Until Parliament passes law, PM, LoP and CJI to select Chief Election Commissioners and Election Commissioners

Selection Mechanism to appoint Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and Election Commissioners (ECs) has been revamped by the constitutional bench of the Supreme Court. In a latest ruling , a panel comprising of the Prime Minister, the Leader of Opposition (LoP) and the Chief Justice of India (CJI) shall appoint the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioner until the Parliament brings a Law in this regard.

Supreme Court revamps mechanism to appoint CEC and EC

The bench headed by justice KM Joseph and comprising of justices Ajay Rastogi, Aniruddha Bose, Hrishikesh Roy and CT Ravikumar ruled that in the absence of an LoP, the leader of the single largest party in Parliament will be included in the collegium to appoint CEC and EC’s.

At present, the Election Commission of India (ECI) is a three member body , with a CEC and two EC’s. However under Article 324 (2) of the Constitution , the President of India is empowered to appoint CEC and ECs. Provision further stipulates that the President , who acts on the aid and advice of the Prime Minister and President shall make the appointments  “subject to the provisions of any law made on that behalf by Parliament”.

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No Law has been framed till date

Despite the importance of the Constitutional post, no law has been framed till date, Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioner are appointed by the Prime Minister and the council of ministers under the seal of the President. The rules for such appointments are also silent on the qualification of a candidate.

Justices Joseph and Rashtogi had read out separate but concurring judgments, declaring that the independence of ECI requires a Collegium with the participation of the CJI, Justice Joseph while reading out the operative part of his judgment

“Purity of election process must be maintained to preserve democracy. Otherwise, it would lead to disastrous consequences”

Judge further added that ECI must have an independent secretariat, rule-making powers as well as an independent budget to be able to function independently.

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