CA : RPA 1951
CA : RPA 1951
Section titled “CA : RPA 1951”2019-05-15 19:16 :52
Registration and Disqualification of Political Parties
Section titled “Registration and Disqualification of Political Parties”-
Section 29A also deals with Registration of political parties.
- Applican is asked to published proposed name of the party in 2 national newspapers and 2 local dailies.
- 2 days for submitting objections to ECI.
- Notive for publication is then displayed on the ECI website.
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National Party : Reg under Section 29 A RPA. Conditions Benefits.
- Exclusive reserved symbol in sate for state party likewise national.
- 1 proposer req filing nomination 2 sets of electoral roll free.
- Broadcast/telecast facility.
- Nominate 40 star campaigner their travel expenses not counted election expense.
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Political Parties Registration and tracking Management System is a new online tracking system, will allow real time tracking from Jan 1 2020.
Election Expenditure and
Section titled “Election Expenditure and”-
Expenditure limit for candidates contesting LS elections have been inc to 70-95 lakh depending on the states. For assembly elections it is 28-40 lakh.
- Section 77 of RPA 1951 says that candidate had to maintain all expenditure incurred and submit it to ECI within 30 days of completion of elections.
- Section 10A of RPA 1951 -> expenditure beyond cap can lead to disqualification for upto 3 yrs
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India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management : learning, research, training, collab with various gov and UN.
- Roles : enhance voter education, free fair election in India, develop human resource, partner w/ other countries.
- Established by ECI to improve its election mgt.
Issues with exit polls
Section titled “Issues with exit polls”- Exit Polls ask voters who they voted. Sectn 126A no exit polls during voting.
- Need for NOTA : express disapproval, bring clean candidates, freedom speech, inc polling percentage.
- Article 101 cannot be member of both houses, resign in 14 days or disqualified both RPA 1951.
Postal Ballots
Section titled “Postal Ballots”- Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot system(ETPBS) for Military, paramilitary, diplomats to vote; developed by C-DAC 2 tier system.
- The Conduct of Election Rules 1961 was amended for service members who could not cast their votes e.g. voters on duty like aviation, shipping, railways, emergency services, elderly, physically challenged, journalists covering elections.
State Funding of Elections
Section titled “State Funding of Elections”-
State funding of elections to ensure transparency + fairness, proposes setting National Election Fund.
- Need : to keep contact w/ constituency, curb corruption, transparent.
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Private bill : 1 month prior notice, house secretariat checks for compliance, introduced and discussed only on Fridays.
Disqualification of Politicians
Section titled “Disqualification of Politicians”-
Section 11 of the RPA allows annulling of disqualification of a person by ECI. Concerns
- could be said as unconstitutional since it provides arbitrary power to the ECI.
- This power seldom used as a civil disability created by electoral law and not a second punishment.
- removing disqualification goes against the legislative and judicial measures in place to check corruption.
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10th Schedule : Speaker cannot disqualify legislatures while a notice of resolution for his removal is pending; inserted by 52nd CAA 1985 to check legislature defection.
Issues wrt to Star Campaigners
Section titled “Issues wrt to Star Campaigners”- Star Campaigner
- recognise political party can have upto 40 and unrecognised but registered can have 20.
- Their expenditure is exempt from being added to the election exp -> only applies to a general campaign for the political party.
- If he/she campaigns for 1 candidate, eg shares the stage expenses will be added.
- Senior citizens over 65+ yrs can vote through postal ballots
Criminalisation in Politics
Section titled “Criminalisation in Politics”-
Ways to check criminalisation in politics :
- political parties should refuse tickets to tainted
- amend RPA to debar person against whom heinous cases are pending
- fast track courts decided case of tainted legislators
- transparency in campaign fin
- ECI should have power to audit fin accounts of pol parties
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Public Interest Foundation Vs Union of IN 2018 : ==mandatory for political parties to publish all criminal cases against candidates==
- PUCL v. Union of India -> right of citizens to cast a negative vote
- Public Interest Foundation and Ors. v Union of India (2014) -> subordinate courts to decide on cases involving legislators within 1 yr.
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Some other efforts made by SC to curb criminalisation of politics are :
- In 2002 it made obligatory to disclose criminal cases,
- NOTA judgement was passed in 2014,
- Asked the Subordinate courts to dispose cases involving legislatures in 1 yr and in 2018 asked to disclose such records in newspapers/websites.
Unrecognition of Political Parties
Section titled “Unrecognition of Political Parties”- Section 29A of RPA deals w/ Unrecognised political parties.
- Right to cast vote is neither a fundamental nor a common law right. Individuals who are under ==lawful custody, undertrials, prisoners== cannot vote per RPA section 62. Only people under preventive detention can.
Electoral Trust Scheme
Section titled “Electoral Trust Scheme”- Electoral Trust #Scheme 2013
- ET is an NPO for receiving contribution; scheme was notified by CBDT
- It distributes contributions received by it to politial parties
- cannot accept contribution from foreign citizens and conpanies
- maintains a list of person from whom contri came and to whom it was given
Compulsory Voting
Section titled “Compulsory Voting”- Compulsory voting debated by B R Ambedkar, discussed again by Dinesh Goswami committee.
- Challenges : problem w/ disabled +old people, against fundamental rights of liberty and expression, expenditure incurred will be high
One Nation One Election
Section titled “One Nation One Election”-
One nation One election wants LS, State election, Panchayats Urban bodies simultaneously.
- Merits of One election sys : expenditure massive, Model Code results in policy paralysis - short term thinking, burden manpower, pressure parties elections expensive, cost mgt election ECI, checks black money, efficient governance
- Problem 1 election sys : achieving political consensus, voters vote for same party in state and centre -> 77% chance, Various Articles(83 85 172 174 356 RPA) need amended, restructure ECI, Local elections under States, ==Causes competitive populism== -> mobilising resources for short term populist measures.
- How to improve current sys : cap on expenditure parties, state funding parties based previous year results, reduction poll duration, raise more manpower will create jobs too.
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National Electoral Law Purification and Authentication progam to link Aadhaar no with voter ID to remove multiple enrolments by ECI.
Static - Salient Features of RPA
Section titled “Static - Salient Features of RPA”2020-10-21 17:08:44
- #todo ⏫ ✅ 2023-03-08
Corresponding Chapters in Laxmikanth
- Chapter 69 [[69 - Political Parties.pdf]]
- Chapter 70 [[70 - Role of Regional Parties.pdf]]
- Chapter 71 [[71 - Elections.pdf]]
- Chapter 72 [[72 - Election Laws 1.pdf]]
- Chapter 73 [[73 - Electoral Reforms.pdf]]
- Chapter 74 [[74 - Voting Behavior.pdf]]
- Chapter 75 [[75 - Coalition Government.pdf]]
- Chapter 76 [[76 - Anti Defection Law.pdf]]
Election in India
Section titled “Election in India”2019-05-06 13:55:53
- 900 mill voters, 10 mil polling and security staff.
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- Election observers, drawn from central services, appointed under Section 20B of RPA, appointees of Commission, 20B was added in 1996 to assist commission in free and fair polls, management of polls, eyes and ears of commission, grassroot/field level info provided.
- VVPAT(Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail), for physical verification. EVM detects election fraud, malfunction, transparent, voter confidence, speeds election, less time counting.
- If any of the election commissioners dissent majority view is conveyed to the party.
- Limit on expenditure Rs70 lakh LS and Rs 28lakh on state assembly elections, section 10A of RPA, 1951
- Sale of electoral bonds 5days/Month earlier was 10 allows to pay political parties using banks as intermediaries. Resembles promissory notes, no interest paid, does not carry the name of the payee, multiples of Rs 1000 to parties who got = 1% votes election. Earlier system was of anonymous cash donation. Positives : encourages donation of clean money, elements of transparency exist eg donors declaring the bonds purchased. Controversy : some say away from transparency and accountability, influx of black money, big corporate houses
Role of Returning officer
- performs statutory functions under RPA 1951 in a quasi judicial capacity
- application of recounting is decided by RO if it is denied an Election Petition is put before HC under Section 80 of RPA 1951
2020-10-30 14:16:04
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