List of Chief Election Commissioners in India

Appointed by the President of India, all the Chief Election Commissioners of India lead India’s Election Commission during their respective tenure.

Besides being Indian Civil Service’s member, the Chief Election Commissioner of India usually belongs to the administrative service of India. His or her key role is to be overall responsible for conducting a fair election.

Removable solely by Parliament’s impeachment, their official tenure is of either six years or up to 65 years of age depending upon which one is earlier.


Chief Election Commissioners in India


Sr.No. Commissioners Name Tenure  
1 Sukumar Sen ICS 03/21/50 12/19/58
2 K. V. K. Sundaram 12/20/58 09/30/67
3 S. P. Sen Verma 10/01/67 09/30/72
4 Dr. Nagendra Singh 10/01/72 02/06/73
5 T. Swaminathan 02/07/73 06/17/77
6 S. L. Shakdhar 06/18/77 06/17/82
7 R. K. Trivedi 06/18/82 12/31/85
8 R. V. S. Peri Sastri 01/01/86 11/25/90
9 V. S. Ramadevi 11/26/90 12/11/90
10 T. N. Seshan 12/12/90 12/11/96
11 M. S. Gill 12/12/96 06/13/01
12 J. M. Lyngdoh 06/14/01 02/07/04
13 T. S. Krishnamurthy 02/08/04 05/15/05
14 B. B. Tandon 05/16/05 06/29/06
15 N. Gopalaswami 06/30/06 04/20/09
16 Navin Chawla 04/21/09 07/29/10
17 Shahabuddin Yaqoob Quraishi 07/30/10 till date

Last Updated on 10/19/2011
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