Poll panel to discuss statute change on EC removal issue

 Once its Diamond Jubilee celebrations are over, the three-member Election Commission will discuss amendment of the Constitution to see that the CEC does not have the power to remove an Election Commissioner.
 
"I don't believe that I have the power. I have the power only of consensus. We are a three-member Commission. Only for administrative reasons, there is a CEC. Otherwise our powers are completely equal," Chief Election Commissioner Navin Chawla told PTI in an interview.

Chawla, against whom his predecessor N Gopalaswami had made the unprecedented recommendation for his removal last year, said that since the CEC does not have such a power, the Constitution should reflect that position.

As the Commission celebrates the Diamond Jubilee on Monday, he felt that a multi-member Commission is "ideal" on several grounds.

Asked what has been the government's reaction to his view on the issue, Chawla, who will demit office in July after more than a year as CEC, said he has still not written to the government.

"I propose to consider that (writing to the government) after the Diamond Jubilee celebrations. I have not written yet. We have to discuss it in the Commission," he said.

Chawla had assumed the office after the first phase of Lok Sabha polls last year following government's rejection his predecessor's recommendation for his removal on the alleged ground of "partisanship".

Article 324 of the Constitution provides that while the CEC shall be removed only by an impeachment procedure, the other ECs shall not be removed except on the recommendation of the CEC.

The BJP relied on this provision to seek the removal of Chawla and Gopalaswami had also insisted that he had such a power.

The CEC had earlier said he will write to the government making his recommendation for the Constitutional amendment.

To a question whether he was going to consult the other Commissioners on the issue since the Constitution vested such a power only in the CEC, Chawla said, "I never do anything without consultation with others. That is why I say we are a three-member Commission. The Full Commission takes a view on everything."

Asked if he was ready to sacrifice the power of the CEC to recommend removal of an EC, Chawla said, "You have to read the Constitution with the letter and spirit of the Seshan order of the Supreme Court. I must abide by that. I do not think myself of 'I'."

Replying to questions on whether the Commission should be single member or multi-member, he said, "I think a three-member Commission is ideal. The reason is by definition if any institution is a single member then that person takes with him or her their experiences when they retire."