Tweaked Bill on choosing top 3 poll officials cleared

The Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill, 2023, which seeks to regulate the appointment as well as service conditions and terms of office of the chief election commissioner and other election commissioners, was passed in the Lok Sabha on Thursday. The Bill was earlier passed by the Rajya Sabha.

As per the legislation, the CEC and ECs will be appointed by the President based on the recommendation of a selection committee which will comprise the Prime Minister, a Union Cabinet Minister, and the leader of the Opposition. The Supreme Court had, in a ruling in March, directed the constitution of the committee, ruling that the committee will have as members the prime minister, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, or the leader of the largest Opposition party in the House and the Chief Justice of India.

Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said the apex court’s ruling holds till a law is made by Parliament.

“This law has been brought by the government for this purpose. Under the legislation, a search committee headed by the Union Law Secretary will propose a panel of names to the Selection Committee. The Salary of the CEC and ECs will be equivalent to Judges of the Supreme Court. If the CEC or ECs passes any order, it will not be challenged in any court of law,” Meghwal said while introducing the Bill.

The Bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha on December 12.

While a handful of Opposition MPs remained in the Lok Sabha while the Bill was taken up for discussion, AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi said that the bill is biased and that the ECI’s independence will be over.

“If voters start feeling that the ECI is not an impartial and non-partisan body, the legitimacy of our democracy comes into question,” Owaisi said.

Those who spoke in support of the Bill include YSRCP’s Chinta Anuradha, BJP members Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Dilip Ghosh, Dr Sanjay Jaiswal, Kirit Solanki, Sudheer Gupta and Sanjay Seth of BJP, as well as Jayadev Galla of the TDP.