Have worst system of picking election commissioners: Quraishi

He went on to add, "India is the best and biggest democracy on Earth, but has the worst system of appointing the CEC, which affects our credibility."

Quraishi illustrated the example of Nepal, which he said, had a much better system of appointment of an election commissioner.

To a question on whether only the system of appointment of a CEC was flawed or also the system, which says that once elections are announced, no judiciary can act against it, the former poll body chief said, "In fact, the most brilliant part of the Constitution is Article 329, which debars judiciary from interfering in elections and which is why we have managed to always conduct elections on time and not once since Independence has any election been delayed or disrupted. Article 329 was challenged in Supreme Court in 1951, but the apex court came up with the verdict that the Constitution is clear that no court, including the Supreme Court can interfere when elections are in motion."

This is the reason why India has managed to conduct elections on time always and the transition of power has been smooth and no dispute has ever been reported, Quraishi said.

Responding to a question by the moderator of the event, Pushpesh Pant, over the probability of the judiciary choosing to look the other way and taking years in disposing of petitions challenging an election, and the Election Commission announcing polls, Quraishi said, "It is a matter of concern that our judiciary has been compromised. This institution has gone down as has the Election Commission. But it is not the fault of the Constitution, as Dr BR Ambedkar had said that a Constitution is as good or as bad as the people who it is administering. How the judiciary and the Election Commission have been subjugated is a matter of speculation and I would rather not comment on it."