Election Commission of India

The Election Commission of India is an autonomous, constitutionally established federal authority responsible for administering all the electoral processes in the Republic of India. Under the supervision of the commission, free and fair elections have been held in India at regular intervals as per the principles enshrined in the Constitution. Election Commission of India is a permanent body governed by rules specified in the constitution. The Election Commission was established on 25 January 1950. The Election Commission has 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.

The commission consists of a Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and two Election Commissioners, appointed by the president of India. Two additional Commissioners were appointed to the commission for the first time on 16 October 1989 but they had a very short tenure till 1 January 1990. Later, on 1 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. The current CEC is V Sundaram Sampath.

The Chief Election Commissioner can be removed from his office by Parliament with 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. 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 per the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Conditions of Service) Rules, 1992. All three commissioners have equal rights of decision making.