New Delhi: T S Krishna Murthy, Election Commissioner for more than four years, today (Feb 08, 2004) took over as the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC).

Taruvai Subbayya Krishna Murthy, 63, the first Indian Revenue Service (IRS) official, who became an Election Commissioner in January 2000, will remain CEC till May 2005 when he will be 65 years beyond which a person cannot continue in that post.

Soon after he was appointed CEC, Murthy had promised "a very quick decision" on the schedule for Lok Sabha polls.

Earlier in the day, N Gopalaswami, an IAS (Indian Administration Service) officer of 1966 batch, assumed charge as the third Election Commissioner to fill the vacancy created by the retirement J M Lyngdoh.