Which one of the following statements with regard to the Election Commission is not correct ?
- (a)It conducts elections to the office of the Vice President of India.
- (b)An Election Commissioner can be removed from his office without the recommendation of the Chief Election Commissioner.
- (c)Election Commissioners are appointed by the President of India.
- (d)Governor of a State is constitutionally bound to provide support staff to the Election Commission, if required.
Correct — B, An Election Commissioner can be removed from his office without the recommendation of the Chief Election Commissioner. Article 324(5) says the opposite in so many words: any other Election Commissioner or a Regional Commissioner shall not be removed from office except on the recommendation of the Chief Election Commissioner. The clause builds a deliberate two-tier protection. The Chief Election Commissioner has the stronger shield — he cannot be removed except in the like manner and on the like grounds as a Judge of the Supreme Court, which means an address by both Houses on the ground of proved misbehaviour or incapacity. The other Commissioners have a weaker but real one: the President may remove them, yet only where the Chief Election Commissioner has recommended it. The option strips that condition out, and so states the one thing about the Commission that the Constitution does not permit.
- (a)It conducts elections to the office of the Vice President of India. — This is correct, so it cannot be the answer. Article 324(1) vests in the Election Commission the superintendence, direction and control of elections to Parliament, to every State legislature, and to the offices of President and Vice-President.
- (c)Election Commissioners are appointed by the President of India. — Also correct. Article 324(2) provides that the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and the other Election Commissioners shall be made by the President, subject to any law Parliament makes on the subject.
- (d)Governor of a State is constitutionally bound to provide support staff to the Election Commission, if required. — Correct as well, and the option most students doubt. Article 324(6) says that the President, or the Governor of a State, shall, when so requested by the Election Commission, make available such staff as may be necessary for the discharge of the Commission's functions. The word is shall, which is why constitutionally bound is fair.
The Election Commission of India is a constitutional body created by Article 324. It has been a multi-member body continuously since 1993, presently a Chief Election Commissioner and two Election Commissioners, who decide by majority. The Constitution gives the Commission the machinery it needs by borrowing it: it does not employ a permanent field force, and instead requisitions officials of the Union and the States at election time, which is what Article 324(6) is about.
The item works by making three true statements sound doubtful and one false statement sound routine. The way through is to read option (b) as a proposition about who protects whom. The Constitution set up a hierarchy of security of tenure precisely because the Election Commissioners are not the Chief Election Commissioner's equals in the matter of removal, and that asymmetry has been litigated — in T. N. Seshan v. Union of India (1995) the Supreme Court read Article 324(5) as making the CEC's recommendation a safeguard for the other Commissioners, not a weapon against them. Option (d) is the other tempting pick, because constitutionally bound sounds too strong for a Governor; but 324(6) uses shall, not may. One present-day change to note: since the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023, appointments are made by the President on the recommendation of a Selection Committee consisting of the Prime Minister, a Union Cabinet Minister and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha. Article 324(2) had always contemplated such a law; the removal rule in 324(5) is untouched.
- Article 324(1) puts elections to Parliament, to every State legislature, and to the offices of President and Vice-President under the Election Commission.
- Article 324(2): the President appoints the Chief Election Commissioner and the other Election Commissioners, subject to any law made by Parliament.
- Article 324(5): the CEC may be removed only in the like manner and on the like grounds as a Judge of the Supreme Court; any other Election Commissioner or a Regional Commissioner cannot be removed except on the recommendation of the CEC.
- Article 324(6): the President, or the Governor of a State, shall make staff available to the Commission when requested.
- Elections to a State Panchayat or Municipality are not run by this Commission at all — Articles 243K and 243ZA give that work to the State Election Commission.
Three options restate a clause faithfully; only one contradicts the text.
- Assuming the Election Commissioners enjoy the same removal protection as the Chief Election Commissioner; they do not.
- Thinking the Election Commission of India conducts panchayat and municipal elections; that is the State Election Commission's work.
- Reading Article 324(6) as permissive. It says shall, which is why a Governor is bound to provide the staff asked for.
As a not-correct statement item on appointment, removal or jurisdiction, or as a question on which body conducts which election.
Consider the following statements with reference to India: 1. The Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners enjoy equal powers but receive unequal salaries. 2. The Chief Election Commissioner is entitled to the same salary as is provided to a judge of the Supreme Court. 3. The Chief Election Commissioner shall not be removed from his office except in like manner and on like grounds as a judge of the Supreme Court. 4. The term of office of the Chief Election Commissioner is five years or till the age of 62 years, whichever is earlier.
- (a) 1 and 2
- (b) 2 and 3
- (c) 1 and 4
- (d) 2 and 4
Answer(b) 2 and 3
The same asymmetry from the other side. UPSC tests the Chief Election Commissioner's own protection — removal in like manner and on like grounds as a Supreme Court judge — while CDS tests the weaker protection the second sentence of the same clause gives everyone else.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Under the Constitution of India, an Election Commissioner other than the Chief Election Commissioner may be removed from office
- (a)by the Chief Election Commissioner directly
- (b)by the President, on the recommendation of the Chief Election Commissioner
- (c)only by an address of both Houses of Parliament
- (d)by the Prime Minister in Council
Answer(b) by the President, on the recommendation of the Chief Election Commissioner — Article 324(5).
- practice — not a real PYQ
Elections to the local bodies in a State are conducted by which one of the following?
- (a)The Election Commission of India
- (b)The State Election Commission
- (c)The Governor of the State
- (d)The District Collector of each district
Answer(b) The State Election Commission — Articles 243K and 243ZA place panchayat and municipal elections with a separate State body.