CHENNAI: Six retired judges from Madras high court and one from Patna HC have written to President Droupadi Murmu and chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar, expressing deep concern over the conduct of the 2024 general elections and urging protection of “electoral democracy in India”.
The letter, writer by former judges D Hariparanthaman, GM Akbar Ali, Aruna Jagadeesan, PR Sivakumar, S Vimala, and CT Selvam from Madras HC, along with Anjana Prakash from Patna HC, highlights issues in the electoral process.
They criticised EC’s refusal to disclose the exact numbers of votes cast in each booth of every constituency and the lack of public availability of Form 17(C) of Conduct of Election Rules. They also condemned the minimal action taken against hate speech targeting minorities and opposition parties by senior politicians of the governing party.
“We, former HC judges, having no affiliation to any political party, but strongly committed to the ideals enshrined in the Constitution of India, and to the values of electoral democracy, write this open letter from a deep anguish at the recent and present goings-on with regard to the parliamentary polls 2024,” the former judges wrote.
They called for the immediate intervention of Supreme Court, demanding the presence and attendance of the top five SC judges during the ongoing summer vacation to respond to any constitutional crisis that might arise following the elections. “We hope that our apprehensions are wrong, and the polls will end smoothly with counting of votes and declaration of results done in a fair and honest manner,” they said.
The letter, writer by former judges D Hariparanthaman, GM Akbar Ali, Aruna Jagadeesan, PR Sivakumar, S Vimala, and CT Selvam from Madras HC, along with Anjana Prakash from Patna HC, highlights issues in the electoral process.
They criticised EC’s refusal to disclose the exact numbers of votes cast in each booth of every constituency and the lack of public availability of Form 17(C) of Conduct of Election Rules. They also condemned the minimal action taken against hate speech targeting minorities and opposition parties by senior politicians of the governing party.
“We, former HC judges, having no affiliation to any political party, but strongly committed to the ideals enshrined in the Constitution of India, and to the values of electoral democracy, write this open letter from a deep anguish at the recent and present goings-on with regard to the parliamentary polls 2024,” the former judges wrote.
They called for the immediate intervention of Supreme Court, demanding the presence and attendance of the top five SC judges during the ongoing summer vacation to respond to any constitutional crisis that might arise following the elections. “We hope that our apprehensions are wrong, and the polls will end smoothly with counting of votes and declaration of results done in a fair and honest manner,” they said.