On Thursday, the Lok Sabha passed the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and other Election Commissioner (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill.
However, after the bill was passed, more than three members from the opposition were suspended, taking the total of 100 MP suspensions in the Lok Sabha.
Aim of the Commissioners’ Bill:
The bill aims to provide details related to the appointment, qualifications, search committee, selection committee, term of office, salary, resignation, leave, removal and pension of the chief election commissioner and other election commissioners.
When was the Bill introduced?
The Bill was first introduced in August in Rajya Sabha. Then it was moved for the consideration and judgement from the bench of the constitution of the Supreme Court, that election commissioners should be appointed by the President based on the advice from a selection committee including the Prime Minister, the Chief Justice of India (CJI) and the leader of the opposition (LOP).
On December 12, the upper house passed the CEC and the other ECs Bill to the Lok Sabha, and then the bill was passed on Thursday afternoon in the parliament.
Key Provisions:
The bill includes the replacement of the Election Commission (Condition of Service of Election Commissioners and Transaction Business) Act, 1991, introducing a replacement of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) with a Union Minister in the appointment process.
The Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal highlighted that the Supreme Court ruling prompted this legislation, and justified the removal of the Chief Justice from the selection panel. He said, “The Supreme Court made a stopgap arrangement to exist till the Parliament enacted a law. Now, we have come up with a law to fill this gap relating to the appointment of Election Commissioners”.
The bill covers various aspects like appointment procedures, qualifications, salary, and removal of the chief election commissioner and other election commissioners. A selection committee will be responsible for recommending the CEC and the ECs. The recommendation of this committee will stay valid even if all the members will stay absent.
As per the new bill, the President will appoint the chief election commissioner and the other election commissioners based on the selection committee’s recommendation. This committee comprises the Prime Minister, a Union Cabinet Minister, either the leader of the largest opposition party in the Lok Sabha or the opposition leader.
The Bill passed with 12 MPs:
After the mass suspension of 141 MPs from both houses, only 12 MPs could participate in the debate. And most of them were from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and other parties like Shiv Sena, YSRCP, TDP and BJD.
The bill got the green signal from almost all the members, except the leader of AIMIM Asaduddin Owaisi.
The leaders who agreed to pass of the bills were Rahul Ramesh Shewale (Shiv Sena), Sanjay Seth (BJP), Shankar Lalwani (BJP), Bhatruhari Mahtab (BJD), Chinta Anuradha (YSRCP), Dilip Ghosh (BJP), Jaydev Galla (TDP), Kirit Premjibhai Solanki (BJP), Rajiv Pratap Rudy (BJP) and Sudhir Gupta (BJP).
Concern over the passing of the Bill:
The passing of the election commissioner and other election commissioner bills has triggered concerns over various quarters including the independence of ECs, erosion of judicial oversight bypassing the Supreme Court’s judgement on the appointment process raising concern over the supremacy of the judiciary.
Furthermore, it will impact the free and fair elections by favouring the election process in the hands of the ruling party which will raise questions about the fairness and integrity of future elections.
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