Election Commission should also be given independent powers, petition filed in Supreme Court

A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court demanding that the Chief (CEC) and the Election Commissioner (EC) be appointed by a collegium consisting of the Prime Minister, the Chief Justice of India (CJI) and the Leader of the Opposition. CEC and EC should be given equal protection and there should be same process of removal. It has been said in the petition that like the Supreme Court, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, the Election Commission (ECI) should have the power to make rules.

It has been said in the petition that there should be independent secretariat for ECI like Supreme Court, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. There should be an independent budget for the ECI like the Supreme Court, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. All the three commissioners should get equal rights, that is, the rights of CEC should be given to the other two commissioners as well. If necessary, the process of impeachment should be adopted to remove the commissioners as well and there should be a permanent independent secretariat.

It has been said in the petition that there should be a fair and transparent process for the appointment of Chief Election Commissioners and Election Commissioners. Citing the independent process for the appointment of judges in the High Court and the Supreme Court, the petition said that a similar process should be followed for the appointment of Chief Election Commissioners and Election Commissioners in the Election Commission of India. Along with this, there should be a secretariat for them and there should be a fund on the lines of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. The process of removal of Election Commissioners should also be like that of the Chief Election Commissioner. The CEC can be removed only through impeachment.

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