Do not panic if the appointment of the Election Commissioner is correct.

The appointment of Arun Goel as the Election Commissioner has come under the scrutiny of the Supreme Court.

Summoning the original records from the Center in this connection, it said on Wednesday that it (the top court) wanted to know if anything improper had been done. Goyal was appointed as the Election Commissioner on 19 November. The apex court rejected the Centre’s objections to its order to produce the original file. The court said that if this appointment is legal, then what is the need to panic. It would have been appropriate if the appointment had not happened during the court hearing.

The court said it wanted to know whether everything was in order in the appointment process, as claimed by the central government. A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Justice KM Joseph said it wanted to know whether any undue step was taken in the appointment of Goyal as Election Commissioner as he was recently granted voluntary retirement from service.

The bench overruled Attorney General R Venkataramani’s objections to the court’s desire to see the file relating to Goel’s appointment during the course of the hearing. The members of the bench include Justice Ajay Rastogi, Justice Aniruddha Bose, Justice Hrishikesh Rai and Justice CT Ravikumar. Venkataramani said the court is hearing the larger issue of appointment of Election Commissioners and Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and it cannot look into the individual matter raised by senior advocate Prashant Bhushan. He said that I take a serious objection to this and I have objection to seeing the files of the court in the midst of the hearing of the constitution bench.

The bench said it has, last Thursday, taken up hearing on a batch of petitions seeking a collegium-like system for appointments of Election Commissioner and CEC and Goel was appointed as Election Commissioner on November 19. The bench said that therefore the court wanted to know what had prompted it to take this step.

The bench told the Attorney General that we want to see whether the process was followed. We will not take this as legal action and will keep it for our records, but we would like to know because everything you have claimed is correct. Since we are hearing the matter and the appointment has taken place in between, there can be a correlation. You have time till tomorrow. Present the documents.

The Supreme Court said to present the files related to the appointment so that we can ensure that there was no malpractice in the appointment. If this appointment is legal then what is the need to panic. It would have been appropriate if the appointment had not happened during the court hearing. At the beginning of the hearing, Bhushan said that after the court started hearing the matter, the government hastily appointed an election commissioner.

Bhushan appeared for petitioner Anoop Barnwal and argued his rejoinder. He said that this Election Commissioner was serving as a secretary-level officer in the government till Thursday. Suddenly, he was given VRS on Friday and appointed as Election Commissioner.

Bhushan said that they (the government) appointed someone in a day and no one knows what process was followed and what criteria were followed. Justice Joseph said that as far as he remembers, it takes three months for a person to take voluntary retirement. He said that you (government) need to present before us the original file regarding the appointment of this officer. If nothing illegal has been done then you need not fear. Justice Joseph said the court was only looking into whether everything was done as per the procedure.

Chief Justice should also be involved in the appointment of Chief Election Commissioner: Supreme Court

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday said that involving the Chief Justice of India in the consultative process for the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner would ensure the independence of the Election Commission. The Supreme Court said that any ruling party at the Center “prefers to remain in power” and can appoint a yes-man to the post. The apex court is hearing some petitions seeking a collegium-like system for appointment of Election Commissioners (EC) and Chief Election Commissioner (CEC).

The Center argued that the 1991 Act has ensured that the Election Commission remains independent in terms of salary and tenure of its members and there is no point that warrants the intervention of the court. The arrangement made is seniority among the Election Commissioners. A five-judge constitution bench headed by Justice KM Joseph said that the independence of the institution has to be ensured to the extent that recruitment at the entry level has to be scrutinised. The bench comprises Justice Ajay Rastogi, Justice Aniruddha Bose, Justice Hrishikesh Rai and Justice CT Ravikumar.

The bench said that now, we would like to focus on the consultative process for the appointment of the CEC and the inclusion of the Chief Justice of India in the process would ensure the independence of the commission. Attorney General R Venkataramani, appearing for the Centre, said the Election Commission Act, 1991 was a watershed which ensured independence in salary and tenure of Election Commissioners. He said that the law was passed by the Parliament after the report of the Dinesh Goswami Committee. The law ensures that the commission remains independent in terms of salary and tenure of its members which are features intrinsic to the independence of an institution.

The bench told Venkataramani that the 1991 law he was referring to only deals with conditions of service condition, which is clear from its name itself. The bench said that suppose the government appoints a person who says yes, who is of its ideology. The law provides him with all leeway in tenure and salary, but there is no so-called freedom in the institution. This is a commission where independence must be ensured at the starting point.

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