NEW DELHI: The recent decision to give clean chit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi isn’t taken unanimously.
According to the sources within the Election Commission told India Today TV that on five occasions one of the two election commissioners from among the three member full Commission dissented.
The second official, election commissioner Ashok Lavasa gave a dissenting view in the poll body’s decision to give a clean chit on complaints of model code violations against PM Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah.
The Hindustan Times news report said that the official who gave his dissent in EC’s decision has no record in the final order and has written to the commission seeking to know why his view has not been put on record.
It was reported that the final order is supposed to mention the dissenting voice and made public. But this was not the case.
Since the e Election Commission (Conditions of Service of Election Commissioners and Transaction of Business) Act, 1991 allow for the order to be issued on the basis of opinion of the majority, the dissenting official outnumbered by his fellow commissioners and the PM and Shah were given clean chits in all the cases.
The poll panel’s rules comprises Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora and the two election commissioners – Ashok Lavasa and Sushil Chandra express unanimous view, but provide for a majority ruling.