New Delhi: The Election Commission is now facing flak for sending a notice to Sonia Gandhi for accepting the Belgian civilian award. Constitutional experts feel there is no ground for the notice and that the EC should do cross check on the complaints it receives before it issues any notice.
Has the Election Commission acted in a hurry? And has an ego tussle among the three biggies in the Commission forced a tough stand on what many say is a frivolous issue?
“The EC shouldn’t have issued the notice to Sonia Gandhi. It’s just a civilian award,” says Advocate, Supreme Court, Rakesh Dwivedi.
Sonia has been asked to explain whether she violated the people's representation act by accepting the Order of Leopold, Belgium's highest civilian award in November last year.
Former Chief Election Commissioner MS Gill, agrees that the EC should be a bit more discriminating. “EC has to be careful about the notices it issues. Too many notices just fade away,” says MS Gill.
Interestingly in an election year, the Congress is in confrontation with the EC. Experts feel that it may have overstepped its limit, which is why a notice followed it on a perky issue. They also feel that Naveen Chawla is justified in opposing the EC’s notice to Sonia Gandhi.
Earlier, Sonia had quit as MP over the office of profit controversy. However, this time she seems to be on a firmer ground. EC's notice has in fact put the commission's authority on notice.
With inputs from Kajal Iyer
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