Rajya Sabha passes Bill on appointment of Chief Election Commissioner, Election Commissioners

The Rajya Sabha on Tuesday passed the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill, 2023..The Bill was introduced in the Upper House on August 10 by Minister of State for Law & Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal in the wake of the Supreme Court judgment that had noted the legal vacuum as regards appointment of Election Commissioners.The Bill prescribes that the selection committee that appoints the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and Election Commissioners (ECs) will be chaired by the Prime Minister (PM) and will also consist of a Union Cabinet Minister and the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha..Notably, on Tuesday morning, the government proposed certain amendments to the bill.The original bill prescribed that the search committee would consist of the Cabinet Secretary and two members not below the rank of Secretary to the Government of India. The proposed amendment has replaced 'Cabinet Secretary' with the term, 'Minister of Law and Justice.'Further, the amendment has proposed that allowances and service conditions of the CEC and ECs would be on par with those of Supreme Court judges.It has also suggested that the removal of the CEC should follow the process akin to the removal of Supreme Court judges. Additionally, it states that ECs cannot be removed from office without the recommendation of the CEC.Furthermore, a newly proposed clause 15A in the Bill asserts that no court can entertain civil or criminal proceedings against any person who is or was the CEC or an EC for any act, thing, or word committed, done, or spoken by them in the discharge of their official duties..The Supreme Court judgment dated March 2, 2023, had said that until the Central government comes up with a law on appointments to the Election Commission of India (ECI), the appointments should be done on the advice of a committee comprising the PM, the Chief Justice of India (CJI) and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha.A Constitution Bench of Justices KM Joseph, Ajay Rastogi, Aniruddha Bose, Hrishikesh Roy and CT Ravikumar had also asked the Central government to consider establishing a permanent secretariat for the ECI. It was also suggested that its expenditure be charged to the Consolidated Fund of India, so that the poll body can be truly independent.The Court had added that an election commission that does not ensure free and fair polls as per the rules of the game, guarantees the breakdown of the foundation of the rule of law..[Read the Bill as introduced]