Former Chief Election Commissioner of India, Navin Chawla, passed away on Saturday at the age of 79. Chawla, a former bureaucrat, served as the election commissioner between 2005 and 2009, and then as chief election commissioner from April 2009 to July 2010.
The recommendation comes about three months before Gopalaswami is to demit office on April 20 and is based on a petition by the BJP which had complained against the "partisan" functioning of Chawla. The BJP had alleged that Chawla was close to the Congress party
"We have submitted a petition to the CEC as per the directions of the Supreme Court seeking removal of Navin Chawla, as he has been favouring a particular party in his decisions," Arun Jaitley said.
The Centre has appointed Navin Chawla as chief election commissioner with effect from April 21, 2009.
If Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami lives by the rulebook, so does his colleague Navin Chawla. Only that the book is written by him and the rules are his own.
The government is also likely to appoint another election commissioner along with Chawla's elevation. This would mean till April 21, 2009 the Election Commission might have four members.
The system of 'selecting' an election commissioner, which is before the Supreme Court, must be institutionalised.
Election Commissioner Navin Chawla, whose removal was recommended by Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalswami on Saturday, appeared to be in a combative mood, saying the 'dignity' of the constitutional body is "paramount".
The Centre on Saturday rejected the Bharatiya Janata Party's demand for immediate removal of Election Commissioner Navin Chawla, on the basis of Chief Election commissioner N Gopalaswami's recommendation, stating that the positions held by the three election commissioners are constitutional posts.Replying to a question raised by rediff.com, Home minister P Chidambaram said, "They hold constitutional positions and neither you nor I can change that position".
With Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami recommending the removal of his colleague Navin Chawla, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday demanded "firm action" on the issue saying the "credibility" of the poll panel is "at stake".
"I am right", Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami said on Sunday, unfazed by the sharp criticism to his recommendation for the removal of Election Commissioner Navin Chawla for "partisan" functioning.
The CEC's letter to the President recommending Chawla's removal is just two pages long while he has dealt with 12 specific cases of partisanship in another 24 pages and annexed more than 800 pages of the Election Commission minutes, internal correspondence, etc in support of the case he has built up.
In a curious case of the right hand not knowing what the left is doing, the Law Ministry has released the letter written by former Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami to the President seeking removal of fellow Election Commissioner Navin Chawla while the Rashtrapati Bhawan had declined to make the document public.
Stepping up their offensive, a National Democratic Alliance delegation Saturday met President A P J Abdul Kalam with an appeal to direct Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to forward an opposition petition for the removal of Election Commissioner Chawla.
The move comes in the wake of Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalawami's contention that he has the power to initiate action against an election commissioner.
Chronological order of events leading up to Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami recommending the removal of Election Commissioner Navin Chawla.
Allaying all doubts on the possibility of Electronic Voting Machine tampering, Chief Election Commissioner Navin Chawla on Tuesday said the machines used in India are stand-alone machines and cannot be manipulated.
The Election Commission has now officially taken up the investigation of charges of rigging and fraud through the Electronic Voting Machines.
Chief Elections Commissioner N Gopalaswami and Election Commissioners Navin Chawla and S Y Qureshi will meet representatives of six main political parties later in the day.
Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswamy has convened an all-party-meeting at 1000 hrs on Tuesday, to take note of the views of the political parties so that the commission can make a decision on the dates for the Lok Sabha elections.
Decks were cleared on Thursday for holding of assembly elections in the state, which has been under President's Rule for the last nine months, with the Union Cabinet approving dissolution of the 81-member House.
Strange that the Law Ministry acted as the legal adviser to Chawla who sought its opinion on the explanation sought by CEC N Gopalaswami and now its minister claims that the CEC has no powers to recommend an election commissioner's removal unless asked for by the President, BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad asserted. The Congress was, however, quick to rubbish the BJP charge of the nexus between Bhardwaj and Chawla.
The government on Sunday rejected Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami's recommendation for removal of Navin Chawla as Election Commissioner, paving the way for his appointment to the key constitutional post. A Rashtrapati Bhawan communique said President Pratibha Patil has accepted the government recommendation for rejection of the CEC's report against Chawla and arrived at a "considered opinion".
Union Law Minister H Bharadwaj on Monday slammed Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami for 'overstepping his powers' by recommending the removal of Election Commissioner Navin Chawla to President Pratibha Patil."The CEC overstepped his powers. His allegations are unfortunate. He cannot behave like a political boss," Bharadwaj told mediapersons in New Delhi on Monday. He added that Chawla will take over as the next CEC once Gopalaswami demits office on April 20.
For the sake of neutrality of the Chief Election Commissioners and Election Commissioners, CEC N Gopalaswami wants a bar on their joining any political party for ten years after retirement or taking up any government post. In a three-page note to President Pratibha Patil sent on January 16 when he separately recommended removal of Election Commissioner Navin Chawla, he has sought amendment in the Election Commission Act for the purpose.
S Y Quraishi, Election Commissioner, was on Tuesday appointed the new Chief Election Commissioner in the place of Navin Chawla, who demits office on Thursday.
As he prepares to leave his 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.
A day after Election Commission rejected his claim that Electronic Voting Machines are not tamper-proof, former bureaucrat Omesh Saigal on Tuesday stuck to his charge that a particular software can be used to rig the polls.
Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami, who has been in the eye of the storm after recommending the removal of Election Commissioner Navin Chawla, is currently on a one-week leave to visit various pilgrimages in Gujarat. During his trip, the CEC is scheduled to visit Somnath, Dwarka and Gandhi Nagar. Gopalaswami, an Indian Administrative Service officer from the Gujarat cadre, speaks the native language fluently and considers the state his second home.
Asked about the timing of his move against Chwala, CEC Gopalaswami said, "This argument regarding timing is unfair. I was dictated by circumstances. It was not a deliberate decision. I had to wait till the Karnataka elections get over. He (Chawla) took five months to reply to me. For one month he went on leave. I have taken only one and a half months to prepare my opinion once I got his (Chawla's) response (to the charges made against him)."
Gearing up the machinery ahead of the general elections, the full Election Commission will visit Uttar Pradesh and Bihar this week to review the poll readiness in these two key states in the Hindi heartland which together accounts for 120 seats.
Chief Election Commissioner- designate Navin Chawla wants to put the row with incumbent N Gopalaswami behind, saying he has "no rancour" against him.
The Congress on Wednesday accused Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami of being favourable to the Bharatiya Janata Party and cited two incidents -- the CD case and distribution of sarees during a rally -- to buttress its point. "For three years, the BJP has accused Election Commissioner Navin Chawla of supporting the Congress. The Congress has rejected it several times. Now, we would like to point out how the CEC has been favourable to the BJP," said a Cong leader.
However, there is no official word on the status of the controversial recommendation of the CEC for the removal of Election Commissioner Navin Chawla, though Law Minister H R Bhardwaj has rejected it and had indicated that Chawla will be the next CEC.
The Election Commission on Thursday expressed confidence on organising "free, fair and transparent" Lok Sabha elections, which is scheduled between April 16 and May 13.
The assembly elections in the states of Haryana, Maharashtra and Arunachal Pradesh will be held in a single phase on October 13.Chief Election Commissioner Navin Chawla announced the dates in a press conference on Monday.The counting of votes will take place on October 22.Electronic Voting Machines will be used in the electoral process in all three states, he said. The electoral battle will be fought in 288 seats in Maharashtra, 90 seats in Haryana and 60 seats in Arunachal.
An estimated 66 per cent of the electorate on Tuesday exercised their franchise in assembly elections in Maharashtra, Haryana and Arunachal Pradesh amidst sporadic violence in which one polling agent was killed.
The Election Commission is yet to hear from the government on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's idea of overseas Indian passport holders voting in the next general elections.
"If you ask me is it feasible (to have compulsory voting) in a election on a national scale. It is not," he told reporters in New Delhi on the sidelines of the Election Commission's Diamond Jubilee celebrations.
Rejecting the contention of political parties like Bharatiya Janata Party, AIADMK and CPI(M) that electronic voting machines (EVMs) were tampered with during the Lok Sabha polls, Chief Election Commissioner Navin Chawla today said no one was able to prove it.
