The Supreme Court today said Election Commissioners will be appointed by a panel including the Prime Minister, the Leader of Opposition and the Chief Justice of India, in a landmark verdict aimed at “maintaining the purity of elections”.
The Chief Election Commissioners and two election commissioners, who oversee elections across the country, will be appointed by the President on the advice of the three-member committee, the Supreme Court said in a unanimous verdict.
“Elections should undoubtedly be fair and the buck stops with the Election Commission of India to ensure its purity is maintained,” said a five-judge Constitution bench.
“In democracy, the purity of elections must be maintained or else it would lead to disastrous consequences.”
The Election Commission must be appointed like the CBI chief, said the judges.
Currently, the President appoints the chief election commissioner and two commissioners for a tenure of six years each, and they are usually former bureaucrats on the recommendation of the Prime Minister.
Petitions had sought a collegium-like system for the appointment of election commissioners to ensure fair elections in the country.
