Central government proposes amendments to bring Election Commissioners on par with Supreme Court judges

The Central government has proposed certain amendments to a proposed to law to ensure that service conditions of Chief Election Commissioners and Election Commissioners are brought on par with Supreme Court judges..To this end, amendments have been proposed to the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill, 2023..Originally introduced in the Rajya Sabha on August 10, the bill outlined that a search committee, led by the Cabinet Secretary and including two other members not below the rank of Secretary to the Government of India, would prepare a panel of five individuals for the Selection Committee's consideration for the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and other Election Commissioners (ECs).The proposed amendment substitutes 'Cabinet Secretary' with the term, 'Minister of Law and Justice.'.Initially, the bill stipulated that the salaries, allowances, and service conditions of the CEC and ECs would be on par with those of Cabinet Secretaries. This has now been revised to align with the salaries, allowances, and service conditions of Supreme Court judges.The bill also outlined that the removal of the CEC and ECs could only occur in accordance with the provisions contained in the first and second provisos of clause (5) of Article 324 of the Constitution. The amendment has now suggested that the removal of the CEC should follow the process akin to the removal of Supreme Court judges. Additionally, it proposes that ECs cannot be removed from office without the recommendation of the CEC..Originally, the bill stated that conditions of service related to traveling allowance, medical facilities, leave travel concession, conveyance facilities, and other conditions applicable to the Cabinet Secretary would also apply to the CEC and ECs.The proposed amendment seeks to grant the President of India the authority to establish rules to determine these conditions of service.Furthermore, a newly proposed clause 15A in the bill asserts that no court can entertain civil or criminal proceedings against any person who is or was the CEC or an EC for any act, thing, or word committed, done, or spoken by them in the discharge of their official duties..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.