Sunil Arora appointed Election Commissioner

The Union Government has appointed former Information and Broadcasting secretary Sunil Arora (61) as Election Commissioner.
He will have tenure of four years in the Election Commission. His appointment comes to fill the vacancy created by former CEC Nasim Zaidi’s retirement in July 2017.

Sunil Arora

Sunil Arora is 1980-batch IAS officer of Rajasthan cadre. He had retired in April 2016 as Information and Broadcasting secretary. Prior to this, he was skill development secretary. He has also worked in ministries and departments such as Finance, Textiles and Planning Commission and also has served as CMD of Indian Airlines for five years. In his home state, he had served as principal secretary of Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje from 2005 to 2008.

Election Commissioners

Election commission is multi member body and currently has three members including Chief Election Commissioner (CEC). They all are appointed by the President for a term which is fixed by the President.
Tenure: The service conditions and tenure of office of CEC and Election Commissioners are determined by Act of parliament titled The Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Conditions of Service) Act, 1991. This act has fixed their term for 6 years or till age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.
Power/salary: The CEC and election commissioners have equal power and receive equal salary, allowances and other perquisites, which are similar to judge of Supreme Court. In case of difference of opinion amongst the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioner, the matter is decided by the Commission by majority.

Month: Current Affairs - September, 2017