CDS (I) 2020 General Knowledge · Question 106 of 120

Correct — B, the State Legislatures. Article 243K settles this in four clauses. The first vests the superintendence, direction and control of the preparation of electoral rolls and the conduct of Panchayat elections in a State Election Commission, headed by a State Election Commissioner appointed by the Governor. The fourth is the one the question asks about: subject to the provisions of the Constitution, the Legislature of a State may by law make provision with respect to all matters relating to, or in connection with, elections to the Panchayats. So conducting the elections and legislating about them are two different functions given to two different authorities, and the law-making half belongs to the State Legislature.

• (a)the Parliament of India — Parliament wrote Part IX into the Constitution through the 73rd Amendment, but that is constituent power, not ordinary legislative power over Panchayat elections. Local government is a State subject in the Seventh Schedule, and Article 243K(4) hands the ordinary law-making to the State Legislature.
• (c)the State Election Commission — The right body for the wrong function. The State Election Commission runs the elections and prepares the rolls under Article 243K(1); it administers the law, it does not enact it.
• (d)the Election Commission of India — The Election Commission of India, under Article 324, handles elections to Parliament, the State Legislatures and the offices of President and Vice-President. Panchayat and municipal elections were deliberately placed outside it, with separate State Election Commissions, and its Chief Election Commissioner has no role even in appointing the State Election Commissioner — that appointment is the Governor's.

The 73rd Amendment gave rural local government a constitutional floor while leaving the design to the States. Part IX fixes what must exist — a three-tier structure in larger States, five-year terms, reservation of seats, a State Election Commission, a State Finance Commission — and leaves the rest, including the detail of the electoral law, to State legislation. The Eleventh Schedule then supplies a list of subjects a State may devolve.

Sort the players by function and this whole family of questions becomes routine. Conducting elections is the State Election Commission's job under Article 243K(1); appointing the State Election Commissioner is the Governor's; legislating on election matters is the State Legislature's under Article 243K(4); and when a Panchayat is dissolved the fresh election must be completed within six months under Article 243E. Notice the deliberate parallel with the Union arrangement — the Election Commission of India conducts national and State elections while Parliament and the State Legislatures legislate on them — and Part IX simply repeats that division one level down.

• Article 243K(4) lets the Legislature of a State make law on all matters relating to elections to the Panchayats.
• Article 243K(1) vests superintendence, direction and control of Panchayat elections in a State Election Commission.
• The State Election Commissioner is appointed by the Governor, not by the Chief Election Commissioner of India.
• The Election Commission of India under Article 324 handles elections to Parliament, State Legislatures and the offices of President and Vice-President.
• Under Article 243E, an election to reconstitute a dissolved Panchayat must be completed within six months of dissolution.

• Assuming the body that conducts an election also legislates for it.
• Assuming the State Election Commissioner is appointed by the Chief Election Commissioner of India; the Governor appoints him.
• Assuming Parliament legislates on Panchayat elections because it enacted the 73rd Amendment.

As a who-does-what item on Part IX, or as a statements question mixing the State Election Commission, the Governor and the State Legislature.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The State Election Commissioner is appointed by

  • (a)the Chief Election Commissioner of India
  • (b)the Governor of the State
  • (c)the Chief Minister of the State
  • (d)the President of India

  Answer(b) the Governor of the State — under Article 243K(2), and his conditions of service are determined by the State Legislature.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  If a Panchayat is dissolved before the expiry of its term, an election to reconstitute it must be completed within

  • (a)one month
  • (b)three months
  • (c)six months
  • (d)one year

  Answer(c) six months — under Article 243E(3), and the reconstituted Panchayat serves only the remainder of the original five-year term.