The stand of the CEC N. Gopalaswamy that he can act against a member of the EC either suo motu or on receipt of a memorandum appears to be correct. Sixty years of India’s freedom have shown that we survived assaults on democracy primarily because unlike Pakistan we have a professional and a non-political army, a judiciary which does not follow the ballot box and an election commission which at the behest of government does not rig elections. We also have a media which though at times over-enthusiastic, is usually independent.

In the 60th year of independence let our politicians and government pause and think whether any of these institutions must be tinkered with or their strength, independence and professionalism diluted.

The writer, a senior lawyer and BJP leader, is a Rajya Sabha MP