New Delhi: Terming as a closed chapter the issue of Law Minister Salman Khurshid's remarks during UP polls "challenging" the Election Commission, CEC S Y Quraishi on Monday justified taking up the issue with the President saying the "unprecedented" situation warranted such a step.
"Here was a Law Minister who was challenging the authority of a constitutional body, whose powers have also been upheld by the Supreme Court. That amounted to a very unprecedented situation...What we did was right," Quraishi said.
Responding to questions after delivering the 40th Shri Ram memorial lecture here today on 'Democracy and Governance " The current context', Quraishi said the Law Minister challenging the EC was a totally "different issue" but added that it was now a "closed chapter".
"The Law Minister saying 'hang me if you can' was a different issue. This was not a violation of the Model Code... He was challenging the EC's authority... We had to refer the matter to the President... After that, he (Khurshid) did make apologise publicly," Quraishi said....
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10:34 PM, May 07, 2012
New Delhi: Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi on Friday wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for speeding up long-pending electoral reforms. Sources said the poll panel chief in his letter said that the reforms, including preventing people with criminal backgrounds from contesting elections, should be "expeditiously considered and approved". Although the contents of the letter were not available, official sources said the poll panel had been suggesting steps to...
07:48 PM, Apr 13, 2012
New Delhi: The Election Commission on Tuesday said it has not yet taken a decision on the letter of Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid regretting his controversial remarks on the minorities sub-quota issue. Amid speculation about its response to Khurshid's letter sent late on Monday night to the poll panel, Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi said the Commission was yet to deliberate on the particular issue as it had...
05:25 PM, Feb 14, 2012
New Delhi: The 62-64 per cent turn out of voters in the first phase of polling in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday was a record, Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi said. "This is for the eleventh time in a row that recorded a higher turnout. All the ten previous polls have shown higher voter turnout compared to the previous times," he said. Quraishi attributed it to the efforts of the...
09:49 PM, Feb 08, 2012
New Delhi: Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid has ruffled feathers in the Election Commission by stating that his ministry had administrative control over the poll body, prompting its chief S Y Quraishi to complain to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Khurshid had recently said in a TV interview that the Law Ministry has control over the Election Commission to the extent that it signs documents related to travel of the Election...
05:11 PM, Jan 13, 2012
New Delhi: Terming as "impractical" Anna Hazare's suggestion for right to recall an elected MP, Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi on Wednesday said such a move would lead to "destabilising" the entire system. "Right to recall in a big country like ours is impractical. It is not easy in a country where candidates are voted by lakhs of voters," he told reporters on the sidelines of the IIMC convocation...
03:35 PM, Sep 21, 2011
New Delhi: The Election Commission on Monday dismissed the charge of bias in its actions and made it clear that steps for the conduct of fair and free polls are "not directed against anyone". "It is totally unwarranted. All decisions at the Commission are taken unanimously," Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi said on the charges by some political leaders in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal that the EC was "biased"....
03:44 PM, Apr 11, 2011
Kolkata: Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi on Thursday said that central and other paramilitary forces would not be allowed to camp inside schools where booths would be set up for the upcoming polls in West Bengal. "The central and other paramilitary forces will not be allowed to camp inside schools for days since this will affect the functioning of the educational institutions", Quraishi said at an interactive session at...
11:08 AM, Mar 23, 2011
New Delhi: With just a week left for the poll process to begin, the full Election Commission will be travelling to Chennai on Sunday to review the preparations for the April 13 Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu. Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi and other two Election Commissioners V S Sampath and H S Brahma would take stock of the law and order situation and fine tune measures to ensure...
05:31 PM, Mar 12, 2011
New Delhi: The full Election Commission (EC) visited Bihar on Tuesday to review the poll preparations in the state which will witness six-phased Assembly polls from October 21. Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi and Election Commissioners V S Sampath and H S Brahma will be in the state for two days and hold discussions with senior civil and police officials and also meet representatives of political parties. They will...
11:58 AM, Oct 13, 2010
New Delhi: Bihar will go to polls in six phases spread over a month from October 21, the Election Commission announced on Monday. The first phase on October 21 will have polling for 47 seats while the second phase will be held on October 24 in 45 seats. The third phase will be on October 28 for 48 seats, fourth on November one (42), fifth on November nine (35) and...
06:12 PM, Sep 06, 2010
Quraishi has become the first Muslim in the country to occupy the post. ...
11:09 AM, Jul 30, 2010
Army officers asked soldiers to vote for particular candidates. ...
02:44 AM, Jun 04, 2009
S Y Quraishi analyses the 60 pc turnout in Phase 1. ...
02:00 AM, Apr 17, 2009
