T S Krishnamurthy is a former Indian Revenue Service officer who served as 13th Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of India from February 2004 to May 2005. He presided over the 2004 elections to the Lok Sabha, after having earlier served as Election Commission of India as a Commissioner since January 2000.
Krishnamurthy also served as Secretary, Department of Company and was the first IRS officer to become a Secretary to the Government of India. As Secretary, Department of Company Affairs, he is credited with setting up of Investor Education and Protection Fund set up from unclaimed dividends of companies.
He also served as an IMF advisor in Ethiopia and Georgia and as CEC India, as an observer for elections in Zimbabwe and the U.S Presidential Elections in 2004. In 2005, Krishnamurthy was appointed by the Supreme Court of India to conduct the elections to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (B.C.C.I) to ensure free and fair polls amidst the different factions within the BCCI.
Krishna and I met for the first time at the University of Bath, UK in 1984 while attending a M.Sc. degree course in Fiscal Studies. We became friends straightaway. I am privileged to have had his friendship for 4 decades now. Even as a student at Bath University, he commanded respect from the professors there because of his knowledgeable contributions in classroom discussions.
He is author of a very fine book, “The Miracle of Democracy” recording his experiences in the context of India’s democracy and his role as CEC of India.
He has very kindly agreed to associate with this website project by making contributions from time to time. Hopefully we will benefit from the vast array of experiences he gained within India and on international assignments.