ADR ACTIVITIES: FY 2023-24

Nandini

The petition states that leaving the appointment of the members of the Election Commission who are critical for our electoral democracy in the hands of the executive would be seriously detrimental to the health of our democracy and for the conduct of free and fair election. [...] The Election Commission should be fearlessly independent and therefore such appointment should only be done by the President of India based on the advice tendered by a committee consisting of the Prime ADR Annual Report: 2023-24 30 | Page Minister of India, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and, in case, there is no such Leader, the Leader of the largest party in the Opposition in the. [...] In addition, the Leader of Opposition in the House of the People was not furnished necessary details of the six shortlisted candidates in advance to effectively participate in the selection process. [...] Based on ADR’s application, the court expressed serious concerns on the procedure adopted for selection of the incumbents to the two vacant posts of EC and observed that such selections should be made with full details and particulars of the candidates being circulated to all members of the Selection Committee. [...] • The burnt memory/microcontroller in 5% of the EVMs, that is, the control unit, ballot unit and the VVPAT, per assembly constituency/assembly segment of a parliamentary constituency shall be checked and verified by the team of engineers from the manufacturers of the EVMs, post the announcement of the results, for any tampering or modification, on a written request made by candidates who are at SI.