Parliament Special Session Will Consider Bill On Election Commissioners' Appointment Process

The Parliament will consider in its Special Session next week the Bill introduced by the Central Government to regulate the appointment process for the Chief Election Commissioner and the Election Commissioners.

As per the Bill titled "Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill, 2023", the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners shall be appointed by the President on the recommendation of a Selection Committee consisting of :

(a) the Prime Minister- Chairperson;

(b) the Leader of Opposition in the House of the People Member;

(c) a Union Cabinet Minister to be nominated by the Prime Minister- Member.

The Bill was tabled by the Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal in the Rajya Sabha on August 10. However, the Bill could not be passed in the Monsoon Session which ended on August 11.

In the legislative business published for the Special Session from September 18 to 22, this Bill is mentioned for consideration by the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.

In March this year, a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court had ruled that the Election Commissioners shall be selected by a committee comprising the Prime Minister, the Leader of Opposition and the Chief Justice of India, till the Parliament frames a law prescribing the selection process. The bench led by Justice KM Joseph passed the direction to ensure the independence of the Election Commissioners from the independence. While passing the direction, the bench noted that there is no Parliamentary law at place in terms of Article 324(2) of the Constitution laying down the selection procedure for Election Commissioners