NEW DELHI: With Law Minister Salman Khurshid ruffling feathers by saying his ministry has administrative control over Election Commission, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has assured the poll body that the government respects its constitutional status and functional autonomy.
Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi had written to the Prime Minister after Khurshid recently said in a TV interview that the Law Ministry has control over the Election Commission to the extent that it accords sanction for foreign travel of the Election Commissioners.
He was talking in the context of Team Anna’s objection to CBI being retained under government control under the Lokpal Bill when he said “every institution is under some control”. (PTI)