A notice was issued by the Supreme Court on Friday on a PIL challenging the constitutional validity of Section 11 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
The Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) U.U. Lalit and Justice Bela M. Trivedi issued notice on the plea filed by NGO Lok Prahari, seeking the Apex Court to either strike down or read down Section 11 of the 1951 Act on the grounds that it amounted to ‘excessive delegation’.
During the hearing, the CJI made an oral observation, asking what was bad about the particular Section, since the Parliament itself had noted that the power to remove or reduce the period of disqualification of a Legislator could be delegated to the Election Commission of India (ECI).
When the Counsel of the petitioner insisted that delegation of power amounted to excessive delegation, the Apex Court issued notice in the case and fixed December 5 as the next date of hearing.
Section 11 of the 1951 Act says, “The Election Commission may, for reasons to be recorded, remove any disqualification under this Chapter 1[(except under section 8A)] or reduce the period of any such disqualification.”
(Case title: Lok Prahari vs UoI And Anr)