An advocate on record on the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) panel of counsel in the Supreme Court, Mohit D. Ram, on Thursday resigned from the position, citing a difference in values with the functioning of the Commission currently.
Mr. Ram wrote to the ECI, saying that he had been one of its panel counsels since 2013, but could no longer continue.
“…I have found that my values are not in consonance with the current functioning of the ECI; and hence I withdraw myself from the responsibilities of its panel counsel before the Supreme Court of India,” the letter stated.
He added that he would ensure a smooth transition on the matters pending with his office.
Mr. Ram could not be reached for comments on Friday.
ECI officials said Mr. Ram had not been assigned any case since 2019. A senior official said the ECI had three advocates on record who assisted senior counsel, who are engaged on case to case basis. Mr. Ram would be “disengaged” with regard to any matters pending with him, the official said.
Mr. Ram’s letter comes in the wake of the ECI moving the Supreme Court against remarks by the Madras High Court that it was responsible for the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, where Assembly elections were concluded on May 2, and that ECI officials should be charged with murder. The Supreme Court on Thursday declined to restrain the media from reporting the observations.
