The Law Ministry is understood to have recommended on Friday to President Pratibha Patil [Images] to reject Chief Election
Commissioner N Gopalaswami's [Images] recommendation for the removal of Navin Chawla [Images] as election commissioner.

With this the government may have paved the way of announcing the appointment of Navin Chawla as the successor of  N Gopalaswami.

The government is also likely to appoint another election commissioner along with Chawla's elevation. This would mean till April 21, 2009 the Election Commission might have four members.

When the vacancy arises, after the elevation of Navin Chawla, the govenment is keen to appoint a new election commissoner. Once that  appointment is made, there could be four commissioners till CEC N Gopalaswami retires.

Government sources also conveyed to sources that the rejection of Gopalswami's recommendation and the announcement are likely to be done simultaneously, so that there will not be any legal issues, during the campaign period.

A 2-page letter from the Law Secretary was delivered to the President. The letter says the CEC has just expressed his personal views on the incidents involving Chawla and as such it does not require any action by the President.

Gopalaswami has not mentioned any objections to the continuation of Chawla as an election commissioner, the letter is understood to have underlined.

It says the CEC's communication to the President has been examined and the Law Ministry finds that it does not 'provide' the logic for removing Chawla except for "personal views and the narration of facts with sequences."

Moreover, the letter says that nowhere has the CEC pointed out a violation of responsibility by Chawla, in the EC arriving at a unanimous view on any issue under its consideration.

It added that each election commissioners is open to their personal views and they can not be faulted for such views by dismissal from the post.

Sources in the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is holding its national conclave in Nagapur, said they were not aware of the Law Ministry's report but were not surprised since Law Minister Hansraj Bhardwaj has already declared that the CEC was "playing petty politics."