965' passed by the American Congress should be brought in force and Articles 292 and 293 should be amended to limit borrowing powers of Government.

(iii) The President/Governor shall, in consultation with the Governor, Reserve Bank of India, work out a phased programme to take the Country/State out of financial Bankruptcy. The President/Governor shall ensure that financial discipline is observed by the Union / State Government.

At the cost of repetition, it is reiterated that to appreciate the necessity of the suggested reforms, it is imperative to study the information given in the Annexure.

Finally, I would like to thank Mr. P. L. Avastthi, Mr. T. R. Agnani, Mr. V. P. Vyas and others for their comments and suggestions on the draft of this article.

1.1 Hereinbelow an attempt is made to list out snags in our political system & problems arising therefrom and some aspects, which have been considered in framing broad suggestions for reforms.

2.1 The Indian Constitution is the largest constitution in the world. It is more detailed than any other constitution. Apart from the Government of India, Act, 1935 and British Constitutional history, it draws upon constitutions of U.S.A., Canada, Australia, The Irish Free state and Weimar. It is a complex constitutional mixture.

2.2 It may be noted that the constitution does not use the words, unitary, federation or federalism, socialism or socialistic pattern of society, capitalism or capitalistic structure of society. Communism or communistic structure of society, political parties, presidential democracy or parliamentary democracy. [Words 'Socialist Secular' have been introduced in Preamble by Constitution (Forty – Second Amendment) Act 1976, and words 'Political Party' have figured in Tenth Schedule added by Constitution (Fifty second Amendment) Act, 1985]

2.3 Justice P. B. Mukharajee has pointed out that - The answer to the question – Whether the constitution reflects the parliamentary form of government or Presidential form of government ? – is that, it is neither and it is both.

2.4 The constitution has inter-alias provided that – The Executive power of the union is vested in the President (vide Article 53) and is vested in no one else anywhere in the constitution; and this power is to be exercised by him either directly or through officers subordinate to him (vide Article 53). the president in terms of his Oath has 'to preserve, protect and defend the constitution and the law (vide Article 60); the President can be impeached for violation of constitution by a resolution Supported by not less than two-thirds of the total membership of the parliament. (vide Article 61); the Prime Minister shall be appointed by the President and the other ministers shall be appointed by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister; the Ministers shall hold office during the pleasure of the President; the council of ministers shall be members of the Parliament and shall be collectively responsible to the House of the people; (vide Article 75), The council of Ministers are to aid and advise the President in exercise of his functions. (vide Article 74).

2.5 Based on a convention in British Parliamentary democracy, our elected representatives developed a convention and thereafter by the constitution [Forty second Amendment) Act 1976 have provided that the President shall act in accordance with the advice of his council of Ministers, which has (i) divested The President of the executive power – expressly vested in him and him alone – and the said power is appropriated by council of Ministers; (ii) incapacitated the President in discharging his duty viz personal responsibility in terms of Oath of his office to 'preserve, protect and defend the constitution and the law' ; (iii) reversed the position of the President vis–a–vis 'the council of Ministers' – viz instead of council of Ministers aiding and advising the President in exercise of his functions, the President is permitted now and then to aid and advise the council of Ministers.

2.6 The said provision coupled with unfettered power of the Prime Minister / Chief Minister to advise the President / Governor for appointing Minister have created difficulties. The Prime Minister / Chief Minister, with a view to lend stability to his ministry, is constrained to advise the President to appoint any member (suitable or unsuitable for the post) and any number of members as Ministers, which has resulted in large sized ministries and some unscrupulous, dishonest and/or incompetent members finding berths in the Ministry

2.7 Moreover as regards discharge of obligations attached to the office of Ministers and legislators is concerned, the conditions as are prevailing at present in our country can be briefly summarized as under :- (i) As a result of failure of Ministers to adhere to the obligations of the Oath of their office, political influences and personal prejudices are creating administrative chaos, suffering and frustration; (ii) Ministers are wasting their time and potential in endless politicking instead of getting absorbed in the job of governing the country; (iii) Legislators instead of attending to the work of legislating and monitoring the operations of the government and working as trustees of state's welfare are busy in extracting from the treasury as much as they can for themselves, for their supporters, for their home towns and for their constituencies; (iv) As lust for power and pelf inheres in all mortals, the power of the legislators to withdraw support to the council of Ministers is frequently used to extract from the government all the undue favours and on being unsuccessful in their efforts, they get engaged in destabilizing the Ministry.

2.8 Further as a part of general scheme to exercise vigilance over the executive, the Administrative Reforms Commission had interalia proposed creation of the office of Lok-Ayukt in the state and office of Lok-Pal at the Centre, who were expected to be watch-dog of erring Ministers. Some states have created office of Lok-Ayukt. However it has failed to achieve the purpose. Moreover, the Committee headed by Shri Sharad Pawar has observed that incumbent of an elected office cannot be placed under surveillance of an un-elected person.

2.9 Having regard to the above scenario, Corrective measures are necessary –

(ii) to impeach and remove erring ministers; and

(iii) to entrench stability of the Ministry.

3.1 The number of political parties is growing. They lack in ideological and programmatic commitments. They also face organizational problems with regard to discipline, defections, intra-party organizations, election within parties, split in the party, legitimate means of raising of funds etc. To have an effective and streamlined party system a comprehensive legislation to minimize the number of political parties and to regulate its functioning and conduct is immediately required.

3.2 Moreover to meet the requirement of finance for running administration of the party and for election campaign, the office bearers of the party and/or their candidates either receive or collect donations from industrial/business houses and in-lieu thereof give promises to protect their interests and/or extend favours. The rapport is at individual level and the promises are kept, are honoured. As against this party leaders and/or their candidates meet the people, the voters, during election campaign at public meetings. No individual rapport is established between the party leaders and/or candidates and the voters. There is no dialogue. The people, the voters have only to listen. The promises given to the voters at the public meetings are vague and are never honoured. The words " election promises " therefore connote in conversation as well as in write ups –‘ false promises’ . To ensure that a rapport between voters and political party is established it is necessary to prohibit financing of political parties by industrial/business houses and compel the parties to obtain their financial requirements from the voters who share their ideological stance, by registering them as members, by entering into dialogue with them to know their aspirations, requirements, difficulties etc. and come up with manageable programme which they have not only to promise but have to fulfill. This will make political parties to turn to the people No doubt membership fees will not meet their full financial requirement and the State has to help them by shouldering responsibility in part by way of making available funds to the Election Commission, in whose hands the reigns of the election campaign should be given . The main thrust is to force the parties to put in effort to have mass membership and establish a close link between political parties and people..

3.3 "Political corruption is seen as one of the most significant sources of corruption and the root of the culture of corruption in our country. In fact, our entire political process and the system of election depend on black money. Every candidate in an election from the lowest to the highest level needs money. Without money nobody is willing to work in an election campaign. This money has to be in the form of cash. This is mostly black money got through illegal means like evasion of taxes. In other words, our entire political process is to a significant extent funded by tainted money... while the political leader, at least at the individual level may be honest, is forced for the sake of the party to raise funds and from questionable sources. This lies at the root of political corruption ... Before going into the causes for corruption and its remedies, it is worthwhile to look at some of the aspects of the dynamics of corruption in our system. The dynamics of corruption in Government starts with a systematic attempt of politicising the bureaucracy.... The simple instrument, by which the political executive has found that the bureaucracy can be made to dance to its tune, is the instrument of transfers and postings…" (N. Vittal, Ref. 11)

3.4 British Politics

".......political parties...... are responsible for forming order out of chaos by converting the demands of a wide ranging set of interests into a manageable set of policies for the electorate's consideration. Thus, they develop programs which are then further refined into election manifestos. By aggregating interests in this way parties simplify elections and provide the voters with a choice - a key charactened with trying to get ... (their) ... candidates elected to local councils and the commons. This involves making sure that potential supporters are registered to vote, canvassing support during the campaign and making sure that previously identified supporters turn out on polling day". ( Robert Garner & Richard Kelly ..Ref.-14 pp 4, 6 & 164).

4.1 Some minimum qualifications should be prescribed for those who seek election to parliament... I would advocate some positive qualification for aspirants to a parliamentary career. (N.A.Palkhiwala, Ref.10).

Further having regard to the lack of character and calibre in the overwhelming majority of our politicians, it is also necessary that provisions `already made in the rules for disqualification of a candidate contesting election are enhanced even further and some positive qualifications for aspirants to political career are prescribed to ensure that our chosen representatives have proper vision, knowledge and moral standards.

To ensure that elected candidate does not misuse his office for economic gain, transparency about his and his family's assets and liabilities is necessary.

4.2.1 Moreover large number of electorate is disenfranchised on account of defective electoral rolls. Electoral rolls should be revised continuously on day to day basis so that it can serve as a reference for other government departments and members of the public to know on any day who lives in a certain house/apartment. Incongruities in delimitation of constituencies has resulted in improper representation. Majority of our representatives are elected by a minority of votes polled on account of adopting First-past-the-post electoral system with multy-Party Configuration.

4.2.2 In multi-party configuration, if winning on minority vote is to be avoided, two solutions are available; One - First-past-the-post electoral system with run-off contest between the top two candidates and second- Alternative vote electoral system, in which voters rank the candidates. In both the solutions, if the winning candidate has obtained more than 50 per cent of the votes cast, he is declared elected. Otherwise in the first case run-off contest between the top two candidates is held and result is declared by First past-the post principle, and in the second case second preferences of lower placed candidates (starting with the lowest) are transferred until one candidate has a majority. The first solution has two disadvantages, one it entails additional cost and second there would be greater abstention rate in the run-off poll. The second solution requires voter to weigh all the candidates.

4.3 Plethora of independent candidates, who are mostly dummy candidates or defectors from their parties on being denied party tickets, vitiate the sanctity of the electoral process. By introducing an obligatory requirement for the independent candidates to have broadly distributed support in his constituency, number of independent candidates will get reduced.

4.4 It will be pertinent to note here that the Goswami Committee on Electoral Reforms (1990) recommended that there should be a ban on any corporate or company donations to political parties or political candidates. The Indrajit Gupta Committee on State Funding of elections (1998) has suggested partial non-cash state funding of elections. The Law Commission on Reform of the Election Laws (1999) have stated – "We are, therefore, of the opinion that the proposals relating to state funding contained in the Indrajit Gupta Committee Report should be implemented only after or simultaneously with the implementation of the provisions contained in this report relating to political parties viz, deletion of Explanation 1 to Section 77, maintenance of accounts and their submission etc, and the provisions governing the functioning of political parties contained in chapters I and II of Part IV and chapter I of part III. The funding even if partial, should never be resorted to unless the other provisions mentioned aforesaid are implemented lest the very idea may prove counter productive and may defeat the very object underlying the idea of State funding of elections."

4.5 Elections in parts of the country have become synonymous with intimidation of voters specially poorer sections, rigging, booth capturing, violence against and even killing of candidates and political workers, Connivance of officials at the polling stations and at times a complete hijacking of the polling process by unruly and criminal elements. Unfortunately, over a period of time local police forces have also allegedly become involved in the above by becoming partisan and by being guided by local loyalties, caste considerations, as well as by being easily bribed for connivance. In this regard, the proposals of the Goswami Committee to the effect that Election Commission should be empowered to take more stringent action should be accepted and implemented in full.

4.6.1 Yet another menace is the large expenditure incurred in election campaigns which give rise to the problem of political scandals caused by the quest for funding of political parties and candidates.. The elected members are under an obligation to further or protect the interests of their supporters who have funded their election campaign. This dependency of campaign money produces a government private money can buy. Private money spent in election campaign is ultimately borne by the public at large in the form of increased price for the commodity manufactured and sold by the financiers of the election campaign. Secondly organising public meetings or taking out processions in favour of a candidate gives unfair advantage to the money power and many a times disturbs peace. Campaign spending limits are also totally ignored. In addition to money power, other serious problems in our elections are muscle power, mafia power as well as criminalisation, corruption, communalization and casteism.

It is therefore necessary to reduce the expenditure on election campaign by banning rallies, processions, stage managed public meetings etc. and instead adopt the British Practice of making available to each candidate for a Parliament / Assembly seat a facility of free postage for an item of mail to each elector in his constituency to ensure contact between the candidates and the voters.

4.6.2 Moreover Candidate getting elected from two different constituencies for one and same office in an election or candidate getting elected to two different offices in elections held simultaneously for two different offices, is required to vacate one of his seat. Reelection required to fill in the said vacated seat results in additional cost to the nation and avoidable inconvenience to voters. Such a situation should not be allowed to occur.

4.7 The other problem is that the present rules have a significant loophole in the shape of explanation 1 to section 77(1) of the Representation of the People Act 1951, under which the amounts spent by persons other than the candidate and his agent themselves, are not counted in his election expenses. This means that all extra expenditure, even when known and proven, can be shown to have been incurred by the party or by any friends and it remains outside of the enforceable limits. It is therefore necessary to get rid of this lacunae by providing that figures of election expenditure should give total expenditure without any omissions.

4.8.1 "In 1983-84, the [Conservative] party's overall income was £ 12 million of which £ 7.8 million came from constituency rather than company donations. As Pinto Duschinsky reported :- 'Company contributions have normally supplied... approximately 30 per cent of overall income. The fact that individual conservative membership has been far larger than labour's has given the party a vital additional source of money. The large number of small contributions raised by members of Conservative associations, mainly through coffee mornings, jumble sales or wine and quickie receptions have produced in total more than the money given by companies." (Robert Garner & Richard Kelly. Ref. 14 p.120).

4.8.2 "Both reports believed that the solution to the problem of party finance and therefore the efficiency of British Political Parties was greater assistance from the State. It must be emphasized that the State funding already exists to a sizable extent : all parliamentary candidates receive free use of halls for election meetings and free postage for an item of mail to each elector. In 1987, the estimated value of these subsidies totaled £ 13.2 million each for the Conservative, Labour and Alliance parties. Since 1975, availability of.... greater assistance for parliamentary opposition parties with the cost of research and secretarial facilities. Nevertheless, Houghton and Hansard considered these apparently generous subsidies inadequate and proposed more direct State funding to the extra-parliamentary parties. Houghton proposed a method similar to that used in Sweden, where parties receive State subsidies according to the number of seats and votes won at the previous general election, whereas Hansard advocated a scheme adopted in Canada, whereby State aid was increased in line with the number of new party members recruited (thus absolving their scheme from the complaint leveled at the Houghton proposal, namely that it would prop up parties that made no effort to attract a mass membership.)" (Robert Garner & Richard Kelly ...Ref.. 14.p.271).

4.8.3 One of the advisory guide for public published by 'The city of Edinburgh Council' Scotland interalia reads….

"If you need to find out where an absentee landlord lives…. you should contact: Registers of Scotland, Meadowbank House 153 London Road, Edinburg…..

You may also consult the Electoral Register free of charge by contacting the Assessor's Department…. this will…. tell you who lives in a certain property, and not who owns it" (Ref. 15 – P.2).

5.1.1 Article 28 of the constitution deals with ‘Freedom as to attendance at religious instruction or religious worship in certain educational institutions’. This Article has not only been grossly misinterpreted so as to make spiritual education out of bounds in educational institutions, but has also been misused to inculcate religious fanaticism and disrespect for other faiths. It is necessary to get over this lacuna.

Article 31 A pertains to saving of laws for acquisition of estates from challenge under Article 14 or 19. Article 31.B provides for saving of laws specified in Ninth schedule from Judicial scrutiny of their constitutionality on the ground of violation of fundamental rights. And Article 31 C pertains to saving of laws giving effect to certain directive principles from challenge under Article 14 to 19. The laws so immunized have grown so enormously that it has become imperative to provide for judicial scrutiny of the reasonableness of the extent of taking away or abridgement of fundamental rights by any law covered under Articles 31.A, 31.B and 31.C.

Article 32 pertains to right to constitutional remedies for enforcement of fundamental rights. Enjoyment of a right without adherence to duties towards the state and society has resulted in granting undue protection to lawbreaker culminating in growing lawlessness in the country. Enjoyment of fundamental rights or right of any kind cannot be absolute. It is required to be co-related to level of performance of corresponding duty towards the state and society as well as linked to rights of others.

Flexibility provided in Articles 102 and 191 of the Constitution by way of exceptions is being misused in complete disregard of the intentions of the said provisions resulting in decay in standards of political morality and decline in the spirit of service and sacrifice in public life. Large numbers of elected members are appointed to the offices of profit under the government. Thus they having become a part of the Executive, cannot work independently and cannot discharge their duty of holding the Executive to account. Appointments of elected members to offices of profit under the government is required to be prohibited.

Articles 105 and 194 pertain to powers, privileges and immunities of the members of parliament and State Legislators. They are often misused by the members and their conduct in the House is becoming more and more unworthy of them. No specific law has been enacted as regards privileges of the members of the House. Large discretionary area therefore exists which is being misused. In any area wherein a citizen will find it difficult to procure/obtain his requirement, elected representatives are granted privileges eg. purchase of rail/air tickets, obtaining gas connection, medical treatment in government hospitals etc. However the greatest grievance of the public is against the defacto privileges enjoyed by them and their supporters (without being granted), such as immunity to misbehavior. No action can be taken against them and their supporter for their misbehavior with a public servant or with a citizen and no case will be registered against them even for any criminal act or act of wanton destruction of public property or any illegal act. In fact citizens are divided in two groups - elected representatives as rulers and the rest as their subjects. There is no justification for granting any privilege to elected representatives. However, even if, it is considered necessary to grant them privileges, to make things transparent and well defined, keeping in view the rights and duties of elected representatives' vis-à-vis that of the public and public servants a proper legislation is absolutely essential.

Practice of granting discretionary grants has resulted in national representatives handling local issues. Problems relating to a State are raised in Parliament and problems within the sphere of the Union are agitated in the State Assembly resulting in waste of time of elected bodies. Therefore local, State and National representatives should be accountable to the people for local, State and National matters respectively. Members of Parliament should not interfere in the matter of financing of intra-state works, which is solely the responsibility of members of Legislative Assembly. Present practice of placing discretionary grants at the disposal of members of Parliament for local works should therefore be discontinued.

Expenditure on emoluments/salaries, allowances and perquisites should be made transparent. Free-transport, housing, electricity, telephone calls etc. makes expenditure thereon a hidden cost and the said facilities are grossly misused. Payment to elected representatives should be adequate but not attractive. The adequacy or otherwise should be determined by an authority other than they themselves. The direct and indirect financial and other benefits to elected representatives have become so attractive that those who have lust for power and pelf, rather than inclination to serve people, have taken it as a career or profession and adopt dubious means in the elections to drive out those who sincerely want to serve the people. Expenditure on emoluments/salaries, allowances and perquisites of political executives, members of the House and government bureaucracy is increasing day by day and has reached a high percentage of total government expenditure. To make payment of salary, many State governments have to take resort to borrowing or to take loans or to make use of overdraft facility with Reserve Bank or to postpone payment of dearness allowance or to issue instructions to compulsorily deposit them in provident fund account.

5.8.1 The Constitution has under Articles 245 and 246 given powers to the Parliament and Legislative Assembly to make laws on the subjects listed in the Seventh Schedule - Lists I, II & III. Entry 71 in the List I reads - 'Union Pensions: that is to say pensions payable by the Government of India or out of the Consolidated Fund of India'. Entry 42 in the List II reads - "State Pensions: that is to say pension payable by the State or out of the Consolidated Fund of the State". Entry 97 in List I reads - "Any other matter not enumerated in List-II or List-III including any tax not mentioned in either of these Lists".

The members of Parliament and Legislative Assembly have by utilising their power under these provisions, bestowed upon themselves the benefit of pension, allowances and other facilities, after they cease to be members of the House. On a similar analogy, it would not be inappropriate if, Mayors of Municipal Corporations, Presidents of District / Taluka Panchayats and Municipalities, Sarpanchs and members of District / Taluka / Gram-Panchayats, Municipality and Municipal Corporation, also agitate for giving them pension, allowances and other facilities, when they cease to be members of respective institution/organization. Membership of a House is not a post to earn salary, but it is an honour earned by peoples verdict and accepted voluntarily to be a representative of the people to govern the Country/State in the interest of those governed. Action of elected representatives of enacting laws to provide for payment of pension, allowances and other facilities to elected representatives themselves after they cease to be members of the House is an act of self-aggrandizement and is a gross misuse of power vested in them.

5.8.2 Government/Public servants are selected and appointed under a set of rules. They spend their entire career in taking orders from above and representative of the people to govern the Country/State in the interest of those governed. Action of elected representatives of enacting laws to provide for payment of pension, allowances and other facilities to elected representatives themselves after they cease to be members of the House is an act of self-aggrandizement and is a gross misuse of power vested in them.

5.8.2 Government/Public servants are selected and appointed under a set of rules. They spend their entire career in taking orders from above and The provision made in the Constitution for payment of emoluments/salaries and allowances to them is meant to enable them to devote, during their tenure of membership of the House or office, whole of their time for study of relevant documents and for active participation in the proceedings of the House and which may require them to temporarily suspend their normal vocation. Since the maximum term of Parliament/Legislative Assembly is for five years, they remain members of the House for a maximum period of five years only, which is very short compared to Government/Public Servant's length of service prescribed for eligibility for pension. They cease to be members on the expiry of the term of the House. This is not a case of superannuation. Thus there is no justification for giving pension, allowances and other facilities to such elected representatives after they cease to be members of the House or after their term of office is over.

5.9.1 Financial indiscipline has landed our country into economic morass.

5.9.2 Government expenditure is classified into two categories: viz. Revenue expenditure and Capital expenditure. Capital expenditure is required to be recovered from beneficiaries. Ignoring the principle underlying classification of government expenditure, large expenditure in creating and maintaining facilities relating to irrigation, roads, bridges, water- supply, road transport, electricity, railways and other infrastructure services which fall under the category of capital expenditure is not fully recovered by way of users' charges from their respective beneficiaries. This non-recovery of capital expenditure from beneficiaries has created a situation wherein myriad organized interest groups have emerged, each one competing with others in pressurising government to take up works [even uneconomic works] at government cost for their benefit. In short there is rivalry - Village Vs Village, Taluka Vs Taluka, District Vs District, State Vs State - each one trying to extract maximum from the common kitty. The benefits obtained by each group are related to the strength of the political clout that it has. No doubt welfare State has to help and support the poor. However economic realities make free welfare for all an unrealisable dream. All State benefits shall therefore be extended at an individual level and should be means tested so that only truly needy receive them and shall form a part of revenue expenditure, whereas all others pay adequate users charges to state exchequer to cover fully the cost of creating and maintaining the relevant services.

5.9.3 Wants are unlimited and resources are limited. To meet with special exigencies, the Constitution has given unbounded powers to the Parliament to create temporarily additional resources by (i) using legislative power - for deficit financing and directing/permitting the Reserve Bank of India to issue promissory notes in excess of its assets; and (ii) borrowing money on the security of Consolidated Fund of India/State as provided under Articles 292/293 of the Constitution. The first one amounts to concealed robbery by the State of the savings of the people. The second one passes on the buck to the subsequent government to repay such borrowings and interest thereon. This unbounded power is misutilized to cater to ever expanding, insatiable demands which are generated as a result of removal of tag of recovery of full cost of creating and maintaining a facility from its beneficiaries. Not only no government is presenting a balanced budget but also no government wants to take any harsh measures to repay the borrowings. On the contrary government after government has invariably added to the liabilities by more and more borrowings. This has landed our country into economic mire. The internal and external debt of Union Government and internal debt of State governments is increasing year after year. As per reports published by the Reserve Bank of India (Ref. 13 pp. 220, 221 & 240) internal debt of union government which was Rs. 2.75 lac crores in 1990-91 has increased to Rs. 11.22 lac crores by 2000-2001 and that of State Governments which was Rs. One lac crore in 1990-91 has increased to Rs. 4.95 lac crores by 2000-2001. The external debt of our country of $ 50 billion in 1990-91, has progressively increased to $ 93 billion in 1995-96, to $ 97 billion in 1997-98 and to $ 98.39 billion in 2000-2001. The above figures do not take into account additional liabilities on account of external debt created by Corporate sector. State Bank of India and other banks and public sector undertakings by obtaining money from capital market from NIRs & OCBs.

It may be stated that –  "….. (American Congress) has enacted 'the Balanced Budget Act of 1965'. The Act required automatic, across the board cuts in spending, if the government's deficit grew beyond a pre-determined limit. The Comptroller General of the United States was empowered to detail the necessary cut." (Ref. 16, P. 159)

I M Shah

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