New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday sought the assistance of the Election Commission's senior advocate, Meenakshi Arora, on a petition seeking constitutional immunity for the two election commissioners on a par with the chief election commissioner (CEC) against arbitrary removal.

Clause (5) of Article 324 provides that the CEC shall not be removed from office except in the same manner and on the same grounds as a Supreme Court judge. However, the election commissioners can be removed on the recommendation of the CEC.

In other words, the CEC can be removed only through impeachment proceedings initiated by Parliament, while the CEC can recommend the removal of the election commissioners on his own.

The PIL filed by advocate Ashwini Upadhyaya has cited an apex court ruling in the T.N. Seshan vs Union of India and Others case in which it was held that that the CEC is not superior to the election commissioners, rather of the same position.

According to the petitioner, the CEC and the commissioners enjoy the same decision-making powers.

However, Clause (5) of Article 324 does not provide similar protection to the election commissioners and merely says they cannot be removed except on the recommendation of the CEC.

"The reason for giving protection to the CEC as enjoyed by the judges of this Hon'ble Court in matters of removability from office is in order to ensure autonomy to the ECI from external pulls and pressure," the petition said.

"However, the rationale behind not affording similar protection to the election commissioners is not explicable. The element of independence sought to be achieved under the Constitution is not exclusively for an individual alone but for the institution. Hence, autonomy to the ECI can only be strengthened if the election commissioners are also provided with similar protection as that of the CEC.

"The present constitutional guarantee is inadequate and requires an amendment to provide same protection and safeguard in the matter of removability of the election commissioners as available to the CEC," the petition added.

According to the petitioner, various committees and commissions have recommended immunity to election commissioners against arbitrary removal, but the executive has not implemented them.

The Supreme Court adjourned the matter for four weeks.