The Hindu : Front Page : Gopalaswami retires, Chawla to take charge today

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Tuesday, Apr 21, 2009
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Gopalaswami retires, Chawla to take charge today

J. Balaji

Outgoing CEC expresses confidence that the Commission will live up to its name

— PHOTO: V. SUDERSHAN

BIDS ADIEU: Outgoing Chief Election Commissioner N. Gopalaswami (centre) with Chief Election Commissioner-designate Navin Chawla (left) and Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi in New Delhi on Monday.

NEW DELHI: Chief Election Commissioner N. Gopalaswami laid down the office of the constitutional post at Nirvachan Sadan, headquarters of the Election Commission of India here, on Monday. He held the post for about 34 months. A 1966 batch IAS officer of Gujarat cadre, he became Election Commissioner in January 2004.

Mr. Gopalaswami was given a warm send-off by seniormost Election Commissioner Navin B. Chawla, who will take over as the CEC on Tuesday, Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi and senior officials/staff of the Commission.

V.S. Sampath will become an Election Commissioner on Tuesday in the vacancy caused by Mr. Gopalaswami’s retirement.

A smiling Mr. Gopalaswami hugged and shook hands with Mr. Chawla against whom he had sent a suo motu recommendation seeking his removal as Election Commissioner, based on a complaint from the BJP, to President Pratibha Patil, in January this year as first reported by The Hindu.

Though Mr. Gopalaswami claimed that he had suo motu power under Article 324(5) of the Constitution to make such a recommendation, the government and many constitutional experts disagreed with that contention. Finally, based on the government’s advice, Ms. Patil turned down the recommendation. The Centre’s stand was that Mr. Gopalaswami had no independent authority or power to recommend the removal of Mr. Chawla.

Mr. Gopalaswami wished Mr. Chawla “a very bright tenure as the [new] CEC” and successful completion of the 2009 general elections, in which four more phases of the five are due. He was confident that the Commission would live up to its name and make its mark again in the country’s electoral history.

Mr. Chawla, who will become the 16th CEC, is a 1969 batch IAS officer of Delhi cadre. He was appointed Election Commissioner on May 13, 2005. He will hold the office till July 29, 2010. Starting his career as a sub-divisional magistrate in Delhi in 1971, Mr. Chawla held important posts, including Secretary to the Lt. Governor of Delhi, and also served in Lakshadweep, Puducherry and as the UPSC Secretary. He was Information and Broadcasting Secretary before being appointed an Election Commissioner.

Mr. Sampath, a native of Vellore in Tamil Nadu, was born on January 16, 1950. He is a 1973 batch IAS officer from Andhra Pradesh cadre. He is a postgraduate in English literature. His first posting was as Assistant Collector in Land Revenue Management and district administration in the Andhra Pradesh government in 1975. He rose up to the level of Principal Secretary (Finance) in that government before moving to the Central services in December 2004, where he held several posts, including Secretary of Chemicals and Fertilizers. He will have tenure till January 2015.

Corrections and Clarifications

Mr. N. Gopalaswami became Election Commissioner on February 8, 2004, and not in January 2004 as reported in "Gopalaswami retires, Chawla to take charge today" (April 21, 2009). Mr. Gopalaswami took over as the CEC on June 30, 2006.

A reader also said that "retire" was an incorrect word and that "demits office of CEC" would have been right. We repeat the clarification issued on April 5, 2006. "Can V.K. Shunglu be referred to as the retired Comptroller and Auditor-General of India, asks a reader, in 'Getting serious on rehabilitation' (Editorial page, April 28, 2006). The Election Commissioner and the C&AG are said to demit or renounce their office and do not retire, says the reader. The website of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India says: 'He [C&AG] shall hold office for a term of six years from the date on which he assumes such office, provided that where he attains the age of 65 years before the expiry of the said term of six years, he shall vacate such office on the date on which he attains the said age and that he may, at any time, by writing under his hand addressed to the President, resign his office.' It would have been best to refer to Mr. Shunglu as the former Comptroller and Auditor-General of India."

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