ELECTION COMMISSION AND ITS WORKING

A Project Submitted to

ARMY INSTITUTE OF LAW, MOHALI

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of degree of

B.A. L.L.B.

SUBMITTED TO SUBMITTED BY

Ms. Prabhjyot Kaur Esha Ahlawat

(Prof of Constitutional Law) 2246

PUNJABI UNIVERSITY, PATIALA (PUNJAB)

2023-24
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DECLARATION

It is certified that the project work presented in this report titled “Election Commission and
its Working” embodies the result of original work carried out by me. All ideas and
references have been duly acknowledged.

Esha Ahlawat

2246
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

In the preparation of my assignment. I had to take help and guidance of some respected
persons who deserve my deepest gratitude. As the completion of my assignment gave me
much pleasure, I would like to show my gratitude to Ms. Prabhjyot Kaur for giving me
guidance through numerous consultations. I would also like to extend my gratitude to all
those who helped me directly or indirectly during the completion of this project.

I would like to thank my family and peers, whose constant support and motivation kept me
encouraged to work towards the completion of this assignment. I also extend my heartfelt
thanks towards Army Institute of Law, Mohali and Dr Tejinder Kaur. Principal, for providing
me with an opportunity to make my project on such an interesting and engaging topic.
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INDEX

S. NO. TOPIC PAGE NO.

1. Introduction 05

2. 05
Constitutional Appointment of Election Commission

3. Composition of Election Commission 06

4. Independence of the Election Commission 06

5. Powers, Function and Responsibilities of Election Commission 07

6. Importance of Election Commission 10

7. Conclusion 11

8. Bibliography 12
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INTRODUCTION

The Election Commission is a body which is responsible for making sure and conducting free
and fair elections in the country. This power has been vested to the body by Article 324 of the
Constitution of India. Since its establishment in 1950 and till 15th October 1989, the Election
Commission had functioned as a single member body consisting of the Chief Election
Commissioner. But on 16th October 1989, the President of India appointed two more election
commissioners to cope up with the increased work of the election commission, this was done
due to the fact that the voting age had been reduced to 18 years from 21 years. And in
October 1993, the President of India appointed two more election commissioner and since
then, to this day, the Election Commission has been functioning as a multi-member body
consisting of three election commissioners. This article deals with the Election Commission’s
powers and functions as well as the flaws which are present in the body.

CONSTITUTIONAL APPOINTMENT OF ECI

Since its inception in 1950 and till 15 October 1989, the election commission was a one-
member body with only the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) as its sole member.

 On 16 October 1989, the voting age was changed from 21 to 18 years. So, two more
election commissioners were appointed by the president in order to cope with the
increased work of the election commission.

 Since then, the Election Commission was a multi-member body that consisted of 3
election commissioners.

 Later on, the two posts of election commissioners were eliminated in January 1990
and the Election Commission was reverted to the previous position.

 This was repeated again later in October 1993 when the president appointed two more
election commissioners. Since then, the Election Commission functions as a multi-
member body comprising of 3 commissioners.

 The chief and the two other election commissioners have the same powers and
emoluments including salaries, which are the same as a Supreme Court judge.

 In case of a difference of opinion amongst the Chief Election Commissioner and/or

two other election commissioners, the matter is decided by the Commission by a
majority.
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 The office is held by them for a term of 6 years or until they attain 65 years,
whichever happens first. They can also be removed or can resign at any time before
the expiry of their term.

Composition of Election Commission

Article 324 of the Constitution has made the following provisions with regard to the
composition of the election commission:

 The President appoints the Chief Election Commissioner and other election
commissioners.

 When any other EC is so appointed, the CEC acts as the Election Commission’s
Chairman.

 The President can also appoint regional commissioners to assist the Commission, if
necessary after consulting with the Election Commission.

 The tenure of office and the conditions of service of all the commissioners shall be
determined by the country’s President.

INDEPENDENCE OF THE ELECTION COMMISSION

Article 324 of The Constitution of India mentions the provisions to safeguard and ensure the
independent and impartial functioning of the Election Commission which is as follows.

 The chief election commissioner is provided with security of tenure. He cannot be

removed from his office except in the same manner and on the same grounds as a
judge of the Supreme Court. In other words, he can be removed by the President on
the basis of a resolution passed to that effect by both the Houses of Parliament with a
special majority, either on the ground of proved misbehaviour or incapacity.

 Thus, he does not hold his office until the pleasure of the president, though he is
appointed by him.

 The service conditions of the chief election commissioner cannot be varied to his
disadvantage after his appointment.

 Any other election commissioner or a regional commissioner cannot be removed from

office except on the recommendation of the chief election commissioner.
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 Though the constitution has sought to safeguard and ensure the independence and
impartiality of the Election Commission, some flaws can be noted, ie:

 The Constitution has not prescribed the qualifications (legal, educational,

administrative or judicial) of the members of the Election Commission.

 The Constitution has not specified the term of the members of the Election
Commission.

 The Constitution has not debarred the retiring election commissioners from
any further appointment by the government.

POWERS, FUNCTIONS, AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF ELECTION

COMMISSION
Among the major Constitutional Bodies in India, Election Commission is a permanent
Constitutional Body. It was established in accordance with the Constitution on 25th January
1950.

 The Constitution has vested to this body superintendence, direction and control of the
entire process for conduct of elections.
 The Commission’s functions and powers with respect to elections to the offices of the
President, the Vice President, the state legislators and the Parliament are divided
under three headings:
Administrative Powers
The important responsibility of superintendence, direction and control of the conduct of
elections covers powers, duties and functions of many sorts, these are essentially the
administrative powers of the election commission of India. Article 324 vests many functions
in the Commission which may be powers or duties, essentially administrative and even
judicative or legislative.

Advisory Powers
The Election Commission of India has been vested with this power in the cases where if a
person is found to be guilty of any corrupt practices during an election either by a High Court
in an election petition or by the Supreme Court in an election appeal, the President of India
decides whether such a person should be disqualified for contesting elections in the future or
not and, if so, for what time period. Before taking a decision on the occurrence of such a
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scenario, the President of India requests to obtain the opinion of the Election Commission
and may act according to such opinion as per the situation.

Quasi-Judicial Powers
The Election Commission has another important function to perform under the law. All
associations or the bodies of citizens calling themselves as political parties and willingly
wishing to contest the elections under the name and banner of a political party have to get
themselves registered with the Election Commission. Such a function of registration of
political parties by the Election Commission has been held by the Supreme Court to be a
quasi-judicial function of the Election Commission of India.

POWERS OF ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA

In details, these powers of the Election Commission of India are:

1. Determining the Electoral Constituencies’ territorial areas throughout the country on

the basis of the Delimitation Commission Act of Parliament.

2. Preparing and periodically revising electoral rolls and registering all eligible voters.

3. Notifying the schedules and dates of elections and scrutinising nomination papers.

4. Granting recognition to the various political parties and allocating them election
symbols.

5. Acting as a court to settle disputes concerning the granting of recognition to political

parties and allocating election symbols to the parties.

6. Appointing officers for inquiring into disputes concerning electoral arrangements.

7. Determining the code of conduct to be followed by the political parties and candidates
during elections.

8. Preparing a program for publicising the policies of all the political parties on various
media like TV and radio during elections.

9. Advising the President on matters concerning the disqualification of MPs.

10. Advising the Governor on matters concerning the disqualification of MLAs.

11. Cancelling polls in case of booth capturing, rigging, violence and other irregularities.

12. Requesting the Governor or the President for requisitioning the staff required for
conducting elections.
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13. Supervising the machinery of elections throughout the country for ensuring the
conduct of free and fair elections.

14. Advising the President on whether elections can be held in a state that is under the
President’s rule, in order to extend the period of emergency after 1 year.

15. Registering political parties and granting them the status of national or state parties
(depending on their poll performance)

Case: Brundaben Nayak v. Election Commission of India and another 1965 AIR 1892,
1965 SCR (3) 53.
If any question gets raised whether any sitting member of the Parliament or of the State
legislature has become a subject to disqualification for continuing as a member under the
Constitution of India (on grounds other than that of the ground of defection) or any law. Such
a matter is decided by the President of India in cases which involve the members of the
Parliament and in cases which involve the member of the State Legislature then the governor
of that state has to decide on such a matter. And he is bound by the opinion of the Election
commission in these matters as established in this case.
Hence, in this case, it was held that the President of India and the governors of States are
bound by the opinion of the Election Commission of India in such matters and they are not
required to even consult the council of ministers in this regard.

The Commission is aided in its function by deputy election commissioners. The deputy ECs
are taken from the civil services and they are appointed by the Commission. They have a
fixed tenure. They are aided by the secretaries, deputy secretaries, joint secretaries and under-
secretaries posted in the commission’s secretariat.

FUNCTIONS OF ELECTION COMMISSION

1. To direct and control the entire process of conducting elections to Parliament and
Legislature of every State and to the offices of President and Vice-President of India.

2. To decide the election schedules for the conduct of periodic and timely elections,
whether general or bye-elections
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3. To decide on the location of polling stations, assignment of voters to the polling

stations, location of counting centres, arrangements to be made in and around polling
stations and counting centres and all allied matters

4. To prepare electoral roll and issues Electronic Photo Identity Card (EPIC)

5. To grant recognition to political parties & allot election symbols to them along with
settling disputes related to it

6. To sets limits of campaign expenditure per candidate to all the political parties, and
also monitors the same

7. To advise in the matter of post-election disqualification of sitting members of

Parliament and State Legislatures.

8. To issue the Model Code of Conduct in the election for political parties and
candidates so that no one indulges in unfair practice or there is no arbitrary abuse of
powers by those in power.

IMPORTANCE OF ELECTION COMMISSION FOR INDIA

 The Election Commission has been successfully conducting national as well as state
elections since 1952. Now, it plays an active role to ensure the greater participation of
people.

 The Commission has brought discipline among the political parties with a threat of
derecognizing if the parties failed in maintaining inner-party democracy.

 It supports the values preserved in the Constitution viz, equality, equity, impartiality,
independence; and rule of law in superintendence, direction, and control over the
electoral governance.

 ECI helps in conducting elections with the highest standard of credibility, fairness,
transparency, integrity, accountability, autonomy and professionalism.

 In the electoral process, it ensures the participation of all eligible citizens in an

inclusive voter-centric and voter-friendly environment.

 The Election Commission of India engages with political parties and all stakeholders
in the interest of the electoral process.

 It creates awareness about the electoral process and electoral governance amongst
stakeholders to enhance and strengthen confidence and trust in the electoral system of
this country.
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CONCLUSION

Over the decades, the Election Commission of India has conducted a good number of
elections in India and there have been many changes to the electoral reforms to strengthen the
democracy and enhance the elections in India. However, the elections in India have become
or are still plagued to this day. This is due to many reasons, the reasons for such events
happening may be, to win votes, the political parties resort to using foul methods or corrupt
practices in order to gain an advantage in the Elections.

The Election Commission of India tries its level best to wipe out the virus of malpractices
from its roots. This is done through the usage of the new and improved technology which is
ever growing and developing every day. The Election Commission of India has taken many
steps in the recent past to overcome the corrupt practices that may exist. Through schemes for
use of State-owned Electronic media for broadcasting by Political parties, providing electors
with identity cards, and simplifying the procedure for maintenance of accounts and filling the
same by the candidates, etc.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. https://byjus.com/free-ias-prep/election-commission-of-india/
2. https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/election-commission-
of-india-5
3. https://unacademy.com/content/upsc/study-material/polity/a-simple-note-on-election-
commission/