Delhi High Court has reprimanded the Election Commission (ECI) for the deployment of teachers for SIR duty. Delhi High Court questioned the Election Commission as to why school teachers in the state were deployed for the work related to 'Special Intensive Revision' (SIR) of the voter list. The bench of Delhi High Court Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyay and Justice Tejas Karia asked whether the ECI can do anything of its own free will using Article 324 of the Constitution.
The court asked, “Do you do whatever you want under the cover of Article 324?” The court further said that no one is interested in the honorarium or compensation being given. Can the instructions issued by you be called necessary? Can you just say, “No, no, no, we're paying compensation, so come,” and ruin their vacation? Don't they need rest? The court also asked the Election Commission under what authority they are directing school teachers to work on SIR, whereas the ECI can also punish those teachers who do not do this.
Advocate Sanjay Vashishtha, appearing for the Election Commission, argued that the SIR process was almost complete in Delhi and after all, only 10-14% school teachers were called for the duty of correcting the voter list. Vashishtha said that the Election Commission gets the power to appoint employees from Section 13B (2) of the 'Representation of the People Act', and this power is used to avoid any kind of problem.
However, the court said that even though the ECI calls the employees “volunteers”, they have no real option to refuse SIR duty. The court said that if the Commission declares the participation as voluntary, then the petition can be disposed of.
A lawyer for the Election Commission said that teachers have to work only during holidays and non-teaching hours. The court questioned why teachers are not entitled to leave like regular government employees and why they are asked to work as Booth Level Officers (BLO) during holidays. Delhi High Court directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to file an affidavit stating its stand and fixed the next hearing for July 28.
It is noteworthy that the Delhi High Court was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by lawyers Rajesh Kumar Gogna and Ashok Aggarwal, challenging the ECI's decision to use the services of teachers for election-related work.
Article 324 of the Indian Constitution deals with the establishment of the Election Commission of India (ECI) and its powers to conduct free and fair elections in the country. It directs, controls and conducts the elections of Parliament, State Assemblies, President and Vice President.
