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The Bill introduced by the government to set up a committee of the Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition and a Cabinet Minister for selecting the Election Commission was an improvement in one way, in that the Opposition leader was included, but the inclusion of the Speaker or Vice-President instead of a minster would have been better for its credibility, according to two former Chief Election Commissioners.
As per the Bill, a Cabinet Minister, nominated by the Prime Minister, will replace the Chief Justice of India in the selection committee.
Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal Thursday introduced the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill, 2023 in the Rajya Sabha.
The Bill says a search committee headed by the Cabinet Secretary and two officers not below the rank of Secretary to Government of India would prepare a panel of five names for the committee headed by the Prime Minister to decide. It also says the candidates should hold or have held a post equivalent to Secretary to Government of India and be “persons of integrity, who have knowledge of and experience in management and conduct of elections”. It says that the salary of the CEC and ECs would be equivalent to the Cabinet Secretary, as opposed to a Supreme Court judge, which is the case now.
Retired CEC T S Krishna Murthy, who oversaw the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, said the Bill had confined the selection to secretaries and those with experience of handling elections, which was not the case before.
“It has also equated the CEC and ECs to the Cabinet Secretary. Previously, they were equated to a Supreme Court judge. It is not clear whether the privileges and perks of a Supreme Court judge that were being given to ECs would continue,” he said.
Krishna Murthy added that to “enhance credibility”, the government could have included the Lok Sabha Speaker or Vice-President in the committee rather than a Minister.
Another former CEC, O P Rawat, who held the position in 2018, saw some merit in the government’s Bill as well as the Supreme Court-ordered committee that would have the PM, the Leader of Opposition and the Chief Justice of India. The Supreme Court had in March ordered the setting up of the committee till such time Parliament enacts a law on the matter. However, since there has been no vacancy in the ECI, the committee has not been required so far. Till now, the appointment of CEC and ECs has been done by the government.
“There is some improvement from the current situation where the government decides by including an outsider, that is the Leader of Opposition. The Supreme Court may have thought to include the CJI as the CEC and EC were equated with a Supreme Court judge. But, now that CEC and ECs are being equated with the Cabinet Secretary, the committee includes a Minister instead,” Rawat said.
The Bill also repeals the Election Commission (Conditions of Service of Election Commissioners and Transaction of Business) Act, 1991, which says the CEC and ECs will draw the salary equal to a judge of the Supreme Court.
