The bill was introduced in the wake of a Supreme Court judgment that had noted the legal vacuum as regards appointment of Election Commissioners.
The bill prescribes that the selection committee for CECs and ECs would be chaired by the Prime Minister (PM) and will also consist of a Union Cabinet Minister and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
The Supreme Court judgment dated March 2, 2023, had said that until the Central government comes up with a law on appointments to the Election Commission of India (ECI), the appointments should be done on the advice of a committee comprising the PM, Chief Justice of India (CJI) and the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha.
A Constitution Bench of Justices KM Joseph, Ajay Rastogi, Aniruddha Bose, Hrishikesh Roy and CT Ravikumar had also asked the Central government to consider establishing a permanent secretariat for the ECI and also that its expenditure be charged to the Consolidated Fund of India, so that the poll body can be truly independent.
The Court had added that an election commission that does not ensure free and fair polls as per the rules of the game, guarantees the breakdown of the foundation of the rule of law.
Source: Barandbench
