EC lawyer quits, says ‘values not in consonance with those of election panel’

One of the lawyers in the Election Commission of India’s panel of counsels for the Supreme Court, Mohit D Ram, has resigned saying that his values “are not in consonance” with those of the poll panel.

“It was an honour to represent the Election Commission of India (ECI). I had a cherishing milestone of my career, in the journey which began with being part of the office of Standing Counsel of ECI and progressed as one of the panel counsels of ECI (since 2013),” Ram wrote in a letter addressed to the Director (Law) of the Commission on Thursday.

“However, I have found that my values are not in consonance with the current functioning of the ECI; and hence I withdraw myself from the responsibilities of its panel counsel before the Supreme Court of India,” he added.

Ram, who has been on the ECI’s panel of counsels since 2013, has appeared for the poll body in various cases relating to the electoral reforms and decriminalisation of politics.

He represented the poll body in 2015, when the top court ruled that legislators shall stand disqualified not only if he/she has a business contract with the government and its instrumentalities at the time of filing nomination papers, but also if he/she does so after being elected.

Ram also appeared for the poll body in 2018, when the Supreme Court delivered a judgment imploring the Parliament to bring a law that bars people facing serious criminal cases from entering the political stream and “substantial efforts are undertaken to cleanse the polluted stream of politics”.