Key Points
The ECI is constituted under the provision of Article 324 of the Constitution,whichclearly states that theelectoral watchdogshall be responsible for conducting elections for Parliament (Lok SabhaandRajya Sabha), state legislatures (legislative assembly and legislative council), president, and vice-president..
Instead, the State Election Commission of Delhi (not theECI),establishedunder Articles 243K and 243ZA of the Constitution,alongwith Section 7 of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act 1957, exercises the authority of the state election commission for Chandigarh.This authority is granted bysubsection (1) of Section 10 of the Punjab Municipal Corporation Act 1976, as extended to the Union Territory of Chandigarhthroughthe Punjab Municipal Corporation Law (Extension to Chandigarh) Act 1994...
This section states that the superintendence, direction, and control of the preparation of the electoral rolls for and the conduct of all elections to the Chandigarh Corporation shall be vested in the Election Commission appointed under Section 7 of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act 1957...
However, it is the councillors who elect the mayor.According toSection 38 of the Punjab Municipal Corporation Act 1976, extended to the Union territory of Chandigarh by the Punjab Municipal Corporation Law (Extension to Chandigarh) Act 1994, the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation shall, at its first meeting in each year, elect one of its elected members to be the mayor of the corporation...
Similarly, Regulation 6(1) of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation (Procedure and Conduct of Business) Regulations 1964statesthat a meeting for the election of a mayor shall be convened by the prescribed authority, whowillnominate a councillor notrunning asa candidate to preside over the meeting...
