#THE CHIEF ELECTION COMMISSIONER AND OTHER ELECTION COMMISSIONERS (APPOINTMENT, CONDITIONS OF SERVICE AND TERM OF OFFICE) ACT, 2023 
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##ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS 
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##CHAPTER I 

###PRELIMINARY 

SECTIONS. 

1. Short title and commencement. 
2. Definitions. 

##CHAPTER II 

###APPOINTMENT AND TERM OF CHIEF ELECTION COMMISSIONER AND OTHER ELECTION COMMISSIONERS 

3. Election Commission. 
4. Appointment of Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners. 
5. Qualifications of Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners. 
6. Search Committee. 
7. Selection Committee. 
8. Power of Selection Committee to regulate its own procedure. 
9. Term of office. 

##CHAPTER III 

###SALARY, ALLOWANCES AND OTHER CONDITIONS OF SERVICE OF CHIEF ELECTION COMMISSIONER AND OTHER ELECTION COMMISSIONERS 

10. Salary, etc. 
11. Resignation and removal. 
12. Leave. 
13. Pension. 
14. Right to subscribe to General Provident Fund. 
15. Other conditions of service. 
16. Protection of Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners. 

##CHAPTER IV 

###TRANSACTION OF BUSINESS OF ELECTION COMMISSION 

17. Transaction of business. 
18. Disposal of business. 

##CHAPTER V 

###MISCELLANEOUS 

19. Power to remove difficulties. 
20. Laying. 
21. Repeal and saving. 


 
 
#THE CHIEF ELECTION COMMISSIONER AND OTHER ELECTION COMMISSIONERS (APPOINTMENT, CONDITIONS OF SERVICE AND TERM OF OFFICE) ACT, 2023 

##ACT NO. 49 OF 2023 

[28th December, 2023.] 

An  Act  to  regulate  the  appointment,  conditions  of  service  and  term  of  office  of  the  Chief  Election 
  Commissioner and other Election Commissioners, the procedure for transaction of business by the Election 
  Commission and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. 
  BE it enacted by Parliament in the Seventy-fourth Year of the Republic of India as follows:— 

##CHAPTER I 

###PRELIMINARY 

1. **Short title and commencement.**— (1) This Act may be called the Chief Election Commissioner and 
other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023. 

(2) It shall come into force on such date[^1] as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official 
Gazette, appoint. 

2. **Definitions.**—In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,— 

  (a) “Chief Election Commissioner” means the Chief Election Commissioner appointed under clause (2) 
of article 324 of the Constitution and in accordance with this Act; 

  (b) “Election Commission” means the Election Commission referred to in clause (1) of article 324 of the 
Constitution; 

  (c) “Election  Commissioner”  means  any  other  Election  Commissioner  appointed  under  clause  (2)  of 
article 324 of the Constitution and in accordance with this Act; 

  (d) “Search  Committee”  means  the  Search  Committee  for  preparation  of  panel  of  persons  for 
consideration for appointment as Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners; and 

  (e) “Selection  Committee”  means  the  Selection  Committee  that  recommends  appointment  of  Chief 
Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners. 

##CHAPTER II 

###APPOINTMENT AND TERM OF CHIEF ELECTION COMMISSIONER AND OTHER ELECTION COMMISSIONERS 

3. **Election Commission.**— The Election Commission shall consist of— 

  (a) Chief Election Commissioner; and 

  (b) such number of other Election Commissioners as the President may fix from time to time. 

[^1]. 2nd  day  of  January,  2024,  vide  notification  No.  S.O.  35  (E),  dated  2nd  day  of  January,  2024,  see  Gazette  of  India, 
Extraordinary, Part II, sec. 3 (ii). 

 
  

4. **Appointment of Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners.**—The  Chief 
Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners shall be appointed by the President by warrant 
under his hand and seal. 

5. **Qualifications of Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners.**—The Chief 
Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners shall be appointed from amongst persons who 
are holding or have held a post equivalent to the rank of Secretary to the Government of India and shall be 
persons of integrity, who have knowledge of and experience in management and conduct of elections. 

6. **Search Committee.**—A  Search  Committee  headed  by  the  Minister  of  Law  and  Justice  and 
comprising two other members not below the rank of Secretary to the Government of India, shall prepare a 
panel of five persons for consideration of the Selection Committee, for appointment as the Chief Election 
Commissioner and other Election Commissioners. 

7. **Selection Committee.**—(1) The Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners 
shall be appointed by the President on the recommendation of a Selection Committee consisting of— 

  (a) the Prime Minister—Chairperson; 

  (b) the Leader of Opposition in the House of the People—Member; 

  (c) a Union Cabinet Minister to be nominated by the Prime Minister—Member. 

*Explanation.*—For  the  purposes  of  removal  of  doubts,  it  is  hereby  declared  that  where  the  Leader  of 
Opposition in the House of the People has not been recognised as such, the leader of the single largest party 
in  opposition  of  the  Government  in  the  House  of  the  People  shall  be  deemed  to  be  the  Leader  of 
Opposition. 

(2) The  appointment  of  Chief  Election  Commissioner  and  other  Election  Commissioners  shall  not  be 
invalid merely by reason of any vacancy in or any defect in the constitution of, the Selection Committee. 

8. **Power of Selection Committee to regulate its own procedure.**— (1) The Selection Committee shall 
regulate its own procedure in a transparent manner for selecting the Chief Election Commissioner or other 
Election Commissioners. 

(2) The Selection Committee may also consider any other person than those included in the panel by the 
Search Committee. 

9. **Term of office.**—(1) The Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners shall hold 
office  for  a  term  of  six  years  from  the  date  on  which  he  assumes  his  office  or  till  he  attains  the  age  of 
sixty-five years, whichever is earlier. 

(2) The Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners shall not be eligible for 
re-appointment. 

(3) Where an Election Commissioner is appointed as Chief Election Commissioner, his term of office 
shall  not  be  more  than  six  years  in  aggregate  as  the  Election  Commissioner  and  the  Chief  Election 
Commissioner. 

##CHAPTER III 

###SALARY, ALLOWANCES AND OTHER CONDITIONS OF SERVICE OF CHIEF ELECTION COMMISSIONER AND OTHER ELECTION COMMISSIONERS 

10. **Salary, etc.**—(1) The Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners shall be paid 
a salary which is equal to the salary of a Judge of the Supreme Court: 

  Provided that the salary, allowances and other conditions of service of the Chief Election Commissioner 
and  other  Election  Commissioners,  holding  office immediately  before  the  date of  commencement  of  this 
Act shall not be varied to their disadvantage. 

(2) If a person who, immediately before the date of assuming office as the Chief Election Commissioner 
or an Election Commissioner, was in receipt of, or being eligible so to do, had elected to draw, a pension 
(other than a disability or wound pension) in respect of any previous service under the Central Government 
or a State Government, his salary in respect of service as the Chief Election Commissioner or an Election 
Commissioner shall be reduced— 

  (a) by the amount of that pension; and 

  (b) if  he  had,  before  assuming  office,  received,  in  lieu  of  a  portion  of  the  pension  due  to  him  in 
respect  of  such  previous  service,  the  commuted  value  thereof,  by  the  amount  of  that  portion  of  the 
pension. 

(3) The  Chief  Election  Commissioner  and  other  Election  Commissioners  shall  be  entitled  to  dearness 
allowance as may be admissible to Judge of the Supreme Court. 

(4) The Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners shall be entitled to encashment 
of fifty per cent. of earned leave to his credit at the time of completion of tenure. 

(5) Where the Chief Election Commissioner or an Election Commissioner had retired from the service 
of the Central Government or a State Government prior to appointment as such, the aggregate period for 
which the encashment of unutilised earned leave he shall be entitled, shall be subject to a maximum period 
as admissible in accordance with the rules for the time being applicable to the service to which he belonged 
before his appointment as Chief Election Commissioner or an Election Commissioner. 

11. **Resignation and removal.**—(1) The Chief Election Commissioner or an Election Commissioner 
may, at any time, by writing under his hand addressed to the President, resign his office. 

(2) The Chief Election Commissioner shall not be removed from his office except in like manner and on 
the like grounds as a Judge of the Supreme Court. 

(3) The other Election Commissioners shall not be removed from office except on the recommendation 
of the Chief Election Commissioner. 

12. **Leave.**— (1) The Chief Election Commissioner or an Election Commissioner may be granted leave 
in accordance with the rules for the time being applicable to the service to which he belonged before the 
date of his appointment and he shall be entitled to carry forward the leave standing at his credit on such 
date, irrespective of the provisions contained in section 13. 

(2) The  power  to  grant  or  refuse  leave  to  the  Chief  Election  Commissioner  or  an  Election 
Commissioner and to revoke or curtail leave granted to him, shall vest in the President. 

13. **Pension.** —(1) Where the Chief Election Commissioner or an Election Commissioner was in service 
of Government, he shall be deemed to have retired from the service on the date on which he enters upon 
office as the Chief Election Commissioner or an Election Commissioner, as the case may be. 

(2) The  Chief  Election  Commissioner  or  other  Election  Commissioners  who  at  the  time  of  his 
appointment as such, was in service of the Central Government or a State Government, shall at his option to 
be  exercised  within  a  period  of  six  months  from  the  date  of  such  appointment,  be  entitled  to  draw  his 
pension and other retirement benefits under the rules applicable to the service to which he belonged, with 
effect  from  the  date  of  his  appointment  as  the  Chief  Election  Commissioner  or  other  Election 
Commissioner. 

(3) Except  where  the  Chief  Election  Commissioner  or  an  Election  Commissioner  demits  office  by 
resignation, he shall be deemed, for the purposes of this Act, to have demitted his office only if,— 

  (a) he has completed the term of office specified in section 9; or 

  (b) he has attained the age of sixty-five years; or 

  (c) his demission of office is medically certified to be necessitated by ill-health. 

14. **Right to subscribe to General Provident Fund.**—Every  person  holding  office  as  the  Chief 
Election Commissioner or an Election Commissioner shall be entitled to subscribe to the General Provident 
Fund under the General Provident Fund (Central Services) Rules, 1960. 

15. **Other conditions of service.**— Save as otherwise provided in this Act, the President may by rules 
determine  the  conditions  of  service  relating  to  travelling  allowance,  medical  facilities,  leave  travel 
concession,  conveyance  facilities,  and  such  other  conditions  of  service  relating  to  the  Chief  Election 
Commissioner and other Election Commissioners. 

16. **Protection of Chief Election Commissioner and other Election 
Commissioners.**—Notwithstanding  anything  contained  in  any  other  law  for  the  time  being  in  force,  no 
Court shall entertain or continue any civil or criminal proceedings against any person who is or was a Chief 
Election Commissioner or an Election Commissioner for any act, thing or word, committed, done or spoken 
by him when, or in the course of acting or purporting to act in the discharge of his official duty or function. 

##CHAPTER IV 

###TRANSACTION OF BUSINESS OF ELECTION COMMISSION 

17. **Transaction of business.**—The business of the Election Commission shall be transacted  in 
accordance with the provisions of this Act. 

18. **Disposal of business.**—(1) The  Election  Commission  may,  by  unanimous  decision,  regulate  the 
procedure  for  transaction  of  its  business  and  also  allocation  of  its  business  amongst  the  Chief  Election 
Commissioner and other Election Commissioners. 

(2) All business of the Election Commission shall, as far as possible, be transacted unanimously, and if 
the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners differ in opinion on any matter, such 
matter shall be decided according to the opinion of the majority. 

##CHAPTER V 

###MISCELLANEOUS 

19. **Power to remove difficulties.**— (1) If any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this 
Act,  the  Central  Government  may,  within  a  period  of  five  years  from  the  date  of  commencement  of 
this Act, by order not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, remove the difficulty. 

(2) Every order made under sub-section (1) shall, as soon as may be after it is made, be laid before each 
House of Parliament. 

20. **Laying.**—Every rule and order made under this Act shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, 
before  each  House  of  Parliament,  while  it  is  in  session,  for  a  total  period  of  thirty  days  which  may  be 
comprised  in  one  session  or  in  two  or  more  successive  sessions,  and  if,  before  the  expiry  of  the  session 
immediately following the session or the successive sessions aforesaid, both Houses agree in making any 
modification in the rule or order, or both Houses agree that the rule or order should not be made, the rule or 
order  shall  thereafter  have  effect  only  in  such  modified  form  or  be  of  no  effect,  as  the  case  may  be;  so, 
however,  that  any  such  modification  or  annulment  shall  be  without  prejudice  to  the  validity  of  anything 
previously done under that rule or order. 

21. **Repeal and saving.**—(1)  The  Election  Commission  (Conditions  of  Service  of  Election 
Commissioners and Transaction of Business) Act, 1991 (11 of 1991) is hereby repealed. 

(2) Anything done or any action taken or purported to have been done or taken under the Act hereby 
repealed shall, insofar as it is not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, be deemed to have been done 
or taken under the corresponding provisions of this Act. 

(3) The  mention  of  particular  matters  in  sub-section  (2)  shall  not  be  held  to  prejudice  or  affect  the 
general application of section 6 of the General Clauses Act, 1897 (10 of 1897) with regard to the effect of 
repeal.