New Delhi (22.12.2023): The Lok Sabha passed the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill, 2023 on December 21, 2023. The bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha on December 12. 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).

The bill drops the Chief Justice of India from the selection committee. In March 2023, a constitution bench of the Supreme Court had ruled that the election commissioners shall be selected by a committee comprising the Prime Minister, the Leader of Opposition, and the Chief Justice of India, till Parliament frames a law prescribing the selection process. Justice RF Nariman questioned the new law passed by Parliament when he said, “If Election Commissioners are appointed according to the recent bill passed by the Parliament, free and fair elections will become a chimera.”

As per the new Act, 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 amendment also includes a clause safeguarding the CEC and ECs from legal proceedings related to actions taken during their tenure, provided such actions were carried out in the discharge of official duties. The amendment aimed to shield these officials from civil or criminal proceedings related to their official functions.