‘TN Seshan happens once in a while’: Why the Supreme Court hailed the former chief election commissioner

As we are heading into the polls in Gujarat — elections will be held in two phases on 1 and 5 December, the Supreme Court had scathing words for the Centre and the Election Commission on the matter of appointments of the chief election commissioner.

While hearing petitions seeking reforms in the system of appointing the election commissioners, a five-judge Constitution bench headed by Justice KM Joseph and comprising Justices Ajay Rastogi, Aniruddha Bose, Hrishikesh Roy and CT Ravikumar, noted that the country needs a Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) “with character” like the late TN Seshan who “does not allow himself to be bulldozed”.

“There have been numerous CECs and TN Seshan happens once in a while. We do not want anyone to bulldoze him. Enormous power has been vested on the fragile shoulder of three men (two ECs and the CEC). We have to find the best man for the post of CEC. The question is how do we find that best man and how to appoint that best man,” said the apex court while hearing the matter of appointments of these officials.

The Bench said that they wanted in place ‘a fairly good procedure’ to appoint the CEC and also mooted the idea of including the Chief Justice of India in the appointment committee to ensure “neutrality”.

“We just want to do something to the issue that has been raised since 1990. The situation on the ground is alarming. We know that there will be opposition from the ruling party to not allow us go past the present system,” the bench said, as per a PTI report, adding that the court cannot say it is helpless and cannot do anything and there needs to be a system that is different from the present structure of appointment of ECs and CECs.

The Supreme Court also pointed out although the CEC’s tenure is six years (2,190 days), no CEC has completed his time since 2004. It further stated that in the 10 years of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, there were six CECs and in the National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) government of eight years there have been eight CECs.

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As the apex court applauds TN Seshan, who “happens once in a while”, we take a closer look at why he is known as one of the most reformative chief election commissioners.

TN Seshan, the legendary CEC

Tirunellai Narayana Iyer Seshan, or TN Seshan as he was commonly called, was a 1955 batch IAS officer of the Tamil Nadu cadre.

Prior to his tenure as Chief Election Commissioner, he served as the cabinet secretary of India in 1989 and as the administrative head of Indian Space Research Organisation.

It was on 12 December 1990 that he was appointed as the CEC and in his tenure that continued until 11 December 1996, he introduced reforms that changed the face of Indian elections.

It is said that it was Seshan who effectively implemented the model code of conduct for the first time, reining in muscle and money power in elections, filing cases and arresting candidates for not abiding by polling rules, and suspending officials for aligning with candidates.

He introduced a list of 150 malpractices during elections, including distribution of liquor, bribing voters, ban on writing on walls, use of religion in election speeches etc.

Also read: Remembering TN Seshan: Behind that firmness that turned Election Commission into an institution was a softness only few saw

HS Brahma, another former CEC, extolling Seshan told The Print, “He was ruthless and unforgiving when it came to the electoral staff across the country about electoral discipline… And not just that, he was equally strict with politicians — he wouldn’t listen to them.”

Seshan also introduced ID cards, deputed Observers for elections and brought them under the control of the ECI, and adopted new counting methodology by mixing votes.

In 1991, he even countermanded elections in five constituencies in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, citing mass rigging. He courted controversy when he rescheduled the final two days of polling for the general elections from 23 and 26 May to 12 and 15 June after the country was rocked by Rajiv Gandhi’s death.

Former CEC TS Krishna Murthy, who wrote Miracle of Democracy: India’s Amazing Journey, termed Seshan’s tenure a “turning point” in the history of the ECI. “If the history of Election Commission is written, it has to be divided into two parts — pre-Seshan era where the Commission functioned as a department of the government and the post-Seshan era when the Commission became more independent,” he pointed out.

Unafraid of ministers and leaders

If there was one word to describe Seshan — brave would be it. During his tenure, Seshan also had several rifts with the ruling government. In 1993, then Prime Minister PV Narsimha Rao passed an ordinance and got the President’s assent under Article 342(2)[3] to deploy two Election Commissioners and subsequently appointed M S Gill and G V G Krishnamurthy as his fellows.

Seshan cried foul saying it was an effort to curb down his powers and filed a petition to the Supreme Court. However, the top court dismissed his petition and said, “the concept of plurality is writ large on the face of Article 324, clause (2) whereof clearly envisages a multi-member Election Commission comprising the CEC and one or more ECs.”

In 1994, he shocked one and all when he advised then Rao to remove two sitting ministers — welfare minister Sitaram Kesari and food minister Kalpnath Rai — from the Cabinet for reportedly influencing voters.

And it wasn’t just ministers that he went up against. The Outlook reports that once when a journalist, known for his eccentric questions, asked Seshan if he was “a man or a Congressman?” the CEC was so angry that he started shouting and asked his security personnel to “throw” the journalist out.

His work in electoral reforms earned him the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1996. In July 1997, Seshan unsuccessfully contested the presidential election against KR Narayanan. He breathed his last on 10 November 2019 in Chennai.

With inputs from agencies

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