Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar is all set to hang his boots on Tuesday February 18th. He took charge as the 25th Chief Election Commissioner on 15th May 2022. Prior to his appointment as CEC, he was working as Election Commissioner in ECI since September 2020.

Soon after assuming charge as Chief Election Commissioner, Shri Kumar successfully led the conduct of 16th Presidential & Vice-Presidential Elections in 2022. During the last one and half years, Legislative Assembly Elections to 11 states including Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura, Karnataka, Mizoram, Rajasthan, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh were held in over 3 lakh polling stations.

He also led the condution of elections in Jammu & Kashmir which went to the polls for the first time in September- October 2024 as Union Territory after the status of state was taken in the wake of the abrogation of article 370. The last assembly election which he helmed as CEC was Delhi where election process was recently concluded.

Also read: David Vs Goliath fight : Unknown, smaller parties brave electoral battle against bigwigs in Delhi election

How the new CEC will be selected ?

The Parliament enacted the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service, and Term of Office) Act, 2023. This legislation was first introduced and passed in the Rajya Sabha, followed by the Lok Sabha.

Under the provisions of the Act, the President is required to appoint the members of the Election Commission based on the recommendations of the Selection Committee.

The selection committee comprises of the Prime Minister, Leader of the opposition- Lok Sabha &a cabinet minister.

The name selected by this committee will be forwarded to the President of the country who will then based on the recommendation, appoint the new CEC.

This committee is expected to meet today ( 17th Feb-2024) a day before Rajiv Kumar hangs his boots.

What is the row related to the law ?

The Act removes the role of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) from the process and instead includes a Cabinet Minister. This all began in March 2023 when the Supreme Court's five-judge Constitutional bench, headed by Justice KM Joseph, examined the appointments of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and Election Commissioners (ECs). T

he bench observed that appointments should not be made solely based on the advice of the Executive which was the earlier process and emphasized that the process should be independent.

The Supreme Court then directed that the President appoint the CEC and ECs based on the recommendations of a Selection Committee, which would consist of the Prime Minister, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, and the Chief Justice of India (CJI). This process was to be followed until Parliament enacted a new law. But when the act was passed from the Parliament, the role of CJI was removed from this act.

This has been challenged in the court of law and the next hearing is on Feb-19 just a day after Rajiv Kumar retires.

Who was India's first CEC ?

Sukumar Sen was the first Chief Election Commissioner of India . He held the position between 21st March 1950 to 19th December 1958. Sukumar Sen received the third-highest civilian award, the Padma Bhushan in 1954.