Central idea: The Supreme Court has directed the central government to form a permanent selection committee consisting of consist of the Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition, and the Chief Justice of India or his nominee to recommend the appointment of Election Commissioners.

Supreme Court Ruling

• The Supreme Court ruled that the appointment of the CEC should be made through a transparent and participatory process.
• It directed the government to set up a permanent selection committee to recommend names for the appointment of the CEC.
• The committee will consist of the Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition, and Chief Justice of India or his nominee.
• The court emphasized that the appointment process should ensure the independence of the Election Commission and be free from executive interference.

Why such move?

• The ruling will bring more transparency and accountability to the appointment process of the CEC.
• It will prevent any undue influence by the ruling government in the appointment of the CEC.
• The ruling also reinforces the importance of an independent Election Commission in ensuring the fairness of the democratic process in India.

Why did the SC debate the issue?

• In 2015, a PIL was filed challenging the constitutional validity of the practice of the Centre appointing members of the Election Commission.
• In October 2018, a two-judge bench of the SC referred the case to a larger bench since it would require a close examination of Article 324 of the Constitution.

What is the challenge?

Article 324(2) states that the President appoints the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners, subject to any law made by Parliament.

• Absence of law: The crux of the challenge is that since there is no law made by Parliament on this issue.
• Urge for judicial intervention: The Court must step in to fill the constitutional vacuum, urges the PIL.
• Question of executive non-interference: This examination also leads to the larger question of separation of powers and if the judiciary is overstepping its role in filling this gap in the law.

About Election Commission of India

• The ECI is a constitutional authority whose responsibilities and powers are prescribed in the Constitution of India under Article 324.
• In the performance of its functions, the Election Commission is insulated from executive interference.
• It is the Commission that decides the election schedules for the conduct of elections, whether general elections or by-elections.
• ECI decides on the location of polling stations, assignment of voters to the polling stations, location of counting centres, arrangements to be made in and around polling stations and counting centres and all allied matters.

Litigations against EC

• The decisions of the Commission can be challenged in the High Court and the Supreme Court of India by appropriate petitions.
• By long-standing convention and several judicial pronouncements, once the actual process of elections has started, the judiciary does not intervene in the actual conduct of the polls.

Why is EC under lens these days?

• Executive interference: ECs are expected to maintain distance from the executive — a constitutional safeguard to insulate the commission from external pressure and allow it to continue as an independent authority.
• Violating official channels: The EC’s communication with the Government on election matters is through the bureaucracy — either with its administrative ministry — the Law Ministry or the Home Ministry.
• Breach of protocol: The Law Ministry spells the fine print on law for the country and is expected not to breach the constitutional safeguard provided to the commission to ensure its autonomy.

Recent incidence of criticisms

Ans. Partiality in Elections

• Over the last couple of years, several actions and omissions of the commission have come in for criticism.
• Nearly 66 former bureaucrats in a letter addressed to the President, expressed their concern over the working of the Election Commission.
• They felt was suffering from a credibility crisis, citing various violations of the model code of conduct during the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections.

Importance of ECI for India

• Conduction of Election: The ECI has been successfully conducting national as well as state elections since 1952.
• Electoral participation: In recent years, however, the Commission has started to play a more active role to ensure greater participation of people.
• Discipline of political parties: It had gone to the extent of disciplining the political parties with a threat of derecognizing if the parties failed in maintaining inner-party democracy.
• Upholds federalism: It upholds the values enshrined in the Constitution viz, equality,
  equity, impartiality, independence; and rule of law in superintendence, direction, and control over electoral governance.
• Free and fair elections: It conducts elections with the highest standard of credibility, freeness, fairness, transparency, integrity, accountability, autonomy and professionalism.

Issues with ECI

• Flaws in the composition: The Constitution doesn’t prescribe qualifications for members of the EC. They are not debarred from future appointments after retiring or resigning.
• No security of tenure: Election commissioners aren’t constitutionally protected with the security of tenure.
• Partisan role: The EC has come under the scanner like never before, with increasing incidents of breach of the Model Code of Conduct in the 2019 general elections.
• Political favor: The opposition alleged that the ECI was favoring the ruling party by giving a clean chit to the model code of conduct violations made by the PM.
• Non-competence: Increased violence and electoral malpractices under influence of money have resulted in political criminalization, which ECI is unable to arrest.

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