CEC must be apolitical, strong and beyond influence, says SC

'No Checks', Govt Has Free Hand In Picking: Court

- AmitAnand.Choudhary timesgroup.com

New Delhi: Raising questions on the Centre appointing serving bureaucrats of its choice as chief election commissioner (CEC) and election commissioners (EC), the Supreme Court said Tuesday a “fair and transparent mechanism” should be adopted to appoint the best apolitical person with strong character who can make independent decisions without being influenced.

A five-judge Constitution bench of Justices KM Joseph, Ajay Rastogi, Aniruddha Bose, Hrishikesh Roy and CT Ravikumar, which is hearing a batch of petitions seeking its direction to insulate the poll panel from political or executive interference, said there are no “checks and balances” in the appointment process.

Pointing out that Article 324 (2) mandates framing of a law for selection and appointment of CEC/ECs but nothing had been done in seven decades, the bench said, “This is how the silence of the Constitution is being exploited.” It said political parties would never be agreeable to passing law for setting up of an independent panel as it would take away the power of the government to appoint persons of their choice, which may be needed to remain in office.