Constitutional Bodies

Article 324:

• The Election Commission superintends, directs and controls the preparation of electoral rolls and the conduct of elections to Parliament, the State Legislatures, and the offices of President and Vice-President.
• It has the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (three members in all since 1993), appointed by the President. Since the 2023 Act, the President appoints them on the recommendation of a committee of the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and a Union Minister.
• The Chief Election Commissioner is removed only like a Supreme Court judge. Another Election Commissioner or a Regional Commissioner can be removed only on the Chief Election Commissioner's recommendation.
• Regional Commissioners are appointed by the President, after consulting the Commission.
• The President or a Governor must provide the staff the Commission needs, when it asks.
• Elections to panchayats and municipalities are run by each State's State Election Commission, not by this Commission.
• The Commission was set up on 25 January 1950, now kept as National Voters' Day.

The bodies:

• Comptroller and Auditor General (Article 148): appointed by the President; serves six years or until 65; removed like a Supreme Court judge.
• Article 151: the CAG's reports on the Union's accounts go to the President, who has them laid before each House of Parliament; reports on a State's accounts go to its Governor.
• Finance Commission (Article 280): appointed by the President every five years to recommend how central taxes are shared between the Centre and the States.
• The Planning Commission (1950 to 2014) was set up by a Cabinet resolution, not by the Constitution, and was replaced by NITI Aayog in 2015.

The commissions:

• Article 338: National Commission for Scheduled Castes. Article 338A: National Commission for Scheduled Tribes. Both became separate bodies under the 89th Amendment (2003), which split the old joint commission.
• Article 338B: National Commission for Backward Classes, made constitutional by the 102nd Amendment (2018). It earlier worked under the NCBC Act of 1993, which was repealed in 2018. It is headed by a Chairperson.
• Each reports to the President, who has the reports laid before each House of Parliament with a memorandum on action taken. Each has the powers of a civil court when investigating, and the Union and every State must consult it on major policy matters.
• Article 340: the President may appoint a commission to study backward classes. The First Backward Classes Commission (1953) was chaired by Kaka Kalelkar; the Second (1979) by B. P. Mandal.

Part XIV:

• Article 309: the legislature regulates recruitment and conditions of service.
• Article 310: the doctrine of pleasure: civil servants hold office during the pleasure of the President or the Governor.
• Article 311: the safeguards: no dismissal or removal by an authority subordinate to the appointing authority, and no dismissal, removal or reduction in rank without an inquiry and a reasonable opportunity of being heard.
• Article 312: Parliament may by law create a new All India Service, but only after the Rajya Sabha passes a resolution by two-thirds of members present and voting. Today there are three: the IAS, the IPS and the Indian Forest Service.
• Recruitment rules and conditions of service of the All India Services are made by the Central Government under the All India Services Act, 1951, not by the UPSC.