A ‘superior’ CEC renders Election Commissioners ‘non-functional’, Supreme Court had warned

Nearly four decades ago, the Supreme Court had warned that if a Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) functions in a way that he considers himself superior and his word final, the Election Commissioners (ECs) would be rendered “non-functional or ornamental”.

The court had held that leaving the “exclusive and uncontrolled” powers of the Election Commission of India (ECI) in the hands of one person would violate democratic rule.