The Rajya Sabha on Tuesday passed a bill on the appointments and service terms of Chief Election Commissioner and election commissioners, reported Bar and Bench.
The Union government had introduced the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Elections Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill in the Upper House of Parliament in August.
The bill aims to constitute a selection committee for the appointment of the election commissioners consisting of the prime minister (as chairperson), the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and a Union Cabinet minister nominated by the prime minister.
This does away with the arrangement put in place by a Supreme Court judgement delivered in March that had formed a selection committee consisting of the prime minister, the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the chief justice of India, till the Parliament came up with a law.
Introducing the bill in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, Minister of Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal also proposed some changes.
The original bill said that the search committee would consist of the cabinet secretary and two members not below the rank of secretary to the government of India. With the amendment, the term “cabinet secretary” has been replaced with “minister of law and justice”, according to Bar and Bench.
The amendments also introduce matters related to the salaries of the commissioners, stating that the allowances and service conditions of the chief election commissioner and election commissioners would be on par with those of the Supreme Court judges.
The process to remove the chief election commissioner should be in line with those for Supreme Court judges, it added.
Meghwal said that the bill is in accordance with the Supreme Court’s ruling and seeks to replace the 1991 Act, which did not have a clause related to the appointment of election commissioners, reported PTI.
The minister said that a matter related to legal proceedings against the election commissioners for actions taken while carrying out their duties has also been introduced through an amendment in the bill.
He said that a search and selection committee has been constituted to enforce the provisions in the bill.
The Congress, however, objected to the bill and said that it violates the spirit of the Constitution.
“It completely negates and subjugates the Election Commission to the authority of the executive and it does away willingly, maliciously the judgement of the Supreme Court and that is why this law is per se like a stillborn child,” said Congress MP Randeep Singh Surjewala.
Stating that the poll body needs to remain independent, he said the selection committee has been reduced to an “empty formality” as it comprises the prime minister and members nominated by him.
“An independent appointment mechanism would guarantee eschewing of even the prospect of bias,” said the Congres leader. “This is what this government is afraid of. I am saying it with a sense of responsibility, for they do not want an independent Election Commission, chief election commissioner and election commissioners. They want a pocket borough.”
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