By IANS,
New Delhi : The government Wednesday disagreed with Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) N. Gopalaswami’s recommendation to remove Election Commissioner Navin Chawla.
Winding up the discussion on the motion of thanks to President Pratibha Patil for her address to joint session of parliament, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the executive had a right to intervene whenever some constitutional authority tries to transgress the jurisdiction of another.
“Executive is also a constitutional body. Executive will have to say something, if some constitutional body attempts to transgress jurisdiction of another constitutional authority,” Mukherjee said in the Lok Sabha.
His remarks came after a row in the poll body following CEC’s recommendation to the president last month asking for the removal of Chawla on the grounds of his “partisan” role.
The government then criticised Gopalaswami for suggesting the sacking of Chawla.
The BJP, which is supporting the CEC’s demand for removal of Chawla, accused the United Progressive Alliance government of violating the constitution and dictating terms to the poll panel.