RAS question
The Chief Election Commissioner can be removed from office by:
Correct answer: (A) A resolution passed by Parliament through the same procedure as removal of a Supreme Court judge.
The Chief Election Commissioner can be removed only through the same parliamentary removal procedure and on the same grounds that apply to a Supreme Court judge.
Explanation
Article 324(5) gives the Chief Election Commissioner a high-security tenure rule, not an ordinary service-rule removal. The President may remove the CEC only on the basis of an address by Parliament, in the same manner and on the same grounds as a Supreme Court judge: proved misbehaviour or incapacity, backed by a special majority in both Houses. The verified India Code Act repeats the same core protection in section 11(2), saying the CEC shall not be removed except in like manner and on like grounds as a Judge of the Supreme Court. This is why option A captures the required parliamentary standard.
Why the other options are wrong
- (B) A simple majority is wrong because the stated rule requires the Supreme Court judge removal standard, including a special majority in both Houses.
- (C) The Supreme Court-on-reference route is wrong because removal is a parliamentary process resulting in removal by the President, not a judicial removal order.
- (D) Prime Ministerial advice is wrong because Article 324(5) protects the CEC from ordinary executive removal and allows removal only through the Supreme Court judge standard.
Concept
This tests constitutional safeguards for independent bodies, especially the Election Commission's security of tenure. It recurs in RAS because removal procedures reveal whether an office is meant to be independent of routine executive control.