Strengthening Democracy

On 2 March 2023, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court unanimously laid down that the appointments of the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners will be done by a committee comprising the Prime Minister of India, the leader of the opposition or the leader of the largest opposition party, and the Chief Justice of India. Earlier, the practice was to make this appointment through the President on the recommendation of the Prime Minister.

India being the largest democracy in the world is placed under a constant obligation to ensure free and fair elections. In such a scenario, the independence of election-conducting authorities is of great importance. Various incidents have happened in the past because of which questions were raised regarding the appointment of such constitutional authorities and whether their conduct was sufficiently independent of executive control or not.