Election Commissioners appointments bill seeks passage in Rajya Sabha

New Delhi: Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal will Tuesday move the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill, 2023 in the Rajya Sabha for consideration and passage to regulate the appointment, conditions of service and term of office of the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners, and the procedure for transaction of business by the Election Commission.

The government in August had introduced in the Rajya Sabha a bill that seeks to replace the Chief Justice of India with a cabinet minister in the panel for selection of the chief election commissioner and election commissioners, amid an uproar by the opposition.

Meghwal moved the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill, 2023 in the Upper House, where it is pending.

According to the bill, future chief election commissioners and election commissioners will be selected by a three-member panel headed by the prime minister and comprising the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha and a cabinet minister.

Opposition parties, including the Congress and the AAP, have raised strong objections to the bill and accused the government of diluting a Supreme Court Constitution bench order.

While the opposition parties are claiming that this is in contrast to a Supreme Court judgment of March this year which said the panel should comprise the PM, LoP in Lok Sabha and the Chief Justice of India, BJP accused them of twisting the Supreme Court order for political gains.

However, SC in its detailed judgment, clearly said that the arrangement proposed by it would continue only till Parliament makes a law and Parliament has also been empowered to make a law by the Constitution vide 324(2).

The bill comes months after the Supreme Court in March ruled that the selection panel should comprise the prime minister, the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Chief Justice of India (CJI), till a law is framed by Parliament on the appointment of the chief election commissioner (CEC) and election commissioners (ECs).

According to the bill, the salary and allowances of the chief election commissioner and election commissioners will be equivalent to that of the cabinet secretary. Under the present law governing the service and conduct of the CEC and ECs, they are paid a salary which is equal to the salary of a Supreme Court judge.