One of the most famous one-liners attributed to France's longest reigning King, Louis XIV, is: "The State? I am the State." The fact that the Congress has been in power over a major part of the last six decades has convinced it that the Congress is India. That is why its Law Minister Hansraj Bharadwaj has the gumption to declare that he would rather change the Constitution than let the Chief Election Commissioner decide on the petition before him questioning the eligibility of Mr Navin Chawla to continue as one of the Election Commissioners.

The CEC has before him a long list of Mr Chawla's dubious antecedents, which include utterances favouring the Congress and the benefits he has derived at various points of time in his career from that party. The constitutional position is clear: It is the prerogative of the CEC to decide on any of the other Election Commissioners' status in office. Article 324(5), which deals with the removal of a CEC, states that this constitutional authority can be removed only by the procedure that is followed in the case of a judge of the Supreme Court: "Any other Election Commissioner shall not be removed from office except on the recommendation of the Chief Election Commissioner".

This is why the Supreme Court, considering a petition on Mr Chawla recently, asked the petitioner to go to the CEC with the request. Moreover, none other than the CEC, Mr N Gopalaswamy, has stated that he alone is empowered by the Constitution to deal with Mr Chawla's status in office. What Mr Bharadwaj now threatens to do is amend the Constitution so that the CEC's power in the matter is seized and the other ECs are elevated to the level of SC judges as regards their removal, where the final say rests with Parliament after a lengthy procedure.

Apart from the fact that the ruling coalition does not have a two-third majority needed for amending the Constitution, the core question is why the UPA Government, more especially the Congress, is so bent upon protecting the membership of one individual in the EC? Mr Chawla's past -- and the Congress's predilection to treat the state as the property of a family -- explains the Law Minister's threat.

To take the second thing first, the last 60 years have witnessed several attempts by the Congress to subvert the Constitution by changing it to enable its continuation in power. The Constitution was amended during Mrs Indira Gandhi's rule to legalise the midnight law to annul the privy purses being paid to the former princes who had willingly joined the Union and to whom the Government had given a solemn undertaking.

The applause Mrs Gandhi got for that action emboldened the Congress to go for further hacking of the Constitution to protect her power when she was unseated by the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court. The subsequent Constitution amendment during the Emergency elevated the Prime Minister above all citizens, insulating that office bearer from any provision of law -- even from restrictions imposed by the Representation of The People Act, leaving the scope that a person who the Congress wants to make the Prime Minister can become so through any means (the Janata Party Government annulled these changes in the Constitution).

Ever since the Congress split under Mrs Gandhi, the party has been turning whatever suits it legal. And if the courts declare its actions as void, the Congress's answer is amendment of the Constitution to reverse that decision. In the early 1970s, the party advanced the view that the apex court must be subservient to the ruling party's ideology. A policy of hassling the highest court was vigorously pursued by ignoring the rule of seniority in the appointment of Chief Justice of India. However, the backlash to the Emergency pushed the Congress out of power and halted its spree of fiddling with law for some time.

The Election Commission has been one institution that the Congress could not infiltrate so far. In fact, under a succession of courageous CECs, the commission has zealously enforced its powers. Under Mr TN Seshan, it almost became an institution that people looked up to with awe and respect. Mr Chawla is the Congress's cats paw to subdue this institution as, if allowed to continue in office, he would be the next CEC once Mr Gopalaswamy retires.

There are innumerable instances of Mr Chawla's exploits in tune with the Congress's culture. Of particular interest is his indictment by the Shah Commission that inquired into the excesses of the Emergency. Mr Chawla was then Secretary to then Lt Governor of Delhi Krishan Chand, who admitted before the Commission that his Secretary used to act ignoring the boss and take orders directly from the then PMO and Sanjay Gandhi, the latter being the moving spirit behind that dark chapter in Indian democracy. The Commission has recorded on the strength of the testimony of innumerable officers that Mr Chawla threatened them to act illegally and put hundreds of people in jail without even bothering about the grounds of detention. Often, the grounds were invented later.

Mr Chawla went to the extent of advising jail officials to construct an asbestos structure to "bake" some of the opposition leaders in Tihar jail, but the orders could not be carried out for other reasons. What the Shah Commission has recorded about Mr Chawla and two other officers is instructive: "They grossly misused their position and abused their powers in cynical disregard of the welfare of citizens and in the process rendered themselves unfit to hold any public office which demands an attitude of fair play and consideration for others. In their relish for power they completely subverted the normal channels of command and administrative procedure."

How can a person who has been indicted by a judicial commission for erosion of democratic values, arbitrary action that disregarded the general welfare of people and misuse of power on a large scale be acceptable as an Election Commissioner?

That the Congress is willing to even change the Constitution to accommodate Mr Chawla shows the depth of the controversial Election Commissioner's relationship with the ruling party. Obviously, he is expected to act as the hatchet man of the Congress in the Election Commission when the crucial occasion arrives.

Courtesy: www.dailypioneer.com, February 08, 2008