Wednesday, June 6, 2018

ECI- The Election Commission of India 1

ECI- The Election Commission of India


The Constitution of India has vested in the Election Commission (EC) of India the superintendence, direction and control of the entire process for conduct of elections to Parliament and Legislature of every State and to the offices of President and Vice-President of India.

Originally, the commission had only a Chief Election Commissioner. It currently consists of Chief Election Commissioner and two Election Commissioners. For the first time two additional Commissioners were appointed on 16th October 1989 but they had a very short tenure till 1st January 1990. Later, on 1st October 1993 two additional Election Commissioners were appointed. The concept of multi-member Commission has been in operation since then, with decision making power by majority vote.

Constitutional Provisions      


      Art. 324       broadly speaks of the functions of EC and its composition.
      Art. 325       there shall be one general electoral roll for every territorial constituency for election to either House of parliament and State legislature. It establishes equality among citizens by affirming that no person shall be ineligible for inclusion in the electoral roll on the grounds of religion, race, caste or sex.
      Art. 326       lays down adult suffrage as the basis of elections to the Lok Sabha and to the Legislative Assemblies of States.
      Art. 327       confers on Parliament the power to make provisions with respect to elections to federal and state legislatures
      Art. 328       confers on State Legislature the power to make laws with respect to elections to such legislature
      Art. 329       bars interference by courts in electoral matters. Notwithstanding anything said in the constitution i.e. validity of any law relating to the delimitation of constituencies or the allotment of seats to such constituencies shall not be called in question in any court

No election to either House of Parliament or either House of the Legislature of a State shall be called in question except by an election petition. Any elector or candidate can file an election petition on grounds of malpractice during the election. In respect of elections to the Parliament and State Legislatures they can only be filed before the High Court and in respect of elections for the offices of President and Vice-President, such petitions can only be filed before the Supreme Court.

Composition and Conditions of Service      


1. EC shall consist of the chief election commissioner and such number of other election commissioners, if any, as the president may from time to time fix (presently CEC + 2 ECs)
2. The appointment of the chief election commissioner and other election commissioners shall be made by the president
3. The president may also appoint after consultation with the election commission such regional commissioners as he may consider necessary to assist the election commission

4. The conditions of service and tenure of office of the election commissioners and the regional commissioners shall be determined by the president
5. When any election commissioner is appointed, the chief election commissioner acts as the Chairman of the Election Commission
6. The chief election commissioner and the two election commissioners draw salaries and allowances at par with those of the Judges of the Supreme Court of India
7. The chief election commissioner or an election commissioner holds office for a term of 6 years from the date on which he assumes his office or till he attains the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier
8. Election commissioner or a regional commissioner shall not be removed from office except on the recommendation of the chief election commissioner


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