Gyanesh Kumar, the first CEC appointed under the new selection law, will serve until January 26, 2029, ahead of the next Lok Sabha election schedule.
NEW DELHI: Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar has been appointed as the new Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), the law ministry announced on Monday (17th February,2025)
Kumar is the first CEC to be appointed under the new law governing the selection of Election Commission (EC) members. His tenure will extend until January 26, 2029, just before the EC is expected to announce the schedule for the next Lok Sabha elections.
Vivek Joshi, a 1989-batch Haryana-cadre IAS officer, has also been appointed as an Election Commissioner. Born on May 21, 1966, Joshi (58) will serve on the poll panel until 2031. As per the law, a CEC or EC can serve for six years or until the age of 65, whichever comes first.
The appointments were announced just hours after the Congress urged the government to postpone the decision until the Supreme Court concludes its hearing on a petition challenging the selection panel’s composition.
During a meeting of the selection panel chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who serves as the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, raised the demand to defer the appointment, sources said.
The meeting, held at the Prime Minister’s South Block office, was attended by Modi, Gandhi, and Home Minister Amit Shah, who is the third member of the selection panel.
Kumar, who was the senior-most Election Commissioner after CEC Rajiv Kumar, will officially assume office on Wednesday, February 19, 2025—the same day the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear petitions challenging the new appointment law.
Career and Experience
A 1988-batch IAS officer from the Kerala cadre, Gyanesh Kumar retired as Union Cooperation Secretary on January 31, 2024. He was later appointed as an Election Commissioner on March 14, 2024. Before joining the Election Commission, Kumar held several high-profile positions in the Union Government.
He was a key figure in the Union Home Ministry, where he played a pivotal role in drafting the bill that revoked Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019, leading to the reorganization of the former state into two union territories. At the time, he served as Joint Secretary (Kashmir Division) in the Home Ministry.
A year later, as Additional Secretary in the Home Ministry, Kumar was also responsible for managing official documents related to the Supreme Court case on the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. His career trajectory includes postings across multiple ministries, demonstrating his diverse administrative expertise.
Kumar has also served as:
- Secretary, Ministry of Cooperation (a ministry led by Home Minister Amit Shah, from whom Kumar is believed to have strong backing)
- Secretary, Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs
- Senior Official in the Ministry of Defence during the tenure of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government
ALSO READ: Rahul Gandhi Walks Out in 30 minutes! ‘Power Grab’ Over Election Commission Exposed?
Educational Background
Kumar holds a B.Tech in Civil Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur. He further pursued:
- Business Finance at the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India (ICFAI)
- Environmental Economics at Harvard University, USA
His academic and professional credentials, combined with extensive experience in governance, have prepared him for the complex electoral challenges he will face as CEC.
Upcoming Elections Under His Leadership
As the 26th CEC, Kumar will oversee several critical elections, including:
- Bihar Assembly elections (2025)
- Kerala and Puducherry Assembly elections (2026)
- Tamil Nadu and West Bengal Assembly elections (2026)
Outgoing CEC Rajiv Kumar Retires
Gyanesh Kumar takes over from Rajiv Kumar, who stepped down from his role as CEC on Monday.
In his farewell address, Rajiv Kumar emphasized several key electoral reforms, including:
- Exploring the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in elections, which he described as having the potential to “revolutionize the electoral process”
- Remote voting mechanisms for NRIs and migrant workers
- Biometric authentication for secure voting
- Ensuring financial transparency in election campaigns and party funding
- Combating fake narratives and misinformation, particularly on social media
What is the procedure for the appointment of Chief Election Commissioner and what is the controversy surrounding the procedure process:
How CEC was appointed before new law?
At the outset, it must be noted that till the 2023 act was passed, India didn’t have any mechanism or set procedure for the appointment of CEC and other ECs. Article 324 leaves the appointment at the President’s discretion based on the act of Parliament.
Because of the absence of a substantive act, the President used to appoint the officials on the advice of the Executive body, i.e., the PM and Council of Ministers.
Supreme Court intervenes
In March 2023, the Supreme Court’s five-judge Constitutional bench led by Justice KM Joseph, while examining the appointments of the CEC and ECs, noted that:
“Appointment shouldn’t be done solely on the advice of the Executives and that the appointment process should be independent.”
The SC mandated a selection process where the President should appoint CECs and ECs on the advice of the Selection Committee consisting, of the PM, Lok Sabha LoP and CJI. The process was to be followed until Parliament passed a new law.
Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service, and Term of Office) Act, 2023.
Subsequently, the Parliament passed Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service, and Term of Office) Act, 2023. It was introduced and passed in Rajya Sabha first and ten by Lok Sabha.
As per the act, the Election Commission has to be appointed by the President on the advice of the Selection Committee. However, the act omitted the CJI role and added a Cabinet Minister to it.
The Prime Minister, Cabinet Minister (nominated by the PM), and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha (or leader of the single largest opposition party) have to decide on names suggested by the Search Committee headed by the Cabinet Secretary. However, the Selection Committee is not bound to only those names.
The uproar afterwards
The act was criticised by many for excluding the Chief Justice of India. However, the government has argued that the Judiciary can’t have a role in the appointments of the Executive. In January 2024, two petitions, by MP Mahila Congress general secretary Jaya Thakur and Association for Democratic Reforms were filled in the Supreme Court challenging the validity of the act stating that it contravenes the Constitutional Bench judgement.
The act was implemented in March 2024, soon after enactment when two ECs- Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu. It sparked criticism after Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the LoP at that time and a member of the panel claimed that he didn’t get adequate time to assess the candidates. This created further contestation.
Later, a Division Bench comprising Justice Sanjiv Khanna Dipankar Datta and A.G. Masih re-listed the case. After successive dates, on February 19, the court will hear the case again and will decide the fate of the act.
READ JUDGEMENT HERE:
READ MORE REPORTS ON CHIEF ELECTION COMMISSIONER
FOR MORE LEGAL UPDATES FOLLOW US ON YOUTUBE
