President gives assent to Bill on appointment of Chief Election Commissioner, Election Commissioners

The Bill to govern the appointment and service conditions of the Chief Election Commisisoner (CEC) and other Election Commissioners (ECs) on Thursday received the assent of the President of India..The Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill, 2023 was introduced in Rajya Sabha on August 10 by Minister of State for Law & Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal in the wake of the Supreme Court judgment that had noted the legal vacuum as regards appointment of Election Commissioners.The Bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha on December 12 before being passed by the Lok Sabha on December 21..The Bill prescribes that the selection committee that appoints the CEC and Election Commissioners (ECs) will be chaired by the Prime Minister (PM) and will also consist of a Union Cabinet Minister and the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha..Recently, former Supreme Court judge Justice Rohinton Nariman had said that the bill could seriously jeopardise the independence of the Election Commission of India (ECI).Justice Nariman had said that if the bill becomes law, the executive will have the final say in appointing CEC and ECs, which would affect free and fair elections."If you are going to get the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners appointed in this fashion, free and fair elections are going to become a chimera," he had said..Bill on appointment of Election Commissioners impairs ECI's independence: Justice Rohinton Nariman.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, the Chief Justice of India (CJI) and the Leader of the Opposition in the 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. It was also suggested 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..[Read Gazette notification]