S.R. Hiremath, national president of Citizens for Democracy, has said that organisation decided to launch a nationwide campaign opposing the recent bill passed by parliament that replaces the Chief Justice of India with a cabinet Minister in the committee to select commissioners of the Election Commission.
In a press conference in Shivamogga on Monday, Mr. Hiremath said unlike in 1975, an undeclared emergency had been in force in the country. “The impact of this undeclared emergency is many times higher than the emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi. The bill passed by parliament violated the spirit of the Supreme Court’s five-judge bench’s judgment. The Supreme Court clearly stated that the committee to select election commissioners should consist of the Prime Minister, Chief Justice of India, and the Leader of Opposition. Now, the bill replaces CJI by a cabinet Minister”, he said.
The final custodians of democracy, the citizens, have to fight against this injustice, he said, adding that Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian Constitution, had expressed his apprehension about such a situation during his debates in the Constituent Assembly. “Now, the executive is trying to bring the Election Commission under its thumb through this bill,” he commented.
Further, Mr. Hiremath said that Janandolana Maha Maitri (JMM), a forum of several organisations involved in people’s movements, had decided to put pressure on the State government to repeal the three anti-farmer and pro-corporate laws. They are the APMC (Amendment) Act, 2020, Karnataka Land Reforms (Amendment) Act, 2020; and the Karnataka Cattle (Prevention of Slaughter and Protection), 2020. This was decided in a meeting of JMM held at Mysuru on December 21, said Hiremath, who is also the founder-president of JMM.
Girish Achar, an activist, was present at the press conference.
