'Constitution must protect Election Commissioners'

Citing two "unwarranted episodes" including the demand by his predecessor for his removal, CEC Navin Chawla has written to the government urging for an early amendment of the Constitution to give protection to Election Commissioners against arbitrary sacking.

He has written to the Prime Minister that Election Commissioners should also enjoy protection from the Constitution, now available to the CEC.

"The Commission strongly feels that so long as the provisions of Article 324 (5) stands as they are, recurrence of episodes of the nature described above cannot be ruled out in future, against bringing into serious disrepute and shaking the confidence of the millions of citizens in the integrity and neutrality of the Commission," Chawla said in the letter.

The CEC will demit office in July.

The Election Commission in reply to an RTI application by Subhash Chandra Agrawal provided the letter. Chawla urged the Prime Minister to bestow personal attention in the matter so that the independence of the Election Commission was further strengthened in free and fair elections and democracy.

Of the two unwarranted episodes cited by Chawla, one is relating to the former CEC T N Seshan in 1993 challenging the appointment of ECs M S Gill and G V G Krishnamurthy in the Supreme Court alleging malafides and his refusal to associate them with any work in the Commission for one-and-a-half years till the apex court dismissed his petition.

Seshan did not consider the two ECs on par with him because he was of the view that the Article 324(5) placed him on a higher pedestal and the ECs could be removed from office on his recommendation.

Referring to his own episode, Chawla said again a similarly unwarranted situation was created last year when his predecessor Gopalaswami first took a stand unilaterally before the Supreme Court that he could suo motu recommend the removal of an Election Commissioner under Article 324(5).

In fact, he said, Gopalaswami proceeded to recommend to the President that Chawla may be removed from the office as Election Commissioner.

Chawla said, "It goes to the credit of the government under your sagacious leadership that the government refused to accept Shri Gopalaswami's recommendation and the Honourable President was advised, and she chose, not to accept his said recommendation."

He said the two episodes have not only eroded the image of the Election Commission in public but also created unpleasantness between the CEC and other ECs, which adversely affected the harmonious functioning of the Commission.

He said the "limited protection" given under the same Article to the Election Commission in terms of their removal from the office and conditions of their service is inadequate. Chawla said Parliament has established parity among the Election Commissioners in terms of salaries, conditions of service and say in decision making in all the matters falling in the jurisdiction of the Commission.

Clause Five of the Article 324 provides that Chief Election Commissioner shall not be removed from his office except in "like manner and on like grounds as judges of Supreme Court" and that his conditions of service shall not varied to his disadvantage after his appointment, the 19-page letter dated January 22 said.

"However, similar protection was not extended to the other Election Commissioners and it was merely provided in the said Article that they cannot be removed from office except on the recommendation of the Chief Election Commissioner," the CEC said.