The plea was filed in the top court through advocate Sravan Kumar Karanam.
New Delhi:
The Supreme Court today refused to hear a plea seeking implementation of the Election Commission’s 2012 recommendations regarding the cooling-off period to prevent civil servants from contesting elections immediately after their retirement or dismissal.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Sandeep Mehta allowed petitioner GV Harsha Kumar, a former parliamentarian, to withdraw the plea, with liberty to approach the competent authority.
The plea sought directions to the EC and the Center to implement the 2012 recommendations of the poll panel and the July 2004 report of the Commission for Civil Service Reforms to prevent government officials from contesting elections to the legislature, parliament or state assembly at a political meeting. party ticket, immediately after retirement or dismissal, by imposing a cooling-off period.
It had also sought advice from the Center to grant one pension to the bureaucrats who served as members of the Assembly and Parliament.
The plea was filed in the top court through advocate Sravan Kumar Karanam.
“This report is from 2012,” the bench noted, adding: “Do you want to withdraw or argue?”.
The lawyer said he would withdraw the request.
The plea stated that the petitioner had been a Lok Sabha MP between 2004 and 2014.
It said the Election Commission in 2012 and the committee appointed by the Center for Civil Service Reforms had recommended a cooling-off period for bureaucrats and civil servants entering politics and contesting elections.
“But despite these recommendations being made twenty years ago, they are not being implemented, leading several bureaucrats and judges to voluntarily retire and choose to immediately participate in elections by joining a political party, without cooling-off period,” the report said.
“The officers/civil servants who were alleged to have assisted unlawfully were rewarded by certain political parties by offering them tickets to participate in the Assembly and Assembly elections,” the report alleged.
The plea stated that civil servants/judges often have access to sensitive and confidential information during their tenure and allowing an immediate transition to a political role may raise concerns about the misuse of privileged information for personal or party gain.
“A cooling-off period ensures that civil servants have the necessary time to distance themselves from their previous roles and responsibilities,” the report said.
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