2 AUTONOMOUS OFFICES UNDER THE CONSTITUTION
The prominent offices and commissions created under the Indian Constitution are :
1. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India, Art 148
2. The Attorney General of India, Art 76
3. The Finance Commission, Article 280
4. The Election Commission. Art. 324
5. Union Public Service Commission, Art 312
1. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India :- The office of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (Art 148) is one of the important offices created under the Constitution. He is the head of the Indian Audit and Accounts Department and acts as the guardian of the public finances. He audits all the expenditure from the revenues of the Union or the States incurred in India or outside, and examines all the loss accounts and balance sheets kept under the orders of the President of India or the Governor of the State. He has to ensure that no money is spent without proper sanction of the Parliament or the State Legislature. This is the reason why Dr. B R Ambedkar said that the CAG shall be the most important officer under the Constitution of India. He is one of the bulwarks of the democratic system of Govt. in India; the other being the Supreme Court, the Election Commission and the UPSC.
Appointment :- The Comptroller and Auditor-General of India are appointed by the President.
Term :- His term is fixed for six years.
Independence :- The constitution has made the following provisions to safeguard and ensure the independence of CAG.
He is provided with the security of tenure. He can be removed by the President only in accordance with the procedure mentioned in the constitution. Thus, he does not hold the office till the pleasure of the President, though he appoints him.
He is not eligible for further office, either under the Govt. of India or of any state, after he ceases to hold his office.
The administrative expenses of the office of the CAG, including all salaries, allowances and pensions of persons serving in that office, shall be charged upon the consolidated Fund of India. Thus, they are not subject to the vote of Parliament.
2.The Attorney General of India (Art 76) :- The Attorney General of India is the Chief legal adviser to the Government of India, who renders necessary legal assistance to the Government. He is appointed by the President of India on the advice of the Prime Minister. The Constitution clearly provides that only such person can be appointed as the Attorney General of India who possesses the following qualifications:
(a) He must be a citizen of India;
(b) He must have been a judge of a High Court for at least 10 years; or
(c) He must have been an advocate of the High Court for at least 10 years.
He is not paid a salary but a retainer that is determined by the President.
Although he is not a member of either house of the Parliament, he enjoys the right to attend and speak in the parliamentary deliberations and meetings of both the houses, without a right to vote.
The retainer of the Attorney General is equal to the salary of a judge of a Supreme Court.
He is assisted by two solicitors - general and four assistant solicitors - general.
The Attorney General holds the office during the pleasure of the President, and receives remuneration as the President may determine.
3.Finance Commission :- It is a body of five experts including a chairperson constituted under Article 280 of the Constituted of India. The primary mandate of the Commission is to recommend a formula for sharing net proceeds of tax revenues of the Centre with the states, principles which should govern the transfer of grants-in-aid of the revenues of the states out of the Consolidated Fund of India and measures required to augment the Consolidated Fund of Individual states during a five-year period. The 1st Finance Commission was constituted in November 1951. The Constitution requires the president to constitute a fresh panel every fifth year or earlier.
4.Election Commission :- Election Commission is to supervise and control all matters relating to elections to the Parliament and State Assemblies and to the office of the President and Vice-President (Art. 324). The Election Commission may consist of the Chief Election Commissioner and such other Election Commissioners as the President may appoint from time to time, when any other Election Commissioner is appointed, the Chief Election Commissioner shall function as the Chairman of the Election Commission. The Chief Election Commissioner cannot be removed from office except in the same manner and on the same grounds as a judge of the Supreme Court (Art. 324). In India elections are conducted by an independent constitutional agency known as the Election Commission. Art.324 of the Indian Constitution says
The Superintendence, direction and control, the preparation of the electoral rolls for, and the conduct of all elections to the parliament, state legislature and the elections to the office of the President and the Vice President held under the Indian Constitution shall be vested in the Commission.
The election Commission shall consist of the Chief Election Commissioners, and such number of other election Commissioner if any, as the President may from time to time fix and the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and the other Election Commissioners shall subject to the provisions of any law made in the behalf by Parliament be made by the President.
Until 1989, the Election Commission was a one-member commission. In 1989, the President appointed two Election Commissioners, but after two and half months the Presidents notification was withdrawn and the newly appointed Election Commissioners were removed from office.
The then Chief Election Commissioner, T.N.Seshan challenged the Govt. decision to appoint two election Commissioners in the Supreme Court. The Supreme court, however declared that," the question whether it is necessary to appoint another Election Commissioner besides the CEC is for the Govt. to decide and it is not a justiciable matter.
Representation of People's (2nd Amendment Bill) 1996 provides for :-
Reduce campaign period from 24 days to 14.
Disallow candidates to contest from more than 2 constituencies.
Adjourn, not Countermand, election in the event of death of a candidate.
Those burning the national flag cannot contest elections.
Security deposits increased for Lok Sabha from 500 to 10000 and for Assembly from 250 to 5000 Rupees.
Independent Candidates have to be supported by at least 10 elections.
EC must hold polls within 6 months of vacancy of seat except when life of house is less than one year if EC certifies that it would be difficult to hold by -elections within the period.
The Union Cabinet decided to carry out the delimitation exercise on the basis of the 2001 census and Delimitation Act 2002 to be amended to raise the ceiling on election expenditure for the Lok Sabha to Rs. 25 lakhs against the present Rs. 15 lakhs per constituency. In the case of assembly constituencies, the limit is Rs. 10 lakhs per constituency with adjustments in the case of smaller States.
1. This Act may be called the Representation of the People (Amendment) Act, 2023. (2) It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.
Chief Election Commissioners of India
25. Rajiv Kumar (born 19 February 1960) is a former Indian Administrative Service officer. On 15 May 2022, he assumed the charge as the 25th Chief Election Commissioner of India, succeeding Sushil Chandra
Public Service Commission (article 315–323)
Chairman and members are appointed by the Governor. Term - 6 years or till they attain the age of 62 years. Can resign by addressing a letter to the President. Only the President can make a reference to the Supreme Court and make an order for their removal. Governor has only the power to pass an interim order of suspension. Thus members of the State Public Service Commission are appointed by the governor but removed by the President.
Recognition as a National Party
A registered party is recognised as a National Party only if it fulfils any one of the following three conditions:
The party wins 2 percent of the seats in the Lok Sabha (as of 2014, 11 seats) from at least 3 different States; or
At a General Election to Lok Sabha or Legislative Assembly, the party polls 6% of votes in four States and in addition it wins 4 Lok Sabha seats from any state or states; or
A party gets recognition as a State Party in four or more States.
As India has a multi-party system, there are eight national parties in the county-- BSP, BJP, Congress, CPI, CPI-M, TMC, NCP and NPP (the first national party from the North-East region).
Also there are 50 parties recognised as State parties at present. The number of recognised parties keeps on changing on the basis of their performance in the elections.
5.Union Public Service Commission :- Art 312 The chairman and other members of the Union Public Service Commission are appointed by the President and they hold office for a term of 6 years from the date of appointment until they attain the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier. They are independent of the executive and the legislature in the same way as the judge of the Supreme Court.
The main function of the commission is to conduct examinations and hold interviews for making appointments to the various services of the Union.Provisions regarding the Public Service Commission are contained from Article 315 to Art 323
Functions :- The UPSC performs the following functions:
It conducts examinations for the All India Services, Central Services and Public services of the centrally administered territories.
It assists the state (if requested by two or more states to do so) in framing and operating schemes of joint recruitment for any services for which candidates possessing special qualifications are required.
It serves all or any of the needs of a state on the request of the State Governor and with the approval of the President of India.
It advises the President of India on all disciplinary matters affecting a person serving under the Govt. Of India. This include - Censure, Withholding of increments or promotions, Recovery of pecuniary loss, Reduction to lower Service or rank, Compulsory Retirement, Removal from Service, Dismissal from Service.
Independence :- The constitution has made the following provisions to safeguard and ensure the independent and impartial functioning of the UPSC.
The chairman or a member of the UPSC can be removed from office by the President only in the manner and on the grounds mentioned in the constitution. Therefore they enjoy the security of tenure.
The conditions of the Service of the chairman or a member, though determined by the President, cannot be varied to his disadvantage after his appointment.
The entire expenses including the salaries, allowances and pensions of the Chairman and members of the UPSC are charged on the consolidated Fund of India. Thus, they are not subject to a vote of Parliament.
