 bill  no 244 of 2017 the constitution (amendment) bill, 2017 by shri jagdambika pal, mp a billfurther to amend the constitution of indiabe it enacted by parliament in the sixty-eighth year of the republic of india as follows:—amendment of article 3242 in article 324 of the constitution, in clause (5),—(a) the words ''the election commissioners and'' shall be omitted;5(b) in the first proviso for the words ''the chief election commissioner'' at both the places, the words ''chief election commissioner and any other election commissioner'' shall be substituted; and(c) in the second proviso the words ''other election commissioner or a'' shall be omitted statement  of  objects  and  reasonsarticle 324(5) of the constitution intends to ensure the independence of the election commission of india (eci) and free it from external or political interference and thus expressly provides that the removal of the chief election commission (cec) from office shall be on ''like manner and on the like grounds as a judge of the supreme court" nevertheless, a similar impeachment procedure is not prescribed for the other election commissioners under article 324(5), and they are treated on par with the regional commissionersthe eci in its 2004 report expressly opined that the current wording of article 324(5)was ''inadequate'' and required an amendment to bring the removal procedures of election commissioners at part with the chief election commission (cec), and to provide them with the ''same protection and safeguard(s)" as are available to the chief election commission (cec) the proposed amendment is on the same lines as provided in background paper on electoral reforms prepared by the legislative department of the law ministry in 2010equating the removal procedures of the two election commissioners with that of the cec is also in line with the legislative intent of the parliament in 1991, the chief election commissioner and other election commissioners (conditions of service) act, 1991 was enacted whereby the retirement age of the cec was fixed at sixty five years, with a salary and other perquisites equal to that of a supreme court judge whereas the retirement age of the other election commissioners was fixed at sixty-two years with benefits equivalent to a high court judge however, in 1993, the above act was amended and the cec and other election commissioners were placed at par in the matters of retirement age, salaries and other benefits section 10 of the act provides for all three members to have an equal say in the decision making process, with any difference in opinion being resolved ''according to the opinion of the majority"it is thus clear that the cec is at the same position as the other election commissioners except that cec enjoys the status of first amongst equals moreover, the election commissioners are clearly superior to the regional commissioners given that the removal (impeachment) procedure of the judges of the high court and supreme court is also the same, the removal procedures cec under article 324(5) should also be extended to the other election commissionershence this billnew delhi;jagdambika  palnovember 27, 2017 annexure extract from the constitution of india     part xv324 (1)     (5) subject to the provisions of any law made by parliament, the conditions of service and tenure of office of the election commissioners and the regional commissioners shall be such as the president may by rule determine:superintendence, direction and control of elections to be vested in an election commissionprovided that the chief election commissioner shall not be removed from his office except in like manner and on the like grounds as a judge of the supreme court and the conditions of service of the chief election commissioner shall not be varied to his disadvantage aftet his appointment:provided further that any other election commissioner or a regional commissioner shall not be removed from office except on the recommendation of the chief election commissioner     lok  sabha————— a billfurther to amend the constitution of india—————(shri jagdambika pal, mp)gmgipmrnd—2679ls(s3)—19-12-2017