NEW DELHI: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said any fresh Opposition motion to remove Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar would be dealt with under the procedure laid down in parliamentary rules. His remarks came amid growing protests over the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, after earlier removal notices were rejected and another attempt remained pending in the Rajya Sabha.
Birla was responding to a question on the campaign against Kumar during a press conference ahead of the 12th BRICS Parliamentary Forum in New Delhi on Thursday.
“We will follow the process when the motion is moved. Just as there is a procedure for the impeachment of judges, there is a process laid down for the CEC too… It will be followed if the opposition moves a motion,” Birla said.
Opposition’s earlier attempts to remove CEC
The Opposition has already tried twice to initiate proceedings for Gyanesh Kumar’s removal. Notices in the first attempt were rejected by the presiding officers of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, while notices from the second attempt are still pending in the Upper House.
A fresh move would therefore be another attempt, rather than a continuation of a motion already cleared for debate.
The protests are linked to the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR), an exercise to check and update electoral rolls. Opposition parties allege that the revision has led to irregularities and could deprive eligible citizens of their voting rights.
They have demanded Kumar’s resignation and met President Droupadi Murmu to press for his removal.
Fresh criticism followed an Indian Express investigation, which reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi recorded objections at least 14 times over 10 months to decisions concerning voter registration, deletions and election software. According to the report, some instructions were issued without their knowledge or approval.
The Election Commission has disputed the suggestion that those notes show improper decision-making. It said differing views were part of normal internal discussions and that the Commission’s decisions over the preceding year were unanimous. The allegations against Kumar have not been established through the parliamentary removal process.
How can the CEC be removed?
Removing the Chief Election Commissioner is not a matter of a simple majority vote or a speaker’s announcement. Article 324(5) of the Constitution protects the CEC from removal except on the same grounds and in the same manner as a Supreme Court judge.
Under Article 124(4), the required grounds are proved misbehaviour or incapacity. Removal requires the backing of a majority of the total membership of each House of Parliament, as well as at least two-thirds of the members present and voting in each House.
Both houses must act in the same session before the President can issue the removal order.
Under the procedure used for judges, a removal notice requires signatures from at least 100 Lok Sabha MPs or 50 Rajya Sabha MPs. The relevant presiding officer then decides whether to admit it. A notice being submitted does not itself mean that the office-holder will face removal.
The Opposition has also sought the repeal of a provision in the 2023 election commissioners law that protects serving and former commissioners from civil or criminal proceedings over actions taken in the discharge, or purported discharge, of official duties.
Meanwhile, the INDIA bloc is preparing a rally in Delhi on November 1 to press its demands over the SIR and Kumar’s continuation in office.
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