‘There have been numerous CECs (Chief Election Commissioner) and TN Seshan happens once in a while. We do not want anyone to bulldoze him. Enormous power has been vested on the fragile shoulders of three men (CEC and two election commissioners). We have to find the best man for the post of CEC.’

— Supreme Court of India

No one before or after the former Chief Election Commissioner Tirunellai Narayana Iyer Seshan has been able to reform the ECI as effectively as he did. The SC made this observation while hearing a petition seeking reforms in the appointment of election commissioners. Seshan, the 10th CEC, served a full tenure of six years from 1990 to 1996. The Constitution Bench also noted that since 2004, no CEC had completed a six-year term. During the UPA rule from 2004 to 2014, there were 10 CECs, and eight CECs in the eight years of the NDA government.

TN Seshan, in one of his old interviews, explained the meaning of independence for the ECI and the expected conduct of the CEC. He stated:

The Chief Election Commissioner used to go and wait outside the room of the Law Minister, waiting for his convenience to be called in. I said I will never do this.

I am available at any time but on condition that the office is treated with respect. In all papers they used to write: Chief Election Commissioner, Government of India. I said, ‘Sorry, I’m not part of the Government of India. I am part of the structure of this country but I am not part of the Government of India.’ Ministers used to send notes between one department and another. In government, there is a method of sending a piece of paper called UOO note. It’s called an Unofficial Note. I used to get UOO notes from various ministers saying, ‘Don’t do this. Don’t do that.’ I used to send them back politely and said, ‘Don’t send me UOO notes. I am not part of your government.’

So it took considerable effort to satisfy or bring home to the government that the Election Commission was of the government, part of the government but not under the government. Certainly, people used to ask ‘to whom do you report’. I report to the President, I report to the Prime Minister, I report to the Law Minister. Similarly, Chief Election Commissioner is of course directly answerable to the President of India. But not in the sense of being a subordinate like the rest of the government is. So establishing the independence of the Election Commission was one part of the whole story.

Over the years, the ECI has lost credibility due to lack of communication and action. The ECI is at a stage where it may require another TN Seshan for it to regain its lost independence, stature and credibility.

— Excerpted with permission from Bloomsbury