Chief Election Commissioner of India

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Template:Infobox official post Template:Politics of India Template:Elections The chief election commissioner of India (CEC) heads the Election Commission of India, a body constitutionally empowered to conduct free and fair elections. An election commissioner is appointed by the president of India on the recommendation of a three-member selection committee headed by the prime minister and consisting of the leader of the opposition and a Union Cabinet minister.[1][2]

The term of a CEC can be a maximum of six years or until they attain sixty-five years of age. The chief election commissioner is usually a member of the Indian Civil Service and mostly from the Indian Administrative Service.

The chief election commissioner is placed at 9A position in the order of precedence in India along with the chairperson of Union Public Service Commission and the comptroller and auditor general of India.[3]

Role and powers

Chief election commissioner of India (CEC) heads the Election Commission of India, a body constitutionally empowered to conduct free and fair elections to the national legislature, state legislatures, president and vice-president. This power of the Election Commission of India is derived from the Article 324 of the Constitution of India.[4] The chief election commissioner is usually a member of the Indian Civil Service and mostly from the Indian Administrative Service. The Election Commission of India consists of a chief election commissioner and two election commissioners. The chief election commissioner does not have overruling powers and any decision is taken by the opinion of the majority among the three.[4]

Appointment and term of office

The appointment and term of the chief election commissioner are prescribed in the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023. As per Section 7 of the act, an election commissioner is appointed by the president of India on the recommendation of a selection committee headed by the prime minister and consisting of the leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha and a member of the Union Council of Ministers to be nominated by the prime minister.[5] The senior most member of the election commission is appointed as the chief election commissioner by the president.[4]

The term of the CEC can be a maximum of six years from the date on which they assume their office. However, the CEC retires from office if they attain the age of sixty-five years before the expiry of the term.[4]

The CEC can be removed from the office through the process of impeachment, requiring a two-thirds majority of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha to be present and voting for the same.[4]

Compensation

As per the Election Commission (Condition Of Service Of Election Commissions And Transaction Of Business) Act, 1991, the salary of the chief election commissioner is the same as salary of a judge of Supreme Court of India.[6] The CEC draws a monthly salary of Template:INRConvert plus allowances.[6][7]

List of chief election commissioners

The following have held the post of the chief election commissioner of India.[8]

No. Name Portrait Term of office
1 Sukumar Sen File:Sukumar Sen.jpg 21 March 1950 19 December 1958 Template:Ayd
2 Kalyan Sundaram 20 December 1958 30 September 1967 Template:Ayd
3 S. P. Sen Verma 1 October 1967 30 September 1972 Template:Ayd
4 Nagendra Singh 1 October 1972 6 February 1973 Template:Ayd
5 T. Swaminathan 7 February 1973 17 June 1977 Template:Ayd
6 S. L. Shakdhar 18 June 1977 17 June 1982 Template:Ayd
7 R. K. Trivedi 18 June 1982 31 December 1985 Template:Ayd
8 R. V. S. Peri Sastri 1 January 1986 25 November 1990 Template:Age in years and days
9 V. S. Ramadevi File:VS RamaDevi.jpg 26 November 1990 11 December 1990 16

days

10 T. N. Seshan File:T.N. Seshan in 1994.jpg 12 December 1990 11 December 1996 6 years
11 M. S. Gill File:Minister of State for Youth Affairs & Sports, Dr. M.S. Gill.jpg 12 December 1996 13 June 2001 4 years 69 days
12 J. M. Lyngdoh File:J.M. Lyngdoh.png 14 June 2001 7 February 2004 2 years 269 days
13 T. S. Krishnamurthy File:The Chief Election Commissioner Shri T. S. Krishna Murthy delivering the keynote address on "Media Coverage of Election in India towards Free and Fair Elections" at a function organised by Centre for Advocacy and Research (cropped).jpg 8 February 2004 15 May 2005 1 year 69 days
14 B. B. Tandon File:Shri B.B. Tandon in his office after assuming the charge as the Chief Election Commissioner of India in New Delhi on May 16, 2005.jpg 16 May 2005 29 June 2006 269 days
15 N. Gopalaswami File:The Chief Election Commissioner, Shri N. Gopalaswami announcing the schedule for the Lok Sabha polls, at a Press Conference, in New Delhi on March 02, 2009 (cropped).jpg 30 June 2006 20 April 2009 Template:Age in years and days
16 Navin Chawla File:Election Commissioner Shri Navin. B. Chawla releasing Landmark Judgments on Election Law at a meeting with Chief Electoral Officers of all the States, in New Delhi on June 28, 2006 (cropped).jpg 21 April 2009 29 July 2010 1 year 89 days
17 S. Y. Quraishi File:Dr. S.Y. Quraishi taking charge as the Chief Election Commissioner of India, in New Delhi on July 30, 2010 (cropped).jpg 30 July 2010 10 June 2012 1 year 316 days
18 V. S. Sampath File:Shri V. S. Sampath assuming the charge of the Election Commissioner, in New Delhi on April, 21, 2009.jpg 11 June 2012 15 January 2015 2 year 218 days
19 Harishankar Brahma File:The Chief Election Commissioner, Shri H.S. Bramha addressing a Curtain Raiser Press Conference on the project of seeding of Aadhar with Electoral Roll database, in New Delhi on February 26, 2015 (cropped).jpg 16 January 2015 18 April 2015 92 days
20 Nasim Zaidi File:Dr. Syed Nasim Ahmad Zaidi assumes the charge as the Election Commissioner of India, in New Delhi on August 07, 2012.jpg 19 April 2015[9] 5 July 2017 2 years 77 days
21 Achal Kumar Jyoti File:Shri Achal Kumar Joti taking charge as the Chief Election Commissioner of India (CEC), in New Delhi on July 06, 2017 (1) (cropped).jpg 6 July 2017[10] 22 January 2018 Template:Ayd
22 Om Prakash Rawat File:Shri Om Prakash Rawat (cropped).jpg 23 January 2018[11] 1 December 2018 Template:Ayd
23 Sunil Arora File:Media address by Chief Election Commissioner of India, Shri Sunil Arora on 2nd December 2018 (cropped).jpg 2 December 2018[12][13] 12 April 2021 Template:Ayd
24 Sushil Chandra File:Sushil Chandra, Election Commissioner of India (cropped).jpg 13 April 2021[14] 14 May 2022 Template:Ayd
25 Rajiv Kumar File:Chief Election Commissioner of India Rajiv Kumar (cropped).jpg 15 May 2022[15] 18 February 2025 Template:Age in years and days
26 Gyanesh Kumar
File:Election Commissioner Shri Gyanesh Kumar.jpg
 19 February 2025[16] Incumbent Template:Age in years and days

Reforms

The Election Commission of India was a single member body till 1989 when two election commissioners were appointed to aid the chief election commissioner.[4] While the office has always been an important one in the machinery of the Indian political process, it gained significant public attention during the tenure of T.N. Seshan, from 1990 to 1996.[17] Seshan is widely credited with enforcing the powers of the election commission strongly and undertaking a zealous effort to end corruption and manipulation in Indian elections.[18][19]

In June 2012, former deputy prime minister and former leader of the opposition in Indian Parliament, Lal Krishna Advani, suggested that appointment of CEC (as well as the comptroller and auditor general (CAG)) should be made by a bipartisan collegium consisting of the prime minister, the chief justice, the law minister and the leaders of the opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.[20][21] As per Advani, the demand was to remove any impression of bias or lack of transparency and fairness because the existent system was open to manipulation and partisanship.[21][22] Subsequently, the former chief minister of Tamil Nadu, M Karunanidhi, also supported the suggestion.[22] Similar recommendations were made by former CEC's such as B B Tandon, N Gopalaswamy and S Y Quraishi.[23][24]

References

  1. ↑ Bill introduced to remove CJI from panel to select Election Commissioners. The Hindu(10 August 2023). Retrieved 7 September 2025.
  2. ↑ PM Modi, LoP Rahul Gandhi to meet on Feb 17 to name CEC Rajiv Kumar’s successor. The Hindu(14 February 2025). Retrieved 7 September 2025.
  3. ↑ Table of Precedence. mha.gov.in. Ministry of Home Affairs. Retrieved 7 September 2025.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Election, FAQ. Government of India. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  5. ↑ SC refuses to stay new law on appointment of CEC and ECs, issues notice to Centre. The Economic Times(13 February 2024). Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Election Commission (Condition Of Service Of Election Commissions And Transaction Of Business) Act, 1991. Vakil No. 1. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  7. ↑ The High Court and Supreme Court Judges Salaries and Conditions of Service Amendment Bill 2008. PRS India. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  8. ↑ Former Chief Election Commissioners. Election Commission of India. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  9. ↑ Election Commission of India. ECI.nic.in. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
  10. ↑ India's new Chief Election Commissioner Achal Kumar Jyoti to take charge on 6 July. India Today(3 July 2017). Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  11. ↑ Om Prakash Rawat to succeed AK Joti as new Chief Election Commissioner. The Indian Express(21 January 2018). Retrieved 21 January 2018.
  12. ↑ President Kovind appoints Sunil Arora as new Chief Election Commissioner(2018-11-26). Retrieved 2018-11-27.
  13. ↑ Sunil Arora takes over as Chief Election Commissioner, will oversee 2019 polls(2018-12-02).
  14. ↑ Sushil Chandra appointed Chief Election Commissioner. The Hindu(12 April 2021).
  15. ↑ Rajiv Kumar takes charge as 25th Chief Election Commissioner, says EC won't shy away from tough calls. The Hindu(15 May 2022). Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  16. ↑ Gyanesh Kumar appointed next chief election commissioner. The Hindustan Times(18 February 2014). Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  17. ↑ The more you kick me.... Business Standard(12 May 2012). Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  18. ↑ The man who cleaned up India's elections. Gulf News(1 May 2014). Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  19. ↑ Empowering the EC(5 March 2012). Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  20. ↑ Members Bioprofile. Lok Sabha of India/National Informatics Centre, New Delhi. Retrieved 27 April 2011.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 KA2. The Times of India(5 June 2012). Retrieved 5 October 2012.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Karunanidhi backs Advani's plea for collegium. The Hindu(5 June 2012). Retrieved 5 October 2012.
  23. ↑ SYQ. The Times of India(16 July 2012). Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  24. ↑ Ex-CECs backed collegium, Law Ministry not too keen. The Indian Express(10 June 2012). Retrieved 5 October 2012.

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