Constitutional body (India)

The members of the Constituent Assembly of India recognized the need for institutions that could regulate matters of national importance with a degree of insulation from executive control. Accordingly, several provisions were written into the Constitution establishing bodies such as the Election Commission of India, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, and the Union Public Service Commission. Some of these bodies enjoy security of tenure and removal procedures modelled on those for judges of the Supreme Court of India; for instance, the Chief Election Commissioner and the Comptroller and Auditor General can be removed only through a process resembling judicial impeachment, requiring an address by each House of Parliament supported by a majority of the total membership and by two-thirds of members present and voting. Not every constitutional body has such protections; several — including bodies created by amendment, such as the National Commission for Backward Classes — have removal procedures set out in ordinary legislation made under the relevant constitutional provision, and a small number of listed provisions are enabling powers that Parliament or the President has never exercised.

Constitutional bodies are commonly distinguished from statutory bodies, such as the National Human Rights Commission, which are created by an Act of Parliament and can be altered or abolished by ordinary legislation, and from non-statutory bodies such as NITI Aayog, which are set up by executive resolution alone.

List of constitutional bodies

The following table lists provisions of the Constitution that establish, or provide for the establishment of, a body or office. Entries marked in the Notes column as "provision not exercised" refer to enabling powers that have not, to date, resulted in an actual standing body.