West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is making her stand clear against Special Intensive Revision (SIR). During her Delhi visit, the TMC supremo took families affected in her state to meet Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and appeared in person in the Supreme Court on Wednesday for the hearing on her and other petitions by Trinamool Congress (TMC) against the Election Commission (EC).
In a press conference on Tuesday, Mamata extended her support to Leader of Opposition in Parliament Rahul Gandhi to introduce a retrospective law against past and current CECs. “If anything is genuine and practical, in favour of the public, I also want his impeachment. We don’t have the numbers, but impeachment can still take place; there is a provision. It will be recorded. If they (Congress) do anything like this, we will take our party MPs into confidence. If it is in the public interest, we work together. We have no objection,” she said.
The BJP was quick to attack Mamata’s statement. “Anyone can bring in an impeachment motion, but do you have the numbers to impeach someone? You do not have the power. No matter how much Bengali you speak and write poems in English, the people of India have not voted you into power. Your party is seated behind as an opposition party,” said Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar.
What merit does Mamata’s statement have?
Article 324 of the Constitution, pertaining to the functioning of the EC and its officials, states, “The Chief Election Commissioner shall not be removed from his office except in like manner and on the like grounds as a Judge of the Supreme Court, and the conditions of service of the Chief Election Commissioner.”
To impeach a Supreme Court (SC) Judge or the CEC, the following process requires to be initiated:
Signatures by 100 MPs in Lok Sabha or 50 MPs in Rajya Sabha.
Motion to be accepted for discussion by the Speaker of Lok Sabha and Chairman of Rajya Sabha.
Grounds for impeachment motion include proving misconduct or incapacity.
Motion must be passed by a majority of the total membership of each house.
2/3rd majority of members present and voting.
“Normally, Trinamool (Congress) does not have the required majority to bring in an impeachment motion in Parliament. It has to be signed by 100 members of Parliament. If Rahul Gandhi’s party joins her, then it may be possible. That is a political development,” explained retired Supreme Court Judge, Justice Ashok Kumar Ganguly. He added that no impeachment motion has yet been tabled against an Election Commissioner.
“It is extremely difficult. First, it has to be signed, then it has to be debated in Parliament. The ruling party, I don’t think, will join in the impeachment motion; they will debate against it. There has to be an inquiry on allegations against the Chief Election Commissioner. There has to be voting, as a majority is required to pass the motion. So, everything is in a state of a complicated situation,” said Ganguly. “The process may take more than six months.”
What happens if the impeachment motion is not taken up in Parliament?
“Mamata’s goal is about recording it in Parliament. It is more of a token protest instead of removal, which is not possible as the opposition does not have the numbers. On what grounds they are going to do that needs to be clarified. Whether this impeachment motion will be accepted by the Speaker of Lok Sabha and Chairman of Rajya Sabha, is there enough ground to have an impeachment motion even if the opposition has numbers,” said Professor Maidul Islam, Professor of Political Science, The Centre for Studies in Social Sciences.
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“On what grounds? Because there is no financial corruption or any other kind of corruption or serious charges. That is another issue. You cannot say that they (EC) are arbitrarily deleting names, as the case is already pending in the Supreme Court,” said Islam, adding that the EC is also following interim orders or directions by the SC, which does not amount to the EC breaking the law.
What does Mamata’s Supreme Court appearance and impeachment suggestion symbolise?
Mamata’s appearance in SC on SIR or her suggestion to support the impeachment motion if Congress’s Rahul Gandhi suggests a retrospective law to impeach current or past CECs symbolises:
“This is what you call the performative acts of a populist leader. It is basically showing her core constituency in Bengal that for your (people’s) interests, I can go to Delhi and fight the mightiest government, and keeping my promise of launching my protest,” said Prof. Islam.
The TMC supremo’s grit of cultivating an image of an opposition leader at the Centre, even though she is the Chief Minister of West Bengal, shows her posturing of being a street fighter to take on the BJP not just in her state but even at the Centre.