Gyanesh Kumar assume charge as 26th CEC of India
Appointment
7 min read
Gyanesh Kumar assumed office as India's 26th Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) on 19th February 2025. He replaced Rajiv Kumar, who retired on 18th February 2025. Dr Vivek Joshi also assumed office as the Election Commissioner in the Election Commission of India on 19th February 2025. The other member of the three-member Election Commission of India is Dr Sukhbir Singh Sandhu.
Earlier, the Prime Minister led three-member selection committee, recommended the name of
Gyanesh Kumar as the Chief Election Commissioner and Dr Vivek Joshi as the Election Commissioner to the President of India.
The three-member selection committee included Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Rahul Gandhi, the opposition leader in the Lok Sabha.
Rahul Gandhi opposed the whole selection process as the law under which the appointments were being made was being heard in the Supreme Court.
Supreme Court Judgement in Anoop Baranwal Case 2022
Gyanesh Kumar is the first Chief Election Commissioner to be appointed under the ‘Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act 2023.
The law has excluded the Chief Justice of India from the selection committee.
In Anoop Barnawal vs Union of India 2023, the five-member Supreme Court ordered the constitution of a three-member search committee consisting of the Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, and the Chief Justice of India to select the member of the Election Commission of India.
This judgment said the ruling would be valid until Parliament framed a law appointing Election Commission members.
About the Gyanesh Kumar and Dr Vivek Joshi
- Gyanesh Kumar is a retired 1988 batch IAS officer of the Kerala Cadre. After his retirement, he was appointed the Election Commissioner in the Election Commission of India on 15th of March, 2024.
- Dr Vivek Joshi is a 1989-batch Haryana-cadre Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer.
Appointment of the Election Commissioner Under New Law
The President appoints members of the Election Commissions on the recommendation of a search committee.
The search committee consists of
- Prime Minister, who is also the Chairperson of the committee
- A Union Cabinet minister appointed by the Prime Minister as a member.
- Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha as a member;
If there is no recognised leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, then the leader of the largest opposition party in the Lok Sabha will be the search committee member.
Term of the Election Commission members
- The Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners hold office for six years or until they attain sixty-five years of age, whichever is earlier.
- If an Election Commissioner is appointed as Chief Election Commissioner, his combined term of office shall not be more than six years.
- The six-year term will include his term as the Election Commissioner and the Chief Election Commissioner.
List of all the Chief Election Commissioners of India
The President of India appoints the Chief Election Commissioner under Article 324 of the Constitution. The Election Commission of India was established on 25 January 1950.
25th January is observed in India as the National Voters Day.
Only One woman, V. S. Ramadevi, has been appointed as the Chief Election Commissioner of India.
|
S.No. |
Name |
Tenure |
|
1 |
Sukumar Sen |
21 March 1950- 19 December 1958 |
|
2 |
K. V. K. Sundaram |
20 December 1958-30 September 1967 |
|
3 |
S. P. Sen Verma |
1 October 1967- 30 September 1972 |
|
4 |
Dr. Nagendra Singh |
1 October 1972- 6 February 1973 |
|
5 |
T. Swaminathan |
7 February 1973- 17 June 1977 |
|
6 |
S. L. Shakdher |
18 June 1977- 17 June 1982 |
|
7 |
R. K. Trivedi |
18 June 1982- 31 December 1985 |
|
8 |
R. V. S. Peri Sastri |
1 January 1986- 25 November 1990 |
|
9 |
V. S. Ramadevi |
26 November 1990- 11 December 1990 |
|
10 |
T. N. Seshan |
12 December 1990- 11 December 1996 |
|
11. |
M. S. Gill |
12 December 1996- 13 June 2001 |
|
12 |
J. M. Lyngdoh |
14 June 2001- 7 February 2004 |
|
13 |
T. S. Krishnamurthy |
8 February 2004- 15 May 2005 |
|
14 |
B. B. Tandon |
16 May 2005- 29 June 2006 |
|
15 |
N. Gopalaswami |
30 June 2006 - 20 April 2009 |
|
16 |
Navin Chawla |
21 April 2009 - 29 July 2010 |
|
17 |
S. Y. Quraishi |
30 July 2010- 10 June 2012 |
|
18 |
V. S. Sampath |
11 June 2012- 15 January 2015 |
|
19 |
H. S. Brahma |
16 January 2015 - 18 April 2015 |
|
20 |
Dr. Nasim Zaidi |
19 April 2015- 5 July 2017 |
|
21 |
Achal Kumar Jyoti |
6 July 2017–22 January 2018 |
|
22 |
Om Prakash Rawat |
23 January 2018- 1 December 2018 |
|
23 |
Sunil Arora |
2 December 2018- 12 April 2021 |
|
24 |
Sushil Chandra |
13 April 2021- 14 May 2022 |
|
25 |
Rajiv Kumar |
15 May 2022- 18 February 2025 |
|
26 |
Gyanesh Kumar |
19 February 2025 - till date. |
