On the other hand it must be noted that election commission is not responsible for conducting elections of Panchayat and municipalities in the States as for that constitution provides for setting up of separate state election commission .
◆COMPOSITION :
The composition of state election commission is given in article 324 of the Constitution which states that it will consist of :
The Chief Election Commissioner and the two election commissioners who are usually retired IAS officers.
The appointment of the chief election commissioner and other election commissioner shall be made by the president .
When any other election commissioner is so appointed , the chief election commissioner shall act as the chairman of the commission .
◆TENURE :
The term of service of the office of election commission shall be determined by the president .
The election commission and other election commissioners hold office for a term of six years or until they attain the age of 65 years ,whichever is earlier .
They can resign anytime or can also be removed before the expiry of their term .
◆SALARY:
The chief election commissioner and the two other election commissioners have equal powers and recive equal salary ,allowances and other perquisites as per the judges of supreme court .
◆◆HOW IS ELECTION COMMISSION INDEPENDENT ??
To ensure fair and impartial elections in the country the commission is granted some independency to perform it's duties up to mark so that any outside powers cannot affect the working of the election commission .
The following provisions ensure it's independency :--
◆CONSTITUTIONAL POWER :
Article 324 of the Constitution provides EC the power to conduct control and direct effective elections throughout the country .
◆SECURITY OF THE TENURE :-
The chief election commission is provided security of its tenure as he cannot be removed from his office except in same manner and on the same grounds as judge of supreme court .
Other election commissioners of the regional commissioner cannot be removed from his office except on the recommendation of the chief election commissioner .
◆POWERS & FUNCTIONS :-
- Article 324: Superintendence, control and direction of national and state level elections are to be directly handled by the ECI
- Article 325: Inclusion and exclusion of names in electoral rolls are based on Indian Citizenship. No citizen of India above the voting age should be excluded from the rolls or included in a special electoral roll based on any criteria such as race, caste, religion or sex.
- Article 326: Defines universal adult franchise as the basis for elections to all levels of the elected government.
- Article 327: Defines responsibilities of the ECI and parliament for the conduct of national elections.
- Article 328: Defines the role and responsibilities of the state legislatures with respect to state level elections.
- Article 329: Prohibits court interference in matters related to elections unless specifically asked to provide their views.
◆◆The powers and functions of the election commissioner can be classified into three categories :-
◆Adminstrative
◆Advidory
◆Quasi-judicial
◆◆Administrative powers;
●To determine the territorial areas of the electoral constituencies throughout the country on the basis of the Delimitation Commission Act of the parliament .
●To register all eligible voters and notify dates and schedules of the elections and to scrutinise nomination papers .
●To recognize political parties and allot election symbols to them and grant them status of notional or state parties on basis of their poll performance .
●To appoint officers for inquiring into disputes relating to electoral arrangements.
●To determine code of conduct to be observed by the political parties and the candidates at the time of elections.
◆JUDICIAL POWERS :--
●EC can cancel polls in the event of rigging ,booth capturing , violence and other illegal activities .
●Can act as Court of settling disputes related to recognition of political parties and allotment of election symbols to them .
ADVISIORY POWERS :--
●EC can advice president on matters relating to disqualification of Members of parliament.
●EC advices governors on matters relating to the disqualification of the members of state legislature.
Thus we can say that election commission safeguards the conduction of free and fair elections in India .
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