Political parties were forced to do unlawful activities secretly, which till then were done openly, such as giving money to voters. Seshan was able to prove that it was not the lack of laws in India but the lack of will of administrators that is the curse of the country. He got the admiration of the people when he began acting strictly without trying to keep the ruling party happy.

During the same time, the government tried to clip the power of the Commissioner by increasing the number of Commissioners. Even if politicians say that let the law take its own course, they will vehemently oppose those laws that comes against them. The clipping of Lok Ayukta’s powers is a prime example of that mindset.

Ruling parties usually consider those civil servants, who are favorable to them, to constitutional positions. This results in people losing faith in the neutrality of these institutions.

The central government should not have created a situation, where the Supreme Court had to question the action of the government in appointing IAS officer, Arun Goyal, as Election Commissioner, in a hurry. He was appointed to the post after giving him volunteer retirement just one month before he was to retire.

Also, it is not right to have a prejudice that everything that the newly appointed Election Commissioner does is favoring the government. The change must come to the today’s practice of considering just one person to a constitutional position. An amendment to the law is needed to have an expert committee to select from a panel of people by following guidelines. The law must be made by the Parliament. The Supreme Court also has the power to put forward guidelines to this effect.

Arun Goyal, who was a secretary of the central government, is to retire on December 31 on reaching 60 years of age. He was given VRS on 18th of this month and appointed Election Commissioner on 19th. He too office on 21st and will serve in the position till February 2025.

It is not wrong from the part of the SC to question the hurry in appointing Arun Goyal as the new Election Commissioner. Quick appointments like this will only serve in lowering the value of constitutional institutions. When it happens the aims of those institutions will be undermined. It will also pose a threat to democracy in the future. To avoid such a scenario, it must be made sure that faith in the appointment of qualified people to constitutional positions are restored.