After SC nudge, India finally gets law to appoint CEC, ECs; roadmap laid for simultaneous polls
law ministry which saw a change of guard this year as Arjun Ram Meghwal took over the reins from Kiren Rijiju. The year saw the Law Commission working on a formula to synchronise all assembly polls by extending or reducing the tenure so that all state elections can be held along with the Lok Sabha polls from 2029 onwards.
Also, a high-level committee headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind began examining the issue of holding simultaneous elections in the country.
In March, the Supreme Court, while delivering its verdict on pleas seeking a collegium-like system for the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and election commissioners, ruled that the appointments will be made by the president on the recommendation of a panel comprising the prime minister, the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha and the chief justice of India.
It also said the direction on the appointments to the post of CEC and ECs will continue to hold good till a law on the issue is enacted by Parliament, it added.
Since the establishment of the Election Commission on January 25, 1950 — a day before India became a republic — there was no law laying down a mechanism for the appointment of chief election commissioner and election commissioners.
A law introduced in 1991 dealt with service conditions of the members of the poll panel but not on their appointment.
The Supreme Court order put things in motion and the law ministry came out with a proposed legislation to lay down the procedure to appoint the CEC and the ECs.
