Navin Chawla

Navin Chawla

Naveen Chawla was born in 30 July 1945.He is a former Chief Election Commissioner of India. The last 4 phases (out of 5) of Indian general election to Loksabha were executed under his oversight in April–May 2009.

Chawla is best known for his pro-Indira Gandhi actions as secretary to lieutenant governor of Delhi during Indian emergency(1975–77) and for the biography of Mother Teresa, a world-renowned christian missionary worker. The Shah Commission, an independent commission headed by J C Shah, the former Chief Justice of India, and charged with inquiring into atrocities during emergency period, commented in its final report that Navin Chawla is “unfit to hold any public office which demands an attitude of fair play and consideration for others”. The Shah commission’s report was buried after Indira Gandhi returned to power in 1980. Mrs. Gandhi, then Prime Minister, personally “recalled all reports of Shah Commission wherever possible”. Despite apprehensions which had been expressed about his leanings towards the Congress Party, he is thought to have conducted the 2009 general elections in an even-handed manner, with actions taken against the alleged malpractices of Congress Governments in Rajasthan, Assam and Andhra Pradesh as well as the Congress Allied Government of Tamil Nadu.

According to his family, Navin Chawla was greatly influenced by Mother Teresa in later years and retreated from the decision of resigning civil service in 1997 with her advise.