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 Centre has appointed Navin Chawla as chief election commissioner with effect from April 21, 2009.
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
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 commission has the power to issue administrative order independent of the hearing going on the Chawla and CD issues," admitted Ravi Shankar Prasad, spokesman of the party said.
The Centre has said the case must be referred to the Council of Ministers and not the President directly.
Activist Sharjeel Imam has moved the Supreme Court challenging a Delhi High Court order denying him bail in a case linked to the 2020 Delhi riots. The High Court had denied bail to several individuals, emphasizing that conspiratorial violence under the guise of protests cannot be allowed.
The Delhi High Court imposed a cost of Rs 20,000 on the central government for concealing facts in its plea seeking review of an order relating to the promotion of IRS officer and former NCB Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede.
The prosecution had opposed the bail pleas saying it was not a case of spontaneous riots but a case where riots were "planned well in advance" with a "sinister motive" and "well-thought-out conspiracy".
The Delhi High Court refused to accept TMC MP Saket Gokhale's written apology in a defamation case against former diplomat Lakshmi Murdeshwar Puri, citing discrepancies and directing him to file a fresh one. The case involves allegations of defamatory utterances and financial impropriety.
"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.
Chief Election Commissioner- designate Navin Chawla wants to put the row with incumbent N Gopalaswami behind, saying he has "no rancour" against him.
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 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".
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.
The Delhi High Court has ruled that an undertrial's prolonged incarceration cannot be a reason to grant bail in terrorism cases, emphasizing the gravity of such offenses and their potential to destabilize the nation. The court denied bail to separatist leader Nayeem Ahmad Khan in a terror-funding case involving Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and 26/11 Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed. The court considered the accused's argument regarding a prolonged trial and his right to liberty but emphasized that the serious nature of the crime, with its potential to disrupt national unity and create fear among the public, outweighs the length of incarceration. Khan, who was arrested in 2017, has been accused of conspiring for secession of Jammu and Kashmir through terrorist activities, receiving funding from Pakistan, and organizing anti-India rallies and demonstrations. The court highlighted the evidence, including witness statements and documents, supporting the accusations against Khan.
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 Delhi High Court has dismissed petitions from the Ministry of Defence challenging disability pension orders for armed forces personnel, emphasizing that such pensions are a right, not an act of generosity, and should not be denied based solely on the location of disability onset or claims of lifestyle diseases.
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.
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 bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Shalinder Kaur rejected the petition by the Indian Army Lieutenant, who served as a 'Troop Leader' of a squadron, against the termination order passed on March 3, 2021, that dismissed him from the Indian Army without pension and gratuity.
The NDA contended that Chawla's continuation as the election commissioner would put a question mark on the credibility of the Election Commission in the upcoming elections to five state assemblies.
Long before he became an election commissioner, Chawla had accepted funds from MPs local area development funds for some trusts run by him and his family.
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".
"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.
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".
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.
An unperturbed Election Commissioner Navin Chawla on Monday attended the office and declared to join the Lok Sabha poll preparation drill that begins from Tuesday with a day-long meeting of the Election Commission with the political parties. Leaders of seven national and 40 recognised state parties have been invited to Nirvachan Sadan on Tuesday to elicit their views on the elections, the dates for which will be finalised only after two other meetings slated this week.
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.
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.
SC notice to Centre, EC over Chawla's removal
BJP leaders were told that Chawla would not recuse, as demanded by the party, and would be part of the hearing.
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 Delhi high court on Tuesday directed X Corp and Google Inc to remove prima facie defamatory social media posts against Indian Railway Personnel Service (IRPS) officer and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla's daughter Anjali Birla.
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.
The Delhi high court on Friday directed Aam Aadmi Party leaders Saurabh Bhardwaj, Sanjay Singh and others to take down alleged defamatory content from social media platforms against former Bharatiya Janata Party national vice president Shyam Jaju and his son Sandesh Jaju.
The high court gave relief to accused Shoaib Alam, Gulfam and Javed, noting that they have been in custody for four years and the trial in the case is not likely to conclude any time soon.
Chronological order of events leading up to Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami recommending the removal of Election Commissioner Navin Chawla.
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