Public trust is the real capital of constitutional bodies. Discuss with reference to the Election Commission of India.

Article 324 gives the Election Commission of India (ECI) superintendence, direction and control of elections, including preparing the rolls. In the Constituent Assembly, Ambedkar said there was no dispute that election machinery should stay outside executive control [1]. The ECI has neither sword nor purse. Its verdicts are accepted mainly because people trust it.

Why trust is the ECI's real capital

• Acceptance of outcomes: parties that lose accept the result only if they believe the referee is neutral. Peaceful transfer of power depends on this.
• Moral authority: the Model Code of Conduct has no statutory backing. Parties follow it because the ECI is credible.
• Participation: citizens register and vote when they believe the rolls and the count are fair.

Where trust is under strain

• Appointment design: under the 2023 Act, a Cabinet Secretary-led Search Committee prepares the shortlist. The Selection Committee is made up of the PM, a Cabinet Minister and the Leader of Opposition (LoP), which gives the executive a 2:1 majority [2].
• Vacancy clause: a recommendation is valid even if a committee seat is vacant. This could leave only government members choosing [2].
• Service conditions: pay is now linked to the Cabinet Secretary's, which the government sets. A Supreme Court judge's salary is fixed by an Act of Parliament [2].
• Narrow pool: only Secretary-rank officers are eligible, which excludes judges and legal experts [2].
• Roll revision: the Special Intensive Revision of rolls has been challenged in the Supreme Court, including over which identity documents are accepted [4]. A deleted name means losing the Article 326 franchise in practice.

Rebuilding trust: way forward

• Neutral selection panel: the Law Commission's 255th Report (2015) proposed a panel of the PM, the LoP and the CJI [3]. The Supreme Court adopted the same panel as an interim arrangement in Anoop Baranwal (2023) [2].
• Statutory safeguards: fix pay by law, bar recommendations made with a vacant seat, and widen the pool of candidates [2].
• Transparent revisions: publish the reason for each deletion before polling. Article 329 restricts court intervention once the election process starts, so remedies after the poll come too late.

Independence on paper and credibility in practice are two sides of the ECI's authority. Restoring a balanced selection panel, giving service conditions legal protection and making roll revisions open would turn the Constituent Assembly's vision [1] into lasting public confidence. An ECI that people trust is the best guarantee of free and fair elections, part of the Constitution's basic structure.