Election Commission of India

Election Commission of India
भारत निर्वाचन आयोग
Election Commission of India
Agency overview
Formed	25 January 1950
Jurisdiction	Government of India
Headquarters	New Delhi
Agency executives	Shahabuddin Yaqoob Quraishi, Chief Election Commissioner V. S. Sampath, Election Commissioner Harishankar Brahma, Election Commissioner
Website
eci.nic.in

The Election Commission of India (Hindi: भारत निर्वाचन आयोग) is an autonomous, quasi-judiciary constitutional body of India. Free and fair elections have been held at regular intervals as per the principles enshrined in the Constitution, Electoral Laws and System. Election Commission of India is a permanent Constitutional Body. The Election Commission was established in accordance with the Constitution on 25th January 1950.

The commission presently consists of a Chief Election Commissioner and two Election Commissioners, appointed by the president.

For the first time two additional Commissioners were appointed on 16th October 1989 but they had a very short tenure till 1st January 1990. Later, on 1st October 1993 two additional Election Commissioners were appointed. The concept of multi-member Commission has been in operation since then, with decision making power by majority vote.. As of 7 April 2011, the CEC is S. Y. Quraishi.

The Chief Election Commissioner can be removed from his office by Parliament with two-thirds majority in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on the ground of proved misbehaviour or incapacity. The Election Commission shall consist of a Chief Election Commissioner and such other Commissioners as the President may, from time to time, fix. Other Election Commissioner can be removed by the President on the recommendation of the Chief Election Commissioner.The Chief Election Commissioner and the two Election Commissioners draw salaries and allowances at par with those of the Judges of the Supreme Court of India as provided for by the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Conditions of Service) Rules, 1992. All three commissioner have same right of taking a decision.

The Election Commission shall have the power of superintendence, direction and control of all elections to parliament and the state legislatures and of elections to the office of the President and Vice-President.

Functions

The Election Commission ensures its observance by political party(ies) in power, including ruling parties at the Centre and in the States and contesting candidates in the discharge of its constitutional duties for conducting the free, fair and peaceful elections to the Parliament and the State Legislatures under Article 324 of the Constitution of India. It is also ensured that official machinery for the electoral purposes is not misused. Further, it is also ensured that electoral offenses, malpractices and corrupt practices such as impersonation, bribing and inducement of voters, threat and intimidation to the voters are prevented by all means..

Model Code Of Conduct

The Model Code of Conduct for guidance of political parties and candidates is a set of norms which has been evolved with the consensus of political parties who have consented to abide by the principles embodied in the said code and also binds them to respect and observe it in its letter and spirit.

Applicability of Code During General Elections And Bye-elections

Code of conduct is applicable during

• General elections to House of People (LokSabha), the code is applicable throughout the country.
• General elections to the Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha), the code is applicable in the entire State.
• And during bye-elections, the code is applicable in the entire district or districts in which the constituency falls.

Budget & Expenditure

The Secretariat of the Commission has an independent budget, which is finalised directly in consultation between the Commission and the Finance Ministry of the Union Government. The latter generally accepts the recommendations of the Commission for its budgets. The major expenditure on actual conduct of elections is, however, reflected in the budgets of the concerned constituent units of the Union - States and Union Territories. If elections are being held only for the Parliament, the expenditure is borne entirely by the Union Government while for the elections being held only for the State Legislature, the expenditure is borne entirely by the concerned State. In case of simultaneous elections to the Parliament and State Legislature, the expenditure is shared equally between the Union and the State Governments. For Capital equipment, expenditure related to preparation for electoral rolls and the scheme for Electors' Identity Cards too, the expenditure is shared equally.

List Of Chief Election Commissioners

The Chief Election Commissioner heads the Election Commission of India, a body constitutionally empowered to conduct free and fair elections to the national and state legislatures. The President of India appoints the Chief Election Commissioner and two Election Commissioners. Tenure of commissioner is six years, or up to the age of 65 years,which is earlier.[2]

1. Sukumar Sen: 21 March 1950 to 19 December 1958
2. K.V.K. Sundaram: 20 December 1958 to 30 September 1967
3. S.P. Sen Verma: 1 October 1967 to 30 September 1972
4. Nagendra Singh: 1 October 1972 to 6 February 1973
5. T. Swaminathan: 7 February 1973 to 17 June 1977
6. S.L. Shakdhar: 18 June 1977 to 17 June 1982
7. R.K. Trivedi: 18 June 1982 to 31 December 1985
8. R.V.S. Peri Sastri: 1 January 1986 to 25 November 1990
9. V.S. Ramadevi: 26 November 1990 to 11 December 1990
10. T.N. Seshan: 12 December 1990 to 11 December 1996
11. M.S. Gill: 12 December 1996 to 13 June 2001
12. J.M. Lyngdoh: 14 June 2001 to 7 February 2004
13. T.S. Krishnamurthy: 8 February 2004 to 15 May 2005
14. B.B. Tandon: 16 May 2005 to 28 June 2006
15. N. Gopalaswami: 29 June 2006 to 20 April 2009
16. Navin Chawla: 21 April 2009 to 29 July 2010
17. S.Y. Quraishi: 30 July 2010 onwards

External links

• Official website
• Links to Official Web Sites of Chief Electoral Officers of 28 States and 7 UTs
• ECI's Online Voters List Options: 'Voter Name' search Parliamentary, Assembly constituency wise. Also one can get full Electoral Rolls 'Voting Booth' wise.
• Election Commission of India Gets Political Infection, Democracy at Receiving End