· The Election Commission of India is an autonomous body established by the Constitution of India.
· It is responsible for administering election processes to Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, State Legislatures and the offices of the President and Vice President in India.
· The Election Commission is not concerned with the elections to Panchayats and Municipalities in the States.
· Article 324(2) of the Constitution provides that the Commission will be composed of a Chief Election Commissioner aided by other Election Commissioners appointed by the President of India.
· 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 had a very short tenure—until 1 January 1990.
· The Election Commissioner Amendment Act, 1993 made the Election Commission a multi-member body. The concept of a 3-member Commission has been in operation since then, with decision-making power by majority vote.
· The term of the Chief Election Commissioner is for 6 years or till he/she attains the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier. And not eligible for reappointment.
· Election Commissioner can not hold any other office of profit even after retirement.
· The Chief Election Commissioner of India can be removed from his office by Parliament with the two-thirds majority in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on the grounds of proven misbehaviour or incapacity.
· Other Election Commissioners can be removed by the President on the recommendation of the Chief Election Commissioner.
· A Chief Election Commissioner has never been impeached in India.
· In 2009, just before the 2009 Lok Sabha Elections, CEC N Gopalaswami sent a recommendation to President Patil to remove Election Commissioner Navin Chawla, who was soon to take office as a Chief Election Commissioner and to subsequently supervise the Lok Sabha Election, citing 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.
List of Chief Election Commissioners:
S.No.
|
Name
|
Took Office
|
Left Office
|
1
|
Sukumar Sen
|
21 March 1950
|
19 December 1958
|
2
|
Kalyan Sundaram
|
20 December 1958
|
30 September 1967
|
3
|
S. P. Sen Verma
|
1 October 1967
|
30 September 1972
|
4
|
Nagendra Singh
|
1 October 1972
|
6 February 1973
|
5
|
T. Swaminathan
|
7 February 1973
|
17 June 1977
|
6
|
S. L. Shakdhar
|
18 June 1977
|
17 June 1982
|
7
|
R. K. Trivedi
|
18 June 1982
|
31 December 1985
|
8
|
R. V. S. Peri Sastri
|
1 January 1986
|
25 November 1990
|
9
|
V. S. Ramadevi
|
26 November 1990
|
11 December 1990
|
10
|
T. N. Seshan
|
12 December 1990
|
11 December 1996
|
11
|
M. S. Gill
|
12 December 1996
|
13 June 2001
|
12
|
J. M. Lyngdoh
|
14 June 2001
|
7 February 2004
|
13
|
T. S. Krishnamurthy
|
8 February 2004
|
15 May 2005
|
14
|
B. B. Tandon
|
16 May 2005
|
29 June 2006
|
15
|
N. Gopalaswami
|
30 June 2006
|
20 April 2009
|
16
|
Navin Chawla
|
21 April 2009
|
29 July 2010
|
17
|
S. Y. Quraishi
|
30 July 2010
|
10 June 2012
|
18
|
V. S. Sampath
|
11 June 2012
|
15 January 2015
|
19
|
H. S. Brahma
|
16 January 2015
|
18 April 2015
|
20
|
Nasim Zaidi
|
19 April 2015
|
06 July 2017
|
21
|
Achal Kumar Jyoti
|
06 July 2017
|
Incumbent
|
