President Droupadi Murmu gave assent to the Bill to govern the appointment and service conditions of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and other Election Commissioners (ECs) on Thursday.
On August 10, Minister of State for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal introduced the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill, 2023 in Rajya Sabha.
Reportedly, the bill was introduced in the wake of the Supreme Court judgement that had noted the legal vacuum as regards appointment of Election Commissioners. The aforesaid Bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha on December 12 before being passed by the Lok Sabha on December 21.
The Bill states that the selection committee that appoints the Chief Election Commissioners and Election Commissioners (ECs) will be chaired by the Prime Minister and will also comprise a Union Cabinet Minister and the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha.
Earlier, former Supreme Court judge Justice Rohinton Nariman had said that the bill could seriously jeopardise the independence of the Election Commission of India (ECI).
Justice Nariman had mentioned that if the bill becomes law, the executive will have the final say in appointing Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners, which would affect free and fair elections.
The apex 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 comprising 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 Election Commission of India. Additionally, 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 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.