New Delhi : Lok Sabha on Thursday passed a bill containing provisions for the appointment, salary, and removal of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and Election Commissioners (ECs).
The Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill, 2023, was by voice vote. Rajya Sabha had passed the bill on December 12.
The Bill seeks to replace the Election Commission (Conditions of Service of Election Commissioners and Transaction of Business) Act, 1991. It also has provisions for the appointment, salary, and removal of the Chief Election
Commissioner (CEC) and Election Commissioners (ECs). According to the provisions, the CEC and ECs will be appointed by the President upon the
recommendation of a three-member Selection Committee comprising the Prime Minister, a Union Cabinet Minister selected by the PM, and the Leader of Opposition or the leader of the largest opposition party in Lok Sabha. The appointment conflicts with the Supreme Court's direction that the Election Commission should be selected by a panel comprising the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, and the Chief Justice of India (CJI). Replying to a brief discussion on the bill, Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said.The Bill has been brought in consonance with the direction of the Supreme Court about
appointment of Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners."
Meghwal said the Salary of the CEC and ECs will be equivalent to the Judges of the Supreme Court. The Minister underlined that if the CEC or ECs pass any order it will not be challenged in any court of law.
