The Election Commissioners of India are the members of
Election Commission of India
The Election Commission of India (ECI) is a constitutional body. It was established by the Constitution of India to conduct and regulate elections in the country. Article 324 of the Constitution provides that the power of superintendence, di ...
, a body
constitutionally
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When these princip ...
Rajiv Kumar Rajiv Kumar may refer to:
* Rajiv Kumar (civil servant) (born 1960), 25th Chief Election Commissioner of India
* Rajiv Kumar (economist) (born 1951), Indian economist
* Rajiv Kumar (cricketer) (born 1976), Indian cricketer
See also
* Rajeev Kuma ...
is the current 25th Chief Election Commissioner and the other Election Commissioners are Anup Chandra Pandey. and Arun Goel.
History
Originally in 1950, the commission had only a Chief Election Commissioner. Two additional Commissioners were appointed to the commission for the first time on 16 October 1989 but they hardly settled down with their constitutional work, that the President on January 1, 1990, issued a notification abolishing the post of ECs. The government again made the Election Commission a 3-member body on October 1, 1993. ''The Election Commissioner Amendment Act, 1989'' made the Commission a multi-member body. The concept of a 3-member Commission has been in operation since then, with the decisions being made by a majority vote. the official website was introduced on 28 February 1998.
Composition
Until October 1989, the commission was a single member body, but later two additional Election Commissioners were added through an act of parliament. Thus, the Election Commission currently consists of a Chief Election Commissioner and two other Election Commissioners. The decisions of the commission are taken by a
majority vote
A majority, also called a simple majority or absolute majority to distinguish it from related terms, is more than half of the total.Dictionary definitions of ''majority'' aMerriam-WebsterChief Election Commissioner of India can be removed from his office by the president on the basis of a resolution passed to that effect by both the houses of parliament with a two-thirds majority in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha on the grounds of proved misbehaviour or incapacity. Other Election Commissioners can be removed by the President of India on the recommendation of the Chief Election Commissioner. A Chief Election Commissioner has never been removed in India.
In 2009, just before the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, Chief Election Commissioner
N. Gopalaswami
N. Gopalaswami (born 21 April 1944), served as 15th Chief Election Commissioner of India (CEC) and has been awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2015. He is a 1966 batch Indian Administrative Services officer belonging to the Gujarat cadre. He took ove ...
sent a recommendation to the then President Pratibha Patil to remove Election Commissioner Navin Chawla, who was soon to take office as the Chief Election Commissioner and to subsequently supervise the Lok Sabha Election favouring his partisan behaviour in favour of one political party. The president opined that such a recommendation is not binding on the president, and hence rejected it. Subsequently, after Gopalswami's retirement the next month, Chawla became the Chief Election Commissioner and supervised the 2009 Lok Sabha Elections.
Compensation
The Chief Election Commissioner and the two Election Commissioners who are usually retired IAS officers draw salaries and allowances at par with those of the Judges of the
Supreme Court of India
The Supreme Court of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme judicial authority of India and is the highest court of the Republic of India under the constitution. It is the most senior constitutional court, has the final decision in all legal matters ...
as per the ''Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Conditions of Service) Rules, 1992''.