Govt unlikely to act on CECs note

The Government has taken a dim view of Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswamis report to the President recommending the removal of Election Commissioner Navin Chawla.

The Government has taken a dim view of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) N Gopalaswamis report to the President recommending the removal of Election Commissioner Navin Chawlaespecially its timing,barely weeks before the notification of general electionhighly placed sources have told ‘The Indian Express’.

The sources said it was very unlikely that the Centre would act on the recommendation. Plans to appoint a new CEC from within the present EC after Gopalaswamis retirement on April 20 remain unchanged,they said. Navin Chawla is expected to succeed the CEC.

The Congress,which said it was studying the issue,on Sunday indicated its resolve to back Chawla all the way.

AICC spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi also pointed out that Gopalaswami had been handpicked by the then Home Minister L K Advani to be Home Secretary before his appointment to the EC,and that there appeared to be a remarkable congruence between his views and the BJPs.

Government sources maintain that Gopalaswami had,by informing the Supreme Court that he had the authority to decide on fellow ECs and by sending an unsolicited view to the President asking for Chawla to be removed,departed from what his predecessor B B Tandon had told the Court in June 2006.

Tandon had said the CEC cannot act suo motu on the memorandum before him unless the President first made a reference to the Commission.

They are also of the view that the proviso for the possible removal of an Election Commissioner requiring the nod from the CEC,is meant as protection for the Cto guard against a possible arbitrary government move to tamper with the functioning of a Commissioner,and not the vesting of the right to sack a colleague in the hands of the CEC.

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The allegations against Chawla essentially centre on his alleged proximity,and partisanship towards the ruling Congress party.

Asked if the Congress would continue to back Chawla to be the next CEC despite the current political controversy and its potential to soil the authority of the Election Commission,Singhvi told The Indian Express on Sunday: Despite all uncertainties and chaos,which the BJP has tried to create,let me assure you that Indias constitution and institutions are robust. Everything shall proceed in the same clockwork manner as it was designed despite repeated attempt to derail it and to create chaos before the election,which is clearly the BJPs object.

Singhvi said it was for the Government to decide on the complaint against Chawla. As for the credibility of the institution suffering,those responsible for it will have to be asked, he added.

We have not ever commented on a constitutional authority,but are compelled to do so now only in responseWe could but we never did assail the fact that Adavani had picked him (Gopalaswami) up as his Home Secretary at the Centre before he was appointed EC. We could similarly have pointed out the case of Himachal Pradesh where election was pre-poned by four months without even consulting the Chief Minister,which was unprecedented, Singhvi said.

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The spokesman described the timing and sequence of the CECs recommendation as peculiar.

From 2005 to 2007,there is no whisper from the CEC about any of his colleagues. In the Supreme Court,the BJP fails to elicit any order despite clamouring for it. Suddenly,while the matter is pending in the SC,the CEC,on his own,states that he has the power to make recommendations on his colleagues. On that magical statement,the BJP immediately withdraws the petition and transfers the complaint to the CEC. Again from 2007 to 2009,the CEC is silent and does what he does on the eve of elections. This remarkable congruence of views between the BJP and the CEC is the most unfortunate, Singhvi said.