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CEC defends recommendation against Chawla

Gopalaswami suggests that appointments of election commissioners be made by a collegium

By and large the Commission functioned successfully as a multi-member body
Varun tapes neither edited nor doctored

New Delhi: As he prepares to leave office, Chief Election Commissioner N. Gopalaswami on Saturday defended his controversial recommendation for the removal of Navin Chawla, who will succeed him on Tuesday, and suggested that future appointments of Election Commissioners be made by a collegium and not the government.

Mr. Gopalaswami, who will turn 65 on Monday and demit office that day, has no regrets about his recommendation, notwithstanding some jurists’ opinion that it was wrong.

In an interview to PTI, he maintained that though all the Election Commissioners were equal in some respects, constitutionally there was some “difference” in power to the CEC.

At the outset, the outgoing CEC said he did not want to discuss the issue relating to Mr. Chawla, with whom he had a running battle in the three-member body, especially on the issue of holding Assembly elections in Karnataka last year.

“I do not want to go into the question at all. As far as I am concerned, I made a report. The final authority is with the President. The President has taken the final decision. After that there should be absolutely no discussion at all. Period.”

Mr. Gopalaswami, who made the unprecedented recommendation for the removal of another Commissioner, was asked if he had the powers to make such a recommendation.

“As far as the legal provision is concerned, I had no doubt at all, notwithstanding some contrary views which came later on. As far as the power of the CEC is concerned, at least I had no doubt at all. This has been confirmed by some jurists also. All that is not an issue anymore,” he said.

The CEC said he had no bitter feelings against Mr. Chawla. “If you are a professional, you take a decision as a professional issue.”

On differences in the functioning of the EC, he said the multi-member Commission had had differences in the past too from the days of T.N. Seshan. “There were differences, but the Commission as a whole functioned efficiently.”

To a query whether he would prefer a single-member body or a multi-member body, he said that by and large the Commission functioned successfully as a multi-member body. He felt there would be problems in case of a single member body if the incumbent had to demit office in the midst of an election process.

Asked whether the President’s decision on Mr. Chawla’s issue was the final word, Mr. Gopalswami said he was not concerned at all whether the issue was over or not.

“As far as I am concerned, it is the end of the controversy. My supreme court [President] has decided and after the supreme court decides, you don’t go into further enquiry,” he said.

Varun issue

Defending the EC’s suggestion to the BJP not to nominate Varun Gandhi in the wake of his hate speech and the criticism it drew on this account, he said the point was that there were some legal actions that were possible.

But, he asked, if the Commission was to be criticised that it should not go beyond and even tender advise, then what was the Commission for.

On the Varun tapes, Mr. Gopalaswami said the Commission had seen them. “It was much more than what was telecast,” he said.

He said how could the Commission accept explanations that the speech in the tape was doctored. “How do you accept this kind of a thing.”

Strong message needed

He said it was felt that a strong message needed to be given. The virulence of the incident was such that the Commission had to go beyond its normal limits, he said, adding this was something which was perfectly valid.

Noting that the tapes were watched by the Commission, he said they were neither edited nor doctored, contrary to the claim made by Mr. Gandhi. — PTI

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