In this week's South Central, hosts Dhanya Rajendran and Anisha Sheth are joined by activist Shivasundar to discuss the nationwide protests against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and the demand for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's removal.
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“The wisdom of the old and the energy of youth must come together” remarks Shivasundar and adds that there are nuances that need to be cleared out, yet “morally and politically, ‘Gyanu, it is done bro,’ but legally it is a long way.”
He urges civil society to introspect on why West Bengal's resistance to the SIR, largely involving Muslims, did not draw the same attention. Dhanya asks why it took so long for the anger to spread nationwide, and recalls that mass Form 7 filings were tried in Karnataka in 2023 as well. Anisha, who broke the Form 7 story in Karnataka, wonders whether vigilant civil society pushed the ECI to share more data.
In the second part of the discussion, they are joined by lawyer and legal scholar Alok Prasanna, co-founder of the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, who talks about the legal immunity enjoyed by the CEC.
Alok explains that the 2023 law gives election commissioners judge-like immunity for actions beyond deciding cases, though not for conduct before their appointment.
He argues the provision can be challenged and struck down, noting that the pending challenge has been complicated by a conflict-of-interest controversy involving Justice Sharma. He adds that the revised Form 6 never followed the statutory procedure, and that the wide powers the Supreme Court gave the ECI in the Bihar judgment are now being walked back.
Tune in to this discussion here.
Audio timecodes
00:00:00 - Introduction
00:01:42 - Headlines
00:08:12 - SIR protests
00:27:19 - Can Election Commissioners be prosecuted?
00:56:55 - Recommendations
References
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Why a Buddhist activist has challenged the full version of Vande Mataram
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Same pattern, more names: Form 7 objections in Karnataka’s Bhalki targets Muslim voters
8 emails in 7 days, but valid Goa voters still left out: EC’s flawed system
Goa case of 97 voters: One day after Express report, deleted voters asked to submit Form 6
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Producer - Akshay Lal, Editor - Jaseem Ali, Camera - Sreerag T K, Social Media - Anakha C J
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