JOIN USVeteran BJP leader L K Advani’s suggestion for changes in the system of appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner, Election Commissioners and the Comptroller and Auditor-General (CAG) deserves serious consideration.
In a letter to the prime minister, Advani has sought the selection of the holders of these important constitutional offices to be made on the basis of the recommendations of a collegium comprising the prime minister, the Chief Justice of India, the law minister and the leaders of opposition in both Houses of Parliament.
Advani’s observation that the present system in which the appointments are made solely on the recommendation of the prime minister may not command full confidence of the people is not wrong. This is especially so in view of the controversy over the appointment of the CVC which was annulled by the Supreme Court last year.
As was noted in the letter, the change in the method of selection of the CVC and the Chief Information Commissioner, in which a collegium makes the recommendation, has come about at the behest of the Supreme Court.
The executive can now take the initiative to put in place a similar system of appointment for the CEC and the CAG. The second administrative reforms commission has made such a recommendation. This can be done by an ordinary enactment and does not call for a constitutional amendment.
Appointments to key constitutional offices based on a wide consensus will enhance the credibility of these offices. At present the executive considers it as its own privilege to select persons for important offices, including those of governors in states. Usually such offices go to persons who are in the good books of the party in power or to those on whom it wants to bestow a favour.
The Constitution does not prescribe any definite method of appointment for these offices. Nor does it prescribe any qualification for those who may be appointed. The government and the opposition parties can agree on a method of appointment and implement it.
The suggestion is timely and relevant because the term of the current CEC, S Y Qureshi, is coming to an end this month. The present CAG will also retire next year.
The government should heed Advani’s suggestion rather than dismiss it as an attempt to whittle down its own privileges and powers. Unfortunately the response of the Congress party is not positive. There needs to be public pressure on the government to consider the suggestion favourably.