Supreme Court Issues Notice To Centre On Appointment Of CEC, ECs; Refuses To Stay Bill

The top court on Friday chose not to stay the new law on the the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and Election Commissioners (ECs), enacted in December, 2023. However, it sent notice to the Centre challenging the constitutional validity of the legislation. As per this new, the selection panel for the appointment of CEC and ECs excludes the Chief Justice of India (CJI).

“We will not stay it… stay is not possible. It’s a statutory provision,” Hindustan Times quotes as a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta is saying.

Senior advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for Congress leader Jaya Thakur, urged the stay of the new law and submitted that it was against the separation of powers. The bench asked the advocate to serve a copy of the petition to the Centre”s counsel.

Similarly, advocate Gopal Singh submitted a plea which requested the Supreme Court’s direction to implement an independent and transparent system of selection, comprising a neutral and independent selection committee for the appointment of the CEC and other ECs. He has also asked the apex court to set aside Centre”s new law for the appointment.

In its March 2023 judgement, the apex court”s constitution bench declared that the appointment of CEC and the ECs would be made by the President receiving advice from the selection panel which includes the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, and the CJI.

On December, following the Winter Session of the Parliament, the President Droupadi Murmu signed The Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill, 2023 into law. The selection committee, as per the law, consists of the Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha and a Union Cabinet Minister nominated by the Prime Minister.

The act faced criticism from the opposition for the alleged overarching dominance and involvement of the government over the election commission’s independence due to the controversial removal of the CJI from the selection panel.

The Bench listed the matter for hearing in April 2024.