Election Commission - Introduction
The Election Commission of India is an independent body according to the Article 324 of the Constitution of India. It not only conducts free and fair all elections to the parliament, the state legislatures and of elections to the offices of the president and vice-president but also supervises the entire procedure and machinery for election and for some other ancillary matters according the article 324(1). It was established on 25th January, 1950.
The Election Commission of India is an independent body according to the Article 324 of the Constitution of India. It not only conducts free and fair all elections to the parliament, the state legislatures and of elections to the offices of the president and vice-president but also supervises the entire procedure and machinery for election and for some other ancillary matters according the article 324(1). It was established on 25th January, 1950.
• The preparation of electoral rolls before general election and registration
of all eligible voters.
• The delimitation of constitutions.
• The recognition of various political parties and allotment of election symbol to the parties.
• The preparation of a code for the political parties.
• The tendering of advice to the President regarding disqualification of the members of the parliaments.
• The appointment of election officers to look into disputes concerning election arrangements.
• The preparation of roster for central broadcasts and telecasts by various political parties.
• Keep voters lists up-to-date at all times.
• To issue identity cards to the voters.
• The delimitation of constitutions.
• The recognition of various political parties and allotment of election symbol to the parties.
• The preparation of a code for the political parties.
• The tendering of advice to the President regarding disqualification of the members of the parliaments.
• The appointment of election officers to look into disputes concerning election arrangements.
• The preparation of roster for central broadcasts and telecasts by various political parties.
• Keep voters lists up-to-date at all times.
• To issue identity cards to the voters.
Chief Election Commissioner
The Election Commission consists of a Chief Election Commissioner and two other Election Commissioners. According to the Article 324(2), the President can determine the number of Election Commissioners. The Chief Election Commissioner of India is elected by the President based on a recommendation from incumbent Government of India who heads the Election Commission. Conventionally, senior-most Election Commissioner is appointed as CEC. He is mostly from the Indian Administrative Service. He has tenure of six years, or up to the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier. He enjoys the same official status, salary and perks as available to Judges of the Supreme Court of India and High court. However, it is very difficult to remove the authority of the Chief Election Commissioner as he can be removed from his office for disorderly conduct or improper actions only through impeachment by the Parliament to vote against him with two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. Other Election Commissioner can be removed by the president on the recommendation of the Chief Election Commissioner. The Regional Commissioner can be appointed by the President in consultation with the Election Commission for assisting the Election Commission (Art. 324(4)).
The election commissioner has powers to impose unambiguous rules and guidelines that applied across the entire nation as to how the ballots will be cast and counted. Perhaps, India is the first country in the World to go for a completely electronic ballot in the last elections, across the entire diverse Indian population that also consisted of the rural illiterate people.
The Election Commission consists of a Chief Election Commissioner and two other Election Commissioners. According to the Article 324(2), the President can determine the number of Election Commissioners. The Chief Election Commissioner of India is elected by the President based on a recommendation from incumbent Government of India who heads the Election Commission. Conventionally, senior-most Election Commissioner is appointed as CEC. He is mostly from the Indian Administrative Service. He has tenure of six years, or up to the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier. He enjoys the same official status, salary and perks as available to Judges of the Supreme Court of India and High court. However, it is very difficult to remove the authority of the Chief Election Commissioner as he can be removed from his office for disorderly conduct or improper actions only through impeachment by the Parliament to vote against him with two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. Other Election Commissioner can be removed by the president on the recommendation of the Chief Election Commissioner. The Regional Commissioner can be appointed by the President in consultation with the Election Commission for assisting the Election Commission (Art. 324(4)).
The election commissioner has powers to impose unambiguous rules and guidelines that applied across the entire nation as to how the ballots will be cast and counted. Perhaps, India is the first country in the World to go for a completely electronic ballot in the last elections, across the entire diverse Indian population that also consisted of the rural illiterate people.
The following is the list of held
the post of the Chief Election Commissioner of India with duration details:
|
S. No.
|
Chief Election Commissioners
|
Tenure of holding the post
|
|
1
|
Sukumar Sen
|
21-Mar-1950 to 19-Dec-1958
|
|
2
|
K. V. K. Sundaram
|
20-Dec-1958 to 30-Sep-1967
|
|
3
|
S. P. Sen Verma
|
1-Oct-1967 to 30-Sep-1972
|
|
4
|
Dr. Nagendra Singh
|
1-Oct-1972 to 6-Feb-1973
|
|
5
|
T. Swaminathan
|
7-Feb-1973 to 17-Jun-1977
|
|
6
|
S. L. Shakdhar
|
18-Jun-1977 to 17-Jun-1982
|
|
7
|
R. K. Trivedi
|
18-Jun-1982 to 31-Dec-1985
|
|
8
|
R. V. S. Peri Sastri
|
1-Jan-1986 to 25-Nov-1990
|
|
9
|
V. S. Ramadevi
|
26-Nov-1990 to 11-Dec-1990
|
|
10
|
T. N. Seshan
|
12-Dec-1990 to 11-Dec-1996
|
|
11
|
M. S. Gill
|
12-Dec-1996 to 13-Jun-2001
|
|
12
|
J. M. Lyngdoh
|
14-Jun-2001 to 7-Feb-2004
|
|
13
|
T. S. Krishnamurthy
|
8-Feb-2004 to 15-May-2005
|
|
14
|
B. B. Tandon
|
16-May-2005 to 29-Jun-2006
|
|
15
|
N. Gopalaswami
|
30-Jun-2006 to 20-Apr-2009
|
|
16
|
Navin Chawla
|
21-Apr-2009 to 29-Jul-2010
|
|
17
|
Shahabuddin Yaqoob Quraishi
|
30-Jul-2010 – 10 June 2012
|
|
18
|
V. S. Sampath
|
10-June-2012 – 15 Jan. 2015
|
|
19
|
Hari Shankar Brahma
|
16-Jan.-2015 – 18 April 2015
|
|
20
|
Dr. Nasim Zaidi
|
19 April 2015 – 06 May 2015
|
|
21
|
Achal Kumar Jyoti
|
07 May 2015 – till date
|
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