Former Chief Election Commissioner M S Gill Passes Away

New Delhi, October 16 (TNA) Former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Manohar Singh Gill, passed away on Sunday at a south Delhi hospital after a brief illness. He was 86. Gill was the 11th Chief Election Commissioner of India. An officer of the 1958 batch of Indian Administrative Services Punjab cadre, he was CEC from 12th December 1996 to 13th June 2001.

He had succeeded legendary T N Seshan as the CEC of India. During his tenure as CEC, ECI successfully conducted the General Elections to the 12th Lok Sabha in 1998 and 13th Lok Sabha in 1999; 11th Presidential Elections and Vice-Presidential Elections in 1997, and General Elections to Legislative Assemblies in more than 20 states.

Gill was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in the year 2000 for his exceptional and distinguished services as a civil servant. Gill served as a Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs as well as Minister for Statistics and Programme Implementation in the Manmohan Singh government. He will be cremated here on Monday, a close aide informed.