When Parliament holds a special session next week in a brand new building, one of the items on the legislative agenda will be a new bill to regulate the appointment and service conditions of the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners.
The Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill, 2023 was tabled in the Rajya Sabha last month during the Monsoon Session.
The Bill proposes to downgrade the salary and allowances of the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners, equivalent to that of the cabinet secretary from a Supreme Court judge earlier. While in terms of the monetary value, both have the same salary, they hold different statures in the system. If the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners are equivalent to a cabinet secretary, they are ranked below a Minister of State, and will effectively be bureaucrats.
Speaking to News18, SY Quraishi, who served as the CEC between 2010 and 2012, said that it will not just lower the status of the top poll panel officials, but the status of the Election Commission of India too.
“This is a very powerful institution. It has brought glory to the country and in elections, India is already considered a ‘vishwaguru’ (world leader)… The ECI has a very special constitutional role. Firstly, the CEC and Election Commissioners can take actions against the politicians. When you are equivalent to the Supreme Court judge, you have different authority and status but when you are a bureaucrat, it is totally different,” said Quraishi.
He went on to add that, in most countries, the Election Commissioners are judges themselves. “So they will not look upon our bureaucrats with the same respect that they have been doing so far.”
Requesting anonymity, another former CEC said that when the Chief Election Commission and Election Commissioners have power, politicians are not able to intimidate them and the ECI stands strong.
“But when the head of the house’s authority is lowered, do you really think the ECI will continue to work in a free and fair manner?”
The former CEC added that the poll body was given certain freedom in the Constitution and it was well-planned.
“ECI has a worldwide respect for its work. Countries are learning from the ECI, they take help and suggestions because ECI is free and strong. You really think that we can get the same respect post the downgrade as well?” they said, asking that if SC judges and cabinet secretaries have the same salary, what is the point of the change?
The Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointments, Conditions of Service, Term of Office) Bill 2023, as the name suggests, aims to regulate the appointment, conditions of service and term of office of the CEC and other Election Commissioners along with the procedure for transaction of business by the poll body and matters connected.
The Bill says that a selection committee with the Prime Minister as the Chairperson will select the CECs and the Election Commissioners. There will be two members in the committee – the Leader of Opposition (LoP), Lok Sabha and a Union Minister nominated by the Prime Minister.
In March, the Supreme Court ruled that the appointment of the CEC and Election Commissioners will be made by a committee composed of the Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and the Chief Justice of India (CJI) until a law is made to this effect. The panel will give its suggestions to the President, who will then appoint the CEC and Election Commissioners.
The Bill is replacing the CJI with a Union Minister who will be nominated by the Prime Minister.
Before the SC order, for the appointment of the CEC, it was the Law Minister that suggested a pool of suitable candidates to the Prime Minister for consideration. It is the Prime Minister who selects the candidate and the President makes the appointment.
Former CECs have also questioned the replacement of CJI with a PM-nominated cabinet minister.
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