In what is being seen as a controversial move, the Centre has introduced a Bill in the Rajya Sabha, that proposes to amend the procedure for the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner, as also the two Election Commissioners. The government initiative comes five months after the Apex Court had stipulated that the selection of the Election Commissioners should be done by a panel comprising the Prime Minister, the leader of the largest party in Lok Sabha and the Chief Justice of India, in order to maintain the independence of the body. These recommendations, would need the final nod of the President. According to the Supreme Court ruling this arrangement would continue until a new law was brought in by the Centre. Therefore, the Bill tabled in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday by Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, seeks to substitute the CJI with a Cabinet Minister appointed by the Prime Minister. The Opposition has strongly reacted to the proposal and has questioned the intentions of removing the CJI from the Selection Committee, which would raise questions regarding the government’s intentions. The Election Commission is the body that conducts polls for not only the two Houses of Parliament but various State Assemblies. The process of conducting polls is considered to be the largest democratic exercise anywhere in the world, and thus leaders of many political parties as well as prominent figures of the civil society believe, that nothing should be done which could cast any kind of doubts over the functioning. The amended procedure, if it comes into play, would shift the balance of a fair selection process in favour of the government, and the absence of the CJI from the panel would needlessly provide ammunition to the Opposition parties for questioning the motives of the ruling dispensation, even if the best and most competent officials get selected for the position. The Election body has lately had only bureaucrats appointed for the job. However, many experts believe that there should be at least one Election Commissioner with a legal background in the body since the work entails many issues that are purely legal and need an in depth understanding of the law. In the past, there have been instances where functionaries with legal background were drafted in the body. When the legendary TN Seshan as the Chief Election Commissioner would seek to impose his views on the conduct of elections, it was left to GVG Krishnamurthy, a man with immense legal acumen, to sometimes guide him on the legality and constitutionality of the matters at hand. In fact, GVG as he was referred to was consulted by even CECs, in the post Seshan period and long after he superannuated, and led his retired life in the national capital till his passing away some years ago. The government’s bill in the Rajya Sabha does not infringe its rights to bring in a new law. However, what it does is that it unnecessarily raises questions about its overall objectives. Even the selected nominees who make it to the Election panel after going through the process, would also face questions about their credibility and independence, which would be extremely unfortunate. It is imperative for the government and the Opposition to ensure that no aspersions are ever cast on those who hold this position unless they deviate from their duties. And if that happens, there is a process in place to take cognizance of the aberration and remove them. However, the Election body in India has made all the citizens very proud, and over the years, by and large, it has upheld the independence by holding free and fair elections. It is significant to point out that after every election, there are many who start questioning the electoral processes, and in the past few instances, some have raised serious questions regarding the use of the Electronic Voting Machines, maintaining that they could be tampered with. While there is no evidence which substantiates this charge, there has been a demand for reverting back to the Ballot system. This is for the government and the Opposition to consider any such proposal for changing the voting methods, but it is paramount that there should be complete transparency. Recently there was a research paper published by a faculty member of a private university which claimed that in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, there were discrepancies between the figures of the total votes counted and the total votes polled. This claim has been widely disputed by a large number of people but all the same, it has generated discussion on the subject in intellectual circles. Both after the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and the Madhya Pradesh Assembly by-elections necessitated by the shifting of nearly two dozen Congress MLAs owing allegiance to Jyotiraditya Scindia, to the BJP, there were questions raised over the manipulation of the EVMs. Even though no wrong doing could be established, conspiracy theorists had a field day. This is why, every effort must be made to ensure that the Independence and the credibility of our Election body is never compromised. This should be kept in mind when the government as well as the Opposition discuss and debate the new Bill which was tabled in the Rajya Sabha.