“Domain expertise and capacity building are constant casualties in institutional structure. Diversity in composition is also overlooked in many cases. It is important to realise that fourth branch institutions can’t be retirement homes for civil servants and judges,” Justice Narsimha said.

He also underlined that the framers of the Constitution deliberately ensured that elections were conducted by a body that was completely outside the Executive. “In retrospect, we can conceive the disasters if this had not been done,” he added.