EC appointments bill: Centre reconsidering decision to push for passage during special session, says report

The Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill, 2023, is likely to face severe resistance from several Opposition leaders if and when it is brought in Parliament. Opposition leaders who met at an all-party meeting Sunday labelled the bill as “anti-Constitution” and “anti-democratic.”

Official sources have indicated that the government is reconsidering its decision to discuss and pass the bill during the upcoming five-day session commencing on Monday, reports news agency PTI. The Bill is one of the eight bills scheduled to be taken up by the government during the session, reported by PTI.

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Other than the Opposition, the Bill has also come in for scrutiny from former CECs and ECs who have criticised the bill’s provisions, prompting the government to revise its stance. Sources cited by PTI indicate that a final decision on whether to push for its passage during the session is yet to be made.

The bill aims to replace the Chief Justice of India with a cabinet minister in the panel responsible for selecting the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners. This move would grant the government more control over the appointment of poll panel members.

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Additionally, the bill proposes changes to the salary, allowances, and service conditions of the CEC and ECs, aligning them with the Cabinet Secretary rather than a Supreme Court judge. Critics argue that this change undermines the authority of the election watchdog.

The bill comes in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling in March stating that the three-member panel, chaired by the Prime Minister including the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha and the Chief Justice of India, would select the CEC and ECs until Parliament formulated a law for their appointment.

According to the bill introduced by Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal in the Rajya Sabha in August, a three-member Selection Committee, chaired by the Prime Minister comprising the Leader of the Opposition and a Union Cabinet minister nominated by the Prime Minister, will be responsible for selecting the CEC and ECs.

The bill was introduced amid disagreement from the Opposition parties, including the Congress, Trinamool Congress, AAP and Left parties, who accused the government of “diluting and overturning” a Supreme Court Constitution bench order. In contrast, the BJP argued that the government has the right to bring this bill.

“Read the Supreme Court judgment. It had suggested a transient method for appointment of the CEC in absence of a statutory mechanism. The government is well within its right to bring in a bill for the same,” BJP’s IT department head Amit Malviya posted on ‘X’.

An opening in the Election Commission (EC) will occur next year when Election Commissioner Anup Chandra Pandey retires on February 15 upon reaching the age of 65.

“The salary is the same at Rs 2.50 lakh per month. But the CEC and the Commissioners now stand equated to the cabinet secretary and not judges of the SC,” said a functionary. The CEC and the ECs will be ranked below a minister of state, according to him, once the measure has been approved by Parliament.

“Since the CEC and the ECs will be equivalent to the cabinet secretary and not a judge of the Supreme Court, they may be treated as bureaucrats. It can be a tricky situation during the conduct of elections,” the functionary asserted.

(With inputs from PTI)