"The Election Commission is a multi-member body but the CEC is only first among equals." Discuss with reference to the 2023 Act.

Article 324(2) constitutes the Election Commission of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and such other Election Commissioners (ECs) as the President may fix; it has functioned as a three-member body since 1993. The 2023 Act confirms that the CEC presides over this collegium without commanding it.

Multi-member by design

• Article 324 vests superintendence, direction and control of elections in the Commission as an institution, not in the CEC personally.
• The CEC and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023 repealed the 1991 Act and routes both offices through a single Selection Committee — the Prime Minister, a Cabinet Minister and the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha [1] — a common appointment channel underlining parity of status.
• T.N. Seshan v. Union of India (1995) had already held that the CEC is not superior to the ECs, describing him as primus inter pares.

"First among equals" in the statutory scheme

• Business is to be transacted unanimously as far as possible; where the CEC and ECs differ, the matter is decided by majority opinion [2].
• The CEC therefore has no veto and no casting vote, and can be outvoted 2–1. His primacy is procedural — chairing, allocating work, representing the Commission — not substantive.

Residual asymmetry and practice

• Article 324(5) protects the CEC from removal except like a Supreme Court judge, while an EC may be removed only on the CEC's recommendation — unequal tenure security that can discourage dissent.
• Recent reports allege ECs recorded written objections several times within months, prompting a contempt plea against the CEC; the claims remain unproven, yet they expose thin collegiality [3]. Neither the Act nor practice requires minority views to be disclosed, and the executive-heavy Selection Committee compounds doubts [1].

Collective decision-making is thus the legal rule, its visibility the weak link. Publishing dissenting opinions with Commission orders and restoring a non-executive voice in the Selection Committee would make equality real, strengthening the free and fair elections Article 324 promises.