Category: Constitutional Bodies

The State Reorganization Commission (1953-55) recommended a provision be made for a Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities. The Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities was established as a constitutional body with the aim to improve the provision of linguistic safeguards which have been constitutionally approved. Their role is to protect the linguistic minorities and provide them with equal opportunities to ensure inclusivity and development. The President appoints the Linguistic Minorities Officer, and in turn, the officer reports to President. Further, it is the President who then shares the reports provided by the officer with both houses of Parliament and the concerned state government. 

The required qualification, income, term period, and procedure for removal of the Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities have not been defined by the Constitution. 

The Election Commission is a permanent and autonomous constitutional body. It is responsible for administering free and fair election processes at the national and state level in India.

While the Election Commission is a pan India body which is common to the central and the state governments, it does not handle elections at the municipality or panchayat level in a state. Hence, a separate State Election Commission is provided by the Constitution of India for conducting these elections. The Election Commission is responsible for conducting elections for the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, state Legislative Assemblies, state Legislative Councils, and the offices of the President and Vice President.

The Election Commission operates under Article 324 of the Indian Constitution and subsequently, the Representation of People Act. It is headed by the Chief Election Commissioner who enjoys the security of tenure. The Commissioner can only be removed by the President of India through the passing of a resolution on account of proven misbehavior or incapacity. Such a resolution has to be supported by a majority in both houses of Parliament for it to be passed.

The Constitution of India tried to ensure the independent and impartial nature of the Election Commission is always upheld, but certain flaws in the creation of the commission still persist. These are:

• There are no specific qualifications (legal, educational, administrative, or judicial) defined by the Constitution for the members of the Election Commission.
• No fixed terms have been defined by the Constitution for members of the Election Commission.
• The retiring Election Commissioners have not forbidden by the Constitution  further appointment to other offices by the government

Established under Article 148 of the Constitution, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India is a constitutional body. Its key role is to audit all the receipts and expenditures of the central government, state governments, and those bodies or authorities which are heavily financed by the government. Additionally, the CAG also plays the role of an external auditor to government-owned corporations. It conducts audits of any non-banking company in which the Union Government has a share of 51% or more.

The CAG's reports are presented to the Parliament of India. These reports are a source of key consideration for special committees in the Union and State Legislatures such as the Public Accounts Committees (PACs) and Committees on Public Undertakings (COPUs).

An autonomous body or institution established by the Constitution of India is referred to as a Constitutional Body. These are independent bodies which derive their powers and authority from the Constitution, and not from the government. Since they acquire their power from the Constitution, they can only be established or altered by successfully passing a constitutional amendment bill. They can neither be created nor changed through passing a regular, government or private bill.