This is Day 71 | 90 Days RAS Mains 2025 Answer Writing, We will cover the whole RAS Mains 2025 with this 90-day answer writing program
Click here for the complete 90 days schedule (English Medium)
Click here for complete 90 days schedule (Hindi Medium)
GS Answer Writing –Election Commission of India | Comptroller and Auditor General | Union Public Service Commission NITI Aayog l Central Vigilance Commission l Central Information Commission l National Human Rights Commission l Letter and Report
Under Article-317-
- The Chairman or any other member of UPSC shall only be removed from his/her office by order of the President of India.
- Conditions for Removal: The Chairman or any other member of UPSC may be removed if he/she:
- is adjudged an insolvent.
- engages during his/her term of office in any paid employment outside the duties of his/her office.
- is, in the opinion of the President, unfit to continue in office by reason of infirmity of mind or body.
- In addition to these, the president can also remove the Chairman or any other member from his/her office in respect of whom a reference has been made to the Supreme Court on grounds of misbehaviour, if he
- (a) is concerned or interested in any contract or agreement made by the Government of India or the government of a state, or
- (b) participates in any way in the profit of such contract or agreement or in any benefit therefrom other- wise than as a member and in common with other members of an incorporated company.
The President can remove the Chief Information Commissioner or any Information Commissioner from the office if he/she:
- Is adjudged insolvent.
- Has been convicted of an offense which, in the opinion of the President, involves moral turpitude.
- Engages, during his term of office, in any paid employment outside the duties of his office.
- Is, in the opinion of the President, unfit to continue in office due to infirmity of mind or body.
- Has acquired such financial or other interest as is likely to affect prejudicially his official functions.
In addition to the above circumstances, the President can also remove the Chief Information Commissioner or any Information Commissioner on the grounds of proved misbehaviour or incapacity.
- However, in such cases, the President has to refer the matter to the Supreme Court for an enquiry.
- If the Supreme Court, after the inquiry, upholds the cause of removal and advises so, then the President can remove him.
The Election Commission (Art. 324) is entrusted to conduct free and fair elections in India which are foundational for the democracy to sustain.
Constitutional safeguards to ensure its independence and impartiality:
- The Chief Election Commissioner is provided with the security of tenure. He cannot be removed from his office except in the same manner and on the same grounds as a judge of the Supreme Court.
- Service conditions of the Chief Election Commissioner cannot be varied to his disadvantage after his appointment.
- Any other election commissioner or a regional commissioner cannot be removed from office except on the recommendation of the Chief Election Commissioner.
Also, In Mohinder Singh Gill vs Chief Election Commissioner (1978), the Supreme Court affirmed that Article 324 grants plenary powers to the ECI to conduct free and fair elections. The Constituent Assembly granted expansive residual powers to address diverse emerging situations.
Flaws in its functioning:
- The Constitution has not prescribed the qualifications (legal, educational, administrative or judicial) for the members of the Election Commission.
- The term of the members of the Election Commission is not specified.
- Election Commissioners are not debarred from further appointment in government offices post retirement.
- Its expenditure are not charged on consolidated fund of India
- Absence of equal tenure security to Election Commissioners like CEC
- Inadequate enforcement powers: No Power to Deresigster political parties, no role in enforcing inner party democracy & regulation of party finances
- Issue of incompletion of tenure: Although the CEC’s tenure is six years, no CEC has completed his tenure since 2004 yet.
- Until recently, there was no law governing the appointment of election commissioners.
However, some of these flaws have been addressed through the Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service, and Term of Office) Act, 2023.
{EXTRA
- Appointment : CEC and other ECs will be appointed by the President on the recommendation of a Selection Committee comprising Prime Minister (Chairperson), Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha (Member) and a Union Cabinet Minister to be nominated by the Prime Minister (Member).
- Qualification of CEC and ECs: Persons who are holding or have held posts equivalent to the rank of Secretary to the central government will be eligible to be appointed as CEC and ECs.
Re-appointment: Under the Bill, the CEC and other ECs will not be eligible for re-appointment.}
Paper 4 (Comprehension part) – Letter and Report
Increasing crime against tourists
(Manish, a correspondent)
Jaipur, Dec 17, 2023. The State Govt. has shown great concern over the rising incidents of crime against foreign tourists. In the last two years Rajasthan’s image of a safe tourist haven has been scarred by several instances of tourists, especially foreigners, being raped, molested or looted. In 2020, an auto- rickshaw driver and his accomplice raped a 47 year-old German tourist. The two were sentenced to life imprisonment. In March 2022 Biti Mohanty, son of a senior police officer of Orissa, raped a German student in Alwar. In April 2022, a Japanese woman was raped and robbed of Rs. 54,000 by the son of a hotel manager in the holy city of Pushkar. Again an American tourist complained of being molested in Pushkar in January 2023.
Earlier in January 2023, a British Journalist alleged that she had been raped by a guest house owner in Udaipur. The State tourism industry is worried due to these shameful incidents. These kinds of incidents bring shame to the state and they are a blot on the culture of Rajasthan. It is suggested that the government must take quick, stringent steps to check the crimes and restore the image of Rajasthan. Although in 2021 Rajasthan government made ‘misbehaviour with tourists’ a cognisable offence in Rajasthan and a non-bailable one if repeated. But still effective implementation should be ensured. According to a tourism department official, the Rajasthan Govt. has decided to strengthen its tourism police force by recruiting more security personnel and by increasing their remuneration. This is a welcome step to check crime against tourists.
Day 71 | 90 Days RAS Mains 2025 Answer Writing
Day 71 | 90 Days RAS Mains 2025 Answer Writing
