SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 17 September 2024, Shift 2 · General Awareness · Question 23 of 100

Text as printed on a candidate's response sheet for this shift; answer per SSC's tentative key as marked on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 6 September 2026.

Where this paper and its answers come from

SSC does not publish CGL question papers or a public answer key. The questions and options here are reproduced as printed on a candidate's own response sheet for this shift — the Commission's text, unchanged. Each answer is SSC's tentative key as marked on that sheet; SSC allowed challenges to it and never publishes a final key. The solutions are written by UnlockIAS.

What is the tenure of office for the Chief Election Commissioner?

(a)5 years or up to the age of 60 years
(b)6 years or up to the age of 60 years
(c)6 years or up to the age of 65 years
(d)5 years or up to the age of 65 years

Answer

Why

Correct — C. The Chief Election Commissioner holds office for six years from the date of assuming office, or until the age of 65, whichever comes earlier — option (c).

The Constitution does not fix this number. Article 324 leaves the tenure and conditions of service of the Election Commission to be determined subject to law made by Parliament, and it is that law which sets six years and sixty-five.

Hold the pair together: six with sixty-five, not five with sixty.

Why the others are wrong

(a)
5 years or up to the age of 60 years — Both halves are wrong. Five years is not the term of the office and 60 is not its age ceiling.
(b)
6 years or up to the age of 60 years — The term is right and the age is not. The ceiling for the Chief Election Commissioner is 65, not 60.
(d)
5 years or up to the age of 65 years — The age is right and the term is not. The statutory tenure is six years, not five.

Concept

Tenure questions in Indian polity reward one habit: hold the number pair, never a single number.

The Chief Election Commissioner is six years or 65. So is the Comptroller and Auditor General. So is the chairman of the Union Public Service Commission. A State Public Service Commission chairman is six years or 62.

Removal is a separate matter from tenure. The CEC can be removed only in the manner and on the grounds applicable to a judge of the Supreme Court, which is the protection that makes the office independent.

The other Election Commissioners serve on the same tenure terms as the Chief Election Commissioner. What differs is the protection against removal, which is strongest for the CEC.

Key facts

The Chief Election Commissioner holds office for six years or until the age of 65, whichever is earlier.
Article 324 leaves the tenure and conditions of service of the Election Commission to be fixed by law made by Parliament.
The Comptroller and Auditor General also holds office for six years or until the age of 65.
The CEC can be removed only in the same manner and on the same grounds as a judge of the Supreme Court.

Study next

Article 324 and the composition of the Election Commission of IndiaTenure and removal of constitutional office holders including the CAG and the UPSC chairmanThe difference in removal protection between the CEC and the other Election Commissioners

Common traps

Carrying over the five-year figure from the term of the Lok Sabha and the state assemblies.
Assuming the Constitution itself fixes the tenure. It leaves the number to Parliament.

Election Commission facts are asked one at a time. The founding year is asked at 17 Sep 2024, 09:00, GA Q.12 and the constitutional Part at 25 Sep 2024, 09:00, GA Q.16, while the CAG is approached the same way at 11 Sep 2024, 09:00, GA Q.21.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.