By Awstika Das

In a significant development during the Winter Session, the Lok Sabha passed the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill, 2023 on Thursday (December 21). The bill aims to regulate the appointment, conditions of service, and term of office for the chief election commissioner (CEC) and other election commissioners (EC), as well as outline the procedure for the functioning of the Election Commission.

Originally introduced on August 10, the bill was moved for consideration and passage today by Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal and passed the parliament’s lower house today. Before this, the election commissioners bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha on December 12, amidst opposition parties staging a walkout today in protest against what they have described as executive overreach and a chipping away of the independence of the election commission.

Key provisions of the bill includes the replacement of the Election Commission (Conditions of Service of Election Commissioners and Transaction of Business) Act, 1991. The new legislation covers aspects such as the appointment, salary, and removal of the CEC and other election commissioners. The president would appoint the CEC and ECs based on the recommendation of a selection committee, comprising the prime minister, a union cabinet minister, and the leader of the opposition or the leader of the largest opposition party in the Lok Sabha. The recommendations of this committee would remain valid even in the absence of a full committee.

A search committee, headed by the Law Minister, would propose a panel of names to the selection committee, with eligibility criteria requiring candidates to have held a position
equivalent to the secretary to the central government. The salary and conditions of service for the  CEC and ECs were set to be equivalent to that of the cabinet secretary, deviating from the previous equivalence with a Supreme Court judge’s salary.

This story was originally published in livelaw.in. Read the full story here .