Constitutional & Statutory Bodies

Article 324 vests the superintendence, direction and control of elections in the Election Commission. Note carefully what it covers: elections to Parliament, to State Legislatures, and to the offices of President and Vice-President. It is a single, all-India body shared by the Centre and the States. It was established on 25 January 1950 — which is why India observes National Voters' Day on 25 January. The first Chief Election Commissioner was Sukumar Sen.

• Composition: the Constitution does not fix a number. Article 324 says the Commission shall have the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and such other Election Commissioners as the President may from time to time fix. It began as a single-member body and has been a three-member body (CEC + 2 ECs) since 1993.
• Decision-making: the CEC and the other Election Commissioners have equal powers and equal salary; disputed matters are decided by majority. The CEC is not a boss over the others in decision-making.
• Tenure: 6 years or until the age of 65, whichever is earlier — fixed by law, not by the Constitution.
• Appointment: under Article 324 the President appoints them, subject to any law made by Parliament. That law is now the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023, under which a Selection Committee of the Prime Minister, a Union Cabinet Minister and the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha recommends names.

Beyond conducting polls, the ECI prepares and revises electoral rolls, recognises political parties and allots election symbols, advises the President and Governors on post-election disqualification of sitting members, and enforces the Model Code of Conduct. The MCC is not a statute — it is a code evolved by consensus among parties and enforced by the Commission using its wide Article 324 powers. It comes into force the day the election schedule is announced and lasts till the process is complete.

Parliament votes the money; someone must check that the money was actually spent the way Parliament ordered. That someone is the CAG. Dr B. R. Ambedkar said the CAG would be the most important officer under the Constitution — more important, in his view, even than the judiciary, because control over public money is the heart of accountable government. The first CAG of India was V. Narahari Rao.

The CAG's tenure is 6 years or until the age of 65, whichever is earlier. He heads the Indian Audit and Accounts Department and audits all receipts and expenditure of the Union and the States, and of bodies substantially financed from government revenues. He submits three audit reports to the President — on appropriation accounts, on finance accounts, and on public undertakings.

Here is the fact every Bihar aspirant should savour: the Bihar Public Service Commission is itself a constitutional body. Article 315 says there shall be a Public Service Commission for the Union and a Public Service Commission for each State. So BPSC, headquartered at Patna, exists because of Article 315 — the very exam you are preparing for is conducted by a body written into the Constitution. Article 315 also allows two or more States to have a Joint State Public Service Commission, created by Parliament by law on a request from the State legislatures concerned.

• Appointment (Art 316): UPSC chairman and members by the President; State PSC chairman and members by the Governor of that State. Roughly one-half of the members must be persons who have held office under the Government of India or a State for at least ten years.
• Tenure (Art 316): 6 years or 65 years of age for UPSC; 6 years or 62 years of age for a State PSC and a Joint State PSC. This 65-versus-62 gap is asked repeatedly.
• Removal (Art 317): only by the President — for any Commission, Union or State — on the ground of misbehaviour, and only after the Supreme Court, on a reference by the President, holds an inquiry and reports against the member. The President may also remove a member who is adjudged insolvent, takes up paid employment outside his duties, or is unfit due to infirmity of mind or body.
• Expenses (Art 322) are charged on the Consolidated Fund of India or of the State — so the legislature cannot cut them by a vote, which protects independence. Reports (Art 323): the UPSC reports annually to the President, a State PSC to the Governor, who lays it before the State legislature with a memorandum explaining any case where the Commission's advice was not accepted.

One limitation you must state honestly: under Article 320 the Commission is only a recruiting and advisory body. Its advice on disciplinary matters, promotions and appointments is not binding on the government, and the aggrieved employee cannot sue because the advice was ignored — the only safeguard is that the government must explain the rejection in the report laid before the legislature. This is why the PSCs are called the watchdogs of the merit system, not its enforcers.

The Union needs expert advice on two things it cannot decide alone: how to divide money with the States, and what the law actually is. Article 280 creates the adviser on money; Articles 76 and 165 create the advisers on law.

• Finance Commission (Art 280): constituted by the President every fifth year or earlier if he thinks fit. It has a Chairman and four other members. Qualifications are decided by Parliament (Finance Commission (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1951).
• Its job: recommend the distribution of the net proceeds of shareable taxes between the Union and the States (vertical) and among the States (horizontal); the principles governing grants-in-aid to States from the Consolidated Fund of India; measures to augment State funds for panchayats and municipalities (added by the 73rd and 74th Amendments); and any other matter referred by the President.
• Its recommendations are advisory only — not binding on the Government. Under Article 281 the report is laid before both Houses of Parliament along with an explanatory memorandum on the action taken. The First Finance Commission (1951) was chaired by K. C. Neogy; the 15th by N. K. Singh (award period 2021–26); the 16th by Arvind Panagariya.

Originally Article 338 provided only for a Special Officer for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (known as the Commissioner for SCs and STs) — one person for two enormous communities. The 65th Amendment Act, 1990 replaced that single officer with a multi-member National Commission for SCs and STs. Then the 89th Amendment Act, 2003 split that Commission into two: the National Commission for SCs under Article 338 and the National Commission for STs under the new Article 338A.

The third sibling arrived much later. The National Commission for Backward Classes had been only a statutory body under the NCBC Act, 1993 (set up after the Supreme Court's Indra Sawhney judgment). The 102nd Amendment Act, 2018 finally gave it constitutional status by inserting Article 338B, and also inserted Article 342A on the specification of socially and educationally backward classes. The 105th Amendment Act, 2021 then clarified that States retain the power to identify their own backward classes for State lists.

• All three Commissions (338, 338A, 338B) have the same design: a Chairperson, a Vice-Chairperson and three other members, appointed by the President by warrant under his hand and seal.
• They investigate and monitor safeguards, inquire into specific complaints, advise on socio-economic development planning, and submit an annual report to the President, who lays it before both Houses of Parliament.
• While investigating, each has the powers of a civil court — it can summon persons, require documents, and receive evidence on affidavit. But like most commissions, its findings are recommendatory.

Article 350B provides for a Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities, appointed by the President. It was inserted by the 7th Amendment Act, 1956, on the recommendation of the States Reorganisation Commission — the linguistic reorganisation of States made such a safeguard urgent. The Officer investigates all matters relating to the safeguards for linguistic minorities and reports to the President, who lays the report before Parliament and sends it to the State governments concerned. He is designated the Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities, with headquarters at Prayagraj (Allahabad). Note the companion provision: Article 350A requires facilities for instruction in the mother tongue at the primary stage, and was inserted by the same amendment.

These bodies are the other half of the story. Each one is powerful and famous — and none of them is mentioned in the Constitution. Every one of them can be weakened tomorrow by an ordinary law, or in NITI Aayog's case by a Cabinet note. Learn each body with its birth document attached, and this section becomes easy marks.

• NHRC: chaired by a person who has been Chief Justice of India or a Judge of the Supreme Court, appointed by the President on the recommendation of a six-member committee headed by the Prime Minister (with the Lok Sabha Speaker, the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, the Leaders of Opposition in both Houses, and the Union Home Minister). Term 3 years or until 70, after the 2019 amendment. Its recommendations are not binding, it cannot punish anyone, and it cannot inquire into a matter more than one year old. Its role over the armed forces is limited — it can only seek a report from the Central Government.
• State Human Rights Commissions: chairperson is a person who has been Chief Justice or a Judge of a High Court, appointed by the Governor. But — and this is the trap — a member can be removed only by the President of India, never by the Governor. Bihar has its own State Human Rights Commission at Patna.
• CVC: a multi-member body — the Central Vigilance Commissioner plus not more than two Vigilance Commissioners — appointed by the President on the recommendation of a three-member committee of the Prime Minister, the Union Home Minister and the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha. Term 4 years or until 65. Crucially, the CVC exercises superintendence over the CBI in matters relating to investigation of offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
• Central Information Commission: the Chief Information Commissioner and up to ten Information Commissioners, appointed by the President on the recommendation of a committee of the Prime Minister, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and one Union Cabinet Minister. The RTI (Amendment) Act, 2019 moved their term and salaries out of the Act and into rules made by the Central Government — which is precisely why statutory status is weaker than constitutional status.

The Lokpal is India's anti-corruption ombudsman — an idea borrowed from Sweden, where the institution of the Ombudsman began in 1809, and recommended for India by the first Administrative Reforms Commission (1966). The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013 provides for a Chairperson and a maximum of eight members, of whom half must be judicial members, chosen by a Selection Committee of the Prime Minister, the Lok Sabha Speaker, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, the Chief Justice of India (or a Judge nominated by him) and one eminent jurist. Term: 5 years or until 70. Its jurisdiction covers the Prime Minister, Ministers, MPs and officials, though allegations against the PM relating to international relations, security, public order, atomic energy and space are excluded. At the State level, a Lokayukta is created by State law — Odisha passed the first Lokayukta Act (1970) but Maharashtra was the first State actually to establish the institution (1971). Bihar has its own Lokayukta under State legislation.