Upending Principles of Natural Justice

Why in news?

The Election Commission’s proposal to have the Representation of People Act (RPA) amended to disqualify legislators charge-sheeted for bribing voters is well-intentioned but bad in principle.

What happened?

• The EC has drawn its recommendation from a proposal the Law Commission mooted in 2014.
• It attempts to turn the dictum of any justice system on its head, i.e., that a person is innocent until proven guilty.
• The Commission had called for including a new section in the RPA to expand the ambit of the disqualification provision to include a person against whom “a charge has been framed by a competent court for an offence punishable by at least five years imprisonment” for a period of six years.
• Or “till the date of quashing of charge or acquittal, whichever is earlier”.
• The EC has also sought to make bribery a cognisable offence under the CrPC, which would bestow on the police the authority to arrest an accused without a warrant.
• These are draconian measures, which violate the principles of natural justice.

What is the principles of natural justice?

• Natural justice implies fairness, reasonableness, equity and equality.
• Natural justice is the concept of common law and it is the common-law world counterpart of the American ‘procedural due process’.
• In India, the principles of natural justice are firmly grounded in Article 14 and 21 of the Constitution.
• Principles of natural justice are attracted whenever a person suffers a civil consequence or a prejudice is caused to him in any administrative action.
• These two are the basic pillars of the Principles of Natural Justice. No system of law can survive without these two basic pillars.
  • Nemo in propria causa judex, esse debet – ‘No one should be made a judge in his own case, or the rule against bias.’
  • Audi alteram partem – ‘Hear the other party, or the rule of fair hearing, or the rule that no one should be condemned unheard.’

What is the problem with the move?

• The call for such a drastic measure evidently stems from the failure to curb corruption in elections.
• It is said that the RPA provisions have failed to act as a deterrent against electoral malpractices since trials extend for years and rarely result in convictions.
• The RPA, indeed, has a provision to disqualify and bar a legislator if convicted for poll graft. However, the keyword here is conviction.
• It is true that, democracy needs to be cleansed of electoral malpractices, but that must be done by the patient labour of improving processes and reforming institutions.

What is the way forward?

• The way out is to reform the judicial process and ensure early and time-bound trial and closure in cases.
• Surely, there must be effective deterrence to prevent the subversion of due process, but the onus for ensuring that must to be on institutions.

Source: The Hindu