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The Supreme Court is set to hear a batch of petitions on Wednesday, challenging the validity of the law governing the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and Election Commissioners, which dropped Chief Justice of India from selection panel for Election Commissioners.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan on Tuesday urged the court to hear the matter on an urgent basis, citing its importance for the future of democracy. The law in question, the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, has been criticized for excluding the Chief Justice of India from the selection panel for Election Commissioners. Advocate Bhushan told a bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh that the matter is listed for hearing tomorrow and requested it to be heard at the top of the board as it is exceedingly important for the future of the democracy Bhushan said, "A complete mockery has been made. Please have it as item 1 tomorrow." Justice Kant said, "We will see tomorrow subject to any other important matters. You make a mention tomorrow, then we can take it up. After urgent/fresh matters are over." In 2024, the apex court declined to put on hold the two Election Commissioners' appointments under the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023. It had dismissed all the applications seeking a stay on the appointment of two Election Commissioners saying elections are around the corner and a stay on the appointment would result in "chaos and uncertainty". The pleas were filed in the apex court seeking a stay on the Act by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Jaya Thakur (General Secretary of the Madhya Pradesh Mahila Congress Committee), Sanjay Narayanrao Meshram, Dharmendra Singh Kushwaha, advocate Gopal Singh. At that time the apex court had refused to stay the operation of the Election Commissioner Act, 2023 issued notice to the Centre and sought a response in April. The pleas challenged the Election Commissioners' law that has dropped the Chief Justice of India from the selection panel for appointing CEC and other Election Commissioners (ECs). The petitions stated that the provisions of the enactment, are violative of the principle of free and fair elections since it does not provide an "independent mechanism" for the appointment of the members of the Election Commission of India (ECI). The petitions said the Act excludes the Chief Justice of India from the process of appointment of the members of ECI and it's in violation of the March 2, 2023 verdict of the top court which had ordered that the appointment of members of the ECI be done on the advice of a committee comprising the Prime Minister, the CJI and the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha till a law is made by the Parliament. By excluding the CJI from the process, the judgement of the Supreme Court stands diluted as the Prime Minister and his nominee will always be "the deciding factor" in the appointments, said the petitions. The petitions in particular challenged Sections 7 and 8 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023. The provisions lay down the procedure for the appointment of ECI members. They sought direction from the Centre to include the Chief Justice of India in the selection committee for the appointment of the CEC and ECs which currently comprises of the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha and a Union Cabinet Minister nominated by the Prime Minister. The Act replaced the Election Commission (Conditions of Service of Election Commissioners and Transaction of Business) Act, 1991. (ANI)
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