Govt weighing move to leave Election Commission powerless?

Published On: February 22, 2012 | Duration: 2 min, 06 sec

In a season of public and repeated conflict with the Election Commission, the government is toying with a move that could leave the commission virtually powerless.The Group of Ministers assigned to combat corruption is considering whether to end one of the commission's key areas of responsibility: the code of conduct that applies during elections. The ministers, headed by Pranab Mukherjee, allegedly want to give the code statutory weight - this means that a court would handle any violations, rather than the Election Commission.