Govt tables bill to exclude CJI from panel to appoint CEC, ECs

The government introduced the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service, and Term of Office) Bill in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, seeking to remove the Chief Justice of India from the panel that appoints the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners.

According to the bill, the panel for these nominations will include the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, and a Cabinet minister.

The bill was introduced months after a Supreme Court constitution bench decided in March that a panel comprised of the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, and the Chief Justice of India would nominate the CEC and ECs until Parliament passed legislation.

The court ruled that ECI’s independence requires a collegium and that the purity of the election process must be maintained to preserve democracy, or else it will have fatal effects.

According to the bench, the head of the single largest party in Parliament will be included in the collegium that would nominate the CEC and ECs. The Election Commission of India is a three-member body comprised of a Chief Election Commissioner and two Electoral Commissioners.

The President has the authority to designate the CEC and ECs under Article 324(2) of the Constitution. This article states that the President will make appointments “subject to the provisions of any law made in that behalf by Parliament” with the assistance and advice of the Prime Minister and the council of ministers.