Unfortunate as the timing may be, it does not follow that having examined the matter, the CEC should refrain from acting on his findings. The rightness of that recommendation can be judged only when we know the grounds on which it is based.

Finally, the established legal opinion seems to be that the recommendation is not binding on the government, and that it is the appointing authority, namely the president, who has the power to terminate the appointment. That is debatable, but in any case the CEC’s recommendation should clearly be given very careful consideration, and should not be rejected unless there are strong grounds for doing so. That is why it is disturbing to read reports about ‘sources’ saying that the CEC’s recommendation will be rejected and that Chawla will be the next CEC, implying that the recommendation will be rejected out of hand without due consideration.

How will this affect the conduct of the forthcoming elections? Relationships within the commission have been difficult for a long time, and they will continue to be difficult. Despite this, the assembly elections were conducted well, and one hopes that the parliamentary elections will also be managed efficiently and fairly.

The writer is a former civil servant