Former chief election commissioner (CEC) T S Krishnamurthy and RJD MP Manoj Jha on Thursday supported devising a consultative mechanism for appointment of CEC and election commissioners.

Krishnamurthy, participating in an online event, said a collegium system of appointment would increase the credibility of the poll panel. He also suggested one can go beyond retired bureaucrats in selecting the three members — the chief election commissioner and two election commissioners — of the poll watchdog.

On the proposition of having at least a six-year term for the CEC and the ECs, he said a longer tenure is helpful but it does not mean a shorter stint will reduce the credibility of the institution.

Krishnamurthy, who headed the poll panel between February 2004 and May 2005, also pitched for constitutional protection for the election commissioners on lines of the chief election commissioner and the judges of Supreme Court and high courts.

While the CEC and judges of the constitutional courts can only be removed by Parliament through an impeachment process, the election commissioners can be removed by the government on the recommendation of the CEC.

Jha said the Election Commission is pivotal to parliamentary democracy in India. If the credibility of the institution is lost, parliamentary democracy will become a “skeleton”, the told the event hosted by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), He said he was not sure if a collegium system to select the ECs will address the issue of credibility, but he agreed with Krishnamurthy on the basic principle that collective decision is any day better — “more than one heads, even if they are of the similar view”.

They both were on the same page that political parties were silent on the issue of electoral reforms.

In November last year, a Supreme Court bench had termed a “disturbing trend” the exploitation of the “silence of the Constitution” and the absence of a law governing the appointments of ECs and CECs.

The five-judge bench, headed by Justice K M Joseph, had said its endeavour is to put a system in place so that the “best man” is selected as the CEC.

The 20th Law Commission, headed by Justice A P Shah (retd), in its 255th report on electoral reforms submitted to the government in March, 2015 had recommended a three-member collegium to appoint CEC and ECs.

“Given the importance of maintaining the neutrality of the ECI and to shield the CEC and Election Commissioners from executive interference, it is imperative that the appointment of Election Commissioners becomes a consultative process,” it had said.

“To this end, the (Law) Commission adapts the Goswami Committee’s proposal with certain modifications. First, the appointment of all the Election Commissioners (including the CEC) should be made by the President in consultation with a three-member collegium or selection committee, consisting of the prime minister, the Leader of the Opposition of the Lok Sabha (or the leader of the largest opposition party in the Lok Sabha in terms of numerical strength) and the Chief Justice of India,” the panel had said.

The report said the Commission considers the inclusion of the prime minister is important as a representative of the current government.

According to the EC website, originally the commission had only a Chief Election Commissioner. It currently consists of Chief Election Commissioner and two Election Commissioners.

Two additional commissioners were first appointed on October 16, 1989 but they had a very short tenure till January 1, 1990. Later, on October 1, 1993 two additional Election Commissioners were appointed.

The concept of multi-member Commission has been in operation since then, with decision made by majority vote.

The president appoints chief election commissioner and election commissioners on the advice of the government. They have a tenure of six years, or up to the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.

They enjoy the same status and receive salary and perks as available to judges of the Supreme Court of India.