Appointment of CEC, EC | Supreme Court refuses to stay new law; issues notice for hearing in April

The Supreme Court on January 12 declined to stay a new law which brushed aside an apex court judgment to include the Chief Justice of India as a member of the high-powered selection committee to appoint Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners.

The Supreme Court on January 12 declined to stay a new law which brushed aside an apex court judgment to include the Chief Justice of India as a member of the high-powered selection committee to appoint Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners.

“How can we stay a statute?” Justice Sanjiv Khanna, leading a Bench comprising Justice Dipankar Datta, asked petitioner Dr. Jaya Thakur’s lawyers.

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The Bench however issued notice to the Union of India and listed the case for hearing in April. “The law is against the very concept of separation of powers,” senior advocate Vikas Singh, for the petitioner, submitted.

“The CEC and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023 has diluted the Supreme Court judgment by replacing the Chief Justice of India with a Union Cabinet Minister,” Ms. Thakur, a Congress party leader, argued. Her petition argued that the exclusion of the CJI “nullified” the committee.

“The Prime Minister and his nominee (Cabinet Minister) would always be the deciding factor,” Ms. Thakur’s petition, filed through advocate Varun Thakur, said.

“Institutions supporting constitutional democracy must have an independent mechanism for appointments of its heads and members… They are compromising free and fair elections with the exclusion of the Chief Justice of India from the committee… Justice should not only be done but seen to be done,” the petition said.