241. Constitutional & Statutory Bodies

A constitutional body exists because the Constitution itself names the office, states the appointment channel, or fixes a core function. A statutory body exists because a law creates it and can therefore be altered by amending that law, subject to constitutional limits. Election Commission of India under Article 324, CAG under Article 148, Finance Commission under Article 280, Public Service Commissions under Articles 315 to 323, State Election Commissions under Article 243K, and GST Council under Article 279A are constitutional institutions. Central Vigilance Commission, Central Information Commission, National Human Rights Commission, State Human Rights Commissions, Lokpal and many tribunals are statutory institutions. The difference is not prestige; it is legal source, removal protection, reporting line, and review design. Rajasthan State Election Commission and Rajasthan State Human Rights Commission show the same distinction at State level: one flows from local-government constitutional amendments, while the other works under human-rights legislation. Creation source also affects amendment pressure. Parliament cannot abolish CAG or Article 324 by an ordinary Act, but it can amend the RTI Act framework for CIC or the CVC Act framework for CVC within constitutional limits. Reporting is equally different: CAG reports are laid before legislatures, Finance Commission recommendations go to the President, and statutory commissions usually send reports through the executive channel fixed by their Acts. Rajasthan's State bodies follow the same grammar, so the source of authority must be read together with composition, tenure and removal. The article root also changes litigation. A defect in CAG removal or Election Commission control becomes a constitutional question, while a defect in CIC appointment or CVC procedure usually begins with interpretation of the parent statute. This is why statutory design can be important without being constitutionally entrenched.