What is the news : Union government has appointed Anup Chandra Pandey, as Election Commissioner.

About the Election Commission of India:

The Election Commission of India (ECI) –

• Is an autonomous constitutional authority responsible for administering Union and State election processes.
• Was established in accordance with the Constitution on 25th January 1950 (celebrated as national voters’ day). The secretariat of the commission is located in New Delhi.
• Body administers elections to the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, and State Legislative Assemblies in India, and the offices of the President and Vice President in the country.
• Not concerned with the elections to panchayats and municipalities in the states(For this, the Constitution of India provides for a separate State Election Commission)

Constitutional Provisions:

• Part XV (Article 324-329) of the Indian Constitution: It deals with elections, and establishes a commission for these matters.
• Article 324: Superintendence, direction and control of elections to be vested in an Election Commission.
• Article 325: No person to be ineligible for inclusion in, or to claim to be included in a special, electoral roll on grounds of religion, race, caste or sex.
• Article 326: Elections to the House of the People and to the Legislative Assemblies of States to be on the basis of adult suffrage.
• Article 327: Power of Parliament to make provision with respect to elections to Legislatures.
• Article 328: Power of Legislature of a State to make provision with respect to elections to such Legislature.
• Article 329: Bar to interference by courts in electoral matters.

Structure of ECI:

• Originally the commission had only one election commissioner but after the Election Commissioner Amendment Act 1989, it has been made a multi-member body
• The Election Commission shall consist of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and such number of other election commissioners, if any, as the President may from time to time fix.
• Presently, it consists of the CEC and two Election Commissioners.
• At the state level, the election commission is helped by the Chief Electoral Officer who is an IAS rank Officer.

Appointment & Tenure of Commissioners:

• The President appoints CEC and Election Commissioners.
• They have a fixed tenure of six years, or up to the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.
• They enjoy the same status and receive salary and perks as available to Judges of the Supreme Court (SC) of India.

Removal:

• They can resign anytime or can also be removed before the expiry of their term.
• The CEC can be removed from office only through a process of removal similar to that of a SC judge by Parliament.

Procedure of Removal

• Judges of High Courts and SC, CEC, Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) may be removed from office through a motion adopted by Parliament on grounds of ‘proved misbehaviour or incapacity’.
• Removal requires a special majority of 2/3rd members present and voting supported by more than 50% of the total strength of the house.