Election Commissioner of India

Appointment

Election commissioners are appointed by the president of India, on the recommendation of a three-member committee, named the Selection Committee, through a majority vote. Prior to this, the committee consisted of the prime minister of India, the chief justice of India, and the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha.^[3]

Controversially, the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act of 2023 replaced the role of the chief justice in the Selection Committee with a union minister, nominated by the prime minister, thus giving the ruling government a dominant role in the appointments of ECI, as was the case before SC order in 2023.^[3] The act also stated that those appointed should have previously held secretary-level positions in the government and be "persons of integrity, who have knowledge of and experience in management and conduct of elections."^[4][5]

Tenure

The term of the CEC can be a maximum of six years from the date on which he/she assumes his office. However, the CEC retires from office if he/she attains the age of sixty-five years before the expiry of the term.^[1]

Removal

While the CEC can only be removed by office through the process of impeachment requiring two-thirds majority of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha to be present and voting for the same, election commissioners can be removed by the President on the recommendation of the CEC.^[1] In 2009, Chief Election Commissioner N. Gopalaswami sent a recommendation to the then President Pratibha Patil to remove Election Commissioner Navin Chawla due to his partisan behavior in favor of a particular political party.^[6] The President opined that such a recommendation is not binding on the president and rejected the same.^[7]