Legal Provision about the Chief Election Commissioner's removal

Gist Recent political demands for the removal of the Chief Election Commissioner CEC have brought the constitutional and statutory safeguards surrounding the Election Commission of India ECI back into the spotlight. While the Constitution guarantees the CEC security of tenure akin to a Supreme Court judge, recent legislative changes have fundamentally altered the appointment mechanism and codified protections against prosecution for official acts. For a civil services aspirant, understanding the tension between judicial interventions and parliamentary supremacy regarding the ECI's independence is highly relevant for governance and polity papers. Background Article 324 of the Constitution vests the superintendence, direction, and control of elections in the ECI. Historically, under Article 324 2 , the executive solely advised the President on appointing the CEC and Election Commissioners ECs because Parliament had not enacted a specific law governing the process. To insulate the body from executive overreach, a Supreme Court Constitution Bench in the Anoop Baranwal v. Union of India 2023 case directed that a collegium comprising the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition LoP , and the Chief Justice of India…