Advocate-General (A-G) S. Sriram told the High Court on Friday that the suggestion of names of three IAS officers for the appointment of the State Election Commissioner (SEC) by the Chief Minister is not inconsistent with the scheme of the Constitution.
Mr. Sriram argued, during the hearing on a petition that challenged the appointment of former Chief Secretary (CS) Nilam Sawhney as the SEC, that the Governor did not limit his consideration only to those names (Ms. Sawhney, L. Premachandra Reddy and M. Samuel) but applied certain objective parameters to the eligibility of 11 officers to the high post.
He further said the neutrality of Ms. Sawhney could not be questioned for the reason that she was appointed as an adviser to the Chief Minister after her retirement as the CS.
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The appointment was to be based on suitability of the officer in the opinion of the Governor, the A-G said, asserting that the neutrality and performance of independent officers were matters to be determined after the completion of their appointments.
Replying to a question by the court as to why only IAS officers were sought to be nominated and whether the A-G did not mention the names of those from other sectors to the Chief Minister, Mr. Sriram stated that the Chief Minister had a word with him before writing the letter to the Governor proposing the names for appointment as SEC. Also, the methods followed by other States were examined.