"Two Election Commissioners' Objections Raise Questions on ECI Functioning"
Special Intensive Revision (SIR)
the ECI's periodic exercise to clean up and update electoral rolls.
Form 6
the prescribed form used to register as a new voter with the ECI.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) draws its authority from Article 324, which vests in it the superintendence, direction and control of elections to Parliament, state legislatures, and the offices of President and Vice-President. The Constitution does not fix the ECI's exact strength; this was left to the President. From 1950 it functioned as a single-member body. A brief three-member experiment in 1989 was reversed within months. The Election Commission (Amendment) Act, 1993 finally made it a permanent multi-member body, with one Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and two Election Commissioners (ECs), meant to decide matters by consensus or, failing that, by majority.
Appointments were long left to executive discretion, with the President acting on the advice of the Council of Ministers. This changed with Anoop Baranwal v Union of India (2023), where a Constitution Bench held that, until Parliament legislated, a committee of the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, and the Chief Justice of India would make these appointments. Parliament then passed the CEC and Other ECs Act, 2023, which replaced the Chief Justice of India with a Union Cabinet Minister nominated by the Prime Minister, giving the government two of the three votes on the selection panel.
A less-noticed asymmetry lies in Article 324(5): the CEC can be removed only through a process resembling impeachment of a Supreme Court judge, while other ECs can be removed by the President on the CEC's own recommendation. The Constitution also restrains courts from routinely second-guessing electoral administration: Article 329(b) bars questioning the conduct of an election except through an election petition after the poll, which is also why Delimitation Commission orders enjoy similar insulation. This restraint is now being tested by the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The SIR is a periodic, ECI-mandated exercise meant to delete ineligible or duplicate entries and add eligible new voters to electoral rolls. Because the Commission is a multi-member body by design, major process changes are expected to be arrived at through consensus, or a recorded majority when members disagree. During the ongoing SIR, the two Election Commissioners objected on record fourteen times over ten months, on at least three specific counts: that they were kept out of decisions before they were taken, that changes to the voter-registration Form 6 made the process harsher and could visit a parent's contested deletion upon a child's registration, and that centralising the voter database weakened decentralised accountability by cutting state-level election staff out of access. …
With reference to the Delimitation Commission, consider the following statements:
1.The orders of the Delimitation Commission cannot be challenged in a Court of Law.
2.When the orders of the Delimitation Commission are laid before the Lok Sabha or State Legislative Assembly, they cannot effect any modifications in the orders.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
With reference to the Constitution of India, prohibitions or limitations or provisions contained in ordinary laws cannot act as prohibitions or limitations on the constitutional powers under Article 142. It could mean which one of the following?
With reference to the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023, consider the following statements:
1.The Act was enacted following the Supreme Court's judgment in Anoop Baranwal v Union of India.
2.The selection committee under the Act comprises the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, and the Chief Justice of India.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Consider the following statements regarding the removal of members of the Election Commission of India:
1.The Chief Election Commissioner can be removed only through a process similar to the impeachment of a Supreme Court judge.
2.Other Election Commissioners can be removed by the President only on the recommendation of the Chief Election Commissioner.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Match the following:
List-I (Provision/Event)
A.Article 324
B.Article 329(b)
C.Anoop Baranwal case
D.Election Commission (Amendment) Act, 1993
List-II (Significance)
1.Bars courts from questioning election conduct except via election petition
2.Vests superintendence and control of elections in the ECI
3.Directed a broader appointment committee for the CEC and ECs
4.Made the ECI a permanent multi-member body
Select the correct answer using the codes below:
Assertion (A): The Supreme Court generally refrains from routinely intervening in the Election Commission's conduct of electoral roll revisions.
Reason (R): Article 329(b) of the Constitution bars courts from interfering in matters relating to the conduct of elections except through an election petition.
Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?
Consider the following statements about the composition of the Election Commission of India:
1.It functioned as a single-member body from 1950 until a permanent multi-member structure was created.
2.The Election Commission (Amendment) Act, 1993 made it a permanent three-member body.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
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