Election Commission of India and the SIR Controversy: Here is what CLAT 2027 aspirants must know

Election Commission of India: Key Facts CLAT 2027 Aspirants Must Note

1. Constitutional Provision: Article 324 establishes the ECI. The Chief Election Commissioner is appointed by the President of India. ECI held its first general elections in 1952.

2. Members: ECI consists of a Chief Election Commissioner and other members as the President of India may appoint.

3. In case of multiple members, the CEC acts as chairperson

4. Equality of status: All members of the ECI enjoy equal pay, allowances and service conditions. Their salary and service conditions are on par with those of a judge in the Supreme Court of India.

5. Tenure: The term of an election commissioner is six years or 65 years of age, whichever is earlier. However, they can also resign at any time by writing to the President.

6. Decision-making: In case of a difference, the matter is decided by majority. This is particularly important in the current controversy around the functioning of the ECI.

7. Removal of ECI: The election commissioners enjoy security of tenure. The process of removal of the CEC is similar to that of a judge in the Supreme Court of India. The other members of the ECI cannot be removed from office unless there is a recommendation from the CEC. To ensure further independence, the service conditions of election commissioners cannot be changed to their disadvantage.

New appointment mechanism

In the current appointment system, the President appoints the Chief Election Commissioner on the recommendation of a committee comprising the Prime Minister of India, a Union Cabinet member nominated by the PM and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha. Gyanesh Kumar is the first CEC to be appointed under this mechanism in February 2025. The two other members are Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.

The new mechanism came after the Supreme Court, hearing the Anoop Baranwal case (2023), proposed a panel with the Chief Justice of India as one of the three members of the committee. Following this, the Parliament passed the CEC and Other ECs (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023 in December 2023. However, it replaced the CJI with a Union Cabinet Minister nominated by the PM. This arrangement left the government with two of three seats on the committee, effectively giving it a majority in case of a difference of opinion with the leader of the opposition.

What is Special Intensive Revision (SIR)?

CLAT aspirants should also be aware of the SIR process, which led to the current controversy around the ECI. The ECI is empowered to prepare and revise Electoral Rolls under Article 324 and Section 21 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950. The objective of revision is to maintain the integrity of the electoral roll before every election as per requirement. The SIR is also conducted to update the electoral roll to address many problems which may have occurred in the existing electoral roll due to frequent migration, resulting in voters getting registered in more than one place or non-removal of dead voters.

The current controversy around the ECI is related to the SIR process started in the Bihar elections in 2025 and later conducted in other states. It struck more than 13 crore names off the draft voter rolls across 30 states and union territories.

As per reports from The Indian Express, the two election commissioners, Sandhu and Joshi, recorded at least 14 objections over 10 months. This connects back to the majority decision framework of the ECI.