By Swati Chaturvedi
New Delhi, March 19 : The Election Commission has again been caught in a controversy. Authoritative sources confirmed to The Tribune that Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami has written a note of dissent in the case of Congress party President Sonia Gandhi receiving the Order of Leopold, a civilian honour, in Belgium. Two earlier recipients of the Order of Leopold were Yugoslav President Josip Broz Tito and US President Dwight Eisenhower.
The CEC, who is due to lay down his office next month, is apparently in a minority in the three-member commission on this issue. While the other two election commissioners, Navin Chawla, CEC-designate, and S Y Querishi, have, after a close examination of the matter, given Sonia Gandhi a clean chit, Gopalaswami appears determined to keep the pot boiling. According to these sources, he has chosen to record a note of dissent.
A leading constitutional expert said to The Tribune: “The EC today is globally a poster boy for its credibility and conduct of elections. Yet, instead of gracefully allowing the majority view to prevail after being overruled on merits, the CEC has chosen to drag the commission into yet another controversy. Surely some wisdom and maturity should prevail at such a sensitive time.’’
It may be recalled that the Order of Leopold was conferred on Sonia Gandhi by the King of Belgium. A complaint was filed by one P Rajan to Rashtrapati Bhawan which forwarded it to the EC.
The complainant claimed that accepting the honour was effectively like accepting a knighthood in Britain and thereby becoming a citizen of that country.
The complaint was examined in great detail by a heavyweight panel of constitutional and legal experts with the majority view of the EC being that it was a mere honour. In its ruling the majority in the EC wanted to dismiss the charge and clearly say that the complaint had no merit.
Says an official who is dealing with the matter: “After the recent run in with the government on the Chawla issue, the CEC could have just chosen to accede to his colleagues instead of coming out with this new bolt from the blue.’’
Explains the official: “On merits there was nothing in the case, a view that was officially put across by the Ministry of External Affairs to the EC.
Yet the CEC ordered a detailed inquiry with hearings, which were being held for over a year. Even after this Mr Gopalaswami chose to strike a discordant note. This is singularly unfortunate as it affects the image of impartiality of the EC - built up painstakingly with flawless election management.’’
At a time with the election process is on and barely a few weeks are left before his retirement from office, it does seem that Mr Gopalaswami is determined to leave office on a jarring note.
