Election Commission of India

Also called: ECI, Article 324 · Topic: Elections and the Electoral System · NCERT: Class 8, Ch 5 "Universal Franchise and India's Electoral System"; Class 9, Ch 6 "Democracy"; Class 9, Ch 7 "Elections"; Class 11, Ch 1 "Constitution: Why and How?"; Class 11, Ch 3 "Election and Representation"; Class 12, Ch 2 "Era of One-Party Dominance"

Meaning

The Election Commission of India (ECI) is a permanent constitutional body, set up under Article 324, that has "superintendence, direction and control" (overall charge) of the electoral rolls and of elections to Parliament, the state legislatures, and the offices of the President and Vice-President. It does not hold panchayat or municipal elections.

Free and fair elections are what make a democracy legitimate. So how the ECI is formed, who appoints its members, and how safe they are from removal are among the most tested and debated questions in Indian polity.

Explanation

What the ECI is and what it controls

• Permanent. It works all the time, not only at election time.
• Constitutional. The Constitution creates it. An ordinary law does not.
• It was set up on 25 January 1950, one day before the Constitution came into force.
• Sukumar Sen was the first Chief Election Commissioner (CEC). He ran the first general election (1951-52).
• Under Art. 324(1), the ECI controls:
• the making of electoral rolls (official voters' lists);
• elections to Parliament and state legislatures;

• elections to the offices of President and Vice-President.

• NCERT Class 11 says the ECI has a "decisive role in virtually everything" linked to elections. Class 9 calls it an autonomous, permanent body and links it to Arts. 324-329.

• The limit: local body elections are outside the ECI's control.
• State Election Commissions (SECs) hold them. Panchayat polls come under Art. 243K (73rd Amendment, 1992). Municipal polls come under Art. 243ZA (74th Amendment, 1992).
• SECs are independent of the ECI. An SEC does not report to the ECI.

Composition: from one member to many

• Art. 324(2): the ECI has the CEC and as many Election Commissioners (ECs) as the President decides from time to time.
• Art. 324(3): when there are other ECs, the CEC acts as Chairman.
• History of the multi-member Commission (an ECI with more than one member):

Period	Structure
1950 – Oct 1989	Single-member (CEC only)
Oct 1989	Two ECs appointed; becomes multi-member
Jan 1990	The two EC posts abolished; single-member again
Oct 1993 – present	Multi-member (CEC + 2 ECs)

• How decisions are made: the CEC and ECs have an equal say, and differences are settled by majority vote (T.N. Seshan, 1995).

Appointment: three stages

Stage 1: before 2023

• Art. 324(2) says the President appoints, "subject to the provisions of any law made by Parliament" [5].
• Until 2023 there was no such law. So the President appointed on the advice of the Council of Ministers, which in practice meant the PM's choice.

Stage 2: Anoop Baranwal panel (2 March 2023)

• The Court found a "legislative vacuum": Parliament had not made the law that Art. 324(2) expects.
• As a temporary measure, it set up a panel of the PM, the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, and the Chief Justice of India (CJI). The panel was to last only until Parliament made a law [5].

Stage 3: the CEC and Other ECs Act, 2023 (in force from 2 January 2024) [5]

1. Search Committee: headed by the Minister of Law and Justice, with two officers of at least Secretary rank. It prepares a panel of five names (s.6) [3][4].
2. Selection Committee: the PM (Chairperson), the LoP in the Lok Sabha, and a Union Cabinet Minister nominated by the PM (s.7(1)) [4]. If no LoP is recognised, the leader of the single largest opposition party takes that seat [5].
3. The Selection Committee may pick a name from outside the panel (s.8).
4. The President appoints on the Selection Committee's recommendation [2]. - A vacancy on the Selection Committee does not make an appointment invalid (s.7(2)).

Conditions of service and removal

• Eligibility: a person who holds, or has held, a post equal to Secretary to the Government of India, with expertise in managing elections [2][4].
• Term: 6 years or until age 65, whichever comes first. No re-appointment [2].
• Salary: equal to a Supreme Court judge's [4].
• Immunity: under s.15A, no civil or criminal case can be brought against a serving or former CEC or EC for acts done in official duty [3].
• Security of tenure (protection from easy or political removal):
• CEC: removed only "in like manner and on the like grounds" as a Supreme Court judge (Art. 324(5), first proviso). The CEC's service conditions cannot be changed to his or her disadvantage after appointment.

• ECs: removed only on the CEC's recommendation (Art. 324(5), second proviso). The 2023 Act repeats this [3].

• Steps to remove the CEC (same as an SC judge under Art. 124(4)):

Step	What happens	Requirement
1	A motion is moved in either House	Grounds: proved misbehaviour or incapacity
2	Lok Sabha passes it	Special majority
3	Rajya Sabha passes it	Special majority
4	An address goes to the President	In the same session
5	The President orders removal	—

• Special majority needs both of these:
• two-thirds of members present and voting, and
• more than half of the total membership of the House.

In the Constitution and practice

• Constitutional base: Art. 324 (control of elections, composition, removal), within Arts. 324-329, the Constitution's part on elections. Art. 324(6): the President or Governor provides staff when the ECI asks.
• Statute: the CEC and Other ECs (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023. It replaced the 1991 Act [2].
• Introduced in the Rajya Sabha on 10 August 2023. Passed by the Rajya Sabha on 12 December 2023 and by the Lok Sabha on 21 December 2023 [2].
• Changes made before passage:
  • Search Committee head changed from Cabinet Secretary [2] to Law Minister [3].
  • Salary changed from Cabinet Secretary's [2] to an SC judge's [3][4].
  • s.15A immunity added [3].

• Opposition amendments to put the CJI back on the panel, and to stop picks outside the panel, both failed [3].

• T.N. Seshan v. Union of India (1995):

• CEC Seshan resisted the ECs appointed in 1993 and claimed to rank above them.

• The Court held that the CEC is only "first among equals": he chairs the body but does not outrank the other members. Decisions are taken by majority.

• Anoop Baranwal v. Union of India (2 March 2023, Constitution Bench):

• A Constitution Bench is a bench of five or more judges.

• The Court held that Art. 324(2) was meant to stop the government of the day having sole control over appointments. It ordered the temporary PM + LoP + CJI panel [5].

• First appointments under the 2023 Act (March 2024):

• Two posts fell vacant. EC Anup Chandra Pandey retired on 14 February 2024, and EC Arun Goel resigned on 9 March 2024 [5].
• On 14 March 2024, the Search Committee (chaired by the Minister of State, Law and Justice) gave six names. The Selection Committee (PM, Home Minister, LoP) recommended Gyanesh Kumar and Dr Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, and the President approved the same day [5].
• Both took charge on 15 March 2024 [6].

• Gyanesh Kumar became CEC in February 2025. He chairs the Council of Member States of International IDEA for 2026 [7].

• Jaya Thakur v. Union of India (interim order, 22 March 2024):

• The challenge: replacing the CJI with a Cabinet Minister dilutes Anoop Baranwal.
• Stay refused: the Court would not pause the Act. A stay would disturb the 18th Lok Sabha election (19 April – 1 June 2024).
• On Anoop Baranwal: the Court said that panel was only a stop-gap. The Court cannot dictate how Parliament writes the law, but it can strike down a law that violates Fundamental Rights (judicial review).

• Process concerns: the LoP got the shortlist only minutes before the meeting. The Court also said s.6's "five names" seems to mean ten names for two posts, not six [5].

• Order of 23 September 2026:

• A two-judge bench split on whether a Constitution Bench must hear the case.
• The matter was sent to the CJI to set up a bench that will decide whether ss.6-8 of the Act are valid. The final decision is still pending.

Don't confuse with

• State Election Commission (SEC): set up under Arts. 243K / 243ZA to hold panchayat and municipal elections. It is independent of the ECI and does not report to it.
• CEC vs EC (removal): only the CEC is removed like an SC judge, by special majority in both Houses. An EC is removed by the President only on the CEC's recommendation.
• Anoop Baranwal panel vs 2023 Act panel: the court's panel had the CJI (PM + LoP + CJI). The Act puts in a Cabinet Minister nominated by the PM, so the government holds 2 of 3 votes [3][4].
• Search Committee vs Selection Committee: the Search Committee (Law Minister + 2 Secretaries) only shortlists [3]. The Selection Committee (PM + LoP + Cabinet Minister) recommends the appointment to the President [4].

Prelims Hooks

• Art. 324 covers elections to Parliament, state legislatures, President and Vice-President. It does not cover panchayats or municipalities, which come under Arts. 243K / 243ZA.
• The ECI was set up on 25 January 1950, and Sukumar Sen was the first CEC. It was multi-member in Oct 1989, single-member again in Jan 1990, and multi-member since Oct 1993. The President fixes the number of ECs (Art. 324(2)).
• T.N. Seshan (1995): the CEC is "first among equals" and the ECI decides by majority.
• 2023 Act:
• Selection Committee: PM + LoP + a Cabinet Minister nominated by the PM, with no CJI [3][4].
• It may consider names outside the panel (s.8).

• Salary is equal to an SC judge's. Term is 6 years / age 65. No re-appointment [2][3].

• Trap: "An Election Commissioner can be removed only like a Supreme Court judge." Wrong. Only the CEC has that protection. An EC is removed on the CEC's recommendation.

• First appointments under the 2023 Act: Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu (recommended 14 March 2024, took charge 15 March 2024) [5][6].

Mains Points

• Independence vs executive control.
• Anoop Baranwal (2023) tried to stop the government from having sole control of appointments.
• The 2023 Act gives the government a 2:1 majority again. It also lets the committee pick outside the shortlist (s.8), and in March 2024 the shortlist reached the LoP only minutes before the meeting [5].

• Counterpoint: under the separation of powers, the Court itself said it cannot dictate how Parliament writes the law [5]. The constitutional challenge is still pending.

• Equal members, unequal protection.

• T.N. Seshan gave every member an equal vote, yet an EC can be removed on the CEC's word alone.

• Reforms, building on the Dinesh Goswami Committee (1990) and the Law Commission's 255th Report (2015):

  • equal removal protection for ECs;
  • an independent secretariat, so the ECI does not depend on government staff (Art. 324(6));
  • charged expenditure on the Consolidated Fund (spending that Parliament does not vote on);
  • a ban on government posts or political roles after retirement.

• Status vs accountability.

• Raising salary back to an SC judge's level improves the ECI's standing [3].
• s.15A immunity [3] raises a question: does it protect independence, or does it weaken accountability?
• Federal angle: SECs (Arts. 243K/243ZA) often have weaker independence in practice. Local democracy needs similar protections.

Related concepts

• Chief Election Commissioner
• Election Commissioners
• Multi-member Election Commission
• T.N. Seshan case
• Anoop Baranwal case
• Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act 2023

Read more

• The Election Commission: composition, appointment and independence