According to a source with knowledge of the situation, a high-level committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to convene on March 15 to choose the election commissioner to fill the post left empty by Anup Chandra Pandey’s retirement in February. However, since chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar is now the only member of the Election Commission, the panel may meet sooner due to Arun Goel’s decision to resign as poll officer just days before the anticipated announcement of the schedule for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the person continued.
Election commissioners and CECs will be appointed by a new statute that the parliament enacted in December. Two committees now make up the selection process: a three-member search committee headed by the law minister and composed of two government secretaries, and a three-member selection committee presided over by the prime minister and composed of the opposition leader and a Union Minister who has been recommended by the PM. The selection committee will get five recommendations from the search committee, but it also has the authority to choose commissioners who are not on this list. The President appoints the CEC or election after that.
Political figures received an invitation
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, a prominent Congressman and the party’s leader in the Lok Sabha, received an invitation to the March 15 meeting. The invitation, which was solely intended to replace the void created by Pandey’s retirement, was given to him many hours before the law ministry announced Goel’s departure in the gazette on Saturday.
Arjun Ram Meghwal, the minister of law, declined to comment on the meeting’s agenda or timetable.
Statements made by Alok Prasanna
Co-founder of the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy and specialist in constitutional law Alok Prasanna stated: “According to the Constitution, there should be at least one Election Commissioner (who is the Chief Election Commissioner). The sole Election Commissioner in existence before 1990 was the Chief Election Commissioner; other Election Commissioners weren’t appointed until 1989. Constitutionally, there is no issue as long as there is at least one EC who can be designated as the CEC, even if there could be some interruption in the ECI’s operation if there is only one EC. The large number of union and state level employees that are brought in to assist with the process is what makes elections operate as they do.”
However, once elections are declared, is it possible to nominate an election commissioner? “Yes, even after the election process has begun, there is no constitutional prohibition for the nomination of an EC. Making ‘ad hoc appointments in Government, Public Undertakings etc. that might have the effect of influencing the voters in favour of the party in power’ is the single action that is prohibited by the [Model] Code of Conduct. Even after the elections are declared, the appointment of the EC is still permitted in every manner as it is carried out in accordance with constitutional and legal procedures,” he continued.
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