The matter of appointment of Election Commissioner Arun Goyal is in discussion. The Supreme Court has raised questions on this. Know how the Election Commissioner and Chief Election Commissioner are appointed, what are the rules related to it and what does the Supreme Court have to say on the new appointment?
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The matter of appointment of Election Commissioner Arun Goyal is in discussion. The Supreme Court has raised questions on this. On Thursday, the court asked the central government for the file related to the appointment of Arun Goyal. The court says, the file for the recruitment of the Election Commissioner has been passed very quickly. We are questioning the process of their recruitment, not their qualification. The constitutional bench of 5 judges has reserved the decision on this matter.
1985 batch IAS Arun Goyal had taken VRS from the post of Industries Secretary on 18 November. After this, December 31 was the date of his retirement, but on November 19, he was appointed as the Election Commissioner. He also took charge on 21 November. The Supreme Court raised questions on the speedy progress of his appointment file.
Know how the Election Commissioner and Chief Election Commissioner are appointed, what are the rules related to it and what does the Supreme Court have to say on the new appointment?
How is the election commissioner recruited?
According to the Constitution, the President appoints the Election Commissioner and the Chief Election Commissioner. This appointment is for 6 years or this tenure lasts till the age of 65 years. They get the salary and allowances that the judges of the Supreme Court get. The Election Commission of India has got this right under Article 324 of the Constitution. In which it has been said that the Election Commission has the powers to control, organize and monitor the elections.
What can be the number of Election Commissioners?
Constitutionally, what will be the number of members of the Election Commission, it has been changing. Article 324(2) of the Constitution states that the number of Chief Election Commissioners and Election Commissioners in the Election Commission is fixed by the President from time to time. When the Election Commission was started, only the Chief Election Commissioner was appointed. However, on October 16, 1989, two election commissioners were appointed by the Rajiv Gandhi government. In this way the number of members of the Election Commission had increased. This appointment was made just before the 9th Lok Sabha elections. Although it was criticized a lot.
rules change every now and then
On January 2, 1990, the then Prime Minister VP Singh changed the rule and made the Election Commission a single member body. After three years it was changed again. On 1 October 1993, the then PV Narasimha Rao issued an ordinance to appoint two more election commissioners. After that three members in the Election CommissionAppointment rule made. All the three election commissioners have been given equal rights in taking decisions related to the commission.
How constitutional is the recruitment of the new Election Commissioner?
While hearing the entire matter, Justice Ajay Rastogi, who was included in the constitutional bench of 5 judges, has sought from the Center the file related to the appointment of Arun Goyal. He has asked the Center to tell what has been the process of this appointment. Has this recruitment been done under any special process or has it been done on the recommendation of the Council of Ministers. According to the Constitution, the Council of Ministers itself sends a name for the Election Commissioner to the Prime Minister and the President. The President seals it. However, the decision of the Supreme Court is yet to come on this.
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