Election Commissioner Arun Goel’s file cleared at lightning speed: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Thursday observed that the file pertaining to the appointment of Arun Goel, a 1985 batch IAS officer, as the Election Commissioner was cleared at ‘lightning speed’.

“This vacancy became available on May 15. Could you show us from May to November, why the government showed some haste, same day clearance, same day notification, same day acceptance. File has not travelled even for 24 hours. It moved at a lighting speed. You have to justify us,” the court observed.

The Constitution bench of the Supreme Court had sought the files pertaining to the recent appointment of Arun Goel as the Election Commissioner while hearing petitions seeking an independent mechanism to appoint the election commissioners on Wednesday.

The top court had said it wanted to know whether there was any “hanky-panky” in the appointment. The apex court was of the view that any ruling party at the Centre “likes to perpetuate itself in power” and can appoint a ‘Yes Man’ to the post under the current system.

But the Centre argued that a 1991 Act ensured the Election Commission remains independent in terms of salary and tenure to its members and there is no “trigger point” which warrants interference from the court.

On Thursday, the Centre placed the original file of appointment of Arun Goel before the SC constitution bench and Attorney General R Venkataramani, appearing for the Centre, requested the apex court to look into the matter in entirety.

“What kind of evaluation is this? We are not questioning the merits of EC Arun Goel’s credentials but the process of his appointment,” the court said.