The Law Commission has recommended that newspaper advertisements on the eve of elections be banned. In a report released on Thursday, the commission wanted Independent candidates to be barred from contesting elections, and paid news made an electoral offence leading to disqualification.
Headed by Justice A.P. Shah, the commission submitted its 255th report, on the issue of electoral reforms, to the Union Law Ministry.
Noting that the ban on broadcast of election matter 48 hours prior to an election was restricted to the electronic media now, the commission recommended such prohibition for the print media also.
The report recommends regulating opinion polls and making disclosures about the methodology mandatory.
The commission, while stopping short of recommending state funding of elections or limits to political parties’ expenditure on elections, recommended several changes to election funding legislation.
Noting that “the current system tolerates, or at least does not prevent, lobbying and capture, where a sort of quid pro quo transpires between big donors and political parties/candidates”, the report recommends making it mandatory for all parties to declare donations of even less than the current Rs. 20,000 limit, if the total of such contributions adds up to Rs. 20 crore, or makes up 20 per cent of the party’s income, whichever is lower.
Welcoming many of the recommendations, Jagdeep Chhokar, co-founder of the Association for Democratic Reforms, whose work the report refers extensively to, said, however, that the organisation would continue to press for limits on political parties’ expenditure.
Independent candidates are often “dummy” candidates, the commission said. It criticised compulsory voting, recently introduced during local elections in Gujarat, and did not support the right to recall or a move to proportional representation.
The report recommended measures to strengthen the Election Commission and for a collegium or selection committee, which includes the Leader of Opposition, to appoint commissioners.
