New Delhi: Amid 143 MPs missing due to their suspension in the last few days, the Parliament Thursday cleared a crucial Bill about the mechanism to appoint the Chief Election Commissioner and elections commissioners in the country.
The Lok Sabha passed after a brief discussion the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill, 2023 which seeks to establish a mechanism to appoint the chief election commissioner and election commissioners.
The Rajya Sabha has already given its nod to the Bill. The contentious bill goes against the Supreme Court's direction that the Election Commission should be selected by a panel comprising the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, and the Chief Justice of India (CJI).
Back in March, Justice KM Joseph-led Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court, in an attempt to ensure the independence of election commissioners, had ruled that until the parliament frames a law prescribing the selection process, the committee to select election commissioners of the country shall comprise the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, and the Chief Justice.
However, the bill passed by Parliament has dropped the Chief Justice of India from the selection committee. "The Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners shall be appointed by the President on the recommendation of a Selection Committee consisting of—(a) the Prime Minister—Chairperson; (b) the Leader of Opposition in the House of the People—Member; (c) a Union Cabinet Minister to be nominated by the Prime Minister—Member. For the purposes of removal of doubts, it is hereby declared that where the Leader of Opposition in the House of the People has not been recognised as such, the leader of the single largest party in opposition of the Government in the House of the People shall be deemed to be the Leader of Opposition," reads the copy of the Bill seen by ETV Bharat.
Juxtapose that with the apex court verdict delivered on March 2, where it had said: “We declare that as far as appointment to the posts of Chief Election Commissioner and the Election Commissioners are concerned, the same shall be done by the President of India on the basis of the advice tendered by a Committee consisting of the Prime Minister of India, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and, in case, there is no such Leader, the Leader of the largest Party in the Opposition in the Lok Sabha having the largest numerical strength, and the Chief Justice of India”. The apex court added, “This norm will continue to hold good till a law is made by the Parliament”.
The apex court had delivered the judgment on a 2015 PIL challenging the constitutional validity of the practice of the Centre-appointed members of the Election Commission. A two-judge bench of the apex court in 2018, had referred the case to a larger bench since it required a close examination of Article 324 of the Constitution, which deals with the role of a CEC.
Meanwhile, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal while defending the Bill said the 1991 Act on the service conditions of the CEC and the ECs was a "half-baked" attempt and the present Bill "covers the areas left out by the previous legislations". Following it, the Bill was passed by a voice vote in Lok Sabha.
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