Economic Reforms with Reference to Electoral Issues

KAS India

Ravindra Srivastava, Vice President of CIB, Pravin H. Parekh, President of CIB, Hon’ble Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar, Chief Justice of India, Hon’ble Shri Pranab Mukherjee, President of India, Hon’ble Justice Dipak Misra, senior most judge at the Supreme Court, Harish N. Salve, Founder Member of CIB, Dr Thomas Kunze, Acting Representative of KAS to India, and Arun Mohan, Senior Advocate (ltr).

During his speech, Justice Dipak Misra emphasized the importance of free and fair elections in a democracy. According to him, while every campaign needed sufficient funds, it is crucial to prevent money from being the all-decisive factor in elections. In the following speech, Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar highlighted the importance of combining economic growth with the creation of social justice.

President Shri Pranab Mukherjee pointed out the imbalance between the share of the public vote parties have polled and the percentage of seats in the parliament won. A phenomenon that has prevailed since India gained its independence. Raising the question of how this affected the accountability of the government, the President called for such shortcomings to be addressed in future reforms.

During the following two-day conference various issues of electoral and judicial reform in India, from campaign financing to educational qualifications of elected representatives, were discussed. Among the speakers and guests were various high-ranking experts, primarily Justices from the Supreme Court and High Courts of India, lawyers, law students, and members of civil society.