When Election Commission was rocked by internal disputes | Explained
A major controversy erupted when T.N. Seshan went to court challenging the appointment of two Election Commissioners; N. Gopalaswami’s suo motu recommendation to the President for the removal of Navin Chawla was another shocking episode
From Sukumar Sen's tenure in 1951-52, when the Election Commission comprised only one member—the Chief Election Commissioner, to October 16, 1986, the Commission functioned with a sole member. In 1991, the Supreme Court, in S.S. Dhanoa v. Union of India, ruled that the President could appoint additional Election Commissioners at their discretion under Article 342(2) of the Constitution.
In 1989, the Rajiv Gandhi government added two more Commissioners, R.V.S. Peri Sastry and V.S. Seigell, to manage the increased workload following the reduction of the voting age to 18. However, this multi-member setup was short-lived as the new V.P. Singh government revoked the appointments.
In 1993, the President appointed M.S. Gill and G.V.G. Krishnamurthy as Election Commissioners, making the Commission a three-member body. The President later issued an Ordinance, enacted as the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners (Condition of Service) Amendment Act, with retrospective effect from 1993, which granted coordinate powers to the Election Commissioners. The Dhanoa judgment suggested solving the grey area in the Constitution through legislation.
A Constitution Bench in 1993 ruled that the Chief Election Commissioner should act unanimously with the other Election Commissioners, with a majority decision in case of disagreements. The bench held that the permanency of the Chief Election Commissioner did not confer a higher status than the other Commissioners. If the Chief Election Commissioner left office, the Deputy Election Commissioner was to take charge temporarily.
Trouble resurfaced in 2009 when Chief Election Commissioner N. Gopalaswami recommended the removal of Election Commissioner Navin Chawla on charges of bias, followed by BJP leaders petitioning for his removal in 2006 and 2008. Gopalaswami served a notice to Chawla, leading to an adverse recommendation after a year, despite rejecting BJP's allegations.
However, President Pratibha Patel dismissed Gopalaswami's recommendation. In 2019, Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa complained to Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora about the lack of inclusion of his dissenting opinions on the model code of conduct in the final order, leading to a decision by the Commission to not include such opinions in the final order or internal files.
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