SC refuses to stay appointments of new ECs under 2023 law
New Delhi: The Supreme Court declined to halt the appointment of new election commissioners under a 2023 law excluding the chief justice of India (CJI) from the selection panel on Friday.
Justices Sanjiv Khanna, Dipankar Datta, and Augustine George Masih instructed petitioners to file a separate application regarding the preponed selection meeting.
Refusing to stay the appointments made in accordance with the 2023 law, the bench said, “Normally and generally, we do not stay a law by way of an interim order.”
It deferred till March 21 the hearing on a batch of pleas challenging the appointments of two ECs under the 2023 law.
Senior advocate Vikas Singh, representing petitioner Jaya Thakur, argued against transgressions in the law. He cited a March 2, 2023 verdict, highlighting the need for a three-member panel including the CJI. Justice Khanna referred to the panel’s operation until parliamentary action. Singh proposed filing a fresh application.
The court scheduled a hearing on March 21, aligning with other challenges to the 2023 law. Advocate Prashant Bhushan appeared in the court on behalf of NGO Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), which has challenged the CJI’s exclusion from the panel contending that the Election Commission should be insulated from “political” and “executive interference” for maintaining a healthy democracy.
The hearing assumes significance as former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Sandhu were appointed as ECs on Thursday. They were selected by a panel chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The NGO has challenged the validity and sought a stay on the operation of section 7 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, which excludes the CJI from the panel that picks the CEC and ECs.
The NGO emphasized that the Supreme Court’s March 2, 2023 ruling warned against executive control over EC and CEC appointments, vital for democracy and fair elections. ADR contends that the government disregarded this verdict. Congress leader Thakur filed a plea opposing new EC appointments under the 2023 law and challenging its provisions.
