Opposition should be involved in selecting CEC: LK Advani

NEW DELHI: Senior BJP leader LK Advani wants the Leader of Opposition to have a say in selection of election commissioners on the lines of the process adopted in the case of central vigilance commissioner (CVC) and central information commissioner (CIC).

He said election commissioners should be chosen by a panel, which includes the leader of Opposition. The BJP had, in the past, opposed former chief election commissioner Navin Chawla on several occasions alleging he had shown favouritism towards the Congress.

The BJP's parliamentary party leader suggested in his blog on Sunday that Article 324 of the Constitution which deals with the Election Commission of India should be suitably amended to follow the same selection process as in the case of CVC and CIC for appointment of election commissioners and the chief election commissioner.

He said the phrasing of Article 324 (2) showed that this would not need any Constitution amendment and can be done by an ordinary enactment. "The earlier it is done the better.....It would be very appropriate and a step towards strengthening democracy if the Supreme Court's 1998 decision followed in the RTI Act is incorporated in case of the Election Commission also," Advani said.

Referring to a 1998 Supreme Court decision in which the then Chief Justice J S Verma, Justice S P Barucha and Justice S C Sen stated that a selection panel comprising the prime minister, home minister and the leader of the Opposition would choose the CVC, he said the same order was applied later in the case of CIC. In the case of the CIC, the home minister was replaced by the law minister.

"Chief Justice Verma's decision to involve the opposition in an important appointment, which till then was the exclusive preserve of the ruling party set a precedent," Advani said.