The Supreme Court on Friday declined to stay the recently enacted law that provides for the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners through a panel excluding the Chief Justice of India.
A bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta, however, agreed to assess a series of petitions challenging the new law and issued a notice to the Centre.
The bench asked senior advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for Congress leader Jaya Thakur, who sought a stay on the new law, to serve a copy of the petition to the Centre’s counsel. Singh urged the court to stay the law, asserting that it goes against the principle of separation of powers. The bench, in response, stated, “No, without hearing the other side, we can’t. We will issue a notice.”
Several petitions, including Thakur’s, have been filed in the apex court amidst a political controversy surrounding the exclusion of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) from a panel responsible for selecting the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and Election Commissioners (ECs).
Advocate Gopal Singh has also approached the top court, seeking the annulment of the new law that grants significant powers to the central government in making appointments to the election body. Singh’s plea urges the apex court to direct the implementation of an “independent and transparent system of selection, constituting a neutral and independent selection committee for the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners (CEC and ECs).”
As per the provisions of the new law, the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners will be appointed by the President based on the recommendation of a Selection Committee, consisting of the Prime Minister as the Chairperson, the Leader of Opposition in the House of the People as a Member, and a Union Cabinet Minister nominated by the Prime Minister as a Member.
The opposition has accused the Modi government of disregarding the Supreme Court by excluding the CJI from the selection panel. In a March 2023 order, the Supreme Court had specified that the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, and the CJI would collectively choose the CEC and the ECs.