In November, the government appointed a new election commissioner within 24 hours, even though it was sitting on the decision for six months. The Supreme Court, which was hearing a PIL about the process of EC appointments, made some sharp comments about this haste by the government.
S.Y. Quraishi, a former chief election commissioner, too questions this haste by the government. In this podcast discussion with Sidharth Bhatia, he suggests a collegium system where the executive would have no role. The world admires India’s elections, but nowhere else does the executive have so much say in appointments to the commission, he says.