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What's the article about?
- It talks about strengthening the independence of the Election Commission of India (ECI) by reforming the selection process of Election Commissioners (ECs).
Relevance:
- GS2: Appointment to various Constitutional Posts, Powers, Functions and Responsibilities of various Constitutional Bodies;
- Prelims.
What's the crux of the article?
- The Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court of India hearing a case regarding the need to have a neutral mechanism for appointment of Election Commissioners (ECs).
- As per the Article 324(2) a parliament should frame a law for the appointment of ECs. But no law has been enacted so far.
- Thus the SC is pushing for an independent mechanism, possibly a selection committee that includes the Chief Justice of India.
- Now two issues are mentioned in this article:
- Brief (short) tenure of ECI.
- Removal Procedure of ECs.
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Analysis:
- At present the ECI is a multi-member body. It consists of a Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and two other Election Commissioners (ECs).
- They have a fixed tenure of six years, or up to the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.
- The current convention is to appoint ECs, and elevate them as CEC on the basis of seniority.
- Based on what age an EC becomes ECI he/she can either have long tenure or a brief tenure.
- However, it may be argued that even Chief Justices have brief tenures, but that does not undermine their independence.
- They both enjoy the same status and receive salary and perks as available to Judges of the SC.
- The difference lies in the removal procedure:
- While the CEC can be removed from office only through a process of removal similar to that of a SC judge. (impeachment by Parliament)
- To remove Election Commissioners (ECs), only the recommendation of the CEC is needed. This affects the operational freedom and space of ECs.
Conclusion:
- Thus, the writer argues for extending the same tenure security to the ECs too, regardless of what kind of appointment process is in place.
