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The Election Commission of India is an autonomous, quasi-judiciary constitutional body created to conduct free and fair elections to representative bodies in India. It was established on January 25, 1950.
The Constitution of India has vested in the Election Commission of India the superintendence, direction and control of the entire process for conduct of elections to Parliament and Legislature of every State and to the offices of President and Vice-President of India.
The law which governs all elections in India as mentioned above is the Representation of People Act, 1950.
Structure
The commission presently consists of a Chief Election Commissioner and two Election Commissioners. Originally, however, the commission had just one Chief Commissioner. Two Commissioners were appointed for the first time on 16 October 1989 but their tenure lasted only till 1 January 1990. On 1 October 1993, two additional Election Commissioners were appointed. The commission has followed the multi-member structure since then, with decisions taken a by majority vote.
The Election Commission has a Secretariat at New Delhi consisting of about 300 officials.
N. Gopalaswami is the present Chief Election Commissioner of India since he took over charge from B.B. Tandon on June 29, 2006. The other two election commissioners are Navin B. Chawla and S.Y. Quereshi.
Powers and duties
The Election Commission enjoys complete autonomy and is insulated from any kind of executive inteference. The body also functions as a quasi-judiciary body in matters of electoral disputes and other matters involving the conduct of elections. Its recommendations and opinions are binding on the President of India. However, the decisions of the body are liable for independent judiciary reviews by courts acting on electoral petitions.
The Election Commission is responsible for planning and executing a whole gamut of complex opererations that go into the conduct of elections. During the elections, the entire Central (Federal) and State government machinery including para-military forces and the Police is deemed to be on deputation to the Election Commission which takes effective control of personnel, movable and immovable Government Properties it deems necessary for successful completion of the electoral process.
The Elections to the Lok Sabha, India's lower house of the Parliament is one of the largest human operations wherein an electorate of over 670 million vote to choose their representatives to the house. Thus the Election Commission of India enjoys the distinction of being one of the largest management organisations employing more than 5 million personnel during elections.
Apart from conducting elections to representative bodies, the Election Commission has been on many occasions, called upon by the Courts to oversee and execute elections to various governing bodies of other autonomous organisations, such as Syndicates of Universities, statuatory professional bodies, etc.
Leveraging its experience and expertise in conducting elections, The Election Commission also assists many of its counterpart bodies in third world countries. As part of a pact with the UN, the Election Commission of India as part of the UN Electoral Assistance Division will provide logistics and consultancy assistance for elections in Iraq among other nations which are fledging democracies.
Chief Commissioners
- Sukumar Sen : 21 March 1950 to 19 December 1958
- KVK Sundaram : 20 December 1958 to 30 September 1967
- SP Sen Verma : 1 October 1967 to 30 September 1972
- Dr Nagendra Singh : 1 October 1972 to 6 February 1973
- T Swaminathan : 7 February 1973 to 17 June 1977
- SL Shakdhar : 18 June 1977 to 17 June 1982
- RK Trivedi : 18 June 1982 to 31 December 1985
- RVS Peri Sastri : 1 January 1986 to 25 November 1990
- Smt VS Ramadevi : 26 November 1990 to 11 December 1990
- T.N. Seshan : 12 December 1990 to 11 December 1996
- MS Gill : 12 December 1996 to 13 June 2001
- JM Lyngdoh : 14 June 2001 to 7 February 2004
- TS Krishna Murthy : 8 February 2004 to 15 May 2005
- BB Tandon : 16 May 2005 to 28 June 2006
- N Gopalaswami: 29 June 2006 to present
Appointment and tenure of commissioners
The President appoints Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners. They have 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 of India. The Chief Election Commissioner can be removed from office only through impeachment by Parliament.
External links
Elections in India | Government of India | Election commissions | 1950 establishments | Elections in India
"Election Commission of India"