New Appointment in Election Commission

After the retirement of the current Chief Election Commissioner Shri Rajiv Kumar on February 18, the appointment of the new Chief Election Commissioner will be done according to the law made in 2023, which will also have a provision to choose an eminent person outside the Election Commission. This will be the first time since the tradition of appointing three Election Commissioners to the Election Commission in the 1990s has been adopted. The 2023 law provides that a search committee will be formed to find an election commissioner under the leadership of the Law Minister, which will search for five eligible candidates for this post. The panel will refer the names of the five persons to the Appointments Committee comprising the Prime Minister and a minister of his cabinet including the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha. The appointment committee will examine the names of these five candidates and appoint one person. But this law was made in 2023 when the Supreme Court ruled about the appointment of the Election Commissioner that until Parliament makes a law in this regard, the Election Commissioner should be appointed by a committee consisting of the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Chief Justice of India. This decision was given by the court on March 23. But the central government made a new law regarding the appointment of election commissioners in December 23.

The Supreme Court had taken its decision in the light of the fact mentioned in the Constitution itself that Parliament should make a law regarding the appointment of Election Commissioners, but after independence, no government in the country took note of it and the Election Commissioners were appointed by the government from among the high-ranking officials. In the context of the independent role of these Election Commissioners, when several petitions were filed in the Supreme Court, the country's highest court had given its verdict, but in the new law made on December 23, the Chief Justice was replaced by a minister of the Center. But many petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court regarding the validity of this new law, which the court is considering and it will also hear further in the month of February. But since the Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar is retiring on February 18, the Central Government has decided to initiate further action under the new law. A three-member committee will be headed by the Law Minister and will comprise two secretary-level officers to scout candidates. They can also be currently serving or retired secretaries.

It is obvious that whatever names this committee will find, it cannot be assumed that there are two Election Commissioners currently in it. Because the investigative committee will not be bound by it. At present, apart from Rajiv Kumar, the remaining two Commissioners are Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu. Earlier, the Chief Election Commissioner was made a senior commissioner from among the working election commissioners, but under the new law, now the Chief Election Commissioner can be a third person besides these two. Petitions are also lying for hearing in the Supreme Court regarding the law of appointment of Election Commissioners made in 2023. Therefore, if the Supreme Court does not give a decision in this regard by February 18, then only one of the five names found by the Investigative Committee of the Law Minister will be made the new Chief Election Commissioner.

The current Chief Election Commissioner has been a victim of criticism from opposition parties from the beginning. The role of the Election Commission is very important in our Constitution. The ground for the parliamentary democratic system that we have adopted is prepared by the Election Commission and handed over to the political parties. Impartial and fearlessness is such a feature of the Election Commission that the Constitution of India provides it. Therefore, whenever the role of the Election Commission is doubted, the sanctity and credibility of elections is doubted. It is not without reason that our forefathers did not make the Election Commission a part of the government and gave it the freedom to do its work by taking power directly from the Constitution. Therefore, the Election Commission is considered to be the backbone of India's democracy. It does not need to defend the ruling party in power, nor does the Constitution allow it to ignore the opposition parties, it must appear to be impartial. For this reason, from time to time, political parties in opposition have been raising questions about its impartiality.

The issue of appointment of election commissioners was also raised during the Manmohan Singh government's tenure. It was Mr. L.K. Advani, who was the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha at that time, who suggested that a committee consisting of the Chief Justice of India and the Prime Minister should be formed for the appointment of the Election Commissioner, so that no one could question the role of the Election Commissioners. The new law will now name five candidates from which the Chief Election Commissioner will be selected. Mr. Gyanesh Kumar is the senior of the two Election Commissioners but he cannot become the new Chief Election Commissioner on this basis. In the Constitution of India, the Election Commissioner was to be appointed by the President on the recommendation of the Central Government and it was also written that Parliament should make a law in this regard. On March 23, the Supreme Court had ruled that till Parliament enacts a law, a three-member appointments committee should be constituted which includes the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition as well as the Chief Justice. But on December 23, the government enacted the law. Therefore, the new appointment will be on this basis.