A total of 193 opposition Members of Parliament (MPs) have signed the notice to recall Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, a source quoted by news agency PTI said. As many as 193 Lok Sabha MPs and 63 Rajya Sabha MPs have reportedly sought the impeachment of Gyanesh Kumar over alleged “irregularities” in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal.
Trinamool Congress sources told ANI that the proposal is expected to be formally tabled on March 13.
According to sources quoted by news agencies, the impeachment notice was signed by all members of the INDIA bloc. The motion was also signed by MPs from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
Meanwhile, the Leader of the Opposition said that MPs had shown great enthusiasm to sign the notice and several lawmakers had come forward to sign it even on Thursday, even though the required numbers had already been reached.
This is the first time that a notice has been issued demanding the removal of CEC.
Trinamool MP Saugata Roy, who had earlier briefed the press about the impeachment motion against CEC Gyanesh Kumar, said, “We will file an impeachment motion against the Chief Election Commissioner under Article 324 of the Constitution. We have many, many complaints against him. The way the SIR has been handled, how people have lost their lives, made public, and so (a) manner of publishing the SIR must be.”
“Therefore, we hope that after the vote of no confidence in the Speaker, that our impeachment or recall resolution will pass,” he said.
According to sources quoted by ANI, as many as seven charges have been leveled against the CEC, ranging from “partisan and discriminatory conduct in office” to “deliberate obstruction of the investigation into electoral fraud” and “mass disenfranchisement”.
They accused the CEC of aiding the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), especially with the ongoing SIR.
How can CEC be removed?
The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) can only be removed by the same procedure and for the same reasons as a Supreme Court judge. As per the rules, at least 100 MPs have to sign the notice to remove the CEC in the Lok Sabha and the required strength in the Rajya Sabha is 50.
According to the Act on the Appointment of the ČEK and Election Commissioners: “ČEK may not be removed from office except in a similar manner and for similar reasons as a judge of the Supreme Court” and other election commissioners may not be removed from office “except on the recommendation of the ČEK”.
