INVC NEWS
New Delhi : A meeting is going to be held soon under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to fill the two vacant posts of Election Commissioner in the Election Commission. Meanwhile, a petition has been filed in the Supreme Court regarding this. It has been demanded that the Central Government should not allow the appointment of the Election Commissioner under the new law Election Commissioner (Conditions of Service and Conduct of Business) Act, 2023.
Congress leader Jaya Thakur has filed this petition after the sudden resignation of Arun Goyal from the post of Election Commissioner. At present, two out of three posts of commissioners are vacant in the Election Commission. Now Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar is left as the only member in the Election Commission. Earlier, Anoop Pandey had retired from the post of Election Commissioner in February.
What is the demand in the petition?
Jaya Thakur said in her application that her petition regarding the appointment of election commissioners is pending in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court had issued a notice on this on January 12. Meanwhile, Election Commission member Arun Goyal resigned. The petitioner said that since the Lok Sabha elections can be announced soon. Therefore, there is a need to immediately recruit election commissioners. In this regard, the Supreme Court needs to issue clear guidelines regarding appointment.
What are the provisions in the new law?
A government notification regarding the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act was issued on Friday. The Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill, 2023 to make recommendations to the President for the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners headed by the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and a Union Minister. There is a provision for a selection committee for the commissioners.
Amendment has been made in clause 10 regarding the salary of the Chief Election Commissioner/Commissioner. At present, the commissioners get the same salary as the judges of the Supreme Court, but under the new law, the salary of the commissioners has been made equal to that of the Cabinet Secretary. The salary of Cabinet Secretary is equal to that of Judges, but there is considerable difference in allowances and other facilities. Clause 15 (A) has been added with an amendment to Clause 15 related to the conditions of service, which deals with legal protection to the Election Commissioners. Section 15 mentions traveling allowance, medical, LTC and other facilities of the commissioners, while section 15(A) states that no FIR should be filed against the decisions taken by the Chief Election Commissioner or the Election Commissioner during the election process. May go. Only these decisions can be challenged in court.
The Election Commissioner can be removed on the recommendation of the Chief Election Commissioner.
An amendment has been made in the section related to the appointment of election commissioners, in which the format of the search panel of commissioners has been decided. After the amendment, now before the appointment of the Commissioner, the Law Minister of the country and two officers of the secretary level in the Government of India will prepare a panel of five people. The next commissioner will be appointed from this panel. The procedure for removal of the Chief Election Commissioner and the Election Commissioner has been prescribed in Section 11. The Chief Commissioner can be removed only through the process of a Supreme Court judge, while the Election Commissioner can be removed on the recommendation of the Chief Election Commissioner.
